Cozy Living Room Update Part 1: Affordable Linen Curtains

11 Comments August 2, 2022 heidis

Part one of our cozy living room update was the addition of affordable linen curtains.

It’s been a while since we’ve done any updates to our living room. A few years ago we did a big update in this space with an accent shiplap wall, new furniture & rug, a larger television, and updated the lighting. Since that time, we haven’t done much with our living room other than change the décor on the bookshelves. Well, it’s time our cozy living room gets a little love and an update!

Lately, I’ve been looking at the television wall in our living room and realized it felt kind of cold. Cold is not how I want our home to feel! Quite the opposite. I always want our home to feel inviting, warm, and cozy. I started to brainstorm ideas on how to warm this space without having to start another project or spend a lot of money. (This would probably send Dave over the edge since the kitchen project is still not done!).

So, I decided the first step in updating our cozy living room would be the addition of curtains to the windows that flank our television! I knew I wanted to add linen curtains that were affordable and did not break the bank. (Stay tuned for more updates to this space in the coming weeks!)

Cozy Living Room Curtain Rods & Curtains

Once we decided to add curtains to our living room television wall, I began the search for affordable curtain rods and curtains. Curtain rods and curtains can be pricey, especially if you have many windows to cover. We were only adding curtains to two of the windows in our living room, however I still did not want to spend a lot of money on curtain rods or curtains. Once I started shopping around, I realized there are some beautiful, inexpensive options available when it comes to both.

I stumbled upon these affordable brass finished curtain rods from the Hearth & Hand with Magnolia collection at Target. The updated modern-farmhouse style with the brass finish were the perfect rods to warm up our cozy living room. Oh, and the price was right on budget too!

A couple other curtain rods I love from the Hearth & Hand with Magnolia collection is this French return curtain rod in matte black, and this classic steel curtain rod in an antique brass finish.

Curtain Shopping Tips

Before shopping for curtains, there are a few things you should decide upon beforehand to make your shopping experience a little easier.

Budget – How much are you willing to spend?
Style (Drapes, Valances, Shades, are just a few examples)
Material – Are you looking for thick, heavy curtains or light, breathable ones?
Length – Measure windows to know which length to purchase (we will talk about this more further down).
How do you want your curtains to hang? (Rod pocket, grommet, pinch pleat, tab top, tie top, etc.)
Light Filtering – Should the curtain filter or block light.

I found our affordable 95″ natural linen rod pocket living room drapes on Amazon! I was shocked that I found curtains I liked on Amazon. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised that the curtains exceeded my expectations.

A few more inexpensive linen curtains I found on Amazon were these linen light blocking curtains to filter light in a room, I loved the lace trim detail on these linen curtains, and these white linen pom-pom curtains were super cute.

These affordable curtains for our living room really cannot be beat! Two panels come in each package (four panels in total), the material is high quality (linen blend), and the color was exactly as described.

Why I Purchased Four Curtains For Two Windows

I purchased a total of four curtain panels and hung two panels on one side of each window for a couple of reasons.

Our cozy living room is small. We do not have a lot of square footage or wall space in this room, I did not want the curtains to overwhelm or make the room feel even smaller or too heavy.
With the television in the middle of the wall, I did not want the curtain panels to obstruct the view of the television (hubby would not like that).
Doubling up curtain panels makes it appear as if it’s one long panel, thus elevating the look of your room and the appearance that you’ve spent a small fortune on wide curtain panels!

The Proper Way to Hang Curtains in a Cozy Living Room

Did you know there is a right way to hang curtains, and most importantly a right way to hang drapes?!

Curtains should not hinder your view out of the window or make your windows appear smaller. Curtains should accentuate your windows and make them look longer and taller.

Here are a couple of things to remember to hang curtains properly:

Install the curtain rod about 8-12″ above the window frame. Measure from the window frame and not the window casing.
Install the curtain rod about 8-12″ beyond the window frame (not the casing) on both sides, also known as the stack width.
The curtains should hit about 1/8″-1/4″ from the floor, or puddle about 4-6″.
Remember to frame the window to accentuate it. The curtains should not cover the window when they are open.

In our living room, we did our best to follow these guidelines. However, the wooden beam to the left of one window and the bookshelves to the right of the other hindered us a little. Just remember to use these tips as a guide and not a rule!

How to Elevate Curtains in a Cozy Living Room

There are 3 simple ways to elevate your curtains to make them look cozy, beautiful, expensive, and high end.

Iron the Curtains

Iron the curtains before hanging them. Although it can be a bit time consuming, it is well worth the time when you are able to hang nice, flat, ironed panels.

Double Up Your Panels

This is something we discussed earlier in this blog post. A simple way to elevate and make your curtains appear fuller is to double up on curtain panels. If you have the room on either side of your window, add two panels to both sides of the window (remember to account for this when hanging your curtain rods). Or, if you have a wall similar to mine, stack two panels on one side of the window.

Curtain Clips for a Cozy Living Room

This is my favorite way to elevate rod pocket curtain panels!

