home decor

A Report from the Battlefield

January 23, 2012 By Ruth H. Leave a Comment

I’m sure you have been waiting on the edge of your seat to find out the outcome of the Battle to Destroy Gacky Sage. On the one hand, I hope your life is so full and rich that you haven’t wasted a single moment wondering about whether or not we actually painted. On the other hand, how could you not? It is, after all, Gacky Sage, one of the most nefarious villains known to the world of home decor.

If you don’t believe me, then you haven’t spent the last six years of your life living under the terror of it’s reign.

Of course you want to know if we have prevailed. [Read more...]

Filed Under: A House in Holland Tagged With: Antique White, Bionic Man, DIY projects, Gacky Sage, home decor, painting

The Battle Begins

January 13, 2012 By Ruth H. 2 Comments

Friends, the time has come.

The final battle that will destroy the last vestiges of Gacky Sage in my home is on the horizon.

Tonight, we paint! [Read more...]

Filed Under: A House in Holland Tagged With: Gacky Sage, home decor, movies, painting

$30 Porch Makeover

August 12, 2011 By Ruth H. 3 Comments

It’s been a hot summer in our neck of the woods. We’ve spent way too much of it huddled around the air conditioning for comfort, hardly daring to set foot outside–lest we cook ourselves. At long last the heat wave ended, and we’ve been able to go out and look around. While the heat kept our grass short, I saw a few things that had suffered from neglect. Our front porch was one of them, landing a top spot on the to-do list this week.

Sadly, until I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, this was what greeted our guests:

It was obviously a much more comfortable spot for spiders than humans.

They were definitely spending more time out here than we were. Until we made it look like this:So, how did I transform this neglected spot with a little elbow grease and $30? [Read more...]

Filed Under: A House in Holland Tagged With: before & after, chevron, deals, doormat, Endeavor, front porch, garden, Goodwill, hand painted rug, home decor, Justone, metal star, outdoor furniture, outdoor living space, pillow, plants, porch makeover, rug, shopping, spray paint, summer, Superkid, thrift shopping, wicker, wicker furniture

Plates for the Bedroom

August 10, 2011 By Ruth H. Leave a Comment

No, this is not a post about romantic meals. Ahem. It’s about how useful a little white plate thrifted from Goodwill can be when it is sitting on your nightstand.

Back when I redecorated our bedroom with finds from a Goodwill shopping spree, I found three pretty white plates–one large, two small. They were all the same color, but had slightly different edges. I loved all three of them, and intended to hang them up on the wall somewhere in this room. They never made it on the wall.

Seriously, I love those plates, but I felt kind of funny hanging up a plate collection in my bedroom. What does that say about me? That I’d rather be eating than sleeping? It’s deep thoughts like that one that keep me up at night. (Um, don’t be offended if you have plates in your bedroom for decor. It’s okay. I’ll be exploring my bedroom plate aversion in therapy.) [Read more...]

Filed Under: A House in Holland, Holland Gets Organized Tagged With: bedroom, clutter, dishes, Goodwill, home decor, jewelry, master bedroom, organization, plates, repurposing dishes, storage, thrift shopping, thrifting, white, white plates

Old Lamps Made New

August 8, 2011 By Ruth H. 9 Comments

So, last week I promised to show you pictures of my new-old-lamp sitting in all it’s apple green glory on my nightstand. The old brass lamp I’d found at my local Goodwill was spray painted and ready for it’s big moment….but was surrounded by piles of books, laundry, mismatched pillowcases, several backpacks, and a thick layer of dust. Yep, that was the sad state of my bedroom, last week. Thank goodness I got around to making our master bedroom bright and shiny again over the weekend. Now I’ll show you the pictures.

Want to see how this

became this?

Sure you do! It’s an incredibly complicated process. NOT! [Read more...]

Filed Under: A House in Holland Tagged With: bedroom, brass lamp, canvas, DIY, Goodwill, green, green lamp, home decor, lamp makeover, lamp redo, lamp shade, lamps, master bedroom, nightstand, thrift shopping, thrifting

Anatomy of a Lamp

August 3, 2011 By Ruth H. 4 Comments

Remember this lamp? It started out as a vintage brass lamp I found gathering dust in the lighting section of Goodwill. The shade was found at a Goodwill on the other side of town, slightly damaged but with its Target sticker still attached. I brought them both home, sprayed the lamp down with Rustoleum, turned the damaged part of the shade to the wall, and voila–I had the perfect bedside lamp for my master bedroom, for less than $10. (You can read more about how I redecorated my master bedroom with Goodwill finds HERE.)

The only problem was, I had an identical bedside table flanking the other side of my bed. And it didn’t have an apple green lamp. Things were looking slightly unbalanced. So I kept my eyes open for another lamp. I didn’t want an exact match–this bedroom happens to be pretty matchy-matchy as it is. My aim was balance.