Home Decorating Ideas

The great tree debate: real or faux?

Hello there! Thanks so much for the suggestions to get rid of this cold faster! I've been downing Vitamin C and trying the Zicam stuff. It's not completely gone but close. I was trying to get rid of it fast because I'm heading out to Georgia today to tour the HGTV Dream Home...and I'm SO stinking excited! I can't wait to share photos with you soon!

Because I've put up a few trees over the past few days, they're on my brain. Up till about six years ago we always had a real tree as our main one. For literally all of my life! Then one year the cats knocked over the tree...twice. And soon after that we got hardwood floors. I didn't want to chance them getting wet so we got a huge faux tree from Lowe's that year.

Sometimes I'll still get a smaller, real tree for another room, but not as often as I'd like. This year I was determined to go back to a real one for our main tree and hubby was on board. But I soon realized with all of the traveling we've had and have coming up, it just wasn't a good idea. That thing would be crispy within days.

Since I consider myself an expert on both real and faux, I thought I'd share the good and bad about both, in case you're considering one or the other this year. First up...the real beauties!

Man, I LOVE a real tree. I have many friends that make picking out their tree (and cutting it down) a family tradition. We've never done that but I think it's a fun idea. We always went BIG for our real trees so we went to a local nursery to get them:

PROS for a real tree:

The scent! It's amazing. (I've been using these Scentsicle things the past few years on our fake trees and they do help add some of the pine scent.) But nothing beats the real thing!

The natural shape is what I miss -- it's a natural look that is hard to replicate in a fake tree. I've seen some that are hard to tell but they are usually expensive. 😊 Real trees are truly beautiful.

CONS for a real tree:

The MESS. It's a mess when it's fresh and it's a huge mess when it's not. You will vacuum up needles all. day. long. the day you take it out -- no matter how much you water it. It will only last so long. There are additives you can add to the water (and always get a fresh cut on your tree) that help.

You can only have it up for a certain time. For those of us who like to decorate early (well, I always say I'm going to and don't), or who like to keep it up till past the new year, real won't work as well. It will not last that long (and not become a fire hazard).

You have to string the lights every year. I think the key to a beautiful tree is a ton of lights...so that took me forever. Easily a couple hours to get them all on there.

You MUST water it well and keep up with it. If you let it go dry you're kind of screwed. It won't take up much water after that and will start dying a quick death.

The cost. Even if you don't go big like we always did, it's an added cost every year. And you definitely need to invest in a good stand -- especially if you have cats. I know this.

These outweigh the pros for us now, hence our move to fake. I've always had one or two smaller fake trees in the house over the years, but as I said, we've moved to all of them.

Our big one is 12 FEET tall and it is a beast. It's hard to even get it all in a photo:

My husband is not picky about decor in our home but the tree...the tree is his thing. He LOVES a ginormous tree at Christmas. So I go with it...even though I would not have gone this tall. I love that he loves it.

PROS to a fake tree:

The lights are on it! I mean, if you buy it that way. And you should. :) I do have a couple trees that don't have lights on them and I string them when I put them up and keep the lights on when I store them. It helps cut down time tremendously!

Minimal mess. You will still get some needles on the floor when you put it up, but it's nothing compared to a real tree. You'll also see some needles on the floor when your cats scale to the top of it every. single. day.

DIY photo tree

It's sturdier. At least in our opinion. If you want a TALL tree I recommend going fake. The taller your real tree, the harder it is to keep up. I know this as well. ;)

You can have a bunch and there's no upkeep after you get them up -- I can't imagine trying to keep up with a few real trees.

There are also so many styles to pick from -- we have a flocked tree in our basement that I LOVE:

It was the first one I put up this year -- it's beautiful! I've seen gorgeous real flocked trees but they are a lot more expensive.

Dollar spot tree

CONS to a fake tree:

You have to fluff! You'll need to spread the branches apart to make the tree full after being in storage. This takes time, but not nearly as much time as putting on lights.

