Blog - The Lilypad Cottage

October 9, 2020 By Kelly 24 Comments

Pendant Lights, Fall Fashion, and Book Recs – Friday Feels

Welcome to another Friday Feels where I share what I’m feeling this week. This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. Just click on the BOLD links.

This week is another random offering of things I have and love, and a few things that caught my eye that I ordered. I also threw in a couple of books I read recently for good measure!

First up, and probably the thing I’m MOST excited about – my lights finally arrived!!! You know the lights I ordered in May for my little spring kitchen spruce up? Well, they are here! I bribed the Mr. with the promise of martinis to help me hang them. Then promptly made him play bartender to make said martinis – ha! It was all a win-win for me…and Instagram. I shared his dirty martini recipe in stories and you all loved it…well, and him mostly! Here is a quick pic of the lights (and the Mr.) since you all have been wanting these linked. I am working on adding some fall touches in the kitchen this weekend, so expect a full reveal soon!

Pendants

Also popular on Instagram last week were my new combat boots! You all spied them when I was talking about fall flowers, but they sold out! I think I found suuuper similar ones, if not the exact same ones on another site, so I’m linking those for you here too! Here is a screengrab of them from Instagram, oh, and the cute fall coat I mentioned in the last Friday feels too!

Coat

Here is a better photo of them. They are really comfortable, don’t have a big heel, and I love the stitching on them. Plus they are under $60.

Boots

Onto a few things I added to my cart this week. I bought these crackle leggings from Aerie earlier this week, they are supposed to arrive this weekend so I’ll keep you posted. I’ve had my eye on some faux leather leggings, but I actually like the softer less shiny look of these! Throw on an oversized sweater (I ordered this one to get free shipping) and combat boots for an easy fall outfit. Or these are great paired with a hoodie, jean jacket, and sneakers for running errands too.

Leggings

Sweater

I’ve mentioned before that the Tartlette in Bloom palette is my go-to for eyeshadow. They are offering up this special where you get 3 of their mini palettes (a mini Bloom palette being one of them). I bought those this week as my Bloom palette is running low on several colors I use daily. Their eye shadow is my favorite, so this is a great way to try some of their other colors too!

When the Mr. and I went to NYC a few years back we went to Momofuku Milk Bar for an afternoon treat one day. Their cookies have been on my mind ever since. This recipe here is a great dupe for their Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies. Hands down these are a new family fave! My secret is to scoop the cookies out on a cookie sheet and refrigerate them. Once they are cold I stick them in a ziplock bag and only bake a few at a time so they are fresh daily. I’ve been baking 8 at night so we can have a little family dessert time after everyone’s crazy sports schedules. They are SO addicting, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Ok, last up I thought I would quickly share the last two books I read. First The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. You may recall I read the Huntress by her as well. This again is historical fiction set in 1947, as well as 1915. It jumps back and forth between two characters. Eve Gardiner, a spy operating in France, and 30 years later a pregnant college girl, Charlie St. Clair. I love how their stories weave together, and you will miss the characters she creates by the end of the book.

I also read Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. Warning – this book is pretty dark and creepy and may not be the best to read alone at night! It is a psychological thriller that I had a hard time putting down, because I needed to know how it would end. It’s about a seemingly perfect married couple Jack and Grace, but you quickly learn everything is not as it appears to be…

I think that’s all I have this week, happy weekend!!

October 7, 2020 By Kelly 27 Comments

Purple and Burgundy Fall Window Boxes

I’m a little behind on my Wednesday post, a little behind on my fall decorating, and well and just a little behind on life in general! But that’s ok it’s 2020 and nothing has really gone according to plan this year. However, I did have time to quickly shoot my purple and burgundy fall window boxes yesterday while the sun was shining.

I skipped the mums again this year (they never seem to make it long in my window boxes) and went with cabbage like last year. I stuck to more purple and burgundy tones for something different.

I also added these gorgeous scarlet Celosia this year. Although the nursery owner warned me they aren’t as hardy as the cabbage, so I have been careful to cover them up with a fitted sheet on chillier nights. Have I mentioned that trick before? A twin fitted sheet fits perfectly and gently over my window boxes when frost is a threat.

I think we have already had 2 or 3 nights of frost here in Michigan? You never know what you are going to get with the fall flower season here!

