Flower Arranging

I wanted something fresh in my decorations so I put together a festive diy. I got the idea on pinterest and thought I would give it a try. I rubber-banded three boxes of candy canes around a clear glass cylinder vase. I then filled it with red carnations and evergreen branches.

An important note: Not all of my candy canes were the same height. An extra box may come in handy to get things more even. 

DIY Christmas Ornaments

I changed up my decorations this year. I normally do mostly red with silver and green accents, but this year I wanted a metallic and green look. I needed to fill my tree in a bit so I made a few ornaments. I used a silver sharpie and clear glass ornaments. I filled them with fake snow and sheet music.

Christmas Decorations

I don't know about you, but Christmas is my favorite time of the year, all of the lights and the glitter :). Derrick puts up with my extreme enthusiasm well. I did a few diy projects for Christmas this year and I will share them throughout the week in the hope that it will inspire creativity. 

My Store is a Mess!

We are in the thick of our renovation and my store is a mess! The walls came down last week and I am excited to see it finally taking shape but, its dusty and noisy and our poor sales staff is constantly looking for the new location I hid all of the furniture. Good things ahead though now that our new flooring is in.

Next Project

More like next projects. We are working on a few things right now.

Project 1: Master Bedroom

We just purchased a new king sized mattress not too long ago, yay better sleep! Problem is we don't have a king sized bed so I am working on a new headboard idea. We have dressers that I love but, I don't think I want the bed to match. They go with the full size bed I have in my spare bedroom so they will look perfect there, thus giving us a clean slate. This is the look I am thinking. I love a clean space because you can spice it up as you see fit but take it down when you're tired of it. I am going to make this headboard to go on our bed frame.

Project 2: Landscaping the front yard

We have been working on our curb appeal all summer! We had such overgrown planting beds and everything looked a mess. We tore it all out and now we have something of a blank slate. I painted the front door and I want some plants. The idea is just to soften up the corners by the door and add a bit of interest.

Project 3: Master Bath

I touched on this subject already and yes we have made some improvements from the navy blue start, but I want to keep the momentum going.  The bathroom will never get a full gut but we are thinking of re-doing the tile on the tub surround and a new sink top.

Project 4: Kitchen Island 

We are in desperate need of kitchen storage. I was all too spoiled in the last place we lived and now I have more stuff than places to put it. We don't have an island in our kitchen, but we do have enough room to put one in our kitchen (a small one). I love this project and I think we will do something similar, but with a stainless top.

The Thing About Merchandising a Furniture Store...

Mass appeal is very important. If I had my way, everyone would love a slightly refined casual style with formal accents and an ever rotating selection of beautifully tailored upholstery. However, I know this does not work for everyone. I have the task of thinking for mass appeal when it comes to rugs, lamps, art work, and accessories (my contribution to the big picture). I love the ever rotating selection of things to pick from and my vignettes are constantly changing.  Its fun to create a look that is out of the norm for my style. It may not be my personal taste, but there is something for everyone.

We are rounding the final bend of our renovation at the store and I am at accessories. Bedding, to be specific, is what I have been working on this week. My bedding department is lacking and in a few weeks it will be the jewel in the new area of the store.

This is what we look like now for the most part. Bed in a bag and a few accessories has become the norm, but I am working on the layering and really filling this space out. All new bedding has been ordered and exciting things are coming.

gearing up for fall

I have started doing some small fall decor changes around the house. I know I will get more into it as we get further into the season, but it's only just barely September and I don't want to go too crazy.

I will probably move into the kitchen next with a small tablescape. We don't have a dinning room so our eat in kitchen needs to be functional as well as pretty. I like the look of this one from my pinterest.

Project Wood Floors

Derrick and I replaced the carpet on the first floor with wood and it made such a difference. We did it ourselves and let me tell you, it was a lot of work but totally doable.

It took the entire weekend to complete not going into the kitchen. The flooring was a tongue and groove click floor with a rubber backing. It is floating on a vapor barrier because we are on a slab foundation. As we get more of the living room finished, I will take more pictures but I am so excited about how it turned out. We love it!

Folding Books......

...Shocking!
OK I found this super cool tutorial on folding old books to make them fun accessories and displayable objects and as a merchandiser, I had to try it. We have home office furniture that we sell and my job is to make it cute. I accessories with books all over the store but I wanted something different for the office area. I watched this video on youtube and loved the turnout.

 

This took me so little time (maybe an hour if that) to do two of these. I would recommend a book with at least 300 pages. This book I did was only like 240 and it wasn't as full. My other one was a little over 350 and it lays flat completely. Another thing to look for is a flexible spine, new books don't do as well. Now to all that are asking how I could have done such a thing to this poor book, we stage with so many books on a major level that don't even get opened. They are just objects for display. I thought I would make the pages look special too.

A vew from my desk today

We are getting ready to start some renovations to the store soon and I am excited to get to be a part of it! Ultamatly my opinions are only suggestions but I get to voice them and that's exciting. I am working on floorplans and I get to help pick out finishes. Fun things to come!

A place to start

So having two days a week to overhaul an entire house means progress is slow. That being said, any progress is always good. Derrick and I went to Lowes and now have supplies. We are working on our bathroom at the moment doing a small face lift. A complete makeover is out of reach at the moment with the rest of everything else we are trying to do, so its make it work time.  I want something bright and airy (we started with navy blue walls, not so bright).

This is what we have now:

A small step in the right direction. We painted the walls and changed out the light fixtures. Next we are making a towel ladder and shelf to add some storage and display. 

I love this one:

The vanity in this picture is nice too, but I think we are going to paint ours and change the counter top out for a marble or granite one. 

I love the look of this (although slightly less formal):

Fingers crossed for no more surprises!

We bought a house

Like the title states, we bought a house! My husband and I are first time home owners, DIY'ers, and one of us (me) happens to be a designer and merchandiser. This adventure will be one documenting our new role as homeowners. So far, we are at paint but with much planning will hopefully come results!