A couple weekends ago I checked out a multi-family estate sale with so many rooms of stuff I got lost trying to find my way out. No joke. It was awesome. I wanted to buy a lot more but I had to pick and choose because a lot of items were overpriced. Here’s what I found: Cute leather shoes: $8 Wood cutting board with feet: $5 Fabric glasses case: $0.50 White linen: $4 Black and white gingham: $2 The pieces of fabric are for projects you’ll see here on the blog. The shoes and glasses case were just for fun. I’m especially excited about the shoes. They’re so cute! Reimagine how you think about secondhand stuff and you can find some real gems. Check out past weekend finds! Have you been to any estate sales lately? Find anything good? Tell me about it in the comments… Keep up with Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest. This is the fourteenth post in a 31 days blog series called 31 Days of Reimagining. Start from the beginning....
How to Find Unusual Pumpkins
Bright orange pumpkins are Halloween must-haves. We carve them into Jack-o-Lanterns. They decorate our front porches. Those round orange pump-a-kins are basically the symbol of this time of year. You gotta love them, but you’re not limited to orange pumpkins for decorating your home this season. Heirloom lovelies with twisty stems and haunting shapes are an entirely new level of spooky. You can find heirloom pumpkins in eerie shades of pale green, soft orange and ghostly white. Some even look like they’re covered in warts. Just check your local farmers market or pumpkin patch. Don’t forget to look for acorn squashes and gourds in creepy shapes and colors too. Here are a some beauties from my local market. I love all of these Cinderella-style pumpkins. What do your pumpkins look like this season? Keep up with Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest. This is the thirteenth post in a 31 days blog series called 31 Days of Reimagining. Start from the beginning....
How to Make a Halloween Scarecrow
Get your front porch ready for fall with an easy-to-make Halloween scarecrow. I spotted this cute scarecrow lady at my favorite local coffeeshop, City Market Coffee House. The collection of restaurants, shops and bakeries in the area were having a scarecrow-making contest and this one won second place! I asked the owner, Nikole Ammer, how she made her scarecrow. It doesn’t take a lot of effort—or supplies—to put together a similar scarecrow for your front porch. Here’s what she did, adapted for you. Pumpkin face Choose a pumpkin with a nice long stem for a quirky nose. Use craft paint to create a face around the stem. Scarecrow style Grab a shirt, pants, boots, hat and gloves from a local thrift store. (Nikole made this cute scarecrow lady’s pants out of coffee bean bags. She sewed them herself. So clever!) Body build Stuff the clothes with straw. You can also cheat a little and use newspaper if you don’t want to buy straw. Safety pin the shirt and pants together for extra support. That’s it! Sit your scarecrow on your front porch swing or up against a wall. Add a few pumpkins and maybe even some straw bales for...
Taking a Decorating Break
Sometimes you just need a break. I find that when I’m really frustrated with a decorating project, taking a break helps. When I can’t get an arrangement to look right or when I feel like my home just looks blah, I need a chance to clear my mind. Usually the answer to my decorating problem comes much easier after that. Tonight I need a bit of a break. I’m really proud that I’ve posted ten days straight for my 31 days blog challenge. (This blog post will make eleven.) But sometimes when you need to reimagine your home, you need a chance to let your mind wander. And, I need a bit of mind wandering time this evening. Happy Friday! Keep up with Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest. This is the eleventh post in a 31 days blog series called 31 Days of Reimagining. Start from the beginning....
5 Favorite Furniture Finds—For Free!
I’m so not above digging through stuff piled near dumpsters or on the curb. (I get seriously excited about curb alerts on Craigslist.) Often the furniture you can find for free just needs a little fix up. Slick on a coat of paint or use a little wood glue, and you can transform pieces of furniture you found on the curb into your favorite furnishings. No, I don’t do couches or armchairs. Anything with that much fabric that has been left on the curb has an ick factor even I can’t handle. I look for wood pieces: chairs, benches, cabinets, tables. Finding furniture for free doesn’t mean you have to junk up your house. Be picky in what you choose. And know that finding that gem doesn’t happen often. It probably won’t happen the first five or even ten times you stop and check out a pile of junk. But before you dismiss me as a crazy dumpster diver, check out these five furniture finds all of which I discovered curbside. 1. Vintage writing desk Look at those legs! I adore this vintage writing desk with its detailed legs and solid wood shape. I found it a few years...
5 Ways to Use Wooden Boxes For Storage
We all need to store stuff. So, why not make all that stuff look good at the same time? Wooden boxes are one of my favorite creative storage solutions that serve a purpose and that look attractive. You can pile about anything in them and they make a jumbled mess of stuff much easier on the eyes. Here are five of my favorite ways to use wooden boxes for storage. How to find wooden boxes for storage: Scour thrift stores and Wooden crates 1. Declutter your bathroom Bathrooms tend to get unorganized—and fast. Brushes, make-up, q-tips, towels, toothpaste, lotion. It all turns into a big mess over the bathroom counter. Corral all of your bathroom products in wooden boxes for quick and easy organization. I like to stick smaller items like nail files and razors in mason jars to keep them together. Then, I place the jars in wooden boxes. It keeps everything nice and organized. My bathroom doesn’t have a lot of space, so I store wooden boxes that hold my bathroom supplies in a hallway linen closet. You could also mount boxes on your bathroom wall for rustic hanging storage. 2. Create freestanding shelves Turn wooden boxes of...
Reimagining Inspiration: 5 Pinterest Pins
When we reimagine our homes, we come up with some pretty unique personalized ideas. If you follow my blog, you know that this month I’m doing a blog series called 31 Days of Reimagining. After a little Pinterest searching, I found five ideas that I think are particularly re-imaginative. Check them out. 1. Shutter Cup Rack Turn an old weathered shutter into cute plate and cup storage. This would be an excellent idea for my teeny kitchen. See the pin. 2. Frame Jewelry Storage This frame jewelry display gets a little extra quirk by using twigs to hold the necklaces. See the pin. 3. Chair Turned Nightstand Repurpose a pretty chair into your nightstand. Easy and budget-friendly! See the pin. 4. Pie Pan Tiered Stand Make your own three-tiered tray stand using just three pie pans and two candlestick bases. See the pin. 5. Vintage Suitcase Nightstand Crafting a nightstand out of vintage suitcases isn’t exactly a new idea, but I had to include this pin because of its cheery color combination. See the pin. Keep up with Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest. This is the eighth post in a 31 days blog series called 31...