You may be asking, “What is a curtain clip and what are they used for?” Curtain clips are used to hang any type of curtain panel. Simply clip the ring to the panel. Curtain clips are a great way to add 1-2 inches to drapes, since the clips allow the fabric to hang just below the curtain rod.

The general rule is to use seven curtain clips for every one panel that is about 52″ wide.

To figure out where to place the curtain clips on the top of the panel, add small pencil marks on the back of the curtain every 7-8″ to evenly space the curtain rings. Then simply attach the curtain clips to the panel for a relaxed, floppy look and hang the clips on the rod. Or, what I like to do is pinch the curtain panels where I am going to place my curtain clips for a more polished look.

Here’s what I mean and how I like to add curtain clips to curtain panels:

Pinch the Curtain — From the back side of the curtain, along where the curtain rod would be inserted, measure out where the curtain clips should be placed. On either side of the measured marks, pinch the fabric (the back side of the curtain should be facing out).

Curtain Clip on Curtain — Add the curtain clip to the pinch or fold in the fabric. Continue until all 7 clips have been added to the curtain panel.

Curtain Ring — By adding clips to the curtains this way, the clips will not visible when the the curtain is hanging on the rod.

These are the warm gold curtain clips I purchased. I love how the curtain clips create a polished and almost pinched pleat look to these affordable linen curtains.

Shop Our Home

Links to products featured in this post can be found in our new “Shop Our Home” page. I hope this page makes shopping our home a little easier for you! I earn a small commission when you make a purchase from one of our LTK links. Your support helps me continue to create meaningful content for you!

And that wraps up our first cozy update to the living room! What do you think of the addition of curtains to this space? Any guesses on what the next update will be to our cozy living room? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to have a well loved home! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LIKEtoKNOW.it.

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Living Room Update: Affordable Linen Curtains

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How To Style Open Kitchen Shelving

15 Comments July 19, 2022 heidis

I am beyond excited to finally be sharing our open kitchen shelving on the blog! This is one of my favorite parts of our recent kitchen renovation and DIY’s that we have completed to date. I’ve wanted open kitchen shelving for years, so to finally have this in our kitchen is a dream come true for my shelf loving heart!

While this part of the kitchen renovation was just recently finished, I have already styled our open kitchen shelving two times! You can view the first photos I shared of our new open kitchen shelving here, in our summer home tour.

This past weekend as I was playing around with the décor on our open kitchen shelf, I thought I would share with you a few tips that help me to create visually appealing open kitchen shelves.

The best part about these tips is that they are universal. They should not be limited to the kitchen or to a specific design style. These tips can be applied to any open shelving, in any room, regardless of personal style.

Tips on Styling Open Kitchen Shelving

Combine old and new objects.
Use items of varying heights.
Add layers to create depth.
Stick to a color palette.
Add natural elements.
Mix materials. Wood, glass, metal, linens are just a few examples.

1. Find Anchor Pieces

The easiest way for me to style a shelf is to start with the anchor pieces. Anchors are items that first catch your eye, they are usually the largest objects, and they help to create balance on the shelf. For these shelves, the anchor pieces I used were, a group of cookbooks and a silver trophy.

I placed the group of cookbooks in the center of our shelf. Adding the tallest cookbooks in the middle of the grouping with the smallest cookbooks on the outside.

When I add books to a shelf, I make sure that they are not lined in uniform. Some books are forward on the shelf while others are further back. I also have some books with the spines facing forward, and others with the spines facing backwards. This all helps to add texture and depth to the shelves.

The other anchor piece I added on the right side of the shelf was a large, vintage silver trophy. I turned slightly so that the handles would be visible from all angles. And, I made sure the trophy inscription was facing forward (it adds so much character to this vintage piece and the shelf)!

2. Keep to a Color Scheme

I love a neutral color palette. I am drawn to woods and whites with a small pop of color (depending on the season). Whatever your personal preference, stick to a color scheme to keep your shelves looking neat and cohesive.

3. Create Layers & Add Height

This tip is essential to creating a shelf that has depth and interest.

Create layers on shelves by having some items pushed towards the back and other items toward the front. I also like to lean objects against the wall, stacking pieces to created a layered look. This creates depth and keeps the shelves from looking flat, dull, and boring.

Add items of varying heights. This helps the eyes to move from piece to piece on the shelf, creating visual interest. If something isn’t tall enough, don’t worry! Add a stack of dishes or bowls beneath the item to make it appear taller.

Instead of just adding a group of pears to the shelf, I placed the pears on a stack of dishes to give them height. Not only do the stack of dishes add height but they also add layers.

4. Mix Materials on Open Kitchen Shelving

Mix a variety of cohesive materials on open kitchen shelving for visual interest.

5. Use Groups of Odd Numbers

It is scientifically proven that our eyes are drawn to groups of odd numbers!

I like to group similar items in 3’s, but any group of odd numbers will keep the shelf visually appealing.

6. Decorate With Natural Elements

Natural elements are super simple way to add texture and visual interest to open kitchen shelving.