You'll need a place to store them. Thankfully we've added shelving to our garage to hold all of ours but it's definitely something to consider. And I feel like we risk our lives trying to hoist the big one up into it's storage, so we may be moving where we keep it.

And finally...no pine scent. :( This one is hard to get used to when you've had real for so long. But I add the pine scented jobbies to the tree and burn pine candles and it helps.

What do you think? Do you go faux or real at Christmas? Or both? My heart tugs for a real one every year...I always want to do it but the convenience of a fake one usually wins out.

Someday...we'll have a completely stress and travel free holiday season and I'll do it then! Ha! Never gonna happen. :)

Is there anything, good or bad, that I left out for either one? Bottom line is both are beautiful and you can't go wrong for what your family loves!

Affiliate link included for your convenience!

My favorite Christmas spot in the kitchen!

Hey all! I hope you all enjoyed our favorite things round up last week! I found so many new cute items for my Christmas list!

How was your Thanksgiving week? We spent most of it in Disney World and had a blast! Disney has such a special place in our hearts -- we really disconnect and just focus on having fun as a family. It makes me so sad to leave, but then I'm always happy to get home too! 😊

Between running through Disney nonstop, flights, and now trying to get all of our Christmas decor up in just a few days, I'm exhausted and sick. EVERY year I say I'm going to start decorating earlier and every year...I don't. I don't know when I'll finally do it -- I'm already swearing it will be next year, ha!! The first room I finished this time was our kitchen, and this spot was a little self serving because I needed the hot liquid to sooth my throat. ;)

I think this is one of the cutest Christmas vignettes in our house so I thought I would show you how easy it was to put together -- because everyone needs a hot chocolate station this time of year!

I added a bigger tray to the island this year so it holds everything perfectly. I always add a couple festive mugs and then put the packets of hot chocoloate out in a bowl for easy access:

I'm not a big peppermint fan, unless it's during the holidays. I absolutely LOVE it in hot chocolate!

Usually I keep the peppermint Hershey kisses handy and drop one in, but then I found these peppermint sticks at HomeGoods instead:

How cute are those? Perfect! Of course you need the tiny marshmallows! And I know, I know. Nobody drinks hot chocolate with a straw, but they are cute, right? We do use them for margaritas and there are a few of those made this time of year as well. 😉

I found this hot cocoa sign at Hobby Lobby and it looks pretty darn cute in the kitchen as well:

It took me less than ten minutes to pull it all together! It's my favorite spot in the kitchen this time of year! I go through my stash and find Christmas jars and containers for everything, so it doesn't cost me much.

By the way...the hot chocolate station is such a fun and easy gift too. You can see how I pulled that together last year here.

Because we really do drink a lot of it right now, this tray is as functional as it is cute! That's my favorite part:

I'm really trying to simplify my decor this year. A friend and I were laughing last night at how we say that EVERY year but this time I mean it! I love how the hot cocoa station feels so festive but doesn't take a lot of time or effort:

It's also nice that this doesn't need to take up much space in your kitchen! It would be a cute addition in a butler's pantry or on a buffet too! Have you added one of these to your home?

Now...any tips for getting rid of a cold FAST? I'm heading out of town again in a few days and flying with a cold is pure torture. I'll take any tips you can offer!

Stuff We Love Round Up 2016!

YAY, it's the start of the best time of the year my friends!! Are you preparing for a week full of friends, family and food?

I've gathered a fantastic group of bloggers and we're sharing our favorite products-- holiday-themed and otherwise -- over the next few days with you!:

You can find the links to all 18 bloggers at the bottom of the post. I've gathered a talented group that spans beauty, fashion, decor and DIY! This has become a favorite tradition of mine for this time of year. I absolutely LOVE this week, don't you? So much to look forward to.

You can see my previous favorite posts here and here with all kinds of great stuff. This year I'm gathering some favorites I've shared throughout the year as well as some new goodies. I'm in love with all of them and use them all of the time.

