~restoration hardware ish looking book covers~

Head on over to your nearest thrift store and pick up the biggest, fattest, hardcover book you can find, because we are making one of these:

You will need a box cutter or knife, drop cloth material, a iron, and mode podge.

This was the biggest book I could find.

I believe you could also modify this project and re purpose a Restoration Hardware catalog too….

The first thing I did was to remove the pages from the cover and back.

Lay that face up, open, on a piece of drop cloth and cut around it, making the corners at angles.

At this point you can iron your fabric to make sure it has no wrinkles.

Using modge podge, start by folding over one flap on the side and hold down for a minute, smoothing out any wrinkles.

Once the ends are done, you can work on the top and bottom.

It really doesn't need to look pretty because these are really just for decoration.

Once all 4 sides are glued down, put modge podge on the binding and the back and front page, and put in place.

Close the book and smooth out any wrinkles again, let dry.

I took it one step further and printed out a vintage book label and put that on with hot glue.

xoxo

~how to get the Restoration Hardware look on a budget~

It was really great to hear your feedback on this home decorated like a Restoration Hardware catalog.

I think we all agreed that it was pretty but a little over the top.

It was missing personal touches and that lived in feeling.

And can you imagine how much money it would cost to decorate your house exclusively from Restoration Hardware?

After this post I thought that it would be fun to pick a room in my house and decorate it with the Restoration Hardware look, but not necessarily with everything from their store.

So, I did. I chose my dining room and the best part is that I did not spend a dime.

Here is how I did it.

The neutral walls help.

If you flip through a Restoration Hardware catalog you will notice that all the walls are neutral, whether they are light or dark, there are no bright colors on the walls.

The color of our dining room is Swiss Coffee by Behr.

All of our chairs are actually from Restoration Hardware. We are lucky enough to have an outlet near us which I frequent often.

However, you can find similar chairs here and here.

Botanicals are huge in creating this look.

You can read the story about mine here.

They are actual flower pressings from the early 1800's.

You can find similar free printables here.

Keep things neutral but add in tons of texture.

These beat up vintage leather suitcases do the trick and they can double as storage.

To add a bit of French flair I added this simple arrangement to the table.

The pot was outdoors and I simply brought it in and planted Spanish Lavender in it and placed Spanish moss around the top.

This is pretty much the only color in the room.

Everything from this centerpiece can be found at Home Depot.

To style the bookshelves I ripped covers off of vintage books and stacked them every which way.

I added a bit of greenery with boxwood planted in this urn.

I just finished this tortoise shell. 

If you missed the post, you can read about it here.

I framed a plant description that goes with the botanicals.

Tutorial for this system coming Thursday!

On the shelves I added a lot of concrete pieces.

The DIY for these spheres here.

This was super simple, I just rolled up sheet music and tied with twine and placed in a thrifted silver bowl.

One thing I didn't get a photo of was this knock off subway art which is still one of my favorite things.

I hope you can take away some inspiration from this post on decorating your home in this style without spending a small fortune.

xoxo

~a restoration hardware home~

What do you think of this home decorated completely Restoration Hardware style?

I think it's a little over the top, but that wouldn't stop me from moving in…..

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~{tortoise shell makeover}

I started with this bright shiny white tortoise shell from Nate Berkus at Target.

I wanted the end result to look like one

 of Restoration Hardwares tortoise shells.

I started with 2 coats of Annie Sloan paint in Coco.

Then I dry brushed on Behr's Swiss Coffee in random areas, going every which way.

When that was dry I used a combination of clear and dark wax, paying special attention to getting the dark in most of the crevices. 

I am really happy with how it turned out.

 It looks more realistic than the Target version I started out with.

I've had this kicking around my storage room for a while now so I am glad to be able to put it to use!

xoxo

~a couple new things in our bedroom~

Keeping things light and comfy and cozy in our room.

I had seen this bench from time to time at TJ Maxx, and then again at Marshalls.

I have always been drooling over it, but never took the plunge.

Well, I finally did and I couldn't be happier.

I love how it goes with our linen bedding and the unbleached wood is perfect.

I also added a 8x10 jute rug for texture.

I really don't like the color of our carpet so this helped neutralize it a bit.

You can find the rug here

{super cheap as they are always having giant sales!}

In fact it's only $189.75 for a 8x10 with free shipping, normally $759.00.

Use coupon code: MOMS75 

for 75% off the entire site.

Here are a few more items from TJ Maxx in their 

"sunbleached collection" that caught my eye.

I really want that chair!

One thing I did get that was similar to one of the above items:

Happy Monday!

xoxo