On this shelf, I added fresh pears and fresh hydrangea stems (cut right from our yard). Two of my favorite natural elements to decorate with, especially in late summer.

You do not have to use fresh natural elements. Faux fruit and faux/dried floral stems are great options as well. They can be just as beautiful and will last much longer. Afloral is my favorite go-to online shop for faux florals.

7. Make Open Kitchen Shelving Cozy

Create cozy kitchen shelving by adding new and vintage pieces to the shelves as well as decorating with pieces that are special to your family.

On our kitchen shelf, I used a mixture of new and old cookbooks. I also added a page from one of my old Julia Child cookbooks to the new gold frame leaning against the wall.

For another layer of coziness, I used our wedding china dessert plates underneath the group of pears. Small, simple touches like this are what make a home feel extra special and cozy.

Candles add coziness too! Just make sure the flame of the candle it not too close to the ceiling or any other pieces on your shelves (my hubby is good at reminding me of this…insert eye roll). This country pear candle from Antique Candle Co. is one of my current favorites!

8. Step Back & Take a Break

There are so many times that I become frustrated styling a shelf and I have to remember to stop, step back, and take a break. Styling a space doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes it can take days of looking, moving, and tweaking a space to get it styled just right.

Neutral Farmhouse Kitchen With Open Shelving

If you find this happening to you, remember to give yourself grace. If you feel frustrated, take a break or move on to something else. This will allow you to clear your mind and when you go back to the space you were styling, you will have a fresh outlook and new ideas!

Final Thoughts on Styling Open Kitchen Shelving

Remember when styling open kitchen shelving that it’s your home you’re decorating, and you should style your shelves the way you like! These tips should only be used as a guide. And if these tips aren’t for you, that’s fine! Your home should always reflect you and what you love. Decorate your home with pieces that are meaningful to you to create your own unique version of a well-loved home.

Shop the Décor on Our Open Kitchen Shelving

You can shop most items I have styled on our open kitchen shelving, here. The glass bon bon jars on the counter can be found, here. Shop my favorite candles, here.

I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to have a well loved home! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LIKEtoKNOW.it.

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Cozy Kitchen Corner

6 Comments June 28, 2022 heidis

My love of a cozy home is apparent! For those of you that have been here for a while, you know that there are certain areas of our home that I love to style and update frequently. This cozy kitchen corner is one of them.

I am not entirely sure why this kitchen corner is one of my favorite spaces in our home. It just makes me feel cozy and happy. When we recently installed beadboard in this area, the cozy meter flew off the charts for me!

Our original plan for this cozy kitchen corner was to add wooden hanging pegs to the trim piece going along the top of the beadboard (similar to this shelf we installed in another part of the kitchen). However, when I stumbled upon these gold sweet home signs with hooks at Target, I began to imagine something slightly different here. Instead of installing the hanging pegs on the trim, we hung 3 of the sweet home wall signs on the beadboard (I always like to group items in odd numbers). I absolutely adore the character, the pop of gold, and the functionality these signs add to this little corner.

The signs include 2 gold screws and 2 anchors each, however the signs I purchased were missing a couple of each. Instead of returning the signs or searching for gold screws, we used regular black screws and applied Rub ‘n Buff in European Gold to match the screws to the color of the signs.

We did not anchor the screws into the wall because we screwed the signs into the beadboard. However, I would recommend using anchors if you install these signs on drywall or sheetrock.

I kept the styling of this kitchen corner very simple for summer by adding a market bag and a couple of towels for the pool. The French door in this corner of our kitchen leads out to the pool area so this is a great spot to hang essentials for swimming and sunbathing. These wall hooks have become very convenient!

I hung these blue stripped towels from Hearth & Hand by Magnolia on two of the hooks. The fringe detail on the towels is so pretty and the blue stripes are absolutely perfect for summer! Blue is one of my favorite colors to use in our home during the summer months. You can see more ways I incorporate blue into our home for summer, here.

The market bag I hung on one of the hooks is also from the Hearth & Hand by Magnolia line. It’s a great summer bag for the beach, or a trip to the farmer’s market, or for packing a picnic. I love the organic texture of this bag and the coziness it adds to this corner.

These sweet home signs would look amazing hung by a front door as a single sign or grouped together in multiples. The hooks are the ideal size to hang keys, leashes, hats, bags or coats.

To complete this kitchen corner (for now!) I added a new, neutral area rug. I wanted a rug here that was sturdy enough to soak up wet feet coming in from the pool, but a rug that was cozy too. This rug is the perfect fit for this corner!

This cozy kitchen corner is not finished! We will be installing wallpaper above the beadboard by the end of the summer. I cannot wait to show you the wallpaper that we chose for our kitchen and entryway. Stay tuned. It is going to make this space even cozier…if that’s even possible!

I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to have a well loved home! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LIKEtoKNOW.it.

