5 Ways to Decorate with Gourds

Can you believe that we are now into November?  Crazytown, I tell ya!  I have some ideas for you today if you are interested in the gourd department...  I know I am!  For me, the more imperfect, the better!  I love me a bumpy gourd, yes I do.  What about you?

5 Ways to Decorate with Gourds

Better Homes and Gardens

Arrange the gourds in some sort of container (think: a basket, wheelbarrow, or atop a bench) in an artful way -- I love the colorful look of this display, but an ombre selection or even an all-white arrangement would look lovely!

Better Homes and Gardens

Set them on your coffee table, with books and a vase full of wheat or another neutral type of flower.

Country Living

Place the gourds in glasses or atop hurricanes on your windowsill.  A lovely sight if you have them in your kitchen!

Better Homes and Gardens

This is pretty much my go-to method for decorating with gourds from the farmers market -- sitting on top of candlesticks!  I love this look -- and there are so many types of candlesticks out there, this could either be super traditional or really funky and modern.

Better Homes and Gardens

Set the gourds up in a bowl or another type of dish -- this would look lovely as a centerpiece for your Fall table!

What other ideas do you have for decorating with gourds this time of year?  What are your go-to's?

xo,

maria

Textiles: Dish Towels!

One thing I love to accessorize my kitchen with is pretty dish towels.  Right now we are using a variety from West Elm with our last name initial monogrammed on them.  I have two of those, and I display them on my oven handle.  But even beyond the decorative sort, I just love having sweet dish towels in general!  Upping the cute factor in your kitchen will make you want to be in there more often, I promise!  Here are some of my favorites...

Anthropologie

LEIF

West Elm

Anthropologie

Anthropologie  (seriously, how fun is this?!)

Crate and Barrel  (Christmas is coming, after all!)

Pottery Barn  (I just can't help myself!)

Williams-Sonoma

Crate and Barrel

Crate and Barrel  (dying over the cuteness)

Do you decorate your kitchen with pretty textiles?

xo,

maria 

Room Translation

Good morning!  Happy Friday to you!  :-)

I hope you have some fun things planned for the weekend.  Ours will be pretty low-key (hopefully -- I'm in need of that!) with some time spent with friends on Sunday, and I'll be with my mom and grandmother on Saturday, so I'm really happy about that.

Today I thought I would try something a little different on the blog.  I had fun creating the feature for this post, so I'm pretty sure there will be more of these to come.  I'm not settling on a certain day each week, but for now, expect these room translations to appear every now and again on Redecorate.  I'm also thinking it would be fun to do a Table Translation post, too, with table settings!  :-)  But I'm getting ahead of myself...

{Source}

This room is just so much fun.  I love how sophisticated and traditional it is, yet there are a few really modern touches that make it super interesting.  Things that stick out to me when I look at this room: The silhouette pillow -- love; the beautiful pink throw; the cute table lamp -- gotta love the dots; and the gold-framed artwork.  So...here's the translation!

Headboard  -  Lamp  -  Artwork  - Pillow  - Throw (very affordable!)

What's your favorite element in this bedroom?

xo,

maria

Vintage-Inspired Bed Frames

Good morning!

It's been a little while since I last posted.  I wanted to give you all a little heads-up as to why my posting may or may not be a bit sporadic in the coming days or weeks.  My grandmother has been very ill, and these past few days were incredibly difficult ones.  I won't go into much detail at this time, but I will say that watching her age and fall into such a state of decline is something that is so sad and hard for my family and I.  At some point, I may feel like I can open up about this a bit more; but until then, I just wanted to give an account as to my whereabouts.  I'm still excitedly developing original content, and I find that to be a wonderful escape from all of the drama in my personal life.  So, in other words -- stay tuned!  ;-)

Today, I wanted to talk about my love for vintage-inspired bed frames!  I absolutely love the way that  this decorating element looks in a beautiful woodsy vacation home, but I also enjoy these frames in traditional rooms, shabby chic rooms -- you get the picture, I'm not picky!  ;-)  Here are some of my favorite inspiration photos...