I actually did a few versions of these boxes this year but didn’t snag photos in time to share the first version. I’ll explain my method though. Some of my flowers toward the end of summer (Septemberish) start to look scraggly, leggy, and their time is just done. This year instead of completely starting over I slowly transitioned my boxes by pulling out the tired flowers and incorporating new.

Here are what my flowers looked like mid-summer for a refresher. I pulled out all the pink flowers and the white geraniums, but left all the white flowers and vinca vine. I added in a few cabbage, cabbages, cabbagi? Just looked it up its apparently cabbages, which sounds weird but you learn something new every day! I also added some pansies too.

The white flowers eventually died off because they didn’t like the cold snap. I filled in the empty space with cabbage, decorative grass, and celosia.

It was nice to gradually change with the season rather than ripping everything out and starting from scratch!

You can see here the leaves are just starting to change, and I will definitely share more photos as it happens. I know some of you don’t get to experience all 4 seasons and like to live vicariously through my seasonal photos, so I will be sure to share more!

Also, I cropped Charlie out of all my pics as he insisted on being in them as usual. Here is one of just him and my hydrangeas.

I love the colors hydrangeas turn in the fall!

Here’s a shot I shared in my Instagram stories last week when a big storm was rolling in.

If you are looking for more fall window box ideas, or porch inspiration you can check out some of last year’s posts –

Cabbage and Kale Front Porch Decor

Mums Fall Window Boxes

Fall Front Porch

Or if you want to add window boxes to your own home I share a bit more about how our window boxes are built in this post –

Window Boxes that won’t fall apart

October 2, 2020 By Kelly 8 Comments

Pear Bourbon Cocktail

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a good cocktail recipe! Now that the temps are dropping here in Michigan, I have the perfect fall drink for a cozy night by the fire. This pear bourbon cocktail is the Mr.’s latest concoction based on a drink we had a local restaurant a few weeks ago (Terra in Grand Rapids for you locals). I had to order it based on the name alone – The Boyfriend Hoodie, which sounds perfectly cozy! We changed up the ingredients a bit just based on what we had on hand, but it’s equally delicious.

For some reason, the Mr. and I tend to drink bourbon cocktails more in the fall/winter months than any other time of the year. I love warm apple cider with a shot of bourbon or this Lemon Maple Bourbon is a fave too this time of year.

This pear bourbon cocktail is pretty simple. It combines pear juice, bourbon, walnut bitters, and a dash of cinnamon. It’s a bit like an old fashioned with a fall twist. I know pear juice seems like a weird ingredient but they sell it right next to the apple juice and it’s delicious!

If you want to take this cocktail up a notch use bourbon aged in maple syrup barrels. It has the perfect subtle hint of maple and adds a bit of sweetness – so good! We love to use Iron Fish Bourbon or Mammoth Bourbon (or their Rye Whiskey) – both Northern Michigan distilleries and both age a version in Maple Syrup barrels.

You could also use whatever bourbon or rye whiskey you have on hand and throw in a splash of maple syrup to get the same flavors. I like to sprinkle cinnamon on top of a pear slice and top my drink with it, but you could also sprinkle the cinnamon straight into the drink too.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Save Print

Pear Bourbon Cocktail

Recipe type: cocktail

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

3 ounces pear juice
3 ounces maple finished bourbon (Like Iron Fish or Mammoth)
3 dashes of bitters
sprinkle of cinnamon
optional pear slice
ice

Instructions

Add pear juice, bourbon, bitters to glass.
Add a large ice cube.
Slice the pear and sprinkle with cinnamon and garnish the drink.

I can’t wait to warm up with this pear bourbon cocktail after a chilly weekend of soccer momming – Happy weekend!

September 29, 2020 By Kelly 18 Comments

Round Breakfast Nook Table

Do you remember waaaaay back in March when I started my little spring refresh on our breakfast nook? I decided we needed a bigger table, and I bought three new chairs in anticipation. The Mr. actually bought me a round breakfast nook table for my birthday – he knows the key to my heart is new furniture ;) Well, it finally arrived! Or I should say we finally drove over to Detroit on the other side of the state to pick it up. When everything went on COVID lock-down, it got stuck in a warehouse there and it has been waiting for me this whole time.

We had a moment of panic when we arrived and it wouldn’t fit in the car, but thankfully once we got rid of all the packaging we were able to squeeze it in. Good thing because after seven months of waiting, I was prepared to walk home with this thing strapped to my back if need be!

