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When designing our living room I always envisioned creating a cozy, relaxing sitting area; a place I could see myself curling up next to the fireplace reading a book or watching a movie with my kiddos. Can you visualize it?? Now fast forward to my reality……
I tried a few different chairs but they either lacked the cozy factor or were comfortable but not stylish. This was a lot harder then I thought it would be, maybe because I had been creating this little corner in my head for so long and I had some serious wish list items! This was when I decided I needed to go custom. This way I could pick the comfort level and style so it would match my other living room furniture.
That’s when I found this gorgeous Amelia Chair from Sixpenny! It’s an oversized chair big enough for cuddling with my kids and bringing my vision of the perfect sitting area to a reality- exactly what I was looking for! The first step was picking the fabric. I ordered a bunch of their samples so I could get a good look at how they would work with the other furniture in my living room. I decided to go with the Cotton Linen in the Pacific Pearl and it’s simply beautiful. For the chair fill I wanted something ultra cozy so I picked the feather down fill and it didn’t disappoint!
Next I added a throw blanket and a few pillows with some fun patterns and great texture to give it that cozy welcoming feel. Then I completed the look with some faux greenery and a few of my favorite pieces of decor!
This little corner has become the best seat in the house, literally!! I thought I would spend a lot of time here but truth be told, I have to fight my kids for a turn in our new sitting area….haha!! Needless to say we are thoroughly enjoying it and because this chair has a slipcover I don’t have to worry about spills and sticky fingers.
-Grey Birch Designs-
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Decorating your fireplace mantel can be tricky, and if you’re like me and want a new look for each season/holiday it can get expensive. I have come up with three ways you can style your mantel using the same core anchor pieces, making it easier to switch out the smaller decor from season to season!
Everyday Look
First let’s establish our anchor pieces that will be used throughout all the different looks. My biggest focal point is the larger mirror. I chose this one because it is a perfect piece to use in layering without being distracting. The wood frame and simple design draws your eye in but doesn’t distract from the sign that’s in front of it. The other anchor pieces I have are the vases with tall flowers on each side. This works great to get everything symmetrical, making it ok to keep the mirror and large sign off-center because the vases bring balance to the whole display. Finally, for this everyday look, I added the “home” sign and wood beads as decor. They look great and are easy to switch out!
Spring Look
For my spring look I swapped out my “home” sign for this larger spring sign, and added some wood beads on the vases. I also found these cute glass bottles at the Target dollar spot and put some real touch tulips in each one to give it a spring touch. By keeping the anchor pieces I didn’t have to change a lot but got a whole new look for spring!!
Summer Look
For my summer look I did something a little different than before. I love lots of greenery in the summer so I wanted to show that. I changed the cotton stems I had in the glass vases to some faux seeded eucalyptus, added some faux succulents inside 2 different color mason jars, added a faux boxwood wreath over my mirror, and added some fun vintage candle sticks and candles. Just like before, I kept my anchor pieces the same and incorporated smaller/different decor for a new season and fresh look!!
-Grey Birch Designs-
DIY’s on Monday
Joy In Our Home | Timeless Creations |The Tattered Pew | CityGirlmeetsFarmboy | Life On Kaydeross Creek
Vignettes on Tuesday
anderson + grant | Follow The Yellow Brick Home | White Arrows Home | Worthing Court | Camelot Art Creations
Front Porches on Wednesday
Mantels on Thursday
DIY Beautify | The Painted Hinge | Making It In the Mountains Grey Birch Designs | The Homemaking Momma
Recipes on Friday
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Our home was video taped a couple months ago for advertisement purposes and we were luck enough to get a copy of the amazing footage. I’m so excited to release the full tour of our home to you! I hope you enjoy our very first home tour as much as we have!!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss any of our videos!
-Grey Birch Designs-
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There are so many different ways you can make a blanket ladder, and I have made a few different styles myself, but I think this is the most straight forward and easy way I have found!
Supplies list
- Miter Saw
- Finish Nail gun
- Nails
- Wood dowels (you will need 2 or 3 depending on how many slats you want)
- 1″x 2″ pine board (these are for the sides so you will need 2 of these)
- Wood Glue
Step 1
First thing you are going to want to decide is how tall you want your ladder and about how many slats you want to have. I made mine 90″ tall and cut my dowels to 11 3/4″ I wanted a thinner look with more slates so that’s why I picked those measurements. Once everything is cut lay out your pieces and decide how far apart you want the spacing to be, mine are 7″ apart. Then mark the side pieces so you know where to attach each dowel.