First up, one of our more recent purchases. I have to first confess something to you all...there are times when I get kind of obsessed with the cable shopping channels. Especially during the holidays, I get in a zone when I watch them and can sit there for quite awhile. It's oddly calming to me...and yes, I know I'm weird.

So anyway, I saw this on there weeks or maybe even months ago? I can't remember. I just couldn't get it out of my head so we looked on Amazon and there were only a few left. I ended up getting this slightly more modern design but they have a more traditional look too:

It's a HUGE Duraflame lantern that doubles as a space heater. I'm totally in love with it. It packs a lot of power and looks good while doing it! It comes with a remote and you can turn on the candle, a light from below, the heater or all three. It also comes with white and black rocks that you lay on the bottom. (We chose the white and I'll show it to you soon.) It really does heat the space well, I was pleasantly surprised with the power. We're all impressed with it and love how it looks! It's so cool!

Next up, a beauty product I shared with you in this post, but I love it so much I'll keep bragging on it:

This Bare Minerals Bareskin foundation is by far the best foundation I've ever used. I've tried a lot of them and this has the best coverage and you don't feel like it's caked on. Mine came with a brush that makes it super easy to apply too. (I'm not sure if they call come with that brush though.) I LOVE this stuff! (Just be sure you get the right coloring for your skin tone!)

When I finished the loft space upstairs I knew we'd need a second printer. We have one in my husband's office in the basement, but for convenience sake, I knew we'd want one upstairs. (#lazy) I didn't want to spend much and I wanted something super compact. I searched for "small printer" and this HP desk jet printer came up:

I LOVE IT. I'm telling you, I wish I had known about this years ago, because we wouldn't have paid what we did for a much bigger, bulkier printer we use downstairs. This one is so small, which I love. It's also pretty, instead of a ginormous dark one we've always had. It prints color photos and printables beautifully and easily scans and copies. The only difference I can find is that it prints slower than our larger one. I'd definitely be fine with that for the size, convenience and cost. We paid $50 for it and the price has gone up a bit -- I'm guessing it will go down again for Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

For years I searched for affordable and pretty sconces for our home. I always had heart eyes for the swing arm versions but they were always at least a couple hundred bucks, if not more. When a lovely reader told me about this sconce from Joss and Main I jumped on it:

I now want to put them everywhere in my house...but I don't have anymore spots for them. ;) Sad. Hopefully you can enjoy them!

I love that you can direct the light where you want them and they look fantastic in our loft/office/craft room!:

Joss and Main has changed the name of them from the Tanya sconce to the Camilla and for awhile the price was inching up to over $110. Thankfully they are lower again right now -- it is very hard to find this look for this price!

Speaking of lights...these cute little twinkle lights are my latest favorite. I've used colored ones at Christmas before but these are even prettier:

This photo doesn't do them justice -- they have pretty, delicate wires and are so dainty. They are called fairy lights and they truly look like them. They operate on batteries and also have timers, so they stay on for a few hours at the same time every day if you wish. You can put them in glass or wine them through wreaths or greenery -- the possibilities are endless. I showed you how I used mine in this post but I have plans to use them all over this Christmas.

OK, this one was a random grocery shopping find but I'm obsessed with these little sandwich baggies:

They say they're for grilled cheese and they do work well for that, but I prefer them for warm sandwiches in general. You load up your sandwich with what you want, then put it in the sleeve and then put in your toaster. It's like a much easier, quicker toaster oven. They ROCK! The sandwich comes out with perfectly toasted bread and warm insides. I use them for toasted peanut butter and jelly too -- delish. Mine came with two bags and you can use them over and over -- it says up to 50 times! I wash it out and let it dry before the next use.

