Decorate your home
Find ideas and inspiration to personalize your home.
13 Creative Ways to Organize Your Home with Baskets
Organizing with baskets is a simple and versatile way to declutter and streamline your home. Baskets come in all shapes and sizes, and can be used in nearly every room of the house. Beautiful baskets can readily be found at thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets making them budget friendly. Many retail stores also…
Small Dining Room Refresh on a Budget
We have a very small dining room at our Cottage style house. However, I still want it to have function and style! In the video below I’m sharing part 1 of my Dining room makeover using what I have and a Facebook marketplace find (or two.) This year is the year of frugal for us….
Warm and Cozy Cottage Christmas Decor
What could be better than a warm and cozy Cottage Christmas? I’m sharing lots of ideas from my favorite Vintage Market. It’s three levels and there is a mix of vintage, handmade, and new. The market is all decked out for the holidays and I’m sharing Christmas decor ideas with you. I hope you’re as…
8 Ways to Make Your Bedroom Look Like a Luxury Hotel on a Small Budget
For a luxury bedroom design you don’t need to spend a lot of money. You can create the bedroom of your dreams by focusing on the little things that bring a feeling of luxury. The good news is that even a small bedroom (with a small budget) can have a hotel feel! This post may…
9 Best Tips to Decorate with the color Green
Ok, so you’re liking this green trend in home decor. But you’re not sure if you’re favorite colors include green. You need ideas! For that reason, I’m sharing my 9 best tips to decorate with the color green. Most are low commitment for your home decor. While others are the best option for more passionate green…
Friday Favorites
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more info… Welcome to Friday favorites! I’ll be sharing my favorite unique finds (thrifted or new) in home decor, fashion, books, other great blogs, and anything else I think you might love. Vintage Furniture I have a favorite find this week. It’s no surprise…
Sharing My Cottage Adventures
Latest Videos In case you missed our most recent videos! I visited a beautiful Antique and Maker Fair. I had never been inside the little cottage shop that hosted it. But I did look in the windows when it was closed. Yes, I will stalk adorable cottage shops and I’m not sorry! There was so…
Friday Favorites
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more info… Welcome to Friday favorites! I’ll be sharing my favorite unique finds (thrifted or new) in home decor, fashion, books, other great blogs, and anything else I think you might love. Cottage Garden The weather is turning a little cooler in the mornings….
7 Steps to Bring Your Houseplants Back Inside for the Winter (including Debugging them)
I’m sharing 7 step-by-step instructions to bring your favorite plants back inside for the winter. Including detailed information about how to “debug” your potted plants before they come inside. It’s easy. I promise. Let’s get started fellow plant lovers! This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here. My houseplants love spending the summer…
Friday Favorites
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more info… Welcome to Friday favorites! I’ll be sharing my favorite unique finds (thrifted or new) in home decor, fashion, books, other great blogs, and anything else I think you might love. This week I wrote a post about how to cozy up your…
How To Thrift for Home Decor and Furniture (+Best Thrifted Finds)
Do you get overwhelmed at thrift stores and garage sales? If you want a beautiful home, great deals can be found at your local thrift shop. Some of my favorite furniture in my home has been found thrift shopping. I’ve spent many years visiting secondhand shops. I’ve learned how to look past the junk and…
Cottage Christmas Home Tour
Simple joys, and quality time are what we’re focusing on this Christmas. I rearranged our smallish living room, and dining room to accommodate all seven of us, through many days of merry making! It really took the pressure off, (and made it so much more enjoyable) to keep the decorations simple. Using foraged greens and…
How to Strip Wood Furniture with Oven Cleaner!