Step 2
Now to assemble it you will want to put a dab on wood glue on one end of the dowel, line it up with the mark you made on the side piece and carefully fire a nail into the wood. Attach each dowel to the piece of wood you are using for the sides of the ladder then repeating the steps until all your dowels are attached to one side. Once that’s done you can turn it on its side and attach the other piece of wood with the same steps!
Step 3
Sometimes you ladder can be slightly bent after its assembled and that is completely normal due to the face that the wood isn’t perfectly straight most of the time. To fix this problem lay your assembled ladder on a flat surface and put some heavy objects on the top and the bottom and leave them there until your ladder is dry, I let mine sit overnight. Once the glue is dry its will stay in it’s new straight position. Now you can paint or stain it whatever color you like!
Hope you enjoyed this super easy and quick DIY Ladder!
-Grey Birch Designs-
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I am frequently asked about my living room mirrors and everyone is always surprised when I tell them they are actually a really easy DIY project I did. When we first moved into our new home I realized the living room needed a statement piece. I looked a lot of places to find tall designer inspired mirrors but just couldn’t bring myself to spend a lot of money, so I set out to try and make what I wanted for a fraction of the cost. I could’t be happier with how they turned out, here is a little overview of how I made these DIY wall mirrors.
Supply list:
You can find these at Target or Walmart for around $5!!
Cut to 57.5″ x 23″
(this can be customized a bit depending on the size mirror you get)
TIP: If you don’t have a large saw to cut the plywood Home Depot will cut it for FREE!
(I found mine off a local buy and sell page but Home Depot sells wood that looks similar, or you could buy any trim wood and stain it whatever color you like)
(they come in a few different sizes so you can pick the size you like best, I used the 2.5″ size)
– Wood trim (1.5″ wide and .25″ thick)
– Black paint
Tool List:
– Sander or sand paper
– Clamps
– Nail gun or hammer & nails
Once you get all your supplies together it’s an easy build from this point on!
STEP 1:
The first thing your going to want to do is paint your cut pieces of plywood and your trim pieces, and let them dry wile you make your other cuts.
STEP 2:
Now you are going to want to cut the barnwood to frame out your piece of plywood. Measure the top of your plywood, mark out the measurement on your barnwood, then take your miter saw set it at a 45 degree angle and cut. Repeat this step for the bottom and sides of the plywood.
STEP 3:
Next you are going to cut the trim pieces to make the X’s on the mirror. First you are going to divide the hight of the mirror into 3 equal sections. Then mesuere the with and cut 2 pieces to make the boxes.
STEP 4:
Now to make the X’s you will need to measure each box on a diangal (do each one seperately because the boxes can vary in size slightly) once you have the measurement you are going to make cuts to fit into the corners of the boxes. The best way to do this is to trace the angles on the wood and cut them on the saw. Repeat this step until you have all the wood trim cut to put your boxes and X’s together.
STEP 5:
Now it’s time to put everything together!! Lay out your wood trim pieces on the mirror. Once you get them how you want, take some clear silicone adhesive and glue each piece down to the mirror. Depending on how tight fitting your wood trim pieces meet up you may want to fill the small gaps with some wood filler.
STEP 6:
Now its time to attach your mirror to the plywood. Use the same adhesive on the back of the mirror and glue it down to the middle of the plywood.
STEP 7:
Time to attach your barnwood frame! Take each piece you have already cut and attach it with some wood glue. Then take your clamps and clamp the wood down wile you secure each piece with a few nails.
STEP 8:
After everything is done drying, if you used wood filler now is the time to sand it and touch up the paint. Then the final step is to add the hanging hardware. There are many ways you can do this. I like to drive 2 screws several inches apart into the back of the wood and connect them with picture hanging wire.
That’s it, your done, and now you have a beautiful custom mirror without the designer price tag!!
I hope you find this tutorial helpful and give it a try. I love seeing your projects so send me pics of your finished pieces!!
-Grey Birch Designs-