Next up, my favorite place to find super affordable rugs. I love HomeGoods too, but you never know what you'll find on each trip. RugsUSA has the BEST sales -- anywhere. I've purchased at least four rugs from them over the years and all have been wonderful quality. Our rug in the library was the latest:

It's such a pretty rug! If you catch them on a sale you can get the rugs up to 80 percent off...no joke. I'm talking 8 by 10 rugs for less than $250. And the shipping is always super quick!

This is the Treasures Vintage Abstract and it has held up really well:

I'm actually considering this same rug for another spot in the house...is that even allowed? ;) I say yes. I know Rugs USA is having another sale this Black Friday so be sure to check it out! (And no, I'm not being paid to say that, they are just a great resource!)

I shared this photography tool earlier this year but it's another one worth mentioning again. It has made such a difference when it comes to shooting photographs inside our home!:

It's the Neewer TT560 Speedlite and this very inexpensive tool clicks on to the top of your camera and gives you extra light for darker spaces. It makes the photos super clear and bright and I'm always shocked at the difference it makes. If you go to this post you can see all of my before and after photos -- seeing is believing! :)

And finally, another great find I picked up a few months ago that I adore. I like to diffuse oils occasionally and have a basic plastic diffuser I've always used. I wanted something that looked a little nicer to keep out all the time but didn't want to pay what the oil companies charged.

I found this beauty at Bed Bath and Beyond and it was still an investment but with 20 percent coupon it was much easier to swallow (and it's still a lot cheaper than the ones available through the oil brands):

It's the Ellia diffuser and the design is simple and beautiful, but it has some surprises. :) First of all, it comes with a remote, which I love. It also plays music -- there are a few options and all are very soothing. I think the coolest part is that it lights up. You can pick from a bunch of colors or a morphing setting that goes through all of them. AND it runs for 10 hours at one time. I just love it and they have more pretty designs that cost less. It is definitely a favorite in our house!

Have you tried any of these goodies? Many of them would make for great gifts or stocking stuffers but I'm not mad at ya if you want them for yourself too. ;) Tis the season!

I'll be away from the blog for the rest of the week to spend time with my family, but I'll be back next week! Be sure to check out the rest of the fabulous ladies on the round up over the next few days (see below)! And have a WONDERFUL, safe Thanksgiving!

MONDAY

Christina's Adventures

TUESDAY

Lindsay Hill Interiors

Honey We're Home

Tatertots and Jello

WEDNESDAY

Shades of Blue Interiors

Love Your Abode

All Things Thrifty

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Simply Designing

Beneath My Heart

Affiliate links included for your convenience!

The secret ingredient for the best brownies (EVER!)

OK, I have a quick but AMAZING recipe for you today! This would be a perfect treat after the pumpkin pie next week. Or this weekend. Tonight?

We had friends over last weekend and one of my girlfriends brought brownies. Now I like a good brownie...it's just not always my pick for a dessert. If you offer me one, duh, I'm going to take it. But it's not one I'd pick to make on a whim.

Until now. :)

I must introduce you to the most amazing brownie...EVER. There is a special, secret ingredient that will rock your world. I asked my friend for the recipe, thinking it was some super special family thing passed down through the generations -- and had to laugh when she told me she made them with a box recipe. ;)

First of all, I didn't even KNOW about dark chocolate brownies. Um, hello. I didn't like dark chocolate till a few years ago and now it's my favorite. There's actually two secret ingredients but one didn't surprise me as much as the other...can you guess?:

Simple secret ingredient for the best brownies

The cinnamon wasn't a big shock, I mean, have you had chili with cinnamon? Next level stuff. But the kicker (literally) was the chili powder. Man oh man...these are DELISH. Hands down the best brownie I've ever tasted.

You make them according to the box (she subbed coconut oil for vegetable oil and I do the same) and then you add three teaspoons cinnamon and one to two teaspoons of chili powder.

That's it! You'll notice something different, but it's not overwhelming -- just GOOD. I used one teaspoon of chili in my batch (I had to make one to, uhh, show you all) and it was perfect, but I will definitely try more.