I’ll back up and refresh your memory on why we wanted a bigger table for this space. We eat dinner here every night as a family of four. It’s such a cozy spot right in the kitchen, but the original table I bought was too small for this space. It worked when my kids were younger, but now that they are 9 and 12 (and both lefties whereas the Mr. and I are righties, which makes for a complicated seating chart), we were smashing elbows all the time.

The new larger round table is SO much better for us. I love the simple pedestal bottom which makes it easy to slide chairs around. Bonus – it extends to a larger oval too. We tried that size out at first. It fits great in the space, but we don’t really need it that big for everyday use. So, we bumped it back down to the round setup. It’s nice to have that option for holiday parties and large gatherings (whenever that happens again). We could easily sit six people here now with the leaf in.

Oh, and my wonderful mother in law sewed the bench cushion up for me! It’s indoor and outdoor fabric, and I sprayed it with Scotchguard for another layer of protection. It also has velcro on the back, so I can remove it and throw it in the wash too.

The last of my pink-tinged limelight hydrangeas look so pretty in this spot! I’m going to miss all the free clippings from my yard soon.

I’m happy to report that there has indeed been less fighting between my kids (and elbow smashing) during dinner now that we all have a bit more room. Now they have switched to arguing about dish duty instead! :)

The new kitchen pendants that I ordered in May miraculously showed up this weekend too! So, my whole spring kitchen refresh is just about ready… just in time for fall – ha! I’m still trying to sweet-talk the Mr. into helping me hang them up since it’s sort of a two-person job. Hopefully, I’ll share this space all decked out for fall soon.

I’m actually working on a new fall cocktail recipe for Friday’s post, so maybe I’ll bribe him with one of those? On second thought alcohol and electricity is probably not the best combo! If you want to check out the rest of our kitchen take the tour here.

SOURCES: Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. Just click on the BOLD links.

Chairs

Round Breakfast Nook Table

Cabinet color – Extra White by Sherwin Williams

Island color – Blue Note by Benjamin Moore

Wood Flooring

Light Blue Fringed Pillow

Blue striped pillow – Target no longer available

Blue plaid pillow

Tan Stripe pillow

Tile – Lowe’s

Stepstool

September 25, 2020 By Kelly 31 Comments

Pool House Bathroom Plans

It’s been a while since a pool house update, so I thought I would fill you in. Nothing exciting is really happening, but the insulation is done. The plumbers started this week, and the heating and cooling guys are working out there as I type. All very boring, but necessary stuff but means we are finalllllly getting closer to the fun part! This has definitely not been an overnight HGTV type makeover.

Here’s the mudroom space (and yes we will be fixing the crack in the cement floor before we lay tile).

Here’s the bathroom layout.

I’m getting ready to order tile, I bought a mirror for the mudroom area, and I’m trying to pick out lighting, etc. I thought I would show you a little bit of what I’m planning at the moment. Even though we all know this is subject to change as my mind is basically a pinball machine. I will confess that I’m having a little design paralysis with this space. I’m having a hard time envisioning all of this for some reason – my creative juices are just not there at the moment! I keep asking The Mr. how we ever designed and built this whole house when I can’t even commit to a bathroom vanity this time around? But I’m sure we will get there! Here’s my tentative plan for the moment.

We plan to vertically plank all the walls in here in either paneling with sort of faux planks, or actual tongue and groove – we haven’t figured that out yet. I’m thinking since this will be mostly a kids’ space that will be a little more indestructible than drywall, plus it will look charming and pool house-y. We are going to paint it all white since these are smaller spaces and I want it to feel nice and bright.

I’ve been researching tile options for the mudroom/bathroom area on the lower level of the pool house, and I’ve landed on this gorgeous tile from Mirth Studio. It’s water-resistant and frost resistant, which is important since we will probably not keep this space heated all winter. We will most likely winterize the bathroom in the winter. We will have heat over there so we will play this all by ear and see how we use the space in the winter months. I think a smaller space like this is the perfect opportunity to play with pattern and have a little fun. The white and gray wood look of this tile is fun and coastal, and perfect for a pool house space. We are going to lay it in a square pattern as I show above.

For some color, I’m thinking of a navy vanity in the bathroom. There are a few in the running, and I’m waiting to hear back from the plumber on what size would be best here. I’m hoping we have room for a 30 inch one with some storage.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. Just click on the BOLD links.

