Category: Decorating

March 29, 2013

Simple Mason Jar Display

Mason jars just have a certain charm. You can fill them with just about anything—flowers, candles, candy, drinks—and they look good. Yet, I’m also drawn to their simplicity. I like them just as they are. That’s why I decided to decorate the front of my fireplace for spring with just a simple row of Bell mason jars. There’s nothing to it. You can create this simple display yourself in just about any area of your home. Line a few mason jars along a shelf, on a windowsill, along the middle of your dining room table. It’s simple perfection. You could also drop a tea light in each one and light them at night for a pretty glow. Who loves mason jars? Let me know about your favorite ways to use them in the comments… Keep Up With Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest....

March 20, 2013

5 Best Houseplants For Your Home

Growing plants indoors renews your space. Plants filter the air and brighten up any room. It just feels good to mix some life in with the rest of your décor, especially after a long winter. Maybe it’s the spring weather coming, but I’ve just felt all planty lately. Houseplants, along with herbs and veggies I’ve started from seeds, are cropping up in every room of my home. Many common houseplants flourish all year long without a lot of maintenance. (My kind of plants.) These five are my favorite easy-to-care-for houseplants. They’ll even thrive for those of you with black thumbs. Aloe Vera You know what’s great about aloe vera? It’s happiest when you leave it alone. I’ve had my aloe vera plant for almost two years and I’ve found that when I coddle it, it starts to wilt. All aloe vera needs is a warm sunny window and very few waterings. Any time I overwater my aloe vera plant, it looses its bright green color and starts to turn a dull grayish-green. Just leave it alone, sit back and enjoy! Dracaena This lush plant requires just a little TLC. It only needs indirect light, making it the perfect indoor plant, and intermittent waterings. I tend to go a week or...

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March 15, 2013

Glass Bottle Bracelet Holders

Corral all of your bracelets in one spot by reusing a glass bottle as a bracelet holder. The necks of glass bottles are the perfect size to line up your bracelets and watches. Several bottles create a quirky-cute jewelry display. Plus, you can see all of your baubles easily, which will make getting ready in the morning faster. I used a couple bottles I had on hand. (Please ignore the fact that I was too lazy to scrape off the residue from the label on one of them.) You could display your jewelry with any leftover bottle—wine bottle, beer bottle, jelly jar. Get creative! Would you use glass bottles to display your bracelets? What are you favorite ways to store your jewelry? Like this? Then you’ll love this Branch Jewelry Hanger and these 3 Uses For Vintage Jewelry. Related articles: Branch Jewelry Hanger DIY Cake Stand Jewelry Holder 3 Uses for Vintage Jewelry (Besides Wearing It!)...

February 21, 2013

Snow Day Home Inspiration

Happy snow day from the Midwest! We’re pretty much buried out here. The Kansas City area saw 8 to 12 inches of snow or more today and it’s still coming down. As a home blogger, I have perhaps an out-of-the-ordinary love for being at home, but I think a snow day makes everyone appreciate home just a little bit more. There’s nothing quite like snuggling inside with a pile of blankets, a cup of something hot and a window with the curtains pulled open to reveal a snow-falling scene outside. My house is happy, warm and oh-so comfy right now. This is what makes me love home decorating. It’s about creating the same comfy, satisfied and simply happy feeling that you have for your home on a snow day—all the time. Everything I write about, every do-it-yourself project, decorating idea and thrift store find, is because it’s something that made my home feel just a little bit happier. And, I hope all of my ramblings give you some inspiration to make your home feel happier too. Well, that’s enough home philosophizing for one lazy snow day. What makes you inspired when it comes to your home? Apparently weather does...

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February 9, 2013

5 Tips For Decorating With Rugs

Rugs add so much personality to a room. What was once just bare hardwood or yucky rental apartment carpet instantly gets a design makeover just by spreading a rug across the floor. I’ve lived in my share of dingily-carpeted apartments. Rugs added some much-needed visual spice to a room (and covered up at least a portion of the drab carpet.) If you have hardwood floors, which I do now, rugs bring coziness and a pop of color to plain flooring. They can do far more than just these decorating tricks, though. Here are five more practical and pretty ways to use rugs in your home. 1. Rugs separate areas Rugs work wonders at visually separating a room. If you have a room that functions as both a living room and a dining room, for example, then you can use rugs to create divisions. Place one rug in your living area, you know, under your couch, coffee table and armchairs. And, lay another rug under your dining room table to visually separate the two sections. Without these visual cues the large room will just sort of meld together. I used this same idea in my oddly-shaped bedroom. My bedroom functions as both my sleeping area and my office. Before I placed a rug in my “desk area” of the...

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January 23, 2013

How to Style Your Shelves & Surfaces

When arranging items on your shelves, end tables, dressers and other areas, it’s often hard to know where to start. What makes one arrangement of books and pottery more attractive than another? And, what is it exactly that makes a bookshelf in a magazine look so put together? Styling items in your home really isn’t as difficult as it seems. It just takes a bit of planning, and some trial and error, too. But, it’s well worth it. To me, the “little things” are what make a home special. Like the bowl my sister brought me back from a trip to Mexico and the travel books I picked up at my local library’s book sale. The items in your home mean something to you and they deserve to be put on show. Use these tips to inspire you to arrange your shelves, tables and any other spot where you display items in ways that you’ll love. I’ll show you how I styled the top of this dresser in my living room… Start with bigger items Whether you’re arranging a bookshelf or an end table, place the larger items that you know you’ll want to use first. That way you...

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January 18, 2013

When It’s Okay to Make a Decorating Mess

Why when doing a new home project, does it seem like everything has to turn into a complete disaster before it all comes together? Be it painting a piece of furniture, rearranging a bookshelf or hanging a picture, whatever area I’m working on turns into utter chaos. And, that decorating disaster going on in one area often spills into the rest of the house. I don’t know how many times I’ve started to hang a picture, figuring it would be quick work, only to find myself minutes later with discarded screws all over the house and wall dust scattered across the floor. The tool kit’s in the living room. The screwdriver’s on top of the fridge. (How’d it get there?) And, where is the freaking hammer?? Perhaps I need a better system for my tools. Or, maybe I just need to remember that, at least for me, I have to make a complete mess in order to make something beautiful. Please tell me I’m not the only one who makes a disaster while in project mode. So, what prompted this revelation o’ mine? For a while now I’ve been planning to write about how to style your shelves and...

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