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Simple Summer Patriotic Décor

5 Comments June 21, 2022 heidis

4th of July is just two short weeks away and that means it’s time for me to add a little summer patriotic décor to our home! The 4th of July is one of my most favorite holidays out of the entire year. It’s a time for us to gather with friends and family to celebrate the birth of our great nation. Celebrations include parades, concerts, cookouts, fireworks, and time off of work to relax. My favorite part of this holiday…gathering with family without the expectations of gifts. 4th of July gatherings are all about enjoying one another’s company with delicious Americana food, and a few loud fireworks to end the night. That’s it, there are no other expectations other than having a good time!

Once I realized that 4th of July was right around the corner, I got the itch to add in some simple summer patriotic décor to our home and specifically this glass cabinet. As someone who loves an all neutral décor palette, I like to add just small, simple touches of red, white, and blue for summer. Patriotic décor does not need to be over the top to be impactful. A simple addition of a blue ribbon, or a red flower, or an old historical book are all you need to decorate your home for the 4th of July.

I have more patriotic décor ideas in our summer home tour, you can check that out here.

The simplest way to add summer patriotic décor to any home is with the flags. So simple and easy, right?!

I grouped two medium sized flags and placed those in the vintage demijohns on top of the cabinet. I grouped two to three smaller flags and placed those into the glass jars inside the cabinet. The red, white, and blue of the flags add just the right amount of color to this otherwise neutral corner.

Adding newer flags to vintage pieces helps to add character and coziness to our home. You can purchase the flags in our home here, and here. When purchasing any flag, make sure to buy flags that are American made!

I love the flags next to this vintage book, “Pennsylvania Superior Court Report”. It gives me all the historical, patriotic feels! Our bookshelves are always a mixture of new and vintage books. It is such a great way to incorporate new with old, which is one of my favorite ways to decorate!

Baskets add another layer of texture to shelves, cabinets, or any area of your home. The texture of the baskets inside the cabinet play off of the texture of the demijohns on the top of the cabinet.

I placed a few faux Queen Anne’s Lace stems inside the baskets. Queen Anne’s Lace is such a beautiful (and underrated in my opinion) flower and reminds me of summer! More faux summer flowers you could add into your patriotic décor could be; hydrangeas, geraniums, or poppies .

Ribbon is another way to add simple patriotic décor to your home. I tied a blue & cream stripped grosgrain ribbon to the handle of one of the demijohns. I simply tied the ribbon into a bow. Then kept the tails of the ribbon long to drape down onto the cabinet. To me, ribbon makes everything more beautiful!

If you have a wired ribbon that you love but don’t love the wire, check out this reel on Instagram on how to remove it.

Finally, I added blue & white quilts and blankets to the bottom shelf of the cabinet. I love that we can easily pull out a blanket to cozy up on the couch or grab a quilt for a picnic or a trip to the beach.

For more simple summer patriotic décor, check out this blog post with patriotic décor ideas along with a few fun patriotic food ideas too!

I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to have a well loved home! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LIKEtoKNOW.it.

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Are you team make your bed every day or only when company comes over? I make our bed every single morning. It’s something I started doing years ago and has become a habit and part of my morning routine. I love crawling into a made bed at the end of a long day, it’s so cozy!

For all my still loving photo friends, here’s a few photos of our new curtains that I shared in my reel last night. I think these photos truly capture how much cozier our living room is now. Can you feel the subtle fall vibes here too?!🍂

On the blog tonight I’m sharing phase one in a series of small updates to our living room. What is phase one??? New curtains!!! It’s been years since we’ve had curtains in our living room. Recently though, I felt our television wall in the living room felt a little cold and needed something to warm it up, so we added super affordable curtain rods and curtains. I love how much cozier this room feels now, and now I can’t wait for the next update! Any thoughts on what that might be???

I’d been searching high and low for the perfect scoops for my glass kitchen canisters and could not find ones I loved. I had given up the search until a couple of weeks ago when my friend Shannon @mylittlewhitebarn_ shared the most adorable canister scoops…tea cups! I adored this idea and now we finally have scoops for our canisters! I decided to use the tea cups from our wedding china set since we never use them and now they are on display on our kitchen counter. Thank you for this idea Shannon, I love it!

Thank you. That’s what I want this post to be about. A huge thank you to all of you for your kindness, trust, support, love, and friendship. Without each of you, none of this Eleanor Rose Home journey would be possible.

One of my favorite places to visit is The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island; the summer home of the Vanderbilt family during the gilded age. The enormous wealth of the Vanderbilt family is astonishing in their summer home from the marble walls, columns, bathtubs imported from Italy, the gold plating everywhere, platinum walls, 20 bathrooms, 2 story butler’s pantry, and a children’s playhouse that is probably bigger than our entire house!

Summer Home Tour

66 Comments June 13, 2022 heidis

Welcome to our summer home tour! I am excited to be joining 30 talented bloggers this week to give you a little peak into our homes styled for summer. I love a little peak into people’s homes, don’t you?! Summer is our family’s favorite season! Summer for us is all about simplicity, relaxation, and comfort. I think you will find these same elements in the décor throughout our home.

If you are coming here from Kim at Shiplap & Shells beach cottage summer home tour…welcome! Kim’s home truly embraces the feeling of summer. I look forward to opening our home to you and showing you around our cozy home! A big thank you to Kelly at The Tattered Pew for including me in this summer home tour event!

