Simple Decorating Touches

I have been thrifting a lot lately, and though I am not done in here yet, you can see the direction I am taking (my two inspired posts for this room are Alchemie and sfgirlbybay). I wanted to show you how a fresh coat of paint, fabric and ribbon can transform a small space within minutes. Shop your house and see what little changes you can make to add a punch of color, elegance or texture. For more inspiration, visit The Nester's series,10 Minutes to a Room You'll Love.

This black wrought iron Pier 1 candle holder was a gift about 8 years ago~ back when black wrought iron was the only way people decorated. The pumpkin refugee from my Halloween mantle is still hanging around. The adorable picture behind the candle is from The Dreamy Giraffe, who is having a bogo sale right now!)





I painted the candle holder orange and hugged the candle with a piece of fabric that I am adding to my room in spurts and a soft blue ribbon. (ps, that ice cream cone is actually bubbles!)


I love my shabby gussied up candle holder. I got it in Granbury on my honeymoon. Sometimes, I drip her in vintage chandelier prisms and crystals. Today, she is going orange. I have no fear in painting, or dry brushing rather, since it can always be painted back in minutes. I don't use spray paint, as I want to choose where to apply the brush since I like an uneven, dappled texture that still lends a shabby, though colorful look, and some pieces should be covered while other chips and such I prefer to leave exposed. Maybe that is the hairstylist part of me talking, as I am very particular about where I place each particle of color on a strand of hair for the same reason.



The dried flowers are from various flower bouquets my sweet hubby has given me throughout the years. The tussie mussie was a rusty tin and the flowers were full and lovely, but have become victims of my toddler's sabotage, so it needed a mini makeover. A coat of black paint, a bow and $1 a bunch flowers did the trick.



I added ivory polka dots and accents to my already perfect clearance Joanns mushroom and acorn bird feeders with a lightly tipped paintbrush. Can I tell you how much I LOVE my new curtains? They are a lightweight, but still have a good drape to them, they have a nice linen texture, a warm khaki tone and though they are simple, they are softly accented. These are what brought my room together and inspired me to finish decorating. I bought 4 sets (8 panels) for my 2 large windows. You can find them HERE!



I found this ugly little shelf at Goodwill for $2. I didn't want a bold yellow, so I mixed my yellow acrylic paint with some water and applied one thin coat over the natural wood. You can still see some woodgrain, but the color yellow is perfect and soft. It holds a lot of my little treasures that I couldn't display anywhere before.



Like my jeweled bottles? get them HERE!

See that cute cameo photo? This is what it looked like before (another thrift market find). You will LOVE the results of the other two frames... coming soon!



The key holder I have had for a couple years, I covered in the same fabric, just a bit of tape in the back and wallah! I also dry brushed my ivory frame orange, (that MANY of you have, I know!!) used that fabric to back our photo and painted a rusty star robin's egg blue and tucked it into my vintage mattress spring.



I have had this frame for about 8 years or so. It has always been cute and has served me well. But, it needed a change, and I really don't want to paint EVERYTHING, so... I threaded it with ribbon, tied a bow and hung a vintage brooch to cover the nail. See that globe in the reflection? My hubby got a 5 year gift from his work. He got to choose his gift of about 15 different things, watches, pearls, awesome binoculars, luggage... so he let me choose :)



It was that or the binoculars. It was tough, but how often do we need binoculars? Well, that very night I submitted our choice, we saw 5 COYOTES cross the road in front of our window, 3 of them lay low while 2 of them stalked a small animal and took off. That is when we needed binoculars!



Now, this is our trusty IKEA sideboard, turned tv console that we have had almost 4 years. I added the same fabric to the back of the windows, I just cut out a piece and taped it on. It matches our mantle perfectly in width and color, that makes our wall seem more seemless. The hairbands babyproofing, that floated piece of wood (which was a shelf in there- but it keeps the kids out of the equipment, so it will have to do). I do have plans for that ugly piece of wood, but it will have to wait! I am sure, this thing will be repainted once we move into a house. When I do, I will use Jenny Garland's refinishing furniture with spray paint video tutorial! More thrifted makeovers can be found at Reinvented's Linky Party.

What have you made over, or are to inspired to makeover?