Project ReStyle Guest Post on A Beautiful Mess

I found two old children's cots awhile back at a local thrift store. This is what happened next. For the full story head over to Elsie's blog for my Project ReStyle Guest Post and favorite ReStyles from our Flickr group.

xoxo,
Rachel

House Tour #3, Part 3: Master Bedroom

I've shared the kids' room, the living room, the kitchen and middle room, and now the master bedroom. We've been in this rental for six months now and other than the studio feel like we're settled. Almost everything has found it's place, the walls are full, and most importantly it feels like home.

Knowing we'd likely only be living here for a year, it was important to get things unpacked and arranged as quickly as possible so that we could really enjoy our time here rather than seeing it as a temporary space. That said, I'm not the kind of girl that can have her house set up in a week. For some reason (and maybe that reason is named Ruby) I get things done in layers and spurts.

I like to get things where I think they should go and then see how it works for us. I need to feel out traffic patterns and whether or not a certain arrangement is useful.

Our bedroom wasn't a complicated space to set up but it took me up until the day before I took these photos in late March to decide what to put on the walls. We didn't have much on the walls in our old bedroom besides two mirrors and a giant gas station number (still included in this one) and we had a completely different furniture arrangement. We also purchased our first ever bed frame for Christmas! This means we're adults now, right?

I brought in a few things I had hanging in my studio in our last rental like this orange and cream gas station signage as well as some things that were in storage tubs such as the For Like Ever print and a matted photograph from a friend in college.

The bench finally got it's coat(s) of paint and was given a home at the end of our bed. In a perfect world I would have adorable pillows stacked in the corner but it currently acts as a clean laundry catch all.

Yes. We have piles.

We have two bedspreads and a duvet (gift from a special lady) that we regularly keep on our bed during the colder nights but keep the duvet stored in our closet when it's warmer. The hounds tooth bedspread is from Urban Outfitters and still one of my favorite patterns. The pink bedspread is from the Liberty of London line from Target a few years back. The duvet (not shown) is from Anthropologie.

I've always loved the look of random photo collections hanging near a bed. I had photos of me and my best friends taped to the wall through high school and college but stopped when I got married because it felt too 'young' and uncouth. Ha! I've made this one a little more grown up by using photos and art with common themes and colors.

The stair case is where Brett and I spent one of the last evenings chatting away before Christmas break our first semester. We weren't dating yet but it was obviously headed that direction. He was off to India and I was going home and it felt like we'd never see each other again. Ahhh, young love.

The old photo is a copy of one my Meemaw gave me. I'm not really sure about the story behind it but it's right after her and my PawPaw's wedding ceremony. Mom, remind me of those details next time we talk. They look so happy and smitten.

The Enid Collins purse was given to me by my Grandmother and has seen some use lately but is usually carefully placed on a little shelf in my closet to keep certain toddlers from coloring on it.

The band poster above my dresser was a purchase from Domestica earlier in the year. I fell in love with the colors and design right away and THEN realized it was from a favorite band of ours! The clipboard used to be in the kids' room but was a small one from Staples that I painted with chalkboard paint. I plan on rotating photos and the chalkboard paint makes it fun to add details. The matted photo is from a friend from college.

I made the curtains for this room the same way I did in the kids' room by stitching almost all the way around all four sides of cut fabric and a vintage sheet (the lining), turning it right side out, stitching all the way around it, ironing it, and hanging it from clips. It's fast, easy, and allows for the curtain panels to slide back and forth without much tugging.

I removed the DIY lighting from above the bed for photos as it was getting in the way of some clear shots but we keep it up all of the time. It's good mood lighting for...umm...reading...and stuff. Ha!

The only thing left to show is my studio but don't hold your breath. I may save that one until the very end of the year the way things are going right now. It's full of half-finished projects and those last few boxes we haven't unpacked. Maybe I shouldn't even look in them and donate them to Goodwill, huh!

Also, our home is rarely as clean and clutter free as it is in these images because we lead busy lives and have little ones like many of you. Ask my neighbors! However, all my messes are colorful and all my piles a sign of fun being had.

I totally subscribe to the idea that you can make a space you love on a budget with a little patience and a strong idea of what you want. If you're totally overwhelmed with where to start in your home or are wanting to plan for your next place I've shared everything I know about
pulling it together and making it work in my recent E-Course, Style Your Space. It includes guidance and resources on finding your specific style, how to work with what you have, getting the most out of your arrangements, and four fun DIY's to make your space more fun. Details here.