1. Goodin 30″ Single Bathroom Vanity Set

2. Florence Vanity

3. Lasher 30″ Single Bathroom Vanity Set

4. Modero Vanity Cabinet

I love the look of aged brass with the navy, so I’m leaning that way for light fixtures, but I also like mixing metals too (again with the design paralysis). I’ll also mix in black elements such as the doorknobs, and maybe the lighting in the bunk room. Here are a few fixtures that have caught my eye. Right now, number 3 is top of the list (I like the polished nickel and the brass version, not sure which I would use!), but of course, that is the most expensive one – ah! The styles are a little all over the place. As I said, I’m still on the struggle bus.

I’m still on the hunt for a luxury vinyl plank for the upper-level bunkroom. I’m envisioning painting the bunks a maybe a gray color? These are the type of sconces I’m thinking for the ends of each bed. Again super charming, nautical and indestructible! Although I’m on the hunt for less expensive ones because these are pricey and I need four.

I have zero clue on the snack bar, I’m hoping some inspiration hits me before we work on that area! The Mr. and I are going to hit up some home improvement stores to finalize the paneling/planking options, and I’m hoping that spurs something in my brain for the design of this space! Happy Weekend!

Oh, and if you are new here you can read more about our pool house plans here.

September 23, 2020 By Kelly 38 Comments

Fall Living Room Home Decor

I’ve been teasing little bits and pieces of my cozy fall living room decor for the last few weeks, but I’m finally sharing all the details today! I’m so excited to be partnering with the Home Depot for today’s post. They have become one of my go-to places for online shopping for basically everything you need for your home. I’ve been impressed with how fast their shipping is and their pricing is great too. I’ve actually had my eye on the lamp below from another store for a while, and I was so excited when I found the exact one on The Home Depot for $100 cheaper! But I’m getting ahead of myself, come on in and see the changes I made.

With the temps cooling down, I’m spending less time outside and more weekends cozied up on the couch with a good book. If I’m going to snuggle down in this room to read, then I think it’s high time I added a reading lamp and some end tables to hold my coffee. Adding the finishing touches in this room has been long overdue, but it was nice to live in this space and see how we would use it before buying the wrong pieces.

The soft glow of this lamp has been so nice. I don’t really know how we lived without a lamp in here so long.

I find myself flipping it on as I walk through at night and the Mr. keeps trying to steal it every morning and drag it over to his makeshift “work from home” office. Yes, we are now sharing the living room as our joint office, and for the most part, that’s running smoothly…minus Charlie’s indecision about what coworker’s lap he is going to hang out on for the day. :)

I’ve had about a thousand different end tables in my online cart over the years, but I finally pulled the trigger on these beauties. I love the clean lines and the height was perfect not to block the view. Stacking tables like this are one of my favorite styles of end tables. They are so versatile to move around where you need them when you entertain. These are a great price point too.

I found this gorgeous cement planter at The Home Depot as well.

I love the texture it adds to this cozy corner. Speaking of cozy, this blanket is heaven! The chunky knit is perfect for fall. Warm-toned pillows finish off the fall vibes over here on the couch.

Ok, let’s swing over to my fave piece in the room – this gorgeous stoneware vase. What can I say? Sometimes you gotta go big or go home! This room is 21×22 and I’ve found over the years that filling it with a lot of small items ends up looking busy to the eye. Sometimes it pays off to splurge on that one really large special piece that makes the room. I know this is a classic piece that I will have forever and can use in a million different ways. I’m imagining it filled with pine branches or lilies in the winter, and hydrangeas in the summer.

You can see here it looks great on the floor as well, or envision it with a cool faux olive tree inside! I’m a little obsessed with it. It just adds such warmth and character to this space.

I’m loving the new-cozy, old-school library vibe this room has now. It really illustrates how versatile neutral walls and furniture can be. It’s so easy to change up the whole vibe of the space by swapping out a few pillows and accessories.

And yes, I think these navy chairs still qualify as a neutral. You can see they work great in summer with brighter blues and whites, but equally as well with the warmer tones of these fall pillows.

So there you have it! This space is ready for the leaves to change and carry us right on through to the snow flying (shudder, so not ready for that yet). Be sure to check out The Home Depot for all of your home decor needs. I’m linking all my faves from The Home Depot below.

SOURCES: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. Just click on the BOLD links.

Velvet blush-colored pillow

Gray Fringed Pillow

Black End Tables

Knit Blanket

Floor Lamp

Small Cement Vase

Large Terra Cotta Pot

Striped Ottomans

You can find the rest of the sources in this room on the shop our home page.

