Hometalk Fall Decor Inspiration board! Summer is absolutely my favorite time of the year – you will NEVER hear me complaining about the heat lol But I honestly think that’s a fact simply because fall and spring are such short seasons here in northern MN. Fall for us could truly last all of three weeks like our spring did this year! And that’s just depressing lol because that means we’re settling into at least four months of some serious cold and snow. Read the rest of the post »
Inspiration Board of the Outdoor projects on Hometalk that I’ve been drooling over! I received a comment on my outdoor bench saying, “You’re SO crafty, that’s amazing!” And I admittedly got a bit offended, eventually I just laughed about it but I’m not sure how I can build a wrap around bench for my deck and still be called “crafty”. I could’t help but think that if I was a guy she certainly wouldn’t have looked at that bench and called him crafty! I am a builder at heart and I spend most of my time building things in my head or drooling over outdoor projects like these: Read the rest of the post »
Well now that spring has FINALLY arrived, my dreaming has turned to swings! Let’s build some! These are some of my favorites I’ve found on Pinterest and stashed away for a later time because, seriously, who doesn’t want to swing away a beautiful summer day? Contrary to popular belief, I do NOT feel that swings are for kids in any way. Many of these are very grown up swings for us “adults” lol Read the rest of the post »
Nooks, crannies, special getaway places, some of my favorite escapes via Pinterest Inspiration board. It has been a very difficult few weeks here at Grandma’s House, tailing the end of a very, very hard year. I will tell you guys why and what’s been going on when I’m able to get my feet back under me again. To say the least though I have found myself on Pinterest, looking longingly at getaway places and nooks that promise quiet and PEACE. Read the rest of the post »
Six more summer projects I can’t wait to build for us outside and out on our deck! Some DIYs and things just have to wait for some nice weather not only for us to enjoy them but for us to build them as well. Currently I’m sitting here in late October and we have a winter storm warning 🙁 So, hears to dreaming about next summer and all the things to look forward to building. I posted earlier this year a few summer projects I just can’t wait to build but I’ve seen so many build projects on Pinterest I had to share a few more that I can’t wait to build next summer! Read the rest of the post »
I spend a certain amount of time on Pinterest gazing with my mouth open at some of the gorgeous bedrooms people have. As far as Inspiration Boards go I’ve published quite a few over the years but I think this one might take the cake. I am absolutely in awe of a few of these. Considering how much time we spend in our bedrooms (albeit it is with our eyes closed) I am a firm believer that they are a VERY important part of our homes. From gorgeous colour palettes to hardwood bedroom furniture options, there’s always amazing bedrooms to look at when you are scrolling through Pinterest. In fact, the inspiration doesn’t stop coming the moment you type in beautiful bedrooms into Google! So, without further adieu here’s some gorgeous bedrooms via Pinterest!! Read the rest of the post »
I want to build an outhouse. Ok, bare with me on this one because I swear I’m really not quite as weird as that makes me sound! I had the incredible pleasure of visiting some off the grid friends of mine last weekend to see their grounds. Oh. My. Goodness. The gardens, the flowers, the squash growing on the roof of their home (with a sauna built right in the middle of it!) the several sweet little screened in porches/guest homes/summer lounges complete with their own little wood stoves and the wood storage *SWOONS* I was in absolute Heaven! It was SO amazing and then I went to use their outhouse (they have indoor plumbing but use their outhouse most of the time to save on electricity) and I knew it was the first of a long list of things that these folks had built that I wanted! Read the rest of the post »
Summer projects I can’t wait to build for us outside and out on our deck! Some DIYs and things just have to wait for some nice weather not only for us to enjoy them but for us to build them as well. Goodness knows I always have a summer project list in the spring that’s as long as my arm. There is just something about stretching out in my garage with a breeze, a little music, loving a summer day while building something for us to enjoy for years to come. Not that I don’t love my basement workshop its just that by the end of winter there isn’t anything better then being able to do something outside! So, of course, I have hundreds of build projects I’ve spotted online that I just drool over day after day. Here are a few summer projects via Pinterest that can’t wait to build Read the rest of the post »
