Simple Tips for Home Makeovers

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Having the perfect home is not so much about finding the perfect property, but about creating it yourself. There are plenty of interior tricks and design improvements you can utilize to turn an ordinary house into your dream home. Both exterior and interior are important parts of the house, but the interior affects our mood, health and life the most. The more time you spend improving it, the better you will feel at home.

Some things will require major renovations and changes, but the result will be worth the time and the investment. Some improvements can be accomplished without professional assistance. All you need is a solid plan, a checklist and a clear vision of how you want your home to look like.

Determine the areas you’d like to work on. If you don’t have the sufficient budget to cover all of the places that need renovation, focus on the focal points at home – the kitchen and the living room. The bathroom usually takes a big amount to be fully renovated. If you have a kitchen and living room you are proud of, your home will look much better. Make sure the changes coordinate with the rest of the house and each room has something in common with the overall design.

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers

Go to a furniture store and home improvement store to look for pieces which will bring something new and better to the space. You can change the fixtures in your bathroom or get a modern cabinet which can accommodate all products. This will declutter the the room considerably. When you have enough storage, the area will be a tidier and cleaner place.

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers
Photo Credit: Bathroom Improvements

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers
Photo Credit: Paperblog

One way to have a better looking living room is to keep the furniture to a minimum and make sure the shelves and the cabinets don’t reach up to the ceiling. Buy plants, paintings, and frames for any photos you would like to feature and add unique accessories that will brighten the room and add some pop of color. Choose a quality carpet or a rug that will bring flair and style to the space and change up the curtains. You can easily rearrange the sofa and armchairs as well. With just a few minor and affordable changes the living room can look like a completely new one.

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers

Of course you can use the assistance of a professional interior designer, who will determine the budget you need and what can be done to freshen up the space. Interior designers know how to combine style, trends, and comfort within a certain budget. Even a friend with a good sense of design can be a great help. Don’t rush the process – it’s best to do little positive changes to your home once in a while than to renovate what you can afford all at once. You don’t want to miss the chance on any further modernization you can do in the future.

Written By Ella Andrews

Inspiration Photo Friday: Maine on my Mind

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My husband and I love Maine. We first visited the beautiful state a few years ago and said we would definitely go back. Since our first year wedding anniversary is coming up in May, we have been thinking of places to go for vacation to celebrate. We can’t afford anything crazy so dream trips like going to Italy are out of the question, sadly. But the other day I thought of Maine and how much we loved it. It kind of made sense to go back and explore the things we didn’t get to see last time.

It will be our first trip with our new dog, Jenny, which should be cool. And yes, we bring our dogs with us on vacation. They are a part of the family aren’t they? I think I would be a wreck if I was away from them for more than a few days, never mind a week or two. So, a family trip it will be!

I am hoping for two weeks away, which would be so nice. I could use the time off for sure. Now that winter seems to be slowing down a bit, hints of spring are near. It’s making me anxious for the warmer weather. Spring, I must say, is one of my favorite seasons. It’s a time for rebirth and growth. The flowers start to bloom, gardening gets fun again, the trees come alive – its just so beautiful.

The last time we were in Maine, it was late September and pretty cool over there. Now that we are planning to go in May, it is going to be such a different experience. I can’t wait! The cool crisp air and warm sun, the gorgeous blue skies and soft ivory clouds, the amazing landscape that always surrounds you. Maine is so close to our hearts and we are so excited to give our love back once more.

Inspiration Photo Friday: Maine on my Mind - © Melissa O'Connor-Arena

Share the Love

Since I expanded Gray Star Design and focused the business more on event design and custom event stationary, it has been such a journey. I am in awe of the feedback I have received from brides and clients and thought it would be great to share these lovely words and thank you’s. So I’ve added a new page to my website – Share the Love – where they can all call home. I will be updating the page as I continue to work with more people.

I truly love what I do, and to know that others are happy with my work is really awesome. It means the world to me. So a big thank you to all you Gray Star Design fans out there, you rock!

Share the Love

The Best of Hipster Decor

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By the simple fact that the word “hipster” is mentioned in the title of this post, we know that “best” is a very relative term see-sawing uncertainly back and forth between irony and perfect sincerity, depending on context and possibly the weather. What we can say with certainty is that the following bits of genius are very hipster indeed. Let’s take a look at some of the best of twenty-teen décor.

Jackalope Taxidermy
As far as ironic wall-mounts go nothing quite beats a jackalope. It makes an interesting visual on its own while simultaneously mocking the half of Americans that go out and shoot wild animals and then hang them on their walls for decoration. If your other hipster décor is sparse and people don’t know what to make of your eclectic tastes, you could get some good laughs by convincing more gullible individuals that the jackalope is a real animal; after all, you’ve got its head hanging on your wall.
Guest Post: The Best of Hipster Decor
Photo Credit: Flickr

Vintage Appliances
There is something uniquely charming about an old school refrigerator from the 50s and their rounded shape with the non-regular sized or totally absent freezer compartments. It makes a great statement piece, and unlike newer refrigerators come with a bit of personality. Modern refrigerators typically come in chrome, white, and black, and that’s about it as far as your options are concerned. Older refrigerators were (and are!) available in a much larger variety of colors, and can be used to put a bright splash of color in your kitchen.
Guest Post: The Best of Hipster Decor
Photo Credit: Oh Gracie Pie

Paintings
The beauty of paintings is that while it’s preferred that you only hang up the most exclusive and obscure artists, you’re free to do just about anything you like. If you choose to ironically hang up only the most well-known and tired cliché pieces in art history, like Van Gogh’s Starry Night, you can still maintain a consistent hipster vibe by liking it ironically.
Guest Post: The Best of Hipster Decor
Photo Credit: The Bare Square

80s Video Game Consoles
Even though most hipsters typically aren’t old enough to remember the 80s they do love those nostalgic gaming consoles. Setting the Sega SG-1000 that you found at a garage sale for 4 dollars next to the iMac on your desk shows people that you have good taste. Remember to keep it hooked up to your flat screen or you’ll look like a poser, though it’s always legitimate to assert that the poser hipster crowd has ruined it by making it way too mainstream for you in the last few months, and that you’re planning on throwing it out.
Guest Post: The Best of Hipster Decor
Photo Credit: Nintendo Wikia

Record Player/Record Collection
A hipster is not a hipster without a vintage record player and a collection of low quality indie music. If you don’t enjoy indie music you can get away with listening to obscure classical musicians like Berwald, Glazunov, or Tveitt. The most important thing is that when you put on your tunes, no one but your closest co-hipsters should know what they’re listening to. Because of advancing technologies and the evolving hipster genre it’s now appropriate to use not only the hipster standard record players, but also tape decks, and even CD players. Before the decade is out it wouldn’t be terribly surprising if any physical media storage (even by USB stick) becomes a mark of hipsterdom.
Guest Post: The Best of Hipster Decor
Photo Credit: Muses of Megret

{Written by Edward Stuart}