I'm so thankful for our current house. Even our leaky basement. We no longer have to worry about where to go when the tornado sirens go off!

What's your favorite thing about your space? Do you have a lot of half-finished corners? Do you like to rearrange every few months? How do you keep it feeling fresh?

xoxo,
Rachel

Furniture: End table and two dressers, Craigslist. Bench and chair, thrifted. Lamp, K-Mart. Bed frame, AllModern.

Lighting & Accessories: Large industrial light, thrifted. Large gas station #3 and smaller metal gas station sign, thrifted. Vintage fan, books, and birds, thrifted. Picture frame, thrifted and painted. Fake rotary phone, found but originally from Pottery Barn.

Art: For Like Ever print originally from ReForm School. Frame purchased from Michael's Craft Store. The New Pornographers poster, Domestica.

Linens: Hounds tooth bedspread, Urban Outfitters. Liberty of London bedspread, Target. Liberty of London pillow, thrifted but originally from Target. Cross pillow and curtains, handmade by me. Afghan, thrifted.

Lisa Leonard's New Line of Home Accessories

I was going to save this for Brett's birthday but I couldn't wait to show him after I opened it up. In case you haven't heard, Lisa Leonard has recently released a new line of home decor and accessories made from pewter and ready to be customized. Lisa asked if I'd be interested in a complimentary gift and I knew right away which of her new pieces to pick.

The pewter keepsake bowl is just the right size for storing keys or spare change and an easy gift for your honey or your dad. I asked her to add part of the chorus from one of our favorite songs, Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

With Mother's Day just around the corner you may want to check out some of the other beautiful options from Lisa Leonard Designs such as the Custom Magnets, the Pennant Banner, or Pewter Heart Wall Hanging. Mother's Day orders are being taken until May 2nd so be sure to get yours placed soon!

Thanks so much, Lisa! Brett loved the sentiment and now has a place specifically for the keys to his birthday present from last year!

And just in case you're not familiar with that beautiful song...

xoxo,
Rachel

Style Your Space Now Available

My newest e-Course, Style Your Space, is finally available!

It's everything I've learned about styling a beautiful home on a budget. I share how to find your interior style, tips and tricks on arranging, interviews and room tours from eight other women whose own beautiful homes have influenced my style, and a few DIY's to make things more fun.

This course is for anyone frustrated with their interior style or overwhelmed with pulling it together. Whether you love vintage, modern, factory line, or a little bit of everything, this course offers the tools to help you get the look you're going for. Here's a little info on each session...

Session 1: Introduction - Well curated homes take time and patience but you probably have a lot of what you need already.

Session 2: My Vintage Romance - I share the story of my clueless decorating days, how I found my style, and why it's mostly pretty stuff that used to belong to someone else.

Session 3: Finding Your Style - How to gorge yourself on interior eye candy, digest it, and create a plan. Plenty of resources and links to get you started.

Room Tour: Lisa Congdon - Peek into her well curated living room.

Session 5: Resources - Deciding what you need and where to find the good stuff.

Session 6: Working With What You've Got - What to do whether you're phasing it out or starting from scratch.

Room Tour: Victoria Smith - This lady knows how to use pink!

Session 8: Rules to Follow - Techniques that can make all the difference in how your space looks.

Session 9: Rules To Break - Permission to disobey.

Room Tour: Jenny Mitchell - Her bold and beautiful living room/dining room.

Session11: Scale, Balance, & Composition - Examples from my own space on creating a beautiful vignette and making sure your arrangements are pleasing to the eye.

Session 12: Arranging A Space - What comes first, second, third, etc. when layering your space.

Room Tour: Rubyellen Bratcher - She didn't let her suburban track house stop her from creating a rich space full of character.

Session 14: Display Dealbreakers - How to get it wrong.

Room Tour: Andrea Jenkins - You'd never know it was a rental!

Session 16: Dealing With the Ugly - Ideas to help you get through the rest of your lease.

Session 17: Editing and Organizing - Taking out the clutter and replacing it with harmony.

Room Tour: Ashley Campbell - DIY at it's best in her daughter's bright and cheerful room.

Session 19: DIY Chevron Rug - Get in on this trend without spending a fortune.

Session 20: Mod Industrial Lighting - An easy option when overhead lighting is driving you crazy.

Session 21: Happy Hammock - Taking design outdoors. Step-by-step instructions to creating your new favorite spot in the yard (or your room!).

Session 22: Geometric Art - An easy way to reuse an old frame and get a little creative with your wall space.

