Affordable Art for the Family Room

I'm joining Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage!

The first decorating blog I ever saw was The Nesting Place! I was just blown away by her style, her ideas and her philosophy! I felt like I had found a friend! My favorite idea was when she used doors on the wall as art! Brilliant!

We had lived in our house for over a year and I had yet to put anything above the sofa in the family room. I wanted something with a big impact. And I wanted to create it myself.
I knew this was the right idea for me because lo and behold - I had a set of doors just sitting out in the shed! They were left here by the previous owner! Perfect!



I used some exterior green paint I found out in the shed, too! They were in pretty good shape, just needed a good cleaning. Sorry I don't have any before photos - this was before I had ever thought about doing a blog! But, I just painted them green and then roughed them up a bit.


I found the metal art at Hobby Lobby - 50% off of course! Everything just kind of came together and worked! I can always change out what I put on and around them, but the doors are not going anywhere! It took hubby and I forever to hang them! The big obstacle was the fact that there are 2 of them and I wanted them hung tightly together! It was a chore, but we got through it!


I showed the fireplace in this room for Thrifty Monday. And some other parts of the room here.

I'm going to head on over to The Inspired Room and see what everyone is posting for her Fall Nesting 2009!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Thrifty Monday

Well, I didn't make it to the yard sales this week! My partner in crime is under the weather! (Hi Mom - Love You!) So, I thought I would show my fireplace. It's chocked full of thrifty treasures!



I have kind of a nature/bird theme going in my family room. The tile, brick and paneling were all recently re-done when we moved in. They were well thought out and look really good together. Unfortunately, they have a bit of a pinkish tone. That's not exactly what I would have chosen for my Autumn color scheme. I decided to go for it anyway and I think it still works.

Here's the rundown of what I have on my fireplace starting on the mantel going from left to right:


Oops...left a couple of candles on the mantel, didn't mean to do that! The topiary has a match on the other end. I got one of them at Michael's with a coupon and the other I found at a yard sale shortly after! Bird house art from Hobby Lobby - when they had one of their framed art 50% off sales! The green pineapple candle holder was from a yard sale. I love the yellow bird candle holder! I got that at a thrift store for $6. I thought it looked good with the pineapple 'cuz they are the same kind of metal.


Okay, so confession time...see the little metal sign that says FAMILY? Well, it's hanging on a big fat nail that I can not take out! I didn't want to do a traditional centered piece of art, so I just had to find something to hang there. That's what I came up with for now. Got the FAMILY metal sign at Hobby Lobby when metal stuff was half off. I love the mini topiary and white iron bird! Those are from the thrift store, paid a couple of bucks for each of them. The LIVE-LAUGH-LOVE is from Kirkland's. I bought it with a gift certificate I got as a house-warming gift. They still sell a similar sign with those words, but they changed the design a bit right after that. I like this one best.


So I really like things made of wire, like little chairs, birdcages, baskets...I've had these a long time and I don't remember where I got them or how much I paid. The lamp was a gift from my mother-in-law, she couldn't use it anymore. The metal square art is from Hobby Lobby (50% off) and the "C" was a gift.

That is a one-of-a-kind original watercolor painted by my Mom! It's one of my favorite things and it is in a place of honor so I can look at it every day! Thanks Mom!
More little chairs, bucket was a gift. I just stuck some fake Hobby Lobby grass and berries in it. Those are extra pillows from our sofas.


So, that's a peak at my family room! I wanted to do it now, because I've started decorating for fall. It's all different now!

I'm joining Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality! Let's head on over and check out all the treasures and transformations!

Art from Reclaimed Wood

Love this! It's from Pottery Barn - of course! They just do everything right! I think a person could duplicate this design if they had a pile of scraps, a saw, some paint and a lot of free time! Or they could just buy it here.



Another great piece of art from Pottery Barn!

Pottery Barn

Who doesn't love stars?

Pottery Barn

I may just have to buy myself a circular saw...



...and some wood...I guess buying new wood would kind of defeat the purpose, huh?



I have the paint and the nails though... :-)

Thrifty Monday & Transformed Tuesday!

Hey everybody! My little project is just some cheap melamine doors my stepdad found in the dumpster! They look like they were from a kid size cabinet. He thought I might be able to do something with them. I had these cork squares that I got from a yard sale for 25 cents. The doors were already white and I thought I would just stick the cork inside the frame on the front of the door. I used some ribbon to hang them by the doorknobs. Easy peasy!