After my home tour, I hope you will check out the other summer home tours linked at the end of this post. I know you will find endless inspiration in their beautiful blogs!

Welcome to Our Home

If you are new here, let me introduce me and my family! Hi, I’m Heidi! We are a family of four living on the south coast of Massachusetts. Our home is a labor of love, which we built from the ground up almost 15 years ago. We are DIYer’s, so the projects around our home are endless. Our latest DIY undertaking has been our kitchen. My husband says this will be the last major project in our home, but we will see about that (wink, wink!). We live about 20 minutes from historic Plymouth, Massachusetts and we enjoy heading there on hot summer nights for dinner and drinks by the ocean.

One of the most commonly asked questions I get is, “Where did the name Eleanor Rose Home come from?” Eleanor Rose Home is named after our dachshund-mix rescue, Eleanor Roosevelt. She is the apple of our eyes and the epitome of love, homeliness, coziness, and togetherness. Eleanor embodies all things I wanted the blog to represent! You can read more about me and the story of Eleanor Rose Home here.

Now that you’ve learned a little bit about our family, it’s time to get this summer home tour started!

Kitchen Summer Home Tour

The kitchen is the heart of our home.

When you walk through the front door into our home, you enter the kitchen. As I mentioned earlier, our kitchen is currently under renovation. We still have a few things left to do including building the oven vent hood, painting & hardware updates to the cabinets, and wallpaper to hang. But for now, I am enjoying all that we have accomplished so far!

You can view the progress of our renovation in my Instagram highlight labeled Kitchen Renovation.

My hope is to have the kitchen completely finished by the end of this summer (fingers crossed)!

My vision for our kitchen remodel was an open & airy farmhouse-cottage style kitchen with a combination of warm woods & cozy whites. It has been so fun seeing our vision slowly come to life!

To create that cottage vibe, we installed beadboard around the entire kitchen including the backsplash. I love the texture the beadboard adds to the entire room. We painted all of the beadboard Alabaster in an eggshell finish by Sherwin Williams. Picking a shade of white paint was no easy task, but I am so happy with the color we decided upon! Alabaster is the perfect creamy shade of white for our home.

My favorite part of the entire kitchen renovation is this open shelf area with hanging pegs! I wanted to have an open shelf in the kitchen so we removed the cabinet that was here. It was amazing how much lighter and brighter the kitchen became by simply removing that cabinet!

To style this shelf for summer, I placed a few red ranunculus in a cream colored planter and added a couple of blue & white striped hand towels for just a small touch of red, white, and blue.

I loved the addition of the basket to the hanging pegs as well. The texture of the basket against the texture of the beadboard really makes this area pop. Also, who doesn’t love a little scallop detail?!

These glass bon bon jars are one of my favorite additions to the kitchen! I love the functionality and uniqueness they add to our countertops.

In this corner of the kitchen by the stove, I have a cookbook holder. I like to leave a particular cookbook open to the page that contains a recipe of my grandmothers. I love that every time I walk by the open cookbook it reminds me of her and her delicious homecooked meals.

A great way to keep your home cozy is by adding items of sentimental value into your décor, pieces that are unique and special to you and your family.

From this view in the kitchen you get a small glimpse into the rest of our downstairs, which includes the library and living room.

Let’s head over to the next stop in our tour, the living room!

Living Room Summer Home Tour

Our living room is small and cozy. Just how we like it! We enjoy unwinding here at the end of a long day with our feet up with an exciting movie on the television or a good book in our hands.

Our entire first floor is open. The sofa console table we have on the back of our living room sectional helps to create a more defined living room in an open downstairs.

This console table is one of my favorite pieces to style & play with in our home. I love changing the décor on this table often. For summer, I added an old white olive bucket with a mix of blue & white hydrangeas, chamomile, and stock along with a red bow for a festive 4th of July arrangement.

I added a few of my favorite books in shades of blue to our console table for another pop of my favorite summer color!

When building our home, we added built-in bookcases along with two window seats to one wall in our living room. The window seats are one of Eleanor’s favorite places to nap and keep watch for mom’s deliveries (she is not a fan of delivery drivers!).

I like to keep our bookshelves simple for the summer with a collection of our favorite books, a couple of faux green plants, and a few baskets for texture. To add texture and dimension to the bookshelves, I face some of the books with the pages facing out and randomly alternate them on each shelf (this has been slightly controversial on social media!). I just love the the texture it adds to the bookshelves.

You may notice a few gold bunnies on the bookshelves as well. Gold bunny figurines are a year around décor staple in our home!

I love adding small pops of blue to our home for summer, and one of the easiest ways to do that is with throw pillows. I like to purchase pillow covers and change those on our throw pillows seasonally. The blue script pillow cover here, is the just the right amount of blue for summer in our neutral living room.

Above our living room sectional, we have three large wooden signs with photos of Nadalee & William from a couple of years ago. I love these photos of our children and the natural backdrops of the photos are perfect for a summer home.

