The Perfect Casual Seating Solution for Small Space Decorating

I have received product from Jonathan Louis in exchange for this post. All expressed opinions are 100% my own.

Small spaces can be some of the hardest to decorate. My living room has driven me all levels of crazy ever since we moved into this home in 2010 because of its awkward layout and small size. I am constantly rearranging pieces and swapping things in and out trying to find the solution to the design dilemma it poses.

Providing extra seating has been the trickiest problem for me. I can get a couch in here, but beyond that, I haven't known what to do. This has been the situation for several months, and today I am excited to share the perfect solution I found!

Creating a Personal & Cozy Home for Fall

Fall is in all its glory here in Western New York right now. My favorite time of year! The leaves are reaching their peak colors and just enough of them are falling off for the kids to jump and play. I shared my fall home tour last month, but today, I wanted to share with you how I strive to make this season personal and cozy for my family. I am joining in with some of my best blogging friends for Seasons of Home: Fall Edition. Be sure to visit them at the end of this post to see what fall inspiration they have to share!

Even just as a hint of this season is in the air, my whole spirit is lifted in a way I can't describe in words. I become alive all over again…my senses are awakened and my focus shifts to what matters most…enjoying every minute of this fleeting time.

Natural Bohemian Fall Mantel

Last week, I showed my most recent mantel vignette in the second part of my fall home tour. Today, I am showing you more details of how I decorated it for fall this year. It has some similarities to last year's…natural with vintage finds, but this time around with more bohemian style thrown in.

Boho Eclectic Fall Home Tour

Welcome to the second installment of my fall home tour for 2015! I am so honored to be joining Kelly from Eclectically Vintage for her 'Eclectically Fall' home tour this year! There is so much inspiration in this group of talented bloggers!

Fall Home Tour: The Porch & Kitchen

Welcome to the first installment of my fall home tour for 2015! If you came by way of Cozy Little House, I am thrilled you popped in for a visit. Be sure to head back over if you missed Brenda's tour. Today, I will be giving you a tour of our front porch and a rarely seen room on my blog…the kitchen!

I hope you enjoy your visit here today and do come back on Thursday, when I will share my second installment with the living room and dining room tours.

Let's get started…my husband and our two small children live in a tiny town just outside of Rochester, NY. The weather has been all over the place here lately, but just started to feel like fall. This is definitely my favorite time of year.

Oh, hello fall {free printable}

Fall is is pretty much here in my book (except for the extremely hot weather we are experiencing right now in Western New York), so, for me, it's time to start bringing the warmth and beauty of autumn all throughout my home. Today, I am excited to usher in fall with several other talented bloggers as we share decorating vignettes, along with free printables, for you to enjoy all season long!

I love, love, love this time of year. I really can't say it enough. So much beauty to behold and comforts that bring me back to the best memories of childhood: jumping in leaves, going to pick out pumpkins, selecting a Halloween costume, good food, family get-togethers, the scent in the air. There is pretty much nothing that I don't love about fall expect maybe that it is too short. It always seems to go by in a flash. Oh if I could just hold onto it for a bit longer. 

Vintage Bohemian Fall Decor Ideas

Fall is my favorite time of year, and it's just around the corner. I am already getting excited to prep my home for the season and share my fall home tour with you next month! Until then, I thought I would share some simple ways to add vintage bohemian flavor to your fall decor from seasons past. I hope you enjoy these!

Click on the links at the end of each description, to check out the full posts with even more photos and inspiration!

25+ Ways to Decorate with Affordable Vintage Finds

I love decorating with vintage finds, mostly because they have charm and character but also because I am super thrifty. I love to find a bargain. Always have and likely always will. I scour thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls, garage sales and even the side of the road to find unique and affordable (or free!) pieces. Today, I am sharing a round-up of ways that I have decorated with and repurposed some of these vintage finds in my own home.

The majority of these images have appeared in previous blog posts, so be sure to click on the links beneath each for more details!

 

Vintage Bohemian Wall Hanging

What happens when you take a thrift store doily, hang it from a branch, and add some feathers? You get a vintage inspired wall hanging with bohemian style! I've had this crocheted doily hanging in my upstairs gallery wall for several months but decided to give it a little tweak. It already had some boho flare with the fringe at the bottom, but I wanted to enhance it even more and finally did…

This was nothing too fancy, mind you, and 99% of the work was already done for me, which made putting it together super easy. I am always amazed by the skill and talent of people who can crochet like this. Such tiny, intricate detailing! Definitely not in my skill set. But embellishing? Now, that I can do.

How to Create a Rustic Bohemian Living Room {Source List & Inspiration}

Last April, I shared our living room redo with a new leather sofa. Overall the room has a rustic, vintage style with bohemian touches. Since I get a lot of questions about sources, I put together a list with several elements of the room, along with close alternatives for items that were vintage finds or not available online. I hope you enjoy this curated collection inspired by my own living room!

Note: Items are not shown to scale.

I am an avid thrift store, flea market and garage sale shopper, so many of the items that I decorate with are one of a kind or impossible to find online. This source list offers both items that I actually own, as well as close alternatives that have similar appeal.

Eclectic Summer Porch

Even though our porch could use some improvements, I still enjoying changing out the decor season to season. I didn't do much with it this past spring, since it has been very rainy, but here is how I dolled it up for summer, just in time for the 4th of July.

I would ideally love to paint our siding gray and give the trim around the door a crisp coat of white. I'd also love to add some shutters and window boxes. At this point we aren't sure how long we plan on staying here, since it is getting pretty cramped inside, so we have held off on doing any work to the exterior for the time being.

