Red Leaf Style

February 13, 2013

5 Best Vintage Thrift Store Finds Ever

Whether you’re a regular thrift store shopper, like me, or just a once-in-a-while browser, anyone who loves vintage can appreciate a great thrift store find. Many times I go into a thrift store or a secondhand shop and come out empty-handed. That’s just part of it. Sometimes, though…sometimes the planets align and you go in at the exact right day at the exact right moment and you find something amazing. Be still my thrifty heart. Can you tell I’m a thrift store junkie? I even have an odd habit of looking around my house and mentally listing off all of the items I’ve found at thrift stores—for cheap. It gives me a little frugal thrill! (Is it just me?) Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite thrift store finds with you. It’s always nice to get a little thrift store inspiration for those times when you haven’t been able to find what you’re looking for or when you haven’t come across anything exciting in a while. Some of these items I’ve had for years. Some are new finds. All are awesome. Check out my five current thrift store find favorites! Vintage cart I scored this little...

February 9, 2013

5 Tips For Decorating With Rugs

Rugs add so much personality to a room. What was once just bare hardwood or yucky rental apartment carpet instantly gets a design makeover just by spreading a rug across the floor. I’ve lived in my share of dingily-carpeted apartments. Rugs added some much-needed visual spice to a room (and covered up at least a portion of the drab carpet.) If you have hardwood floors, which I do now, rugs bring coziness and a pop of color to plain flooring. They can do far more than just these decorating tricks, though. Here are five more practical and pretty ways to use rugs in your home. 1. Rugs separate areas Rugs work wonders at visually separating a room. If you have a room that functions as both a living room and a dining room, for example, then you can use rugs to create divisions. Place one rug in your living area, you know, under your couch, coffee table and armchairs. And, lay another rug under your dining room table to visually separate the two sections. Without these visual cues the large room will just sort of meld together. I used this same idea in my oddly-shaped bedroom. My bedroom functions as both my sleeping area and my office. Before I placed a rug in my “desk area” of the...

February 5, 2013

Branch Jewelry Hanger

This project started out as a Valentine’s Day decoration gone wrong. I originally spray painted this tree branch and thought to use it to display Valentine’s Day cards clipped to the limbs with clothespins. After I did it though, it just looked silly. Really, what was I supposed to do with a card tree? Still, I was in a quirky kind of mood so I decided to use the branch to display my jewelry. I love how it turned out! Delicate necklaces draped over the limbs look slightly airy, and I adore the touch of whimsy with my metal owl nestled in the back. All you need to create your own branch jewelry hanger is to scope out the perfect branch. Look for lots of limbs and check it for sturdiness. Then, spray paint the branch in your color of choice and secure it to the wall. (I just used a couple of nails.) Done! An easy and lovely jewelry display. What do you think of this quirky way to display jewelry? Would you ever use a tree branch to show off your baubles? Let me know your thoughts in the comments… Keep Up With Red Leaf Style! Follow Red Leaf Style author Kirsten Hudson on Twitter @kirsten_hudson,...

February 4, 2013

5 Valentine’s Day Home Decorating Ideas

I’m not usually one for decorating my home for, what I call, the “smaller holidays” (Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July.) Too much work. But, a couple days ago I went to turn my calendar to February and such a happy picture of heart-shaped cookies greeted me that I felt the urge to celebrate. Valentine’s Day may seem like a cliché holiday, but you can’t argue that it does bring a bit of cheeriness to this blistery-cold winter. The cookies and chocolates. The flowers. The happy colors. (Well, I’m a fan of red at least. See title of blog). The sentimentality. It’s one day where I think it’s okay to be corny. Even if you don’t have a special someone, you can still use Valentine’s Day to appreciate the other people you love. Write a cheesy poem for your best friend. Bake cookies for your co-workers. Give your doggie an extra treat and belly rub. And, why not decorate your house? You know, just a little. These five ideas are simple, not cheesy. You won’t find any corny plastic hearts or teddy bears here. 1. Accessorize with pink and red You can’t beat free decorating. Simply reuse items that you already own to spruce up your home for...

January 30, 2013

Do It Yourself Hanging Collage

If you need an easy way to fill a blank wall, go for a simple hanging collage. It creates a lot of drama without much effort. It’s inexpensive. It’s completely customizable. And, it doesn’t require you to be handy with any tool more difficult to use than a hammer. Basically, you just string up a length of picture hanging wire supported by nails. Then, you use small binder clips to secure photos, magazine clippings and any other pretty papers you want to the wire. (Step-by-step instructions are at the end of the post.) When I first hung this collage in my living room, I had some decorating issues with it. See… Whoa. Way too much going on. It seems that I wanted to hang pretty much every postcard, photo and stray paper I had available on my collage. Don’t do this. It’s unorganized and cluttered. Instead, do this: Keep your papers and images evenly spaced. If you leave some room in between each paper, it creates a clean look. I also like the idea of picking a “theme” for your collage. That way it’s not too random. I chose travel. Thoughts of wandering and discovering new places inspire me. Plus, I already had a box full of various papers I accumulated...

January 23, 2013

How to Style Your Shelves & Surfaces

When arranging items on your shelves, end tables, dressers and other areas, it’s often hard to know where to start. What makes one arrangement of books and pottery more attractive than another? And, what is it exactly that makes a bookshelf in a magazine look so put together? Styling items in your home really isn’t as difficult as it seems. It just takes a bit of planning, and some trial and error, too. But, it’s well worth it. To me, the “little things” are what make a home special. Like the bowl my sister brought me back from a trip to Mexico and the travel books I picked up at my local library’s book sale. The items in your home mean something to you and they deserve to be put on show. Use these tips to inspire you to arrange your shelves, tables and any other spot where you display items in ways that you’ll love. I’ll show you how I styled the top of this dresser in my living room… Start with bigger items Whether you’re arranging a bookshelf or an end table, place the larger items that you know you’ll want to use first. That way you...

January 18, 2013

When It’s Okay to Make a Decorating Mess

Why when doing a new home project, does it seem like everything has to turn into a complete disaster before it all comes together? Be it painting a piece of furniture, rearranging a bookshelf or hanging a picture, whatever area I’m working on turns into utter chaos. And, that decorating disaster going on in one area often spills into the rest of the house. I don’t know how many times I’ve started to hang a picture, figuring it would be quick work, only to find myself minutes later with discarded screws all over the house and wall dust scattered across the floor. The tool kit’s in the living room. The screwdriver’s on top of the fridge. (How’d it get there?) And, where is the freaking hammer?? Perhaps I need a better system for my tools. Or, maybe I just need to remember that, at least for me, I have to make a complete mess in order to make something beautiful. Please tell me I’m not the only one who makes a disaster while in project mode. So, what prompted this revelation o’ mine? For a while now I’ve been planning to write about how to style your shelves and...