For those of you that follow me via Pinterest my very favorite board is my DIY Inspiration Board. This is the one where I let myself pin literally whatever I love when it comes to rooms. This is the board where all of the pins (at least for me) come right out of my dreams, like places from a fairy tale. My own home is a little less frilly, a little less boho, a little more subtle as I simply do not yet have the salt to be quite so bold. However, I am getting there, for every gorgeous place I pin, I am definitely becoming more bold and reaching for the true beauty of places like these that make my heart sing. Read the rest of the post »
Many a time in trying to live a more natural life I have run into instances where the “natural” way might not even work at all. Do we live with the mosquito bites or do we slather our bodies in toxic chemicals? Do we live with pulling weeds the old fashioned way forever and forever or do we give in and finally just buy some round up for a couple of places in our yards? Oftentimes “convenience” is one very tempting mistress no matter how terrible we know it may be for us and the environment so here are a few (tried and true!) natural and green recipes for those places around our homes that we all struggle with! Read the rest of the post »
If you’ve ever checked out my Pinterest account then you know I have one board totally devoted to books and everything having to do with books. I’m a writer, an avid reader and a book designer, to say that I love books is putting it very mildly. At one point when I was younger I was convinced that I was going to make my living designing books and book covers, and though I am not “making my living” I am still designing 2-3 books a year and it is one of my very favorite side jobs. So I thought it was about time I devoted one of my Inspiration Board posts to a few of the fabulous projects I’ve spotted over on Hometalk that are entirely devoted to books! Read the rest of the post »
There are many words and phrases used throughout the DIY community for repurposing. Sometimes we call it upcycling, sometimes we call it reinventing. Whatever you call it, taking a piece of furniture that was meant for one job and totally transforming it to make it useful for another takes ingenuity and some very creative thinking! I haunt Hometalk a lot these days because so many bloggers (and some folks that aren’t bloggers at all!) share some truly amazing ideas every day. Here are six of my very favorite repurposing projects all of which I want to try someday! Read the rest of the post »
Many of you know that I spend a good amount of my online time over at Hometalk. They’re so great to bloggers like me and I am endlessly inspired by what is submitted there! You guys also know that I am one unconventional kind of gal and, honestly, it’s gotten so bad that the idea of buying flooring out of a box at Home Depot kind of makes me shudder. Years ago (like over a decade) I was shut down in my suggestion of using plywood (cut into strips) to make inexpensive hardwood flooring ourselves – I’ll never get over paying an arm and a leg for carpet instead because my idea was just too weird. Well, I’m pretty stoked to see that I am not the only unconventional person out there and it is official: It does NOT need to come out of a box (or from Home depot) to make a gorgeous floor and you can absolutely do it yourself! Read the rest of the post »
Many of you know that I spend a good amount of my online time over at Hometalk. They’re so great to bloggers like me and I am endlessly inspired by what is submitted there! You guys know just how obsessed I am with the paint and stain combination and I spend a lot of my time drooling over it online. Here are just a few of those absolute stunners that I’ve found over on Hometalk that leave me totally speechless! Read the rest of the post »
There are two things I obsess over online and that is Before and Afters of furniture (or anything really) and build projects with full on tutorials. The truth is I am NOT what I would consider a wood worker or a craftsman in any way. Yes, I have built some things that I am very proud of but I am really just a full blown novice with a working knowledge of how to use power tools. I also am easily intimidated by the idea of “building” anything from scratch and oh my gosh I have so much respect for those who do. Here are a few of those projects that I either will never attempt (but am so totally blown away by) or I am hoping to attempt myself very soon and am also totally blown away by! Read the rest of the post »
You may have noticed that I have a bit of a book obsession 🙂 I love everything there is to do with books and I’ve actually designed the interior layout and covers of 28 books to date and even have my own novel that I self published back in 2011! I’ve known it my entire life: as long as I have my head in a book in some way or another (whether as an editor, designer, writer or reader) I will be happy. So, as you might imagine, I’ve got a lot of books and even after I gave over two bins full to our local library (that was a hard day…) I was still bursting out of all of my book storage areas. So, when I started work on redesigning My Office I went straight to Pinterest and started collecting all of the gorgeous book shelves that I could find! So here is my book shelves inspiration board! Read the rest of the post »