Thursday, July 10, 2014

Decorating Tips and Tricks Part 2

Hello all! Today I'm back with part 2 of my tips and tricks. 

I think painting your doors (or in my case just one door) a different color, makes things more interesting. We painted our pantry door black (all our other interior doors are white) and added this pretty knob from Hobby Lobby. We got a sample can of paint at Sherwin Williams during one of their sales for around $5 and the knob was around $7. 

black pantry door

I love how it kind of stands out now. You can see the whole post about painting our pantry door HERE


Below you can see how I hid lots of cords in my son's room. I simply stapled a piece of fabric (that matched the wall color) to the back of these shelves. Then I just ran the cords behind the fabric. 

hiding tv cords behind a piece of fabric

 You can read my whole post explaining how we did it HERE.


Here's the top of the armoire in the living room.


See that white tray? It's actually covering up a huge speaker that goes to our surround sound system. 


Here's the view from the side. I just cut up a light colored sheet and tucked it around the black speaker so it wouldn't stand out as much. And really...I can count on one hand how many times we've actually used the surround sound. I personally think we should just take the speakers down. :)

hiding speakers on top of armoire

Here's another cheap and easy update. We added this medallion to our dining room chandelier. You can see the full post HERE. The whole thing was less than $20!


Another little tip is to replace your standard, plain switch covers with nicer ones. These are around $4 at Walmart. You can see a full post about them HERE. They even sell unfinished wood ones that you can paint or stain any color you like. 


And now we're back to hiding cords again. Maybe I should have titled this "100 ways to hide pesky cords." Lol! Anyway, This boxwood ball and vase are hiding, you guessed it...another cord!

how to hide outlets with decor

Here's a side view. I love that the boxwood adds a little color to my kitchen while at the same time, disguises the phone cord. 


I tend to use a lot of baskets in my decor too. They're pretty to look at, but can also help to contain things so it looks a little more tidy. Here's a basket I have in the kitchen...

I keep some cookbooks and measuring cups in there. And even a gardening book I refer to frequently.


As you can see, I also store some of my readers in there. I like to have a pair in each room. :) Thank goodness they were only $5 each. 


Here's how I used some baskets in the laundry room. I like it so much better when my stuff is hidden inside a basket instead of scattered all over the shelves. The one on the left holds stuff I use frequently.


Here's a peek inside. There's extra laundry soap, laundry spray for stains, magic erasers, and disposable diaper sacks. No, I don't have a baby. :) When I clean Holly's litter box, I scoop her "presents" into one of the baby powdered scented diaper sacks and take it to the outside trash can. That way, the outside garbage can doesn't smell as much. :) I did a whole post about these bags and lots of other "kitten care" tips HERE if you're interested.  


And speaking of Holly, if you're new here, you may not have seen this yet. It's a custom frame I made for little Holly. I hung it above her food bowl. 


making a custom pet frame



You can click HERE to see a post I did explaining exactly how I made it. 

Our house came with fluted trim around the front door, but the back door had plain moldings. We bought a Fluted Door Casing Set at Home Depot for around $30. It came with all the fluted trim and rosette blocks for all the corners. We just removed the plain trim and replaced it with this set.


adding rosette blocks to fluted trim

Here's a close up of one of the corners. I like the little details it adds to an otherwise plain door. 



And last, but not least, here's another quick, inexpensive update you can do. We added these corbels under our bar. They were only around $10 each at Home Depot. My hubby just cut out a little section from the trim to fit the corbels between. He nailed them in, then we caulked and painted them. 




Well, I guess that's all the tips for today. I love updating our home with little things like this and I hope some of you got some ideas for your own home. :) Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

~Lisa

14 comments:

  1. Great tips! Looks like you're a pro at hiding cords!! I need to do this to our house...it's something I just keep putting off!!

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  2. Great ideas! Hiding cords and plugs is important to me too. I have things strategically placed on my kitchen counters to hide the plugs in the wall. Speaking of that, at Lowe's and Home Depot they have switch covers that match tumbled stone backsplashes. We got them at our last house and haven't done that here. Must put it on my list. :)

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  3. I love all of your cord hideaways! I have the same problem and some I have solved and some remain on the how the heck can I hide this list!

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  4. You have so many clever ideas for things that have always bugged me, like the cords and outlets. The corbels are an amazing idea!! Oh, and I wish I had a kitty just to use the scented bag idea!! Ha! I love it all...keep sharing! :)

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  5. Lisa, what a great post! I feel like I am behind reading your blog. Things have been a little crazy around here with everyone on vacation. I am going to sit down now and read all your latest post. BTW, I love the picture of yourself! Enjoy your weekend. Maria

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  6. I replaced out outlets switch covers in our old house with the same ones you have! My dirty secret? I switched them back to the old ones before we moved so that I could use them in our new house. Haha! Recycling at its finest. :-)

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    1. Smart girl! I would have done the same thing! And you get bonus points for recycling! ;)

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  7. Such pretty and clever ideas. They add such character to a home as well. Your door is so pretty!

    Hope you have a terrific weekend...
    ~Sherri

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    1. Thanks, Sherri! I love that black door too. It makes me want to paint a few others. :) Hope your weekend was wonderful!!

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  8. You are just on a roll Lisa!! Love all the tips, another one I often use, is tape the cords from lamps onto the leg of the side table so you won't see any dangling around. I want to paint my french doors, but you know why I'm so not into painting right now with my condition. :-)

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  9. Love all the neat ideas for hiding cords. You're really good at it! And your pantry door looks really nice painted black ... at first I thought it was chalkboard paint. Very pretty!!

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    1. Thanks! You know...chalkboard paint would actually be pretty neat (especially on a pantry door) Great idea! Enjoy your week! :)

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  10. SO many great tips! I need you to come over to my house and hide all my cords!!! LOL
    Have a great week :o)
    ~Des

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  11. I think I'm starting to get the idea here LOL. Thank you for sending me the links hon. I'm still in the process of reading them. You are GOOD at this :)

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