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Nutcracker Themed Christmas Tree (Sugar Plum Fairy)

This post was most recently updated on October 25th, 2020IN THIS ARTICLE: I share the Nutcracker themed Christmas tree I…
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Oh deer, I think I love you. {Faux Taxidermy – Near & Deer}

When you’ve been a blogger for awhile, you get lots of pitches for product reviews. While this might sound great, only a handful are ones I’d consider writing about.

Awhile back, though, I found an e-mail in my Inbox from a company called Near and Deer, inquiring whether I’d like to try one of their faux deer heads. Now, I think you’ll agree, that’s not something you hear every day. And, since I hadn’t yet indulged in the ‘faux taxidermy’ decorating trend, I was intrigued.

Faux taxidermy has been all the rage in decorating in recent years. (See: Faux Taxidermy Is A Surprisingly Chic Decor Element.) I love the personality statement that a set of (fake) antlers makes in a room. They’re such a great mix of modern chic and rustic cozy. I’ve swooned over many room photos with them; I just wasn’t sure how a set of antlers would mix with my own decor scheme.

And then this guy arrived in the mail…READ MORE

Overcoming Wallpaper Aversion Disorder!

OK, so here’s two words I never thought I’d say again: I wallpapered. (If you follow me on Instagram, you might have snuck a sneaky peaky.)

And, let me tell you, it’s no small miracle.

Fifteen years ago, I swore I would never-ever, ever-never, use wallpaper again. That’s what happens when you strip and scrape four decade’s worth of wallpaper with your own hands. By the time I tore the last piece of velvet flocked paper off the walls of our first home, I had developed a disease known to all owners of 1960s fixer uppers: Wallpaper Aversion Disorder. (It’s real, I swear.) READ MORE…

Hold the bus: Did that decorating magazine just give me permission to love my home?

You know I love my daily dose of decor blogs. But it hasn’t replaced my long-standing affair with decorating magazines. I’ve been a decorating magazine junkie for over 20 years. Back in the mid-90s, I’d sneak in some time with Canadian House and Home in the ‘current periodicals’ section of the university library when I should have been studying for a marketing exam…and I’ve been hooked ever since.

If you’re a decorating magazine junkie too, you probably get the same kind of kid-in-a-candy-store-feeling as me when you find a new issue in the mailbox, or on the grocery store stands! The only thing that’s better, is locking myself away in a quiet (kid-free) room to drool over the pages with a big cuppa java.

For the better part of the two decades I’ve been reading them, decor magazines have been mostly about ‘aspirational’ decorating. Filled with glossy spreads of gorgeous homes decorated (mostly) by professional designers, they appealed to our dreams, not necessarily our realities. They’ve fed our appetite for eye candy – even if, albeit, the eye candy is a little, er, inaccessible. As a poor university student, I knew it would be a loooooong time before I could afford a home like the ones they featured (if ever), but by schooling me on the rules of great design, those old issues inspired me nonetheless.

: A space featured in a 1996 issue of Canadian House and Home. Source and credits: Canadian House and Home.

Fast forward 20 years to 2013.

The June issue of another favorite, Style at Home, looks like this:

Are You a Story-Telling Decorator? {Telling Your Home’s Story with Decorating}

For a few years, we had a quote on a wall that read:

“Home is where our story begins”.

This is only photo I could dig up of this wall quote from my pre-blogging days. Baby J was the star of the shot, not the quote! Pretty cute, yes?

It occurred to me the other day that decorating your home really is a lot like story-telling.

I’ve never been exactly sure what label to put on my particular decorating style (and not that you need one, I guess). But I do think that one of the things that defines it is a desire to tell our story through our home. I love to surround ourselves with meaningful details like mementos, family photographs and ‘word art’ that represents us (hence, my love of gallery walls / art walls!).

Over the past few years, I’ve realized that my favorite kind of rooms are definitely those with a kind of ‘collected style’ that embraces well-loved ‘stuff’. The spaces in Style at Home that have always appealed to me most to me are the ‘lived in’ ones – with quirky accessories, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and walls filled with gorgeous personal photos. It doesn’t surprise me: I’ve never been great at parting with things. Somehow they always seem to re-appear after I’ve tucked them away in the storage room. And, it’s not because they sprouted legs and walked up the flight of stairs by themselves!

Valentine’s Day Decorating Ideas: “Smitten” Photo Mantel

I just put the finishing touches on a Valentine’s Day-themed mantel. I wasn’t sure I was even going to decorate my mantel for Valentine’s Day this year as I’ve really been enjoying the simplicity around here since taking down the Christmas decorations. But I started tinkering with those branches I’ve been using on my mantel over the past season – see my simple Christmas Mantel (with branches and bulbs) here – and before I knew it, I went beyond the point of no return.

I started by punching a whole bunch of paper hearts from scrapbook paper to create a kinda “Valentine’s Day” tree with the white birch branches. That’s where I intended to stop, but it seemed so lonely up there all by itself ;-). So then I went hunting for some other things to add, and before I knew it, I had a huge crafty mess on the kitchen island that included mod podge, glue and paint. How DO I get myself into these things?