Spring decor with natural elements and textures

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope your weekend has been good to you so far. It's been sunny here in Maine and finally starting to feel like spring -- I love it!

So, it's the perfect weekend to show you my spring decorating. I didn't go crazy this year and I mostly used things I already had on hand. My focus this year was on natural elements and textures, with glossy white accents as contrast. Take a look!

This is the dining room, which is back to being a dining room after we flirted with it becoming a sitting room. On the table is a simple centerpiece in my Pottery Barn lantern that I got for a steal a couple years ago. Inside, you might recognize the jute twine eggs I made over Easter weekend, and my DIY rope-wrapped pot.

The plant inside is an Arabica plant that I picked up a couple weeks ago. I wasn't sure how it'd like being inside the lantern, but it seems to be growing and thriving! The lantern is sitting on a charger from Target.

The white vase and white bird are Michaels finds from a couple years ago. I love the glossy white with the textures of the jute and the greenery. And the colorful bamboo placemats are from Bed Bath and Beyond. They make me happy :)

I spent a few minutes last weekend poking around our backyard to find some sticks and branches, then let them dry out for a few days in the garage. They're quick, fast and cheap fillers for vases. I'd love to have fresh flowers all the time, but they're more a splurge for me than a regular purchase. To add some soft spring textures, I made a little flower out of tissue paper by simply cutting two layers of paper into an irregular circle, poking some floral wire through the middle, and gently folding the tissue paper into a petal shape. I secured with a little hot glue and a little green ribbon around the base.

Recognize this console table? It used to hang out in the living room until I decided to put the media cabinet in its place. I like it in the dining room. It holds our cookbooks and makes a great spot for drinks or appetizers when we're entertaining. But right now it's a great spot for more spring decor!

Let's start at the bottom with the runner -- a past DIY project using some fabric from the remnants bin at Joann. I'm a total sucker for that remnants bin. The bottles are simply old beer bottles wrapped in jute twine. Since there's no art on this wall (yet), I wanted to create some height with this display, so I used more branches and tissue paper flowers. These are some tissue paper pomanders I made (and never used!) for our wedding (I used Martha Stewart's directions, but you can find how-tos everywhere). And yes, I've kept them! I've felt kind of silly hanging onto a box full of tissue paper pomanders, but let me tell you, they've come in quite handy over the years. They just need a little fluffing to look good as new.

My new terrarium is hanging out here too -- I'm happy to report it's still alive! The bird is big brother to the little one on the table.

This bird print, bought  for me by my mom from HomeGoods, adds some fun color to the whole display. This used to hang in our living room but it was a little small for the wall so now I'm trying to find a different home for it. For now, I like it here, especially as it echoes the birds-and-branches thing I've got going on.

This white bowl from Target has the rest of my jute eggs and the yarn ones I made too.

 
And if you like me on Facebook, you'll recognize this glass bottle, my latest flea market find for just 10 bucks. I'm addicted to glass bottles. I particularly like this one with some curvy branches and tissue paper flowers. It looks so romantic!

A couple more photos, because I can't resist...

In short, I bought nothing new for this spring setting -- just the way I like it! :)

Have you decorated for spring yet?

Before I sign off, I just have to take a minute to say my heart goes out to everyone affected by the tragedy in Boston. As I said on my Facebook page, this one hits close to home for me -- Boston is really the heart of New England, and I have so many happy memories of time spent there, from going to the Science Museum on school field trips, to Red Sox games with my husband, to visiting good friends who live there. I'm happy all my friends were safe, but my heart breaks for those whose loved ones were not as lucky. And while they may have apprehended the people responsible, the ordeal is not over for those who have to continue healing and grieving.

I can't do much to help, but I can donate blood, and I did last week. My proximity to Boston means my donation might actually be transported there if they have a shortage and need it. I'm a big advocate of blood donation, so wherever you are, I urge you to consider taking the time to donate blood. One pint of donated blood can save up to three lives! It feels so good to know you're making that kind of impact.

Living room update

Nearly a year ago, I decided I wanted to repaint my neutral living room. We painted it a light beige when we moved in, when we had a dark brown couch. But our big, beige sectional made me itching for some color on the walls. I got lots of advice about this -- and a good number of people suggested I leave the walls neutral and bring in color with accessories. I just knew this wasn't going to work for me, so I followed my gut and got out the paint brush.

