Haven mentor blog hop and my best blogging advice!

Well hello there! Remember last week when I celebrated ten years of blogging and I mentioned a fun little event called the Haven Conference? 

Well, it's not so little -- we were terrified the first year that just the eight of us would be standing there...but SO MANY came! That first one was a total whirlwind. Every conference since has been a huge success and I'm proud to be a founder of this amazing event: 

A couple of us left the team a few years back just because of the sheer amount of work involved. But we're always happy to help, so I was honored to be asked to be a mentor again this year. Mentors are there to meet up with new attendees and make them feel at ease. We each have a small group of bloggers and will catch up here and there throughout the conference. If you don't know many people this is a great way to get to know a few right off the bat! 

You'll probably recognize many of these faces: 

If you are a blogger, and especially a new blogger, I'm writing this for you! This conference is geared towards those in DIY/home decor niche, but those who write lifestyle, crafts and food blogs will walk away with a TON of helpful information. More importantly, you'll walk away with lifelong friends. 

If you're on the fence about attending, check out the info below and I think it will help you decide! And be sure to check out the posts from all of the mentors (I link them all at the end of the post). 

What is your best advice for a blogger? 

A few things:

1. Stay consistent with content and publishing posts. I mean stick with the topic(s) you're good at and try to have a consistent publishing schedule. Your readers want to know when to watch for your content! 
2. Speak in your OWN voice and just be yourself! It's so easy to compare. I know...I did it a lot early on! Anything other than being you will be exhausting and therefore no fun at all. 
3. Respect your readers -- don't lie, don't make stuff up. Don't pretend you, your family or your home is something it isn't. Real life wins every time. 
4. It's OK to keep some stuff private. I don't share pics of my family here much because they're "mine" -- I share enough with the world and I want them to myself. :) I also don't want to share anything my son may not appreciate as he gets older. AND...there are just weirdos out there. Simple as that! 
5. Don't get obsessed. Man, I'm so glad I started this gig ten years ago. I cannot tell you how many times us blogging grandmas say that. It's much harder now breaking in, I know. But it can easily take over your life quick. Take a breath and step back consistently to keep some balance. 

See more of our master bedroom here

What is your best advice for a new Haven attendee? 

I highly recommend chatting with attendees online before hand. See if there's anyone going from your area and meet up before you head to the conference. 

If you don't know anyone there, I'm not gonna lie -- at first it will be nerve-racking. But if you can open up a little and approach new people I can absolutely promise you these will be some of the best days of your entire year. Meeting other people that do what we do is so awesome. It's such a weird job we have and it's hard for most to identify with it. You will find "your people" at Haven.

And if you go and want someone to talk to, come up to ME! I'd love to meet you. 

Check out all of the family room posts here

Who are you most excited to meet or see at Haven this year? 

I always look forward to meeting new bloggers every year. It's funny because you feel like you know the person so it's hard to tell if you've already met. ;) You see each face so many times on their blogs and social media, and sometimes I could swear we already know each other! 

I look forward to this weekend every year because of the new people I meet and the ones I get to reconnect with. A bunch of us have been at this for a very long time and we only see each other once or twice a year. It's like a high school reunion and we always have the best time. 

Two of my best friends, Beth and Chris, are people I talk to every day but only see a few days a year. We cherish that time together so much!! 

You can see more of our kitchen here

So there you go! If you didn't figure it out by now -- you should come! ;) Whether you've been at this for a few weeks or a few years -- if you want to get more serious at it, this is the event for you. I'd love to meet you! 

Check out the other lovely ladies joining me as Haven mentors this year:

Monday

 Rhoda of Southern Hospitality | Sheila of Maison de Cinq | Liz of Liz Marie Blog | 

Aniko of A Place of My Taste

Tuesday

Chris of Just a Girl | Haneen of Haneen's Haven | Ashley of The Handmade Home

Wednesday

Traci of Beneath My Heart | Erin of Erin Spain

Thursday

Laura of Duke Manor Farm | Stacy of Stacy Risenmay | Debbie of Refresh Restyle 

Friday

Brittany of Pretty Handy Girl | Diane of In My Own Style | Beth of Home Stories A to Z | 

Lauren at Bless'er House | Katie at Bower Power

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A look at our first outdoor space (and why we LOVE it)

Hello my friends! Welcome to the end of May -- can you even believe it? We've skipped right over spring here in Indiana and it's felt like the end of July for the past two weeks. I loathe the heat -- and so begins the summer "slothdom" I talk about every year.