You can check out more of my fall finds in this post here.

September 16, 2020 By Kelly 31 Comments

Neutral Fall Fireplace Mantel

I’ve been working on fall-ifying my house this past week. No pumpkins in sight yet, just bringing some cozy textures and pillows into the mix. Today, I thought I would quickly share my neutral fall fireplace mantel decor. I used to change my mantel decor drastically for each season, but these days, I like to keep it simple. I like keeping this large mirror up here to anchor the space and then I just swap out little accessories here and there.

And yes, I was totally justified in having the fireplace on when I shot this, it’s actually been really cool here with temps in the 50’s in the mornings. ;)

I traded out the fresh summer greens in my vases for some grasses I clipped from the side of the road. Pro-tip; wash your hands after playing with these if you have allergies like me. My eyes promptly swelled shut after I arranged these perfectly – still totally worth it! Pro-tip number two; I actually cut some of these same grasses last year and dried them. They stored perfectly in our storage room in a vase and I was able to pull them back out this year.

I shopped my house and stole these aged brass candlesticks from our bedroom to add some more warmth to the mantel.

I mentioned this artwork in my fall Friday Feels last week and I love the subtle colors. I was planning on buying a smaller mat to show more of the art but I never got around to it. I still like the cropped version.

After I figured out the mantel I took my fall zhushing over to the bookshelves. Again I kept my same key players, namely my great grandmother’s old books and some fave vintage children’s books. Then I just tuck in a few seasonal items.

When I’m styling shelves I always think about having similar colors for your eye to follow. Since I switched out the white frame on the mantel for a black one I wanted to add black to the shelves as well. I’ve had these black and white prints forever. The Mr. and I bought on Napa trip a million years ago. Adding them to the shelves up here balances the black a bit. I picked up this Tradescantia Zebrina at my local nursery because the muted tones of the plant fit right in with the direction I was going for the living room.

This little black vase used to be white and I just hit it with a coat of black spray paint (I can spray it white again in the summer if the mood strikes) for a cozier fall vibe. Then I stuck a handful of cut grass in it. This time I used Karl Foerster from our yard.

Our dining table got a handful of clippings too!

Again, I really just shopped my house to keep things simple. Sometimes all you need to make your house feel fresh is to swap things around a bit.

I think that’s it, I’ll be sharing the rest of the room soon!

SOURCES: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. Just click on the BOLD links.

Mantel beam – this was the original mantel beam of the cottage we knocked down to build here

Stone – J&N stone – Style Quartz, Color Price

Candlesticks

Art – Juniper Print shop

Vases

Mirror

Brass Bowls – no longer available

Dining Chairs

White Dining Chairs

Table – from a local store that unfortunately went out of business

Dining table vase – no longer available, this is a similar one

Dining Light

Wall Color – Extra White by Sherwin Williams

September 10, 2020 By Kelly 26 Comments

Fall Finds: Pillows, Clothes and more – Friday Feels

I have missed my random Friday Feels posts! I love to share all the odds and ends and things I’m loving throughout the week with you all. I’m going to try to get back to sharing these weekly, so prepare yourself for my ramblings! Today, I’ve got fall on the brain since Michigan has done an about-face and switched to sweater weather this week.

I’m adding lots of cozy textures and warmer colors in the living room to carry me through to winter. I also finally bought end tables and lamps after 3 years of searching, but more on that later…I picked up these pillows during the Labor Day sale (although last I checked they are still on sale) and they just arrived.

Grey Pillow / Lumbar Pillow / Patterned Pillow

They are SO pretty in person. I can’t wait to share the living room all decked out for fall, but in the meantime, here is a little sneaky peek.

Blanket / Blush Pillow / Pattern Pillow

I also bought this digital download from Juniper Print Shop that I talked about on Instagram this week. It’s called Lakeside, so obviously I had to have it. It looks perfect on the mantel. You can see I’m going for a very warm, cozy old library feel in the living room this year. I just need to flip the fireplace on and add a good book!

I’ve been on the hunt for cute and comfortable face masks and I’ve tried about a million, but so far these masks are my fave.

In my quest to get free shipping, I added their satin pillowcase and hair towel to my cart as well. I’m happy to report that I love them both! I tried another cheap silk pillowcase from amazon and it was awful – I didn’t even last the night on it. However, this one is great, under $20, and I like that it has a zipper so it’s not sliding off your pillow all night. Silk pillowcases are supposed to be much gentler on your hair and your face. I don’t look 20 years younger yet, but my hair is less tangly in the morning!