Inspire Me DIY Instagram Challenge {and a stairway wall update}

Today, I am participating in an Instagram challenge, hosted by Kennesha of Restoration House Interiors, called Inspire Me DIY. The point being to choose a project that has long been on our list of "to dos" or "to trys" and get it done, while inspiring others to do the same. We shared our 'befores' and progress photos throughout the week on Instagram and are sharing our 'after' reveals today!

I know I could have chosen one of the more fun things on my list of to dos, like a cool DIY craft, but I decided to do something (or at least begin to finish something) that I have been putting off for awhile. A home improvement project.

Living Room Redo with a New Leather Sofa

I have received product from Raymour & Flanigan in exchange for this post. All expressed opinions are 100% my own. Read my Full Disclosure Policy. 

I am so excited to share our mini living room makeover with you today! I have been working on it for awhile, ever since our new furniture from Raymour and Flanigan arrived. Then my grandfather died, and I lost all of my momentum. Life will do that to you. Right when you are going along thinking everything is just so…it changes. Your heart can be broken. And then needs time to mend. My grandpa was so special. Many days I still have a hard time believing he isn't here anymore. It has gotten brighter, even though I am still missing him every day, but I am able to find joy again in simple things like rearranging and decorating. I say this is a "mini" makeover since it doesn't look too different from the last time I shared a full tour of this space last fall, but there are several new things that I am excited to show you today!

As I mentioned, last Friday, I have been dreaming of a chesterfield leather sofa for ages, and can now say I am the proud owner of Raymour and Flanigan's Saddler Leather Sofa. I am in love with it! When the delivery men dropped it off, I was semi freaking out inside. It's one of those things I thought I would always dream of but never really have.

Styling an Eclectic Bookshelf {in the living room}

Lately, I have been obsessed with bookshelf styling. So much so that I stole a shelf from my kids' room, just to decorate it in the living room. (Don't worry, I replaced it with something else that was even more kid friendly for them). I purchased this shelf at an antique store, long before having children, and while it isn't exactly "the look" I was going for, it had the space I wanted. I will be sharing the full living room refresh later this week, as I mentioned last Friday, but today, it's all about the shelf.

You might recall the rustic shelf that was in this space previously. It has been there for a long time, and even though I love it, I felt limited with how many things I could actually "style" on it.

Choosing the Perfect Leather Sofa {and a Date Night at Raymour & Flanigan}

I have received product from Raymour & Flanigan in exchange for this post. All expressed opinions are 100% my own as I truly love their furniture. Read my Full Disclosure Policy.

I have been working on getting our home decorating "finished" forever it seems, even though we have only lived here just going on five years. I know it is one of those things that will never really be done, as styles evolve and life changes, but it's a nice feeling when you can see progress towards making your house a home. We are on our way there with the help of several new pieces of furniture from Raymour and Flanigan and some plans for putting a few more personal touches in our main living areas.

Styling an Ottoman Tray

Last week, I shared a couple of trays that were mailed to me for the Swap It Like It's Hot challenge. I chose to keep one as is and use it for styling on our ottoman from time to time. With young children, it's not all that practical, but it is still fun to do here and there…like oh say when the kids are napping? I shared a couple of pics of how I had styled it in last week's post and thought I would share a few more here.

How I Keep My Decorating Style with Young Kids in the House

Is it possible to keep your personal decorating style with young children in the home? This is a question I pondered for a couple of years after my first daughter was born back in 2011. Eventually, I found the answer was YES! You absolutely can. You will, of course, have to compromise in some areas for matters of safety and mess making, but overall, it is still possible to have a stylish home that you and your children can enjoy.

Last summer, I shared a guest post over at Yellow Bliss Road with 5 Tips for Kid Friendly Decor. Today, I am resharing portions of that post, along with more thoughts and ideas on how to keep your own style and make your home inviting and safe for the little folks.

A Year of Mantel Vignettes

Today, I thought it would be fun to share all of the mantel vignettes that I created this past year. I love changing out the decor of our mantel season to season. I am still on my blogging break but got this post ready for you before, so you could enjoy it now!

Our mantel currently resides in our dining room and has for the past few years. We purchased it at an architectural salvage store right after we moved into our current home. It was painted dark brown then, but because the paint was literally chipping right off, we sanded it down and gave it a rough coat of white. Click on each of the links below to be taken to the individual posts to see all of the vignette details. I hope you enjoy this "mantel recap"!

Holiday Home Tour 2014

I am so excited for this day! This is literally a "blog dream" come true for me! I am revealing my holiday home tour for you as part of Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday Housewalk. If this is your first visit to my blog, I am beyond thrilled that you are here today! Please make yourself right at home 🙂 If you are a regular…I treasure your visits to this little blog of mine.

I am stop six on the tour…and there are a ton more so you are in for some real holiday eye candy!

Rustic Fall Table & Dining Room

Last month, I shared my fall home tour including a peek into my dining room decorated for the season. I am joining with several other talented bloggers today, sharing our Thanksgiving tablescapes, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to give you the full dining room tour. I am keeping things simple and the same this Thanksgiving. Be sure to visit the other talented bloggers at the end of this post for more inspiration and a big thank you to the very talented Bre of rooms FOR rent for hosting this event.
I don't think we will be having Thanksgiving at our house this year (it's kind of nice when you can leave the cooking and the mess to someone else, right? {grin}). But we have been enjoying meals as a family at the table every night, and I am reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and trying daily to find thanksgiving in everything around me. Even when the house is a mess, the kids won't sleep, and I have piles of laundry and dishes calling my name. There is still beauty to be found in each and every moment. They are harder to find some days, but I am learning that I can train myself to look for them, by recording them in my own journal of gifts.