That completes the tour of the first floor. Let’s head upstairs to our master bedroom!

Master Bedroom Summer Home Tour

We did a small refresh of our bedroom a few years ago. The refresh included installing Summer Squall wallpaper by Ellie Cashman as an accent wall behind our bed. This wallpaper is absolutely stunning with it’s large bold flowers and it’s incredible lifelike attention to detail.

I love the challenge of keeping this wallpaper suitable for all seasons and holidays!

I added this pink & white block print/stripped quilt to our bed for the summer. The bright pink color is what sold me, and I loved how the small floral block print complimented the large floral print wallpaper.

Summer is the perfect season to play around with bold colors and patterns that you might otherwise might be nervous about trying! Summer is full of bright, vibrant colors so it’s the perfect season to experiment with colors in your home.

To style our nightstands, we clipped wild roses from our woodline along with a few peonies we have growing in our backyard. Shopping our yard for natural décor is one of my favorite activities. It is like a treasure hunt and the bonus is it’s all budget friendly!

We purchased our bedroom furniture a few years ago from a local New England furniture store. The furniture gives the perfect French farmhouse-cottage vibe to our bedroom.

I wrote a blog post last week with 10 tips to refresh your bedroom for summer. You can check out that blog post here for a few great tips and to see more views of our bedroom!

Thank You for Stopping By

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of our home as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing it with you. I would love for you to visit us again, it was so fun having you here!

Let’s stay in touch! You can subscribe here to receive exclusive content & weekly newsletters from us delivered right to your inbox.

Cindy at Cloches & Lavender is the next stop on this summer home tour. Cindy is a fellow dachshund lover and her home is filled with beautiful, unique, vintage pieces which makes her home feel warm and inviting. Be sure to visit the other homes in our summer home tour too, links included below. Happy Summer!!!

I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to have a well loved home! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LIKEtoKNOW.it.

Bloggers’ Best Summer Home Tours

Monday’s Tours

The Tattered Pew / Cottage On Bunker Hill / She Gave It A Go

Cottage In The Mitten / Stonegable / My Wee Abode

Tuesday’s Tours

Thistle Key Lane / Midwest Life & Style / White Lilac Farmhouse

My Thrift Store Addiction / Willow Bloom Home Blog / Dabbling and Decorating

Wednesday’s Tours

Bricks ‘n Blooms /Amy Sadler Designs / Peacock Ridge Farm

White Arrows Home / Pasha Is Home / The Ponds Farmhouse

Thursday’s Tours

Simply2Moms / Country Peony / Southern Home and Hospitality

Shiplap and Shells / Eleanor Rose Home / Cloches and Lavender

Friday’s Tours

Le Cultivateur / Lora Bloomquist Create & Ponder / Noting Grace

My Family Thyme / Vintage and Grace Living / County Road 407

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Farmhouse Cottage Bedroom: Summer Refresh

13 Comments June 6, 2022 heidis

It’s summer and that means it’s time to refresh your bedroom! Summer decorating is at it’s finest when it’s simplified, relaxed, airy, and peaceful. This is especially true for the room we spend about a third of our lives in, the bedroom. Our summer bedroom continues the same decorating theme as the rest of our home, cozy minimalism. Less equals more. Remove the heavy blankets, flannel sheets, store away the winter clothes, and your bedroom will begin to feel cooler, calmer, and more collected. Your bedroom will become the perfect space for enjoying a restful night’s sleep on a hot summer night.

Whenever I think of summer, I am brought back to the summer I had turned sixteen and traveled to Iowa. I am originally from Iowa, and was sent to Iowa to de-tassel corn. That year, the weather had other ideas. Instead of working, I had a 4 week vacation that left me with lasting memories of time spent with extended family.

I spent most of that summer at my paternal grandparents. One of the memories that sticks out in my mind the most, was a night spent at my maternal grandmother’s. It was an incredibly hot and sticky night in Iowa. I was spending the night at grandma’s after spending the day at the farm. The only guest bedroom was on the second floor. The second floor was essentially an attic with two bedrooms that were used by my mother and her siblings growing up. The air could get thick and hot on the second floor. There was no air conditioning or ceiling fans.

As I think back on that night, I don’t remember the heat. What I do remember, is how cozy and peaceful I felt. I distinctly remember the smell of my grandparents home, the sound of the cicadas through the open windows, the curtains billowing in the breeze, and the texture of the knobby quilt that I laid underneath. These are the things I remember and that cozy, peaceful feeling is what I try to evoke in our bedroom.

Here are a few simple tips that I use to turn our farmhouse cottage bedroom into a cozy, peaceful, relaxing retreat. Simply use these tips as a guide. These tips are completely customizable to your home and to your style!

Bedroom Refresh Tip #1: Change Your Sheets

Refresh your sheets to stay cool & comfortable while sleeping. For the summer, swap out your thick, winter flannel sheets with light, breathable cotton or linen sheets. Cotton or linen fabrics are perfect for summer because of their breathability.