It's hard to describe why these are so good, you just have to try them for yourself. We were all standing around and oohing and ahhing over the flavor. So yummy. I wish I could give you all a sample. :)

I love to share simple, delicious recipes and this was one! You really must try it. Have you tried this trick in your brownies? I bet it would be good in chocolate cake or cup cakes as well...I'll try that next.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

How to install stacked stone tile on a fireplace wall

Hey all! I've been working my butt off (I wish literally) on this fireplace tile project in the basement! If you remember I last left you with the new mantel and hearth:

Those tiles were just leaned up against there so I started with that bottom part -- because it was the easiest. :)

I've been working on it on and off on this for the past couple of weeks and finally hit it hard again yesterday. I was so hoping to get it done but I ran out of steam. Today is the day! I'm determined!

This is the stone we're using, from Lowe's:

I've had to visit three different locations to find enough to use because some batches are more pinky toned than others. I prefer the more natural tones so I've had to mix and match boxes. The great thing about this stone is it looks fantastic no matter what!

This is the adhesive I used, from Home Depot:

This stuff is awesome and SO much easier than mixing thinset. You pay a little more but save in time and mess. It's nice that this is ready to go and you don't have to worry about getting the mixture just right.

You'll need a trowel -- but make sure you get one with "teeth" that are the right size for your tile. Mine was the 1/4 by 1/4 size and the adhesive container tells you which one to use:

After installing a few tiles and realizing not all of them are shaped exactly the same (most are), I started laying them out on the floor to make sure they all fit together OK:

Some tiles are shorter on one end and won't work, and I had to take a couple tiles down because of that, so this part is important.

Tiling itself is actually quite an easy process, especially with this tile. It just takes TIME. You start by spreading your adhesive on the wall:

Fill in the general size of the tile on the wall -- I've learned over the years that it doesn't have to be caked on. You're wasting the adhesive if you go crazy with it:

The reason for this is, you'll add more to the back of the tile. I have found that I waste less if I spread it on with the straight side of the trowel first:

Like frosting! ;) This stuff is so easy to work with.

And then I'll use my towel and put the notches into it:

The design of the trowel gives some more grip to the adhesive.

And then you just put it on the wall:

I wiggle it around a little and then leave it. You'll have a few minutes to easily work with it but it grips right away -- no worries about them falling off. I've tiled many times onto drywall and it holds up great -- you do not need special drywall or backing unless you're doing a wet location.

As far as the install goes, straight lines go fast and easy with this tile. They fit together fairly well so you can go pretty quick. Areas like the sides of the fireplace took more time and work because I had to do a lot more cutting. You can see that sometimes I started on the left side, sometimes on the right, so the seams don't always match up:

The beauty of this tile is it does not have to be perfect! It is very forgiving because the design is so irregular and natural.

To fill in spots I would measure the width I needed and then mark my cut line with a pen or pencil:

I borrowed a tile saw for this project -- I find this tool to be one of the easiest to use. You check your line with the saw while it's off, then turn it on (make sure water is running) and then run it through slowly:

Things to consider:

1. Think about where you want to start. I started in the middle for my long runs but this tile is so forgiving it's not necessarily needed.

2. Always wear eye protection when using the tile saw!

3. I didn't have many problems cutting this tile but you do have to watch where your cut will be -- if it's going to leave a little sliver of a piece it will most likely get torn up by the saw. Tiny cuts are very hard to do with a saw like this so make your measurements accordingly.

4. Keep all of your scrap tile till you are done -- you never know where you can use a small piece that may be too hard to cut.

5. You do not need to grout with this tile, which saves a ton of time! There are a few spots where you can see the wall between the pieces (if you look really hard), so I may fill in a few spots with some tile caulk.

You will have smaller sections to fill in and I've saved most of these for last, since I know I'll have scrap I can use:

Also, I originally planned to cut the tiles at the ends at an angle so they would fit against the wall. It was going to take SO MUCH longer to do that though, so I went with a straight edge and I'm so thankful I did. It would be so difficult to get mitered edges to match up perfectly.