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous about it. I have not regretted it one bit -- I simply love our blue-gray walls! The color is Misty Morn by Behr.

After I repainted, though, I spent a while trying to figure out what to put on the walls. I decided not to rush things and just wait for inspiration to strike. Fast forward like eight months, and I finally put some holes in the wall.

The last time you saw the living room, it looked like this:

And here's what it looks like now with some stuff on the walls.

My inspiration for my living room came mainly from this photo:

Source: hgtv.com via Mindy on Pinterest

I love the blues and greens with a hint of gold accents. I wanted a living room that has a casual feel with a little homage to the beach -- something with a mix of neutrals, coastal colors, warm wood tones and some hints of gold and black to ground it all and give it a collected-over-time feel.

I also used this mood board by 7th House on the Left as inspiration. 

This convex mirror is from Home Depot, and I absolutely adore it.

I picked up this mahogany table at my local antique store for $75. The size is perfect, and I love that it has both a shelf and a drawer for storage. The top is made of leather with a gold design around the edge.

On the other end of that wall is a printing press type tray I found at an antique store for just $30. It already had hooks on the back to hang on the wall -- lucky! I don't think putting shells in a type tray is original, but I love the look.

This corner used to hold our media cabinet...

...but as I was pondering art, I decided to make a furniture switcheroo. I moved it to the opposite wall, where we used to have a console table. The table was kind of useless -- it was decorative, but didn't hold much and just ended up being wasted space. I'm in this total kick of making everything purposeful -- trying to get away from space fillers. So, the console table left and the media cabinet took its place. I'm really liking the change!

I got this gold-and-glass fixture at a flea market for just 8 bucks -- I'm smitten!

This change also allows us to have a lamp in this corner, which is handy because we have no overhead lighting in this room.

I still don't know what to do with the big TV wall. We'd like to mount the TV, but I can't decide if I want to put anything else on the wall or not.

I couldn't bring myself to move the puppy out of his sunny spot!

And that coffee table is on its way out. I've been dying to get rid of it, but I just can't find something I love to replace it with. It has to be small so it doesn't take up too much space, and I'm hoping for something round and airy so it doesn't add to the weight of the room, since that sectional makes the room pretty heavy. Maybe something glass...we'll see (check out my Pinterest board for my latest ideas).

It may have taken a little time, but this room is finally coming along! It's my favorite room of the house. I love the colors and that it has a mix of both antique/vintage and modern pieces. We spend so much time here, and I feel like it really reflects our personality, especially now with some art on the wall -- and a sleepy puppy. :)

Here's a living room progression since we bought our house a little over two years ago.

What a change!

An old trunk's history

Hey all, and happy Friday! I'm just popping in to share with you some information about my old trunk that I thought you'd find super-cool (if you totally geek out about the history of antique and vintage finds like I do!).

I did some online searching after I bought the trunk to find out the best way to restore it to some of its former glory and stumbled across this fabulous resource called Brettuns Village Trunk Services. Not only is this site informative, but it's also seriously entertaining to read -- it had me laughing out loud with writing like this: "We can tell you countless stories of the folks who have dragged their sorry behinds into the shop, red eyes, begging for Grandad's trunk back. We tell them we're sorry, but the trunk was sold to a guy in Minnesota who stores his cross-dressing supplies in it when he isn't using it as a stand for his piranha tank."

I was delightfully surprised to discover that this trunk shop is located right here in Maine, and, actually, probably less than 20 miles from my house. The universe is crazy like that!

So I felt a deep connection to this place when I sent them an email with some photos of my trunk, asking if they could tell me anything about its origins. I didn't expect a reply, at least not a timely one, since their website said they get dozens of emails a week and it's often hard to ID a trunk through photos. So I was surprised all over again when, bright and early the next morning, I received an email back from the manager, Churchill Barton. Here's what he had to say about my trunk's history:

Many trunks of this style were made by larger contract factories and then sold through the Sears or Wards catalogs back in the 1880s up through about 1910.  If you can find an old Sears catalog from way back then you can probably find a picture of this trunk in there, and it was probably priced at about $2.25 or maybe $2.50, believe it or not.  Two of the larger makers of these trunks were MM Secor and M. Meier, both of whom employed several hundred workers. 