Buying furniture second hand is a great way to furnish your home on a budget. I’ve found that most bargain pieces found at thrift stores, or Estate sales, need an update. Then I discovered oven cleaner furniture stripper! A change in the finish can make your finds go from “garage sale” to designer, for a…
Spring Bedroom Tour
I love a good home tour and I’m guessing that you do too! So today I decided to give you a tour of our bedroom, since it’s the only room that is feeling finished. We’re doing a lot of rearranging and making over in most other rooms, so those will come a little later! I…
French Country Home Tour
Our friends Holly and Charlie have a beautiful home. They’ve spent the last several years personalizing it and adding a rich French Country appeal to it. Holly has a keen eye for “rescue” furniture that she makes new again! They’ve also done a beautiful job on their curb appeal and landscaping. When you walk up…
How to Cozy Up Your Bedroom for Fall
There is a hint of cool weather coming our way. The days are not quite as long, so it’s time to add some cozy to our homes! The bedroom is a great place to start this fall. With all of the staying at home these days, a cozy fall bedroom has become a priority for…
How To Create a Chippy Painted Furniture Finish
Chippy, painted furniture has become a classic for farmhouse and cottage style. You can have a lot, or you can have a little. But there’s no denying that a chippy, painted furniture finish adds warmth, and that vintage home decor vibe to a space. However, if you want to pick up an authentic piece of…
7 Things I’ve Done to Make Money from Home
You don’t need a fancy office or mad skills to make money from home. A little creativity and desire can make it happen! Early in my married life, I was finishing up school to become a Registered Nurse. Even though we had young children, I pictured myself working full-time in my chosen career. Well, you…
Easy Container Gardening:Vegetables & Herbs (video included)
It’s spring and the garden fever at the cottage is high! With everything going on this year (at the time of this writing, we’re in a Pandemic emergency), we’re focusing on vegetables more than ever. The health benefits and cost savings are what we’re working toward. But of course, I want my garden to have…
Thrifted+Vintage Dishes for Farmhouse Style (video included)
Do you love a good thrift find? Then I’ve got something to show you! Maybe you won’t be as excited as I am, but I hope you enjoy it. I’m also sharing some styling ideas for your inspiration. This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure… If you would rather watch the video from…
Easy DIY Shelf Project
Clutter often feels like chaos to me. But I don’t claim to be a minimalist either! So this easy DIY shelf project was the perfect solution to display a small collection of Sea shells or Air plants here at the cottage. This little project was quick, inexpensive, and very easy! I found this cassette tape…
IKEA Kivik Sectional Review (Video)
Hey friends! The IKEA Kivik sectional is obviously a hot topic. It’s my most popular pin on Pinterest and I get questions about it all the time. So with that in mind, I created a video review to give you even more info! Considering the Sectional Purchasing a sofa is a big deal. We are…
How to DIY Floor Lamps from Columns (Video)
Floor lamps can be quite expensive. So why not DIY them? We made these solid wood, column lamps for less than $35. each! It’s simple enough for a beginner. Check the video out and see what you think! I went through a couple of my local Flea Markets to see how readily available columns are….
Cozy Bedroom Makeover On An Extreme Budget (Video)
It was time. Our guest bedroom had become a dumping ground for all the “things”. But with our DIY kitchen still in the works, I had to do this makeover fast and on an extreme budget. I originally had bunkbeds in there that I had thrifted. There was also a leather chair that I had…
How to Plant Paper Whites in Thrifted Containers
Hey friends. Today I’m planting Paper White and Amaryllis bulbs in vintage, and thrifted containers. It’s so simple. You don’t even need any soil! These will bloom four to six weeks after planted. That puts it just in time for Christmas! But don’t worry, you can plant these for beautiful blooms any time of year….
Easy DIY Furniture Makeover
These thrifted chairs were only five dollars each at a local thrift store. Their vintage style made them a perfect choice for a DIY farmhouse style makeover! When thrift shopping for furniture, especially chairs, make sure they’re sturdy (and don’t smell funny). These chairs were in excellent condition other than needing a little update. I…
5 Tips for Making Your Home Holiday Ready on a Budget
For several years when my children were young, fall would roll around with all of the commotion of starting a new school year and activities. I would find myself caught off guard when Thanksgiving and Christmas “showed up” as if they were surprise house guests! I quickly realized that making my home holiday ready and…
How To Thrift for Farmhouse Home Decor
Hey my farmhouse loving friends! I get asked a lot how to thrift for farmhouse decor. Most friends that visit our home think that we’ve spent a fortune on home decor. That couldn’t be further from the truth! My husband Rob and I have three kids, so there has always been other expenses that were…
10 Simple Ways to Cozy Up Your Home for Fall
There are simple ways to cozy up your home for fall. Embracing the change of seasons in your home decor doesn’t have to be a chore. I gave up lugging bins out of the attic for each season a long time ago. I’m including links. Some may be affiliate links that a make a small…
7 Ways to Decorate Your Home for Free
Let’s face it. Home decor and styling isn’t usually at the top of the list when it comes to the budget. There are so many other things like food and that pesky mortgage payment that seem to take priority. By the time you go down the list, the home decor budget can be slim to…
DIY Chicken Coop Kit Build
We made the decision to downsize our backyard chickens from the shed to a smaller coop. The best budget friendly, and easy solution for us, was to build from a kit. Why are the hens getting booted out of the shed? Truth be told, we actually built the shed for the chickens many years ago….
