For too many years, my family has been living paycheck to paycheck. My husband and I were busy raising children and dealing with mundane day-to-day “stuff”. The years flew by and we “collected” furniture that was cheap, hand-me-down, and functional. Nothing was precious because we had three growing boys—and I’m the only female in a house full of males. (Seriously—even the cats are male!) I always meant to “pretty the place up”, but it just never happened, either due to time constraints or because the money just was not there for extra niceties. Recently, however, our situation has changed somewhat. Our three boys are grown (our youngest is in high school) and we are a smidgen better off financially. As the years have gone by I kind of got used to just using whatever space was available while working at my little home based business (Di’s Studio Designs). I’m not one of those lucky people who have a designated office space in my home…You may know what I’m talking about—one of those places where you can set up a proper work space and close the door for quiet and privacy? I was so deprived I almost had to grab a dictionary and look up the definition of “home office”. That’s how bad my situation was! I still don’t have a room to escape to and close the door…but I do have enough interior design knowledge to design a space where I can work! And so I found myself in a situation that required a serious thought process about multi-functional spaces and creative storage. My dining room has now become my “office”, but it also needs to be a place for me to showcase my finished pieces, a place for me to store art materials and decor, a mini art studio for my youngest son, storage for my son’s art supplies, AND a proper dining room. Sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it? This project definitely challenged me and forced me to really think about function, furniture, and space planning. So here’s my journey, step by step—into hell! (No, I’m kidding. It was actually really fun!) Measure the room and create at least a basic floor plan… Okay, so first things first…I had to get some basic measurements of my dining room. So I measured the length and width of the space and the doorway openings. This info gave me what I needed to create a basic hand drawn sketch of my space, which I translated into a simple floor plan in SketchUp (just to be fancy!), but really any type of sketch will do. The idea is to assess how much space there is for things like tables and chairs and cabinets, allowing for traffic flow and clearance as well. In my case, it also helped me “visualize” how to create a sense of balance in my dining room. Measure existing furniture that will stay… After bit of thought, I decided that three existing pieces were valuable to me and needed to stay in the space, so I took measurements of these pieces (which I plugged into my floor plan). Understanding their true dimensions helped me assess where (or whether) to move each piece. In the end, two out of three moved to different locations in the room. Even though the dining room table and chairs were not staying (good riddance!), I still needed to know their dimensions so I could buy a table in a similar size. Assess the state of existing furniture that will stay… In one of the pictures above you can see a very large metal cabinet (hard to miss) that I really, really needed to keep, because it contains storage real estate I just can’t afford to lose. I have decided that it will be moved to the opposite side of the room and painted a cream color to help it “disappear” into the background. (I’m planning on doing a chalk paint DIY sometime soon. Stay tuned!) Another piece of furniture I can’t afford to lose is the larger wood cabinet (now covered in fabric) that houses much of my decor and some finished pieces. This piece has potential, and hubby and I will try to refurbish it and add footings and a top. I love creating vignettes on this cabinet as well (see below), so this piece is staying! The third piece of furniture that is staying is the small cabinet with the floral panels. This belongs to my son, and it is part of the storage he needs for his art supplies. I thought it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone—showcase his artwork and provide something decorative in an otherwise dingy corner of my dining room. So this small cabinet and the artwork above it are both functional and decorative! Shop around for the right style and fit for the room… Okay so before I go any further…a HUGE shout out to Consign & Design in Broomall, PA! I love thrift shopping and consignment stores. I’m always on the lookout for interesting things that have character that don’t break the bank. And I have bought a few things from this particular consignment shop before. I have to say, every time I go in there I come out with something beautiful AND affordable! Seriously, I’m not being paid to say this…they have great stuff! So for this particular excursion, I bought three new items for my dining room—a table and chairs set, a china cabinet (for displaying my finished pieces), and a chest of drawers (which had the drawer space I needed for storing “office” stuff). I