This Microfiber hair towel works great at cutting down my drying time on hair wash days.

Speaking of hair, I tried these Gimme Beauty hair ties this summer and I’ve become a convert! I love their silk scrunchies for sleeping – I put my hair in a low ponytail to sleep and they don’t leave creases. The seamless design on their hair ties is so much gentler on my hair and I love that they come in different sizes for different thickness of hair. I like the thin ones for my fine thin hair. If you use my link above for the month of September you can get 35% off and free shipping over $25!

I’ve already been freezing in our house so I just bought this cardigan…and yes I will wear it while listening to Cardigan by Taylor Swift, but I draw the line at drinking Pumpkin Spice Latte…

I bought this bodysuit to wear underneath it. Even though I have major flashbacks to the ’80s every time I wear one, I do like a good bodysuit.

Everything is 20% off at Abercrombie right now, so I also snagged this classic long camel coat for fall/winter. I feel like this is the kind of coat you throw on over leggings and sneakers and look super cool, but it looks equally great dressed up too. Or you know, it covers up your jammies in the carpool drop-off line since it has a certain cozy bathrobe vibe to it. I love that it’s available in tall sizes so the length will actually hit me right too.

I bought my daughter this cozy split neck hoodie, I’m not saying I’m going to borrow it, but I’m not, NOT saying I’m going to ;)

Ok and last I switched face primers this summer to go along with my fave CC cream and I love this one from IT cosmetics. This stuff makes my skin look so smooth, plus my makeup stays put, even with wearing a mask.

Primer / CC Cream

I think that’s it for this week! I’m working on a new book list for next week and I think my fall mantel will make its debut too!

September 8, 2020 By Kelly 13 Comments

Painting a Leather Chair DIY

Last week I debuted my daughter’s new teen girl bedroom, and you were all the best as usual with the sweet comments! I’m so glad you loved the room as much as we do. Today I’m sharing the quick painting a leather chair DIY we used. to spiff up this midcentury modern find.

We found this beauty on a rainy Sunday afternoon when we hit up a local antique store. We were actually there to find a dresser (thankfully we nabbed one of those too, some days you just luck out)! I walked around the corner to find my daughter cozied up in this old chair.

It was the perfect size for her, and her room – love at first sight! The leather was in rough shape though – dirty, dingy, and sporting a few madmen-esque authentic 50’s era cigarette burns. For $30 we thought we would bring it home and see if we could save it.

First, we hit it with every cleaning product known to man and a lot of good old fashioned elbow grease. It definitely removed a few years of grime, but nothing could erase every bit of its previous life. I used Tide and warm water, Dawn and warm water, a magic eraser, Norwex cleaning paste, and actual leather cleaner to name a few. Here it is after we cleaned it, doesn’t look much different, but I promise this was after many buckets of blackened water.

I was pretty convinced this was as squeaky clean as it was going to get, so onto phase 2. – leather paint! I had absolutely no clue you could paint leather, but my daughter had watched a crafting youtube video where a fun design was painted on a leather bag. We thought why not give it a shot? I ordered Angelus leather paint from Amazon in white. I bought 3 bottles because I had no idea how much I would need, but we only ended up using 2. My typical prep for painting any surface is cleaning said surface really well first. Since I had scrubbed this to death already, I felt like we were good to go.

Here it is after the first coat.

I used a regular old paintbrush (the Wooster short-handled paintbrushes are my go-to for every project) and started applying the paint. I quickly realized I was going to need a lot of thin coats. The paint wasn’t covering everything and was a little streaky at first.

After letting it dry for a few hours, I applied the 2nd coat, and a 3rd….and 7 coats later it was complete!

Here it is after 4 coats.

I let it dry for 48 hours just to be sure before anyone sat in it, but it looks brand new! It even filled in those cigarette burns.

I’ve had a few questions on how I think this will wear over time – to be honest, I’m not sure?! I’ll keep you all posted if we have issues. I think the fact that we are keeping this little faux fur throw in here will probably save it from a lot of wear and tear. I’m assuming touching it up won’t be too hard if we do see some issues.