Room Tour: Abbey Hendrickson - Not your traditional play room!

Room Tour: Tania Patritti - Her well-organized, colorful studio space.

Session 25: Afterthoughts - How long this could take and how not to panic.

Bonus: Tips on photographing your space to show it's good side.

I'm so proud to have eight special ladies joining me for this e-course. Lisa Congdon, Victoria Smith, Abbey Hendrickson, Andrea Jenkins, Jenny Mitchell, Tania Patritti, Rubyellen Bratcher, and Ashley Campbell.

Each of their unique tastes and trademark spaces have inspired me in some way as I've developed my style over the last few years and I'm sure you'll enjoy their insight into how they put their rooms together. They make it look so effortless!

Style Your Space is full of interior shots of our current and previous spaces with plenty of great ideas on how to introduce color when your home doesn't belong to you. Great for home owners and renters alike who are looking for ways to design a space that feels like home.

This is a 'work at your own pace' course. There are no due dates. Students are encouraged to follow along at their own pace.

You can purchase your course through Red Velvet here.

This project has been in my head for months!It's kind of thrilling to finally have it online and already being enjoyed by people wanting to make the most of their space. I appreciate all of the support from my little family as I've worked on this e-course these past few weeks and for all of your encouraging comments on our room tours!

All my love,
Rachel

Style Your Space: Designing A Home You Love

I've been dreaming about this kind of e-course for months because a beautiful, interesting home environment is something everyone should feel capable creating. Style Your Space is everything I've learned about home decor in the last four plus years of studying design blogs, pouring over house tours, figuring out our interior style, gathering some fantastic vintage, and arranging it to work in two different floor plans.

Style Your Space is for anyone looking to realize their interior style, frustrated with their current set up, or needing a little direction on how to pull it all together.

I'm thrilled to have eight women with knock-out homes of their own sharing room tours and discussing their biggest design challenges and styling tricks. They've each influenced my style in some way over the last four years which makes this collaboration even more special!

Full details with a table of contents will be shared on Monday, April 11th when the course goes on sale that evening. It's been a labor of love and I'm so excited that it'll soon be ready to share!

xoxo,
Rachel

House Tour #3, Part 2: Our Kitchen and Middle Room

Our kitchen is pretty cozy but it is bigger and much more functional than the last one. There is room for a breakfast table, it's got great light in the morning, and the original cabinets are at least white. It's so much happier in white.

That's the old back door of the house. It currently leads into my studio and down to the basement. I love that it has a glass pane so Brett can look in on things but Ruby can't see me if it's studio time. Out of sight, out of mind! I added the old curtain from our last back door to bring in more color and to hide the mess. It's usually a mess as there are always at least a few projects in process. More on that space later.

I've loved this piece since I saw it on Dottie Angel's blog a few years ago. I used to have this one and Elsie had the one above. She saw mine and loved it and I told her it was great but the one I really loved (this one) was at Funtiques (local shop). She had just recently picked up the same one at a flea market so we traded! These are the colors I see myself moving towards in everything I do so it was just a better fit in our home.

The hairpin table was found at my favorite warehouse in southwestern Missouri. I'm not divulging the name and location of this place because it's absolutely my and my MIL's favorite little secret. I know, that's mean.

I saw this table but didn't pick it up right away as I wasn't sure it would fit in our small kitchen but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Once I found those vintage school chairs I knew they'd make a lovely set and had my MIL go snag the table. Thankfully, it was still there (and only $15.00).

The white mirror was found at a vintage shop in Ballard, a lovely neighborhood/town in the greater Seattle area. If ever we were to move back I'd want to live in Ballard. It's beautiful and quirky and full of happy shops and interesting people. Anyway, the mirror is super heavy but one of my favorites because of it's simple design.

The aprons on the door are vintage with an Anthro one thrown in from about six years ago. They are all green/blue/yellow/cream and lovely. The curtain is made from a bedspread from Urban Outfitters that I had to hunt down three years ago. It's one of my favorite prints.

We haven't had a built in dishwasher in most of our dwellings but with two kids and working from home, we knew doing them by hand would only equal piles of dishes all of the time. We purchased a counter top dishwasher around Christmas but it's about an inch taller than the space between the counters and cabinets so we've had to make do with it on a solid old end table that we scoot to the sink and back almost every day. It's ugly and annoying but we're willing to put up with it for now. Oh, how I look forward to the day when we can have a built in!