I am not usually very productive in the summer, although I'm getting better. Last summer was full out CRAZY because our move happened so fast. I'm looking forward to a good mix of relaxation and productivity this summer!

Speaking of relaxation, I thought it was time I shared our favorite spot "in" the house lately. This one is actually outside, but it's a space we're spending a TON of time in. It's funny, because our backyard at the old house was just amazing. We added and added to it over the years to make it a beautiful oasis:

If you'd like to see everything we did in the old backyard, be sure to check out these posts! We worked on it for years! 

I mentioned before that there's very little we miss about the old house, and that has surprised us. Our backyard was just so pretty and magical, and we do miss it a bit -- but we know our future yard will be just as beautiful someday. 

What we don't miss is the upkeep. I didn't realize till we moved how much work it was to keep all of those outdoor spaces up. When we would entertain in the warm months we'd spend a good hour or more sweeping the deck, cleaning up cushions and pulling weeds from the paved patio. Obviously we'd do that plenty all year, but those are the times I really remember. 

I told my husband from the start in our new house -- no more decks and no more paver patios in this backyard. I don't want the upkeep of wood anymore and no more weeds that sprout in the patio (ours was worse than some I'm sure because it was surrounded by trees). I want basic concrete! That's it! ;) 

Anyway, I cannot even TELL YOU how much we are enjoying our new outdoor space. It's nothing super fancy, but we love it. We have a large covered porch and we had no idea how much we'd like this area:

 

It's around 200 square feet, which we've realized is a perfectly lovely size for what we need right now. (The trampoline looks like it's in the house but that's the reflection. 😂)

You know how I love symmetry! It won out here too, does that surprise you? :) I put our firepit in the middle and the four chairs on either side. It makes for an easy conversation area. There are two more chairs at the end of the patio that we can pull around the side as well. 

We sold our outdoor table that we had out here. We learned pretty quickly that we prefer to lounge in comfy chairs. :) 

We've had those chairs and the firepit for years -- both were from Menards. I need to spray paint the metal on the chairs sometime this year. I'll share all the sources at the end of the post if you're interested in anything!

I mentioned a few weeks ago how much we love having a sliding glass door. Actually, not so much the sliding door as the screen door. I've never had a screen door and it's been wonderful when the weather is nice. The cats are stationed there every minute it's open: 

Annnnd I just realized you can see Colby sitting there. Ha!! 

The only item I don't have a source for is the ceiling fan, but I'll do some checking. I love the little detail with the trim on the ceiling -- and that it's crisp white. I was going to paint it blue but so far we haven't had any bugs nesting up there! By the way, the fan helps tremendously with bugs when we sit out there. I had no idea it would help that much: 

We had speakers added so we can play music. We just haven't figured out how to do it yet. 😂 We also had cable and an outlet run for a future TV one day. That will be awhile I'm sure. 

I love how the big windows look in this space -- they're so pretty inside but make a big impact out here too:

We'll put the heater away soon since it's hot as Hades most of the time, but we do still use it at night occasionally. By mid-June it will be stored away I'm sure: 

We also have a couple more chairs we keep at the end of the porch that we sit in when we take the dog out: 

When our backyard grass grows in more we'll have him go in the back instead. Then I plan to move the chairs and install a wood swing. I cannot freaking wait! How cool will that be?

It occurred to me the other day that we've probably spent more time outside on this covered patio in eight months than we did the past two years at our old house on the deck or patio -- and we used those a lot! The shade is BLISS. Bliss I tell you!! We get a lovely breeze through here too so it makes it so comfortable even on a hot day.

It's not quite as pretty as the old backyard, but it's super functional (and we think pretty cool looking). We are enjoying this space so much and are so thankful for it:

Our backyard is much bigger than our old one and much flatter as well. We have big plans for it that I hope to share with you soon -- it will be awhile before we get started on any of that though. The biggest part will be the patio and we don't have details nailed down just yet. It's fun to dream about how it will look someday! 