Trash to Treasure: DIY Wall Art
Don’t you just love a good trash to treasure project? There is something so satisfying about taking something dated and unwanted and making it beautiful again. I’m sure there is a profound life lesson in there somewhere! But for now, on with our project. Repurposed DIY Wall Art I had picked up these frames for…
Farmhouse Dining Room Furniture Makeover
Well I didn’t really expect another furniture makeover. We’re busy working on our kitchen makeover and those posts will be coming soon. However, I can’t stay in one room to save my life. The kitchen naturally makes my designing mind go to the dining room. It makes sense right? The Farmhouse Cottage Dining Room Our…
Craftsman Style Tiny House Tour and Interview
Have you ever considered downsizing your home? What about building a tiny house? That’s just what my friend Kris did. She lives in Alaska and is living large in a tiny home! We’ve all seen the beautifully styled tiny houses in magazines and on tv. But I’ve been curious about what real life in small…
Bohemian Farmhouse Bedroom Makeover: Before and After
Hey Free Range friends! I recently completed our master bedroom makeover. I went with a Bohemian Farmhouse bedroom style. We installed a couple of shiplap walls and a sliding barn door to our bathroom about a year ago. So it had a great farmhouse vibe but was just “plain vanilla”. I usually hate that term…
7 Thrifted Home Decor Items You Should Never Buy!
I’m a big fan of thrifted home decor and furniture. At my house, we have a lot of it! I’ve saved buckets of money over the years with no sacrifice of style. However, there are some home furnishings that I never buy used, with few exceptions. Read on and I’ll share the 7 home decor…
13 Thrifted Home Decor Items to Buy and Save Big!
Let’s face it. Houses are expensive. Upkeep, repair, and remodeling can drain your bank account in a hurry. But have no fear. I’m sharing thrifted home decor that I have at my house, and have been able to buy for every home we’ve lived in. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to save money while still creating…
Painted Furniture Before & After and a New Sofa
Is chippy white your vibe? Then you’re going to love this Pottery Barn trunk makeover. It went from grey and blah to cottage gorgeous. Wet distressing and chalk style paint are the keys to this finish. Furniture Makeover I have to be honest that I was a little nervous about painting this trunk, which never happens!…
5 Garden Tips I’ve Learned while Living in the Mountains
The title should say, “5 Garden Tips I’ve learned while Living in the Rock and Clay, with Ravenous Deer Everywhere!” If you don’t live in the mountains, this article is still for you. After you read it, you should be so happy about your soil. When was the last time you were happy about your…
IKEA Kivik Sectional Review and Farmhouse Decor
Have you wondered if a more modern sofa can fit in with farmhouse decor? The IKEA Kivik sectional has square arms and a streamlined slipcover. This made me question if it would look out of place in my farmhouse, cottage style home. The IKEA Kivik Sectional The last couple of times we visited IKEA, I…
Thrifted Secretary Desk Makeover
A fresh desk makeover I’m so excited to share this thrifted secretary desk makeover with you. Even though I’ve been painting furniture for years, it continues to amaze me what a transformation it can make! Right after Christmas, Rob and I went out to a couple of Flea Markets. Of course I have my running…
IKEA Ektorp Sectional Sofa Review (3 years later!)
Ektorp from Ikea Corner Sofa I’m sure you’ve seen the white denim slipcover sofas, that are still as popular as ever on social media. Maybe you’ve wondered about the Ikea Ektorp with the sofa cover? Well keep reading if you want to hear my experience with the Ektorp sectional. I have the dark beige slipcover…
Thrifted Chair Makeover
DIY Thrift Chair Makeover Browsing through online catalogs and Pinterest, I see a lot of beautiful furniture. Maybe you’re not a furniture junky like I am. But stay with me on this one because we’re going to save a bunch of money! You like money, right? Ok, we’re on the same page now. Gorgeous Ballard…
Black and White Bedroom Refresh
Black and White Bedroom Black and white decor has been my favorite since I was a little girl. I periodically try to add in some color. It just doesn’t last very long! Black and white can also be a little boring unless you add in some texture. Some choose to add in an accent color…
7 Thrift Finds to Always Buy for Farmhouse Style
Why Thrift Shop for Your House? Looking for Farmhouse style but don’t have a large budget? The good news is that you can thrift your way to the farmhouse style you love! Maybe you just like the thrill of the hunt and getting more bang for your buck? I can relate to both of those!…
How to Cook with Fresh Herbs
This guide to fresh herbs will help you add delicious new flavors to your cooking. The best tasting food is always those dishes prepared with simple, fresh ingredients. Discovering which herbs to pair with what ingredients is simple. From now on, you’ll be considered a gourmet by your friends and family.