I just covered the seams with how I put the stuff on the cork board. Now I have a place to put my inspiration photos near where I sit to do my blogging - which is at one end of our sunroom.

Here's some more bargains from my home office area:


I love the framed art from Kirkland's that I got at a yard sale for $2!!! It still had the $69 price tag on the back!!! Birdhouse on a stand and metal bucket are both from yard sales, too! The cloth napkin is another bargain from Pier 1!

I'm joining my favorite Mr. Linky parties:
Met Monday - Between Naps on the Porch
Today's Thrifty Treasures - Southern Hospitality
and Trash to Treasure Tuesday - Reinvented!

I love seeing what everyone has come up with this week! Please head on over and check them all out!

Giveaway!

Over at REINVENTED they are having a give-away with today's Trash To Treasure! I didn't have anything ready to post for the Mr. Linky party today, but I am excited to see what everyone else has done! You can enter the contest and check out the Trash to Treasure contributions here!

Thrifty Monday and Met Monday

One day my hubby and I happened into Furniture Row just looking around. I noticed this sweet thing in the clearance section! I got so excited! Then I noticed one of the doors was just leaning against it. I proceeded to ignore that, because it got in the way of my excitement over this bargain in front of me! They had a price tag of $89 on it! Woohoo! I really wanted it and I had no idea where I would put it. Hubby didn't think I was serious and wasn't sure it would fit in our Honda CRV...I let him talk me into leaving with out it.

But, after we got home and he left to run another errand I figured out EXACTLY where I would put it! So I called him and talked him into running up there at 10 minutes before closing! He's such a sweet guy!

Long story short - he soon found out why that door was leaning against it and not installed. It seems there was a problem with the way it was made and it is missing one row of grooves. So, the door can never be installed. I thought about it for about 10 seconds and I said - let's get it anyway!

After getting it in place and all accessorized I decided you really don't notice it. It kinda looks like it was made that way!

I even found a place to use that missing door...

I stuck it on the side table in my dining room! Maybe someday I will get over to Hobby Lobby and have them cut me some cute mats and stick some photos in the window panes! The table is also full of yard sale finds and bargain roosters! I will post more about them for the Rooster Party on August 28th over at Bella Vista.


There are plenty of thrifty treasures on the black bookcase, too...

From the top:

• Little wire basket that I put my coasters in: $2 at antique mall
• Candle dish under brown candle: 25 cents at yard sale
  
• Green placemat and beige placemat: $1.50 at Pier One on clearance
• Bird on a stick: $1 at yard sale
• Cute vintage picture frame holding my precious Penny: 25 cents at yard sale
• Cloth napkin under photo: $1.50 at Pier One on clearance
  

More bargains from the dining room:

• Black metal shelf and letter "C": Hobby Lobby on 1/2 off
• White metal basket on the wall: 25 cents at yard sale
• Green berries: 25 cents at yard sale
• Chicken: $1 at antique mall
• Red vases: Hobby Lobby 66% off sale
• Leafy little framed art: $1 at yard sale

Thanks for looking! Please check out what everyone else is showing over at Between Naps on the Porch and Southern Hospitality!

Keep it Bright & Cheery!

Country Home

Lately I have been thinking about what I can do to finish up our home office area. One end of our sunroom is set up as our office/craft area. I have a wishlist already of what I need to make it just right. I love white! I think it is just so bright and cheery! I am on the search for another desk that I can fix up! Or maybe I might just make one out of an old door!

Country Home

Cute idea for storage of craft supplies! I am always looking for cool ways to store supplies! I came across an idea for making a phone charger station out of a minnow bucket! Cute huh?!

Country Home

BHG

Great idea! Use an old toolbox as a desk organizer!

Two examples of bright & cheery home offices from blogland:

Cheryl at TidyMom posted about her recent project. She did an amazing job in her home office! Lots of paint and some de-cluttering and she has a beautiful fresh new room. You can see more photos and read all about it here, including some trash to treasure transformations with some of the accessories.

Over at Just Beachy, Chris Kaufman showed off her built-in kitchen computer nook created from an old hutch and buffet! Wow! Hard to believe looking at it now! I love all the details on this! See more images here.

As for me, I am still hoping to come across one of these office chairs at a yard sale:

Pottery Barn

I don't hold out much hope! They are so pretty, though! And I am still trying to figure out a second desk option. Time to hit the yard sales again and keep searching! That's my plan for tomorrow anyway!

Country Home

Have a great weekend!