Do you have an outdoor area at your house -- covered or not? I always thought a screened porch would be lovely too. Do you prefer something out in the open like our old patio or something like this? Eventually we hope to have both but I really have fallen in love with the shade. ;) 

Here's a list of the items on our porch if you're interested! Affiliate links included for your convenience:

Cushions: Lowe's but these are very similar and a better price
Rug: Target
Firepit and chairs: Menards (probably five or six years ago)
Butane heater: Amazon (no longer available but this one is similar)
Pillows: At Home and Home Depot
Thermometer: Target
Planters: Goodwill (see how I spray painted them here)
Door rug: IKEA
White side tables: World Market



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I'll make art out of anything!

Hey all! Thanks so much for your kind comments on my last post -- I'm glad so many of you liked my wall project in the family room. It makes such a difference in there! 

My friend Jen from the blog Balancing Beauty and Bedlam recently wrote a LOVELY book called Just Open the Door (affiliate). It is such a wonderful read about opening our homes to others without the stress and anxiety that sometimes holds us back from doing so. I've known Jen for nearly ten years and she is a beautiful soul. I was thrilled to get and read her book!

When she sent the book, the package included this lovely tea towel. I loved it but it felt like it wouldn't be seen quite enough just hanging on a rod in the kitchen. 

I had an idea to display it: 

I went to the hardware store and had a piece of plywood cut down to a 22 inch square -- only $5! 

When I got home I sprayed the heck out of the wood with this spray adhesive: 

This stuff works best when you let it sit for a minute or so -- it gets extra sticky! 

I centered the towel on the board and any little bubbles I rubbed out: 

Then I grabbed my staple gun and secured the towel to the back: 

Just be careful not to pull it too tight or the fabric and wording will get wonky.

On the corners I just fold it like I'm making the bed -- whatever you do just make sure it's not too bulky:

This fabric is super thin so it was easy to work with. 

I put a few extra staples on the corners to make sure it doesn't budge:

Oh, and I usually cut down any corners if they're too bulky. 

I got more of my really thin pine trim I use ALL over the place to make the frame. I spray painted the pieces black and then used my nail gun to secure them around the sides: 

If you try something like this make sure your large wood piece is thick enough that you can nail into the sides. 

That was it! It was a super quick project and I just adore it:

I hung it on a wall in the family room right by our breakfast room (the one I call the "morning" room)  since we don't have much wall space in the eating area. 

And YES, I KNOW. It's more words, ha! (Check out this post if you're confused.) But I just love how it turned out! There's no glass over but there's no need. I see pretty tea towels all the time that would make great art like this: 

I will make art out of anything! I'm not picky. ;) And it cost me about $10 in materials. Can't beat it!! 

Have you framed anything unusual to create art for your home? You can check out all of the art I've made over the years by checking out these posts. 

I highly recommend Jen's book -- it would be a lovely gift as well. I'm thrilled for her and honored to help spread the word. :) 

Have a great weekend my friends!

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The Pottery Barn look for WAY less

I'm excited about this project folks! It was a quick and easy and one of my favorite DIYs in a long time. And yes...it was in the family room. I know you've seen a lot of it lately! I didn't plan to do this so soon, but I did. So I'm sharing. 😉

Here's where I left you last week and I mentioned that I had a plan for that wall under the stairs:

It needed something -- I've had an idea for some time to fill the space and went ahead with it over the weekend. It was just hours before we were expecting company -- I ran to the hardware store for my supplies and threw these together SUPER fast!

I've imagined some simple display shelves along this wall for months. I stuck some painter's tape to the wall to figure out the sizes of each one and get an idea of how it would look. I built three, four and five foot shelves for the wall. I wanted to go down low on the wall as much as possible because it just felt right visually to me. 

To build these you'll need three pieces of wood -- a 1x2, 1x3 and 1x4. You can also make it with a 1x4 on the bottom so it would be a bit deeper. I found the three inch to be fine but if you plan on leaning a bunch of frames I'd go with the four inch:

I used wood screws from behind to secure the bottom piece to the back. Then I used my nail gun to secure the front trim to the shelf. 

I used wood glue on the front part along with the nails, but it's not really necessary. Just an extra precaution to make sure they don't budge when the frames push against them. But again, the nails would be just fine: 

I stained them with the Minwax color Provincial because it works with our floors so well. I've used it on our butcher block island top and frames on various projects like this one. 