He also said the casters on the bottom are original, but some other hardware, like screws holding the lid hinges on, are not original: "(there were no screws used on old trunks, ever)(not one)(I mean it)." I think it's safe to assume Mr. Barton is the hilariously sarcastic writer behind the website, don't you think? :)

I just think it's so cool to think about this trunk being made over 100 years ago, advertised in a Sears catalog, purchased and used who knows where, and now it's made its way to me, and could maybe last another 100 years if I refinish it right (and my kids and grandkids think it's equally as cool and hang onto it or sell it instead of tossing it in the trash). Just thinking about touching something that other hands touched way back before there were cars and phones and all kinds of other modern conveniences puts me in awe. The world has changed so much, but this little trunk is still kicking! Super. Awesome. (See, I do totally geek out to this stuff!)

If you've got an old trunk or now totally want one, check out Brettuns Village for lots of tips for refinishing. They also sell all kinds of replacement parts -- I'm thinking of buying some new leather handles for my trunk, since those have totally fallen apart.

Hope you all have a good weekend! If you go out and buy yourself a trunk, I want to see pictures. :)

What came home with me the other weekend {thrifty finds}

Hey, hey! Welcome to another week! Hope you all had a great weekend.

I made a little trip to the flea market the other weekend. It's like one of my favorite places. I could spend hours just walking around in there looking for those little gems -- it's like a grown-up scavenger hunt!

Last year I shared some of my tips for flea marketing (can that be a verb?? I'm making it one!), but I'll recap one here -- go with a list of things you want to keep your eye out for. Otherwise you'll be wandering around aimlessly and come home empty-handed or with something you don't really need.

I'm always looking for pretty glass bottles that aren't too expensive. They're my total weakness, and I love the way they look grouped in twos or threes. I found these two bad boys and made them mine.

The one on the left was $8 and the one on the right was $5. I was really excited about the demijohn because I already have its big brother!

Family reunion!

I love the shape and color of this one.

I was really curious to know what it was for, especially since the bottom says Sunsweet. A bottle for...raisins?

Nope, prune juice from the 1930s and 40s! I found this old ad for it from 1935. Love it! It was $3.

Source

Now, this item wasn't really on my list, but as soon as I spotted it, I knew it would be perfect for our office.

It's an old navigational chart of the entrance of the Kennebec River here in Maine (which I was calling a "map" until the hubs, who happens to work in a nautical-related industry, politely informed me that it was in fact a chart. I didn't know there was a difference!). The vendor had a bunch of these charts, but this one was older and had all these pretty colors -- the others were just flat yellow and white.

I also picked it because it shows two of my fahh-aavorite beaches here in Maine, Reid State Park and Popham Beach. It only cost me $6! And it's from 1947.

I'm not sure yet how I'm going to frame it, since it's bigger than a poster and custom framing will cost me mucho bucks. Lucky for me, my father-in-law is a jack of all trades and has the equipment and access to materials to make me a frame and a mat for it. The glass will probably run me $50, so it won't be super cheap, but it's worth it for such a cool piece of art. I was very happy to bring home something from the flea market the hubs actually thought was cool!

This last item was more of an impulse buy -- I drove by this little flea market place (the same place I got my convex mirror), saw it outside and literally turned around to check it out. This item has always been on my list but I wasn't actively searching for one because I don't reaaaally need it, and they are usually a bigger chunk of change than I like to drop at the flea market. I like to keep my purchases under $15 because it makes me feel thrifty -- am I super cheap or what?! :) But once I saw this amazing price tag, I had. to. have. this.

An antique trunk! I just think these things are beautiful no matter how beat up and dirty and ugly they actually are. But all the ones I've seen have been upwards of $100 and I just couldn't justify it. But this one was, get this, only $10! I kind of thought it was a mistake, but apparently not. I bought it with a tinge of guilt because I knew the hubs wouldn't be thrilled with me bringing another piece of old furniture into the house waiting for a redo. But with a $10 price tag, you've just gotta go for it!


I'm no antique trunk expert, but I have figured out that this guy is probably made of pine, covered with pressed tin that could have been originally glazed or painted, and the wooden slats are probably oak.

It also has these adorable little casters on the bottom that I just love to death!

Its leather handles are deteriorating and some of the metal pieces are rusty, and it needs a very thorough cleaning.


And let's not even talk about the inside...

Yep, it needs some work, but I'm hoping it'll look pretty cool when it's all done. It could also go in the office, or maybe our bedroom.

So, that's all the old junk awesome stuff I picked up recently! Have you done any good thrifting lately? Have you ever refinished an old trunk? Got any tips? I sure could use them!