There used to be doors on the open shelving at the very top. I decided it was a great place to store some Pyrex and other vintage pieces that I love but don't use every day. It adds a lot of happy to our space.

Speaking of happy, the mug shown above is one of my favorites that was gifted to me by an online friend. I've never come across one like it! The glasses and dishware below have been collected over the last four years. I am still on the hunt for pretty floral glasses and an Alpine Swiss plate set but I'm thankful to have stumbled across so many beauties locally.

The dish towel below was cut from a vintage tablecloth that had some ugly stains on it in three different places. I was able to get two dish towel sizes out of it after cutting them down, hemming the edges, and adding a hang tab. It's an easy way to repurpose and add something unique to a vintage kitchen.

Below is what our fridge looks like at the moment. Along with a handful of coupons that are out of sight! The aqua magnet was a gift from my mom from a shop in OKC and the California card was in a gift from Rubyellen. I'll always be a California girl!

I turned the Polaroids and Instax into magnets by adding sticky magnet paper to the backs. The small ones are from when Sebastian was Ruby's age. Also, that's Ruby's first real coloring project. A lot of her work ends up on our walls these days so we're working hard at redirecting her to paper.

This next room is what I call our 'middle room'. It's about 8' x 8' and has one or two entries or doors on each side. The above photo shows a linen closet to the left and our only bathroom to the right.

This is the little corner between our bathroom and bedroom. The shelving unit was originally built to be a bench for the kids' room but it got set here on move in day and I loved it. It's a good place to display parts of my typewriter and thermos collections. Every now and then I'll hear little fingers tap-tapping on the keys of the bottom two.

The art work shown above the shelving unit are both by AshleyG. The typewriter print is from LifeLovePaper. It's actually a photo of the Olivetti typewriter I sold to her through my vintage Etsy shop, PonyParty! And that chair...oh, I love that little chair. I've mentioned before that I had it on my lap in the car as we moved halfway across the country.

This corner is opposite the last corner on the other side of our bedroom door. That mirror was a lucky Craigslist find from a local warehouse. The table, tray, lotus bowl, and little tray were all thrifted. The artwork is again, Ashley G. I spray painted the bronze lamp in a nice shade of blue and bought a new shade at Target. This is our catch all and it no longer looks this neat. It only took two hours.

And the bedroom, well...that'll have to wait for another day. You can see our living room here and the kids' room here. Thanks so much for your sweet comments on our space so far!

xoxo, Rachel

Behind The Scenes

EEEK! My e-course is THIS close to being written and ready to add to the private blog. Most of Friday through Monday was spent finishing up the DIY's and firming up photos for each post in my outline. This is a meaty chunk of everything I know about styling your home with vintage and has been really fun to put together.

I've also got the pleasure of featuring a handful of very talented creative types with some beautifully styled homes! I've been inspired by all of them in some way in the way I think about home decor so it's extra special to have them join me in this project.

All of that to say I've been a little absent over the weekend and may be a bit more this week as deadlines loom but I appreciate you checking in and want to say thank you for all of the great comments on our first house tour post! You guys are so NICE!

Be back soon!
xoxo,
Rachel

House Tour #3, Part 1: Our Living Room

I'm so happy to finally be able to share with you the rest of our new(ish) home after four months of feeling out the space, finding everything a home, donating, thrifting, and filling in the gaps with DIY. You can see the kids' room here. Our space will probably change again within a year since we're a military family now so it was important to make it feel like home as soon as I could rather than seeing this as a temporary place that wasn't worth the effort.

I don't want to bore you with every detail of every corner or the fact that I have a story about almost every single item in our home so I'll share the majors and if you have any specific questions I'll try to answer them in the comments below.

We live in an older house with lovely hardwood floors, plaster walls, two bedrooms, one bath, a large studio, and an unfinished basement. The exterior doesn't have much of a style but the inside has enough charm to suit us. We have always been renters so I've learned to decorate standard off-white walls with plenty of color in our textiles and furniture. We both love the character of vintage and have a collection of mid-century and industrial pieces that I've gathered in the last three or four years.

All of our furniture (except our bed) and most of our art/accessories/kitchenware/linens have been found at a flea market, garage sale, thrift store, by the side of the road, or handed down. We happen to have landed in a city full of affordable vintage which has made it so fun to gather together a whole household full of second-hand that we truly love.