So far so good though! The paint is really flexible and the seat still feels nice and soft. I think this product worked great for a thinly padded chair like this, but I’m not sure it would work on an old leather couch with thicker cushions. I would say the less squishy the better, so you aren’t testing the limits of the stretchiness of the paint. So proceed with caution if you try this at home.

This was such a fun project and it’s always great to be able to give new life to an old piece of furniture with this painting a leather chair DIY!

If you missed my daughter’s bedroom reveal be sure to check it out!

September 3, 2020 By Kelly 52 Comments

Teen Girl Bedroom Decor

Ok, look at me all on time and delivering on my post promises for once! Last week I shared the design board for my daughter’s Tween Bedroom Refresh – which, note the title change for this post to Teen Girl Bedroom Decor…My child informed me that she is really closer to 13 than 12 and she is almost, basically, not really, even a tween anymore. It’s time to move onto full-fledged teen. ;) She frantically stuffed all her dirty laundry (and dishes) in her closet yesterday, so I could shoot her room. So without further ado, her new TEEN room!

I mentioned we started with this art from Juniper Print Shop. They have so many great prints, but the colors in this one really caught her eye.

We pulled the seafoam/blueish/greenish paint color for her walls from the painting. She loves to peruse Pinterest (who doesn’t?) and found this color-blocking trend that she really loved, so we tried our hand at it.

It was actually much easier than I thought it would be, thanks to the laser level I borrowed from my brother. The level allowed us to just measure the height on each wall, line the level up, and shoot. My daughter traced the lines down the walls in pencil while I held it steady. Then we used Frog Tape to tape the lines and got to painting.

It took a bit of debating to figure out what height to make the line. We decided to line it up with the grids on the windows, although you can’t really see that in the photos that well. It was so bright when I shot this that I ended up shutting the shades for most of the photos to cut down on the glare.

She really loves her new much lower bed (so does our dog, Charlie, it’s his new fave spot to nap now that he can hop up easily). I will say the pricepoint on this bed is amazing, but putting it together is a chore. It comes in about a zillion pieces, but the Mr. and I managed it with minimal griping or marital strife.

We kept all of her old bedding, but added in the cute lumbar pillow and throw at the end of the bed for a pop of color.

The nightstands are the same too, but I swapped out the art so as not to compete with the new print above her bed. I found these gold frames at Target, and added in more printed art from BFF Printshop.

I love all of these print shops that offer affordable downloadable art. I’ve had a few questions about how I go about printing these out. For the smaller prints, I print them right at home on our home printer. The larger prints I actually have printed at my local Staples. I have them printed on heavier duty matte paper to make them feel more like real art.

The old prints found their way to this corner of the room with her new chair. If you only knew how many holes I put in the wall trying to get that stripe right down the center of these prints!

And yes that electrical cord is making me all kinds of twitchy! I didn’t hide it in the photos, I’m a bit rusty getting my big girl camera back out for the first time in a while!

I know some of you are surprised that we got rid of the hanging chair that she loved, but it took up a lot of space in her room and she was ready for a change. We found this cool midcentury modern one at a local antique store for $30. I will share the little makeover we did on it next week. Let’s just say it had a very authentic 50’s vibe complete with cigarette burns, but you would never know now! A new lamp and a few accessories, and this is now her fave spot to curl up with her kindle.

This dresser was another find that same day at the antique store, again I will share that makeover next week too! Her old dresser was much taller and she wanted to have a mirror in her room that she could actually see herself in. This one was a perfect size, and with a few coats of paint looks so cute. And yes I’m doing this completely backward showing you the finished room before all the projects in it, but I just couldn’t wait.

For those of you keeping track, this is now the 4th “hairdo” this cute lady is sporting. Safe to say my daughter didn’t inherit my green thumb. She keeps getting a fresh do when the others have shriveled up and died. Hopefully, this one makes it!

Over on this side of the room, I put up some fun hooks so she has a place to hang bags, hats, whatever she wants.

The new rug really pulls everything together here.

The subtle pattern is so pretty, the colors are perfect, and it’s nice and soft underfoot. I think that’s the grand tour? This was so fun to work on with her this summer and feels so much more “teen” now.

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White Wall Color – Extra White by Sherwin Williams

Green Wall Color – Azores by Benjamin Moore

Nightstands

Bed – the queen size is sold out right now

Lamps

Duvet Cover

White Throw Pillows

Striped Throw Pillow

Pink Blanket

Knit Blanket

Landscape Artwork – Juniper Print Shop

C and Butterfly Artwork – BFF Print Shop