You can see here how they barely take up any space as far as the depth:

I marked where the studs were in the walls and then just screwed through the backs to hang them. I wasn't worried about the screws showing because I knew the frames would cover them. But if a couple show I'm not worried about it:

I got a few new frames from HomeGoods and used some I had. I printed out random photos from my phone on our printer at home. 

We absolutely LOVE it. My husband and son both came to me at different times saying how much they like it! When the men notice you know it's good! 😂 Shelves with leaning photos turned out to be a great in between -- not too busy because I kept the frames to the same shape and only two colors. But it fills in the space beautifully because I went low and filled the wall:

It's nice to get your photos off the phone, right? I'm SO bad about that. I grabbed pics from recent trips and random snapshots and I love every single one! 

I especially love how they follow the angle of the stairs. It just makes it more visually appealing: 

We have plenty of space behind the sofas but this would also work great somewhere with less room just because they're not very deep at all. 

I'm so thrilled with these! I especially love that they were so inexpensive and quick. I made all three and had them hung in less than an hour. Now I'm thinking of where else I could add some! They would look great painted black or white too: 

I spent $30-something on all three because I went with select pine (it doesn't have knots). If you used regular pine and don't mind a little more rustic look (or if you're painting!) you would spend maybe $20? Not even that probably. Not bad either way considering this one from Target is much smaller and priced at $13. And this four foot one from Pottery Barn is $129!! CHOKE. (Affiliate links.) 

I love when it comes together like it looks in my head! Always a bonus. Now, onto other spaces, I swear! :) 

Have you tried these simple DIY frame ledges? They give you that Pottery Barn look for way less. 

Check out more recent gallery wall ideas below: 

Symmetrical gallery wall down staircase wall

Wood accent wall with large photos

Photo wall around thermostat 

This content is property of Thrifty Decor Chick LLC. If you are reading this on any other site other than www.thriftydecorchick.com or one of her social media platforms, please contact her immediately (thriftydecorchick at gmail dot com). Any other use of this content is strictly forbidden.

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Things with words on them

I noticed one thing in particular when we moved, especially as I unpacked our art. I had a LOT of things with words on them. Art, signs...whatever. Just lots of words. This trend has exploded over the past four years or so -- especially the farmhouse-themed signs. 

It wasn't until I saw it all together that I realized just how much I had. I wouldn't say our house was FULL of it, but it was enough. It was at least spread out pretty well! I've been making a concentrated effort to tone down the things with words since we moved in. I think it can get a little overwhelming if there's too much of it in a space.

But then! I'll find the cutest art that will look just perfect in this or that spot. And I've noticed I'm just generally attracted to cute signage. I find myself reaching for them more than anything else. And there are rooms that just tend to attract this kind of art...I've noticed our kitchen and mud room in particular: 

(Affiliate) Similar grocery sign

Tour of our organized pantry

Especially the mud room! So many cute things with words for a mud and laundry room: 

Large DIY chalkboard

DIY It's good to be home sign

But I'm still determined to use some restraint when it comes to signage. But I've been looking for the right thing for over our bed for seven months now. Our ceilings are much higher over our bed in this house so what we had up before looked dinky.

I've tried four mirrors, other art...all kinds of things we already had and a couple I bought and returned. Then I saw a sale for scripted art on Facebook (those dang ads get me!!). I didn't see anything quotes that really struck me, until I saw this one:

If you can't read it, it says "The most wonderful thing I decided to do was share my life and heart with you." It wasn't too corny and actually made me tear up a bit when I read it. Truer words were never spoken. You can see what I had up before (and a tour of the whole room) here. 

I got the biggest size they made and everything was on sale. (I think they still are because I keep seeing the ad pop up.) I got this sign from a site called Smallwoods. I could have made this myself easy -- I've made many over the years. But I loved this script. And sometimes it's just nice to buy it!: 

DIY tufted headboard for less than $100

I was looking for something at HomeGoods the other day and instead of what I was looking for I found some new bedding that I fell in love with. Our other duvet is a dark gray and heavy for the summer, literally and figuratively. 

I love the light tones of this duvet and I LOVED the sheets with it, but those are going. They are SO dang scratchy. I mean, it felt like we were sleeping on sandpaper. 😂 I thought they would soften up after washing, but no. And they're a little too small for our bed -- both big bummers because I love them together! Can I return washed sheets? Any tips for softening up cotton sheets that feel like burlap? :) 

So our old sheets will go probably go back on, but I love the way these look! 