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

What do you think of this decorating element?  Do you prefer a chippy bed frame, brass, or something else?

xo,

maria

No-Fuss Candle Centerpiece

Happy Wednesday!  This week is flying by for me -- is it for you, too?  I'm really looking forward to this weekend -- my husband and I are going to take a day trip up North to enjoy the cooler weather and do some antiquing.  I can't wait!  :-)

This past weekend, I was at Target, and I found the coolest thing!  A table runner...made of out sticks.  I'm not joking, people -- it was love at first sight.  At the particular Target I was at, they only had one left.  One left!  Talk about a moment of decision-making at its finest.  ;-)

Long story (not really) short, I brought it home with me.  I laid it across our table, and then began my favorite process of zhushing to figure out what this centerpiece was going to look like.

I really like the way it turned out.  Simple, not fussy in the slightest, and pretty to look at.  I grabbed a pretty glass cake stand from my collection, placed two red (Target) candlesticks on top, and two vintage white candlesticks on either side.  The white ones have been passed down to me -- they were my great-grandmother's!

Take a look at that stick runner.  It's just fun, right?  And it adds a nice textural element to our table.  

And, of course, my favorite thing about taper candles?  The drippy look!

*Swoon*

Have you scored any great Target finds lately?  

love,

maria 

I Heart HomeGoods

Good morning!

I got the chance to do some Fall nesting this weekend, and I really enjoyed it.  There is a new HomeGoods that opened up nearby, and I was thrilled to see that it is honestly the most gorgeous one I have ever been to.  Think hardwood floors all throughout, spacious enough for the large carts that people fill with all of their treats, beautifully-styled shelves full of pretty decor...  I could go on and on.  ;-)

Anyway, I didn't pick up much -- just some vase filler and a candle.  But I moved some things around in our apartment and enjoyed finding new homes for things and making some fresh vignettes.

This is on the right side of our TV.  The apothecary jar is filled with neutral Fall vase filler that I picked up several weeks ago, and the vase has clear glass beads in the bottom with a Spiced Cider candle poking out of the top.  It smells delicious!  You can sort of see my Dollar Store leaf garland, which is laying atop our entertainment center in a cute way.

Here's my driftwood (also from HomeGoods) that has moved around quite a bit.  I think that after the season is over I want to spray paint this a gold color.  We'll see.  This is on the left side of our TV.  :-)  

Here's the main event, people -- glitter pumpkins.  I mean...yes.  I saw these and could not pass them up.  The vase is from a thrift store ($2), and the filler was $9, I think?  Easy peasy.

Do you have a HomeGoods near you?  Do you find that to be dangerous?  (HaHa)

love,

maria

Mixing Colors and Prints

Happy Sunday!  :-)  I hope you all have a wonderful day planned ahead of you.  My husband and I will be going to church, grocery shopping, and vegging.  I have some homework that I have to do, and I'm sure that I will get a little bit of baking done, too!  ;-)

Mixing colors and prints.  One of my favorite parts of decorating, truly.  I am still refining my skills at this, and I will admit to making several big color/print mistakes around our home; but this remains one of my favorite processes.  I love eclectic spaces, mostly for their boldness in colors, prints, and accessories.  I am always fascinated when I look at rooms or homes and I see that there definitely is a method to its patterned scheme, and there is a real color story lying there in the midst of the abundance.

Like I said, I am still working on this.  At this point, it is difficult for me to really gauge if a color is going to work until I try it on for size.  Sometimes I'm wrong about it, sometimes I'm right.  But this is an element that I am hoping to become better and better at over time, using both my designer's intuition, and by paying attention to a room's true color story and making good decorating judgments based on what I know to be true.

In the meantime, I am free to dream...

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

Do you like this design style, or are you more of a neutral decorator?

xo,

maria

Flea Market Decorating

Hey, there!  Happy Saturday!

How many of you love that collected-over-time look when it comes to decorating?  I know that I really enjoy the process of mixing the old with the new, and refurbishing pieces or decor along the way.  Over the course of my life, I have been to many antique shops -- I just love them!  My family and I used to spend a lot of time in the way-northern parts of Arizona, and my mom and I used to go antiquing in all of the beautiful woodsy shops.  It is such a great memory, and we always had so much fun.

When my husband and I moved in together, we had a mish-mash of furniture that didn't go all that well together, but we made it work.  Over time, we have replaced a few pieces, but the majority of our furniture is still the same.  But with pieces collected over time, and a little bit of love, our home sort of transformed right before our eyes into something we're very proud of.

I love looking at pictures of this gathered look, and I'm really excited to share some of my favorites today on the blog!

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}

What do you think of this type of design?  Do you enjoy finding treasures of your own?

xo,

maria