Cotton/linen sheets are available at all price points. We currently have these these inexpensive sheets from Target on our bed. These cotton sheets from the Casaluna line at Target look heavenly. And, how amazing do these sheets look from Pottery Barn.

Tip: When making an online purchase, verify the material of the sheets before placing your order!

Bedroom Refresh Tip #2: Remove Heavy Bedding

Store away heavy comforters and blankets until next fall. Add lighter duvets and quilts to your bed for the summer. A lightweight duvet or quilt is perfect on a chilly night.

Have fun with your summer bedding! Summer is the perfect time to try out a new print or maybe a fun pop of color (pops of blue are perfect for summer). I added this block print/stripped quilt in pink and white to our bed. I love the block print of the quilt with the large floral wallpaper on our bedroom walls. This quilt is so fun, and something a little different than I normally would have in our bedroom!

Bedroom Refresh Tip #3: Declutter

Spring is not the only cleaning season! At the start of each season, I like to go through our home and deep clean. Summer is no exception. Use the new season as a reason to declutter your bedroom. Clean up the pile of winter clothes that’s been hanging out in a corner of the room, dust furniture, vacuum under the bed, clean out sock & underwear drawers, go through your closet and purge old clothes that you don’t wear or that don’t fit anymore.

Declutter and get rid of the things you don’t need, your bedroom will begin to feel lighter and brighter!

For more tips on organizing your home, check out this blog post.

Bedroom Refresh Tip #4: Store Away Winter Clothes

Take those heavy winter clothes and store them away! Bring those summer clothes to the forefront of your closet and dresser. In our home, we do not have a lot of storage space. What I like to do is move the winter clothes to the back of the closet and push my summer clothes to the front. This allows me to only focus on the clothes I can wear now.

Bedroom Refresh Tip #5: Add Fresh Flowers & Greenery

This tip goes for every room in our home! I love having fresh flowers and greenery throughout our entire home. They add a brightness and happiness to our bedroom! The best part about summer flowers and greenery, is that you don’t have to run to the grocery store. Head out to your backyard! You can prune greenery and flowers in your own landscape and bring them in.

Some of my favorite greens to cut are from along our woodline. I love clipping weeds & wildflowers in our yard as well and filling vases with those. We snipped these wild roses from our woods! Weeds & wildflowers can be just as beautiful styled in a vase as the more popular flowers.

Bedroom Refresh Tip #6: Remove Heavy Curtains

We do not have curtains in our bedroom. I like the bright, open feel our bedroom has without them. We opted for blinds that can be opened or closed for privacy instead. If you do have curtains hanging in your bedroom, consider adding sheer or cotton panels for the summer. Thick curtains (velvets, polyesters, silks) can make your bedroom feel heavy.

Remember, a summer bedroom should feel light and airy!

Bedroom Refresh Tip #7: Make Your Bed

There is nothing better than crawling into a bed that’s been made at the end of a long day! I highly encourage (if you do not already) to get into the habit of making your bed each and every morning! Your room will look neat during the day and you will enjoy getting into a cool, crisp bed at night.

Bedroom Refresh Tip #8: Clean Off Nightstands

Each morning, after I make our bed, I clean off our nightstands. I clean off any drinks, stow away chargers, and throw away any tissues or trash from the previous night. Keeping your nightstand clean provides a fresh surface each night you go to bed.

The décor on your nightstands do not need to match. I love the look of mismatched nightstands. Style your nightstands based on who is sleeping on that side of the bed.

Bedroom Refresh Tip #9: Ditch the Bedroom Throw Pillows

Think about ditching the bedroom throw pillows!

I did this years ago, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! I was spending way too much time in the morning styling the throw pillows on our bed only to have hubby throw them off like rag dolls. Now I can take those couple of minutes in the morning and work on something else!

Bedroom Refresh Tip #10: Turn Off the Television

Turn off the television to create a relaxing, calming bedroom. I struggle with this one. We have a tv in our bedroom and there are many nights where I get sucked into a television show. The nights I enjoy the most are ones that I leave the tv off and simply read a book. I fall asleep faster and have a much more restful night’s sleep.

My Summer Bedroom & It’s a Doppelganger

Did you know our bedroom has a doppelganger?! My friend Emily from LeCultivateur has a bedroom very similar to ours! Her cottage style bedroom is beautiful and cozy. Can you spot the similarities between Emily’s bedroom and ours?

Head over to Emily’s blog post, My Summer Bedroom & It’s Doppelganger. I know you will be inspired by Emily’s home just as much as I have!

I look forward to sharing more of my home with you and inspiring you to have a well loved home! Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LIKEtoKNOW.it.

How to Create a Hydrangea Centerpiece

10 Comments May 31, 2022 heidis

A hydrangea centerpiece is one of my favorite centerpieces to create! With summer now here and hydrangea coming into season, I wanted to share a simple and easy way to create your own hydrangea centerpiece. Hydrangea blooms are beautiful to look at in outdoor landscapes, but they are even prettier when clipped and brought indoors to be styled inside your home, as a centerpiece. I love going out into our yard and clipping a few fresh stems to style on our kitchen island or placing a handful in a vase in our built-in bookshelves.

