Author Archives: Carla

Decorating the Foyer with a DIY Floating Shelf

The wood used to build the shelf

First impressions… We all kind of want to make a great first impression. Not that I would care a lot about everyone’s opinion about me, but especially in situations when you like someone, it’s nice to feel you have left a good impression.

Translating that to house décor, we have been intentional when coming up with ideas, and taking care of details, to make our home an inviting and beautiful place to be.

That is the reason why it was irritating me that the very first impression in our house (our foyer) was basically nothing. We had put zero work into it, except for painting the walls, and it was definitely in our to-do list to take care of that. Continue reading →

Building Your Own Floating Shelves

The wood we used to build our own floating shelves

Have you ever wondered how those apparently “magic” floating shelves work, coming out of walls, while something “invisible” seems to be holding them in place?

Well, I did for a while. And I loved how they seemed to blend so well in spaces, with no obvious support. So one day, while my husband and I were contemplating some of our still empty walls (yes, our home décor process is still an ongoing thing), we decided we wanted to install floating shelves in one of them. Continue reading →

How We Built Our Own Wooden Coffee Table

The wood we used to build our DIY coffee table

The wood we used to build our own coffee table

I have always had a particular taste. As a child, my mom and dad would tell me that I was going to have to make my own clothes & shoes, because it was really hard to find stuff that I actually liked (it’s funny now, but it wasn’t back then). Going shopping was a frustrating experience!

Trying to find the perfect coffee table for our living room brought these childhood memories back to my mind. Nothing was what we wanted… Or it was, but with a price way higher than we wanted to pay.

One day, we came across a Crate & Barrel bench online. We loved the concept. It is simple, yet modern and the legs definitely stood out… Could we pull this off? We were definitely going to give it a try.

Continue reading →

How To Make Framed Wallpaper Panels

Part of the wood used to create the frames

Do you also think wall art can be really expensive? Well, I had been looking at stuff online for months, probably a year, and everything I liked came along with a big price tag… I thought that there had to be a cheaper way to decorate our walls.

I have always loved wallpaper. Not over a whole room with an overwhelming pattern, but more in the creating pops of color or texture here and there kind of way.

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DIY Ruffle Lamp Shades

Our chandelier before the makeover

After finishing the dining room set reupholstery project, I went after the chandelier in our dining area… I had set my eyes on it for a while; I just didn’t know what to do with it. The modern style of the lamp was a plus to me, but the shades seemed just too plain.

I normally have a tendency to like feminine romantic decor styles with modern twists. However, since we got married, I have been trying to be fair and include my husband in the decor process. So when I saw pictures of ruffle lampshades (and loved them!), I hoped he would at least like them.

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Reupholstering Dining Room Chairs

How much fabric do I need to reupholster a chair

A chair as they looked before we started the project

Before we moved to our new house, we decided to replace most of our old furniture. As a result, the dining room set was one of those things we were missing.

After browsing a little (online and in the stores), we decided we didn’t want to pay full price for one, so we started our hunt for a used one. A while later, we found one that was in perfect condition, for a third of what it would cost to buy it new in the store. It was not necessarily our favorite, but we saw the potential of improving it with a little bit of love.

We brought it home, put it in its place and… yes, it needed the love. Our flooring is a dark brown hardwood, the dining room set has a very similar warm dark tobacco finish and leather looking brown seat coverings. We ended up with what I called “The Brown Corner”. This said, something had to be done to bring life to it… and the first thing we thought of was reupholstering the seat coverings.

Continue reading →