made sure each one fit the measurements I needed for the space, but I also looked for a style that helped me create a “flow” from my living room, since the space is open plan. I love the darker wood (sorry Farmhouse lovers!), but dark wood furniture can be visually “heavy”. In this case, however, the lighter line and form, the sleekness of the chairs and table legs makes this set not as heavy while still providing me with that traditional style I had in mind. And—finally—dress it up! This part of the design process did take a little longer than anticipated, but I got there in the end. I scoured thrift shops and other stores nearby until I got pieces I thought had character and fit in with the overall style in the dining room. This room now sings with a delightful mixture of my own finished pieces (from my home decor business, Di’s Studio Designs), some existing decor, a couple of DIY project pieces, a few consignment buys, and a couple of decor items from local shops. I was in vignette heaven! So what do you think? For less than $1000, I now have a beautifully stylized dining room where people can eat (when we are able to have people over again!), a beautiful and organized space for me to work out of as an office (yay!), a place to display my DSD creations, various places for storage, and a small art studio for my son. That’s a lot to pack into one space, but I did it!! Seriously, I rarely design anything just for myself, so this project was immensely satisfying. It was an amazing trip to go through the entire design process with myself as my own client. And what I love best about this entire process is that the finished space is a space I actually “designed”, and not just threw together. I’m over the moon! Every need I had has been checked off! What a difference in this space and the way I FEEL in it! I love working here, my son loves his mini art studio, and we all enjoy eating in this space…What more could you ask for?! I will probably be doing another blog post that specifically talks about individual pieces of decor and where they were purchased. Much of what you see is a conglomeration of DIY projects, lucky finds, and thrift store items, all pulled together to create a stylish traditional ambiance. You really can pull together a great look on a limited budget! Please feel free to leave any thoughts or comments below! And please share to friends…Let’s get a conversation started and grow this community! I am in the process of pulling together a monthly newsletter starting in a couple of months, so if you’d like to be on the mailing list please subscribe to my email list. And—as always—have a great day! This article contains external links for demonstration purposes only, and I am not being financially compensated for specific products or brands. Related blog posts you may want to read: How to replace a clock mechanism How to frame small canvas art How to rewire thrift buy lamps Creating a kitchen coffee bar Comparing DIY upholstery cleaning methods DIY refurbishment of a dining room cabinet
0 Comments
I don’t know why, but miniature worlds fascinate me. I think it was preordained that I would one day design a fairy house. I mean, why wouldn’t I?! And so it was a couple of years ago I came up with a hair brained scheme to design two distinctly different fairy houses, with the main goal to use them in indoor fairy gardens or as part of a vignette. The design concept for one of these miniature houses was inspired by images of old English and Irish cottages, with their rough hewn walls and thatched roofs. The second fairy cottage (pictured below) developed out of childhood memories of enchanting illustrations in fairy tales. The vision behind these designs was to create miniature houses for use with faux florals and seasonal decor that can be refreshed as needed and illuminated with either LED candles or fairy light strands, creating a magical little focal point on a table. Since Spring has certainly sprung, it is now time for my home—and my fairy gardens—to transform into something more suitable for the season! This year I wanted to give my indoor fairy gardens an updated look, and that means new florals and freshly painted bases. To be honest, it has been really tough wrapping the brain around anything comprehensive lately, but breaking this project down into three individual stages (so that each part gets the attention it deserves) made the process easier, and actually forced me to focus on the details. And I’m so glad I took the time to do it that way! I’m so happy with this year’s Spring fairy gardens, I thought I’d share my process and how I arrived at the final look. So if you love fairy houses and fairy gardens (which I can assume you do, since you are reading this!), keep on reading to see how I worked through each step, overcame obstacles, and made my design decisions. Step 1…Spray painting terra cotta bases The bases for my indoor fairy gardens are these two terra cotta plant bases I bought two years ago at Home Depot. I’m ashamed to say I am only just getting around to painting them this year, but don’t judge—I’ve been busy…for two years…Okay there’s no excuse. Anyway, this year I