Hydrangea are not quite in season here in the northeast (just a few more weeks to go!) however that has not stopped me (and shouldn’t stop you) from enjoying these beautiful flowers all spring long thanks to my local Trader Joe’s! Fresh hydrangea stems transformed into centerpieces and bouquets have become a staple in our home from spring all the way through the end of summer.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks when it comes to creating hydrangea centerpieces as well as the secrets to keeping your hydrangea centerpieces looking fresher longer!

Where to Purchase Hydrangea

If you do not have hydrangea growing in your yard or if they are just not in season yet, your local grocery store is a great resource to purchase gorgeous hydrangea stems. My favorite go-to grocery store to purchase hydrangea (or any other flowers for that matter) is Trader Joe’s. The fresh cut flower selection is always phenomenal and their prices are relatively inexpensive.

I’ve noticed that the local supermarkets in our area have upped their “flower game” by stocking a more robust flower selection to include bunches of hydrangea. You will pay a slightly higher premium when purchasing hydrangea at the supermarket, however when you’re in need of the big beautiful blooms, you may be willing to spend a little more money.

Trader Joe’s $5.99/3 stems
Local Supermarket $12.99-19.99/3-5 stems (this will vary by supermarket & time of year)

Simple & Easy Ways to Create a Hydrangea Centerpiece

Hydrangea centerpieces are one of the easiest to arrange and are extremely versatile! You don’t need many hydrangea stems to create an impactful centerpiece because of the fluffy, voluminous blooms.

One of my favorite ways to create a centerpiece with hydrangea is by simply adding a handful to a vessel such as a pitcher, wooden bucket, glass vase, or a vintage trophy. The amount of hydrangea stems you will need will depend on the vessel you are using (keep reading…I am going to share a trick when using a wide mouthed vessel!) but typically you will want to add an odd number of stems to fill your centerpiece.

When only adding hydrangea stems to your vessel, you are going to have a more rounded centerpiece with blooms beginning where another one ends. I love how an all hydrangea centerpiece looks big and fluffy…it’s so fun and organic looking!

To create a hydrangea centerpiece, you will first need to decide on the vessel you will be using to know how many hydrangea stems to purchase (or cut from your landscape). I chose to use a vintage silver trophy for this centerpiece, which you will want fill fairly full of water. Hydrangea stems are extremely top heavy, so to help me create this centerpiece and to keep the blooms & stems in place, I used a taping technique.

To use this technique, simply create a grid on your vessel ( keeping the grid squares as large or as small as you like) with regular scotch tape (see photo above). When your grid is in place, you can start adding in your hydrangea stems. Cut your stems (see tips on this farther down this blog post) all about the same length. (Length will vary on the vessel. Once you have one stem cut to the correct length, use that stem as a guide as to how long the other stems should be.)

Continue to fill the vessel with hydrangea stems, placing each stem into a square in your tape grid, until you have achieved the desired fullness of your centerpiece. After you have your centerpiece is done, you can go back and remove the tape grid. However, you cannot see the grid when once all the flowers have been added so typically I do not remove it.

I like creating all white hydrangea centerpieces as it can lend itself to so many occasions. White hydrangea centerpieces are perfect for weddings, showers, summer cookouts, or simply placed on your kitchen countertop. The options are endless when it comes to the centerpiece you create and how it can be used!

If you like a little more color in your centerpiece, check out this arrangement I put together with blue hydrangea perfect for Memorial Day or 4th of July!

Hydrangea make a beautiful centerpiece on their own, however hydrangea can be used as a filler flower as well. Mix other flowers into your centerpiece for a different look! When deciding on other flowers to add to your centerpiece, remember to think in groups of three. For this centerpiece, I added beautiful white peonies & roses to complete the group of odd numbered flowers (odd numbers are always more pleasing to the eye).

I tucked the smaller roses throughout the centerpiece into the hydrangea to make the hydrangea blooms appear smaller. The larger peonies, I placed those throughout the centerpiece as well, but between the hydrangea stems. I left a couple of the green leaves on the peonies, because I loved the little pop of green against the white flowers. You can make this a more vibrant centerpiece with flowers of varying colors. I love the gorgeous monochromatic look of all white flowers in this vintage silver vessel!

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Bedroom Refresh Tip #1: Change Your Sheets

Bedroom Refresh Tip #2: Remove Heavy Bedding

Bedroom Refresh Tip #3: Declutter

Bedroom Refresh Tip #4: Store Away Winter Clothes

Bedroom Refresh Tip #5: Add Fresh Flowers & Greenery

Bedroom Refresh Tip #6: Remove Heavy Curtains

Bedroom Refresh Tip #7: Make Your Bed

Bedroom Refresh Tip #8: Clean Off Nightstands

Bedroom Refresh Tip #9: Ditch the Bedroom Throw Pillows

Bedroom Refresh Tip #10: Turn Off the Television

My Summer Bedroom & It’s a Doppelganger

Where to Purchase Hydrangea

Simple & Easy Ways to Create a Hydrangea Centerpiece