The floral duvet cover is DKNY and the design is called Wallflower, I actually found a queen version on Amazon! The review says it's not soft but I find it to be very soft. The sheets are called Vintage Select and they had a ton of cute options, but they are not comfy at all. The blanket didn't have a brand name on it but was from HomeGoods as well.

Someday I'd love to replace the dark curtains with something lighter...but they have to be light blocking, super long and a decent price when the budget allows. I have a feeling that's not going to happen anytime soon. So for now I will continue to enjoy our perfectly dark room at night. ;)

The art with words won out! It's simple and meaningful and my husband loves it too -- score all around!:

I have big plans for this room -- the wall behind the bed will get a treatment that will frame out the art and I want to recover the bench seat (it's actual burlap). ;) I also have plans for the tray ceiling. But these little changes are making this room feel lighter and prettier, perfect for the summer months! 

Are you a lover of art with words and sayings or no? I think they can be overdone for sure, but at the same time I think they are lovely in the right spot! 

If you missed my last post, check it out here!: 

Affiliate links included for your convenience! 

This content is property of Thrifty Decor Chick LLC. If you are reading this on any other site other than www.thriftydecorchick.com or one of her social media platforms, please contact her immediately (thriftydecorchick at gmail dot com). Any other use of this content is strictly forbidden.

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A simple sofa solution (and new pillows!)

Well hello! I'm in the midst of a few different projects around the house but I wanted to share yet another quick fix with you today. I've shared a few of these lately -- I'm on a roll! I'll give you a list of the most recent ones at the bottom of the post. 

I love sharing stuff like this because if it helps us I know it will be a fix for some of you too. Nothing earth-shattering here, but it's a solution for a little annoyance we dealt with on a daily basis. 

Do your sofa cushions do this?:

We've not really dealt with this with any other sofa we've owned, but these cushions scooch out nearly every time we sit on them. It's annoying! I love the sofas so much it's something we just fixed every time. (Well, I fixed. The boy and man in my life don't seem to notice it like I do.) 

And both cushions were never the same amount of scooch, so it was noticeable, at least to me. Sometimes they would be waaaay out there: 

And then the back cushions would fall down in the crack and push them out even more and it was ongoing drama. So every day I'd push the cushions back in...and on one of those days I had an idea. I'm quite sure this is nothing new, but for those of you who push cushions back in every day like me it's a SUPER easy fix!

We have an extra rug pad from the old house we're not using. So I thought I would try cutting a piece to fit under the cushions: 

I tried it on one side for nearly a week and NO movement. SCORE! Ours is extra thick (affiliate) like this one so I think that helps.

I promptly added it to the rest of them and so far so good. I just laid it on the sofa -- no tape or glue or anything. They don't move at all and it grabs on to the cushions so they don't slide out. I'm so excited about this little fix! It seems to be working great. 

I've also been looking for pillows for the sofas for MONTHS. I found some from Pottery Barn a few months ago and love those, but couldn't find anything I liked to work with them. 

The other day I was going through my fabric stash and found a pretty design I had just enough of. I don't even remember what I bought it for! I sewed up four pillows and then added the striped pillows I had on the window seat in the old house: 

They work together so beautifully! I'm not kidding when I say I searched forever for pillows and there they were in the house all this time. (You can find the Pottery Barn covers here, the floral fabric was from Calico Corners and the stripe was from Joann's.)

And they work so well with the new color on the fireplace and built ins in the family room! No, I still haven't finished painting the built ins on the other side. I'm avoiding it with pillow sewing: 

Two quick fixes on one sofa! It's been a good week! ;) 

Have you tried this rug pad trick? If you have sliding cushions I say give it a go. We had a large pad that I cut up but of course you could get a smaller one for just the size you need. 

I hope to be back with more DIY projects next week! Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Here's some other quick fixes I've shared recently on the blog and at my Facebook page that you might find helpful!:

How to perk up drooping flowers

The little fix every toilet needs

How I hid the cat litter

How to prevent baskets from scratching surfaces

How to fix a broken lamp cord for two bucks

Some affiliate links included for your convenience! 

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This content is property of Thrifty Decor Chick LLC. If you are reading this on any other site other than www.thriftydecorchick.com or one of her social media platforms, please contact her immediately (thriftydecorchick at gmail dot com). Any other use of this content is strictly forbidden.

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