finally painted the bases! For ventilation purposes both plates were taken outside, propped up with wood pieces and laid on cardboard. Each plate was spray painted (two coats each side) with a cream colored stone texture paint. Unfortunately for me, I rushed the process. I was experiencing a dental issue and had an emergency dentist appointment in an hour and for some reason I thought I could get much of the painting done before the appointment. It ended up being a huge mistake! I had runs and pools…It was horrible! So when the bases were dry I experimented with sanding them, originally thinking I would just paint over the whole mess, but then a crazy thing happened…I loved the results from the sanding! I was using 100 grit sandpaper which left a beautifully aged chalky finish that I immediately fell in love with! At this point I decided against using any type of sealant, as the bases were going to be used in a dry application and I didn’t want to lose that chalky finish. Talk about a happy accident! Just look at the depth of color and texture, as if this was old stoneware that had been exposed to the elements! Step 2…Adding in the faux florals and decor Once the debacle with the bases was settled, I moved on to setting up the houses and decor. Inspiration for the decor for the English Cottage came after watching some videos on Youtube. I found myself clicking through videos of English gardens, admiring the “tamed” wildness of the gardens. The roses in particular caught my attention, because they just seemed to scream “English garden”. So off I went to Michaels and bought some pink and wine colored miniature rose bunches. And I just love them! See how they create such a pleasing and visually stimulating contrast against the normally drab grey colors of the cottage? Love it! Love it! Love it! The hues in the roses also perfectly compliment my existing living room decor, which is important as this indoor fairy garden occupies a place of high visibility in that space. The rest of the decor was deliberately kept minimal and simplistic, with small stones lining the base surrounding a stone slab path (made with stacking stones) and some additional supporting florals. Just a simple fairy cottage surrounded by rose bushes! The vision for the Fairy Cottage was clear to me from the get-go. I wanted it to be adorned with moss and ivy, with a minimal amount of florals, if any. The colors in my vignette were already very strong and made a clear design statement, so all I needed from this Fairy Cottage garden was some simple greenery just to make it feel more whimsical. A couple of moss covered rocks, a piece of “forest wood”, and a trellis, and my design was done! Like with the English Cottage, I used small rocks to line the base and stacking stones for the pathway. And, just like that, my second fairy garden was done! (Actually, I tell a lie. it wasn’t “just like that”…I agonized over every mundane detail because I was having a “day”!) Step 3…Lighting up my indoor fairy gardens I always love to finish my indoor fairy gardens with fairy light strands, and this time was no different. A fairy strand was strung over and around each house and surrounding garden to light up as much of the house, florals, and greenery as possible. (I may go back later and apply a second strand to light things up even more.) To light up the house itself I stuffed a balled up fairy light strand into the opening in the back of each house. Both indoor fairy gardens and houses look so whimsical in the evenings and they add so much character to my living room! And that’s it! The whole Spring decorating project took me a few days, but that was mainly down to bad timing and an emergency with a broken tooth (and, of course, I was in no mood afterwards)! I’m glad I forced myself to finish, though, because I love sitting on my sofa and looking over at each fairy garden in turn and daydreaming about the fairy that lives there! (Really I’m just admiring my own handiwork, but we won’t tell anyone.) If you’d like to see more about the original concept for my houses, the design process, and previous seasonal incarnations of my fairy gardens, hop on over to here. If you would like to subscribe to my email list, I will be compiling a new newsletter in the coming months to help you keep track of new items for sale on my web site, new blog articles I will be posting, and any social media stuff I decide to throw in there for good measure! Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below. And if you like this article, give it a share to your friends and family. It would mean the world to me and help me build my following! This article contains external links for demonstration purposes only, and are not endorsements for specific products or brands. Related blog posts you may want to read: My outdoor fairy garden My fairy house project |
Author
Some of the posts on this site contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|
Copyright 2024 |
Major credit cards accepted through Square. Apple Pay option available. This site also accepts PayPal payments for better online security, and it's free to sign up! Gift cards are now available for purchase!
|