I will share the full reveal when I finish the tile, do the final coats of poly on the wood and after I decorate it! I can't wait! But here's an idea of how this looks installed:

It has such a warm, cozy feel and we're so excited about this area! Can't wait to see it decorated for Christmas!:

Have you used this tile in your home? Many of you shared photos of your projects on my Facebook page and I love it every time I see it used!

Here's an image to pin if you are interested in tiling sometime in the future:

And you can see how I tiled a smaller area with marble tile in our family room here:

The (surprising) color every room needs!

Hello my friends! I hope you had a great weekend -- we had a lovely one with friends and family. It was a good distraction from the sadness I've felt lately. My sister is moving away tomorrow and I've been dreading this day for months. I don't know how in the world I'm going make it a week without seeing her or my baby niece. I was reminded this weekend that it could be so much worse, and I know this. I'm trying to keep in mind that we'll be able to talk whenever we want -- I will just miss them so much.

If any of you live in the Wheeling area of West Virginia and could hug my sister's neck for me once and awhile, please let me know. :) I'm glad to be writing to you all today because it always makes me feel better!

I've been busy working on our basement fireplace and hope to have an update to share with you this week. I'm so excited about it! I'm thinking about my next steps for down there and I was reminded of my absolute favorite addition when it comes to decorating. I've said it for years but it's worth sharing again -- nearly every room can take some black accents!

Whether they are small (frames or small furniture) or big like walls, I am absolutely obsessed with the understated drama that black adds to a room. I've always said it grounds a space and it never fails.

I went mostly white in our office/loft makeover this summer but I knew all along I wanted the contrast of black in here as well -- I added that with the lights and the large DIY chalkboard:

office space with large desk and chalkboard

The beauty of black is that it works even when your walls aren't white. I know some worry that it will make a room feel heavy and it can...but if you have a fairly neutral space it will only add to your space!

I recently transformed this old table into a bar cart and knew it needed to be black. It was the perfect contrast in this spot:

I discovered that green and black is one of my favorite combos when I moved one my favorite dressers up to the guest room earlier this year:

I also love our black metal bed in that room too. There are a few colors that it doesn't pair with as well -- I used to have a yellow and black laundry room and it went a little bumblebee. ;)

And if you already have dark walls it may be a little much to have solid black pieces. But especially in rooms with gray, white or neutral walls like ours, it looks fantastic:

I would totally paint a room black and was going to paint my husband's office dark, it just hasn't happened yet. :) If a whole room is too scary for you, you can do a smaller accent wall like I did on the stairs. I still love it! It demands your attention but doesn't make it feel heavy at all.

I love chalkboard walls and it's not because they are fun to write on (they are). It's that pop of black:

This small wall in our kitchen was perfect for it and now it's a great spot for doodling and lists, but also gives some nice contrast.

This painted dresser in our family room is one of my favorites -- the white trim around the room makes it pop:

And that hardware that I didn't like before is now perfection against the dark color. Funny how it completely changed how I felt about that brass!

And you know what? I don't even mind TV's that are hung on the wall, because they give you the same feel:

There's a hint at one of my favorites in that picture -- if you don't want to go dark on furniture or walls, you can always do the doors:

All of our interior doors on the main floor and basement are black and I would do it again a million times over. They are classic and I love them against the white trim.

One of my first dark doors was our glass pantry door:

I'm itching to get started on the upstairs but there are seven to do! It's going to take me another year at least. :)

I have black accents in nearly every room of our house, and I'm always looking for ways to add it to the rooms that don't!

Do you use black paint in your home? Have you taken the plunge with black doors? It doesn't have to be anything large!The black lines of a coffee table, frames on the wall or even the legs of a chair all help to give you that look.

To see the paint colors I used in these spaces go here!