Almost everything we had from the last house was purchased after we'd moved in and with that specific house in mind. Most of it works in this space but the biggest change is having a combined living/dining area. In our last house the formal dining room was quite large and doubled as my studio. We ate from the table as a family whenever it wasn't covered in fabric or paint, which was most of the time, and there were always projects stacked along the walls.

We sold our lovely vintage Lane coffee table and the two matching end tables from our last home tour to have more room for baby gear when Ruby was born. There are days when I'd love to have something to set my coffee on but I love that our kids have plenty of space to chase each other through the living room now. It's been one 'must have' that I've been happy to give up as our needs have changed but I may hunt something similar down in a few years.

The yellow chairs used to belong to my friend, Janae, who purchased them from Funtiques, a fantastically curated vintage shop on Commercial St. here in Springfield. I had always admired them at Janae's house so when I saw these on Craigslist I e-mailed to ask if they were hers. I just knew they'd be snatched up right away but decided if they were still available after a week I'd buy them. Long story short, Janae sold them to me and even hauled them over to my house and I've never regretted replacing our previous set.

That mirror above the dining table was found for $5 at a garage sale in our old neighborhood, the table was $40 on craigslist, and the vinyl tablecloth was $2 at a local flea market. I can remember what I paid and where I got almost every thing in this house and have always wanted to tally it up. It's amazing that I have all of that filed away but forgot to put the trash out today.

The large metal wardrobe was a craigslist find that I almost passed up. We have lovely friends who always, always let us borrow their truck to haul big things home and I was able to load that up for $15. Two weeks later I had sanded and painted it pink. I'm now ready to tone things down and may repaint it minty blue or dark gray in the coming months but pink was fun for awhile. It houses all of our Christmas decorations and random items I change out seasonally.

The orange chair is from Urban Flea Market (Charley's) and will someday be reupholstered. I covered the stool with new foam and some inexpensive fabric. It doubles as a launching pad. The crooked globe almost didn't fit into the back of Elsie's Prius on a thrifting excursion and the chalkboard was made from a piece of pre-cut plywood and chalkboard paint.

This wall is my favorite. It was one of the last to get decorated because I didn't know what to fill it with. I didn't want to recreate the same art wall from our last house but didn't have anything else on hand that felt right. One day I was at Urban (Charley's) and spied white plastic letters strewn down an aisle. After finding enough to spell something relevant, I brought them home. I decided to leave them white rather than spray painting them to let their impact be a little more subtle.

My third grade teacher, Mrs. Kirschner, regularly told us that 'nice' was a lazy word. She wanted us to become more creative in our selection of descriptive words rather than using the popular fallback. That lesson has encouraged my writing to this day and often comes to mind when I have a choice between sharing something generic or something colorful. It's also funny to get the same reaction from every person that walks in the door and turns around to see it. You can imagine their tone when they say, "Nice!"

I originally had this shelf in the kids' shared room in the last house but it was begging to be added to the party under the sign in this house. The vintage wallpaper is a 'nice' compliment to the golden tones of the chair and throw on either side. I've currently replaced the yellow bud vase with a larger arrangement of something from the fence line in our backyard and the pink blossoms are gorgeous.

This little corner is tucked away between the sideboard that houses our entertainment set up and my new favorite vintage chair. The crates used to be in the bathroom but are just the right size to corral some of my favorite art and diy books. I attached the metallic trays above them with 3M strips and have some polaroids from the old house on display with magnetic clips.

I didn't share a photo of the vintage Broyhill sideboard with our flat screen because the whole set up isn't really that aesthetically thrilling. We use a flat screen as a monitor and have an external hard drive, mac mini, speaker, wireless keyboard and wireless mouse to watch movies and tv online and to use as a second computer. The sideboard was a craigslist find that was going to be burned if we hadn't brought it home. It's one of my favorite pieces in our house.

When decorating this new space I didn't want to fall back on old arrangements and ideas from the last house because it felt like an opportunity to play and try new things. I always want our home to be warm and welcoming but I love that it can have a sense of humor, too. Having our home reflect who we are and be somewhere we enjoy spending LOTS of time is important to us and we're thankful not only for this space but for the friends and family that we're able to share it with.

I'll be sharing our kitchen next and then our bedroom so stay tuned for parts two and three!

xoxo,
Rachel

Resources
Couch, Craigslist. Curtains, handmade from Urban Outfitters bedspread. Record Player, Urban Outfitters. Lampshade, Target. Scooter pillow, blog giveaway. Vintage wallpaper, CraftVintage, Art, MaryKateMcDevitt, and LifeLovePaper. Cross-stitch, handmade by me.