black + white + magnolia garland tablescape.

December 1, 2017 Ally Willis

happy December, friends! can you believe this time of year is already upon us? if you've kept up with my little blog for any length of time, you may know that one of my favorite things to do is set the table. a few weeks ago, I was playing around with table setting ideas and wanted to share with you a little something I came up with!

I tend to be drawn to a more neutral and natural color palette, made up of creams and whites and greens and wood tones. when I set out to create this tablescape, I knew I wanted to use my magnolia garland and these the black + white dishes. I paired the dishes with simple white dinner plates—and by simple, I mean cheap. these white dishes are brought to you by the Dollar Tree. I scored the gorgeous chargers at HomeGoods a few years ago. I only wish they'd had more! all I could find was a package of four. the black + white dishes are from a local antique store. I found them earlier this year. I have gotten so many compliments on them; and I'm happy to share that while they look antique, they're actually new-ish. they are by burton+BURTON. I bought the magnolia garland last year at Paul Michael Company. it cost a pretty penny; but I loved it, knew I'd use it again and again, and I had a gift card. so, the investment seemed like a no-brainer.

I tucked some cream-colored linen napkins into four Dollar Tree wine glasses, or water goblets for all the teetotalers out there. I love the way the napkins resemble magnolia blooms when paired with the magnolia garland. that was a happy accident, really. I noticed it after I set the table and was standing atop it with my camera in hand.

for my flatware, I used a mismatched collection of antique silverware. I started collecting antique silver a few years ago. at first, it was just serving pieces, like soup ladles and pie servers. over time, I acquired quite a collection of forks, knives, spoons, mint julep cups, etc. what started as a hobby proved to be quite useful. after we flooded, the beautiful silverware from our wedding registry was lost. so now all we have and use is this eccentric mix of unmatching silver. though it's a little unconventional, I love the idea of having these treasures that were once a special part of others' homes. I can only imagine the stories that each piece would tell. engraved pieces are my favorite of all.

this might be one of my favorite tables I've created thus far. in hindsight, it would've been neat and added more color + texture to scatter clementines down the garland, tucked between the leaves. that would've made for a lovely thanksgiving table. or even Christmas! that's what I liked about this setup too—it's transitional. it could work as a fall tablescape and go all the way through winter.

what do you think? what are your favorite ways to set your table?

framed baby clothes and how I know my husband really loves me.

September 27, 2017 Ally Willis

I wish I could say this ivory baby dress had been mine or is a priceless family heirloom, passed down for generations. but the truth is, I found it in a favorite thrift + junk store of mine. it was a steal at just five bucks! however, the day I found it, I already had several other items I was purchasing. I guess that little dress would've put me over, so I hid it on a rack between some old quilts, with the intention of coming back for it.

A few nights later, my family and I were celebrating my birthday over dinner. we dined under the trees in my parents' backyard, feasting on shish kabobs at a pretty table my mother had set. after I blew out the candle on a homemade molten chocolate cake, I began to open my gifts. wouldn't you know each of the little treasures I found days earlier while shopping with my sister were wrapped up in a cardboard box? among them was that sweet little ivory dress. my sister snapped photos of things that caught my eye, hid them when I wasn't looking, and then sent my mom the pictures and the hiding places. then, my mom went on hunt to find these items and surprise me with them for my birthday.

it makes me smile remembering this. I'll never forget the thoughtfulness and intentionality of those sneaky girls. and even though it's not an heirloom from my family, per se, it's still a family heirloom from someone's family and I am more than happy to give it a place in my home.

The fabric + frame are from Hobby Lobby. the fabric is a beige linen and cost $16.99/yd. with my coupon, I got a yard and a half for about $16.00. typically, I would have searched for a frame at a yard sale or secondhand store, but large, chunky, gold frames are hard to find. I had been eyeing this frame for awhile, but was waiting for the right time to buy it. the right time is obviously when there's a sale. regularly priced at $79.99, that's more than I would usually [read: ever] spend on a frame. so when the frames were marked 50% off, I snagged this baby and a smaller 8x10, as well. the frame was backless; so after giving my husband the dimensions, he cut some cardboard at work and brought it home to use as my backing.

I wish I could say this involved a fancier process, but maybe the simplicity of it will make it a more attainable diy project. first, I measured my fabric against my frame, leaving a little extra around the edge, and cut it. I just eyeballed it—no rulers or measuring tape needed. I had a good bit of fabric leftover, too. next, I steamed the linen fabric. then, I stretched and wrapped the fabric over the cardboard and hot glued the edge of the fabric onto the backside of the cardboard. after steaming the dress and using my straightener to iron out the collar [doesn't everyone do this?], I laid the dress onto the fabric covering and arranged it how I wanted it to look when hung. using straight pins, I secured the dress onto the cardboard—first along the top, then along the bottom. I then rested the frame against the wall and fastened the rest of the dress to the fabric. it helped to stand the frame up so I could insert the pins completely through the cardboard and I was better able to see how it would look, rather than laying it flat on the ground.

once the dress was secured onto the fabric covered cardboard, I called my husband into our bedroom to ask him what he thought. he was sweet, as always, and told me he loved it. I mean, what guy doesn't want a framed baby dress hanging over his head? literally. I know he probably could not care less about this project or many of the things I do around our house, but he always humors me and is complimentary about these kinds of things. this is how I know he really loves me. that, and one time he went to Walmart at night to get me coffee ice cream. because for whatever reason, Blue Bell coffee ice cream is "not available" on Walmart's grocery pickup in our area and we had run out [aka it was an emergency]. this might not seem like a big deal, but this is the same guy who buys our dog food from a drug store, meaning he pays substantially [$3ish] more, just to avoid stepping foot in Walmart. that was the night I knew he really loved me. we've been married nearly four years and I thought he might before that, but this is how I knew.

I love the way this project turned out. I tend to lean towards a more southern, traditional style and I think this embodies that. I already had scissors, a glue gun, and straight pins; so between the frame, the fabric, and the dress, the grand total comes to $55ish. not too shabby if you ask me.

what do you think? would you ever hang a framed baby dress in your home? or drop everything to run to the store to pick up ice cream for someone you love?

the master bath renovation.

September 4, 2017 Ally Willis

When I first shared about the home we bought, I mentioned that it wasn't a major fixer upper. by this I mean it wasn't in need of major repairs, such as structural issues. but being built in the 80s, it needed a little updating.

I truly love the whole house. it's very classic and has such good bones, but nearly every room had wallpaper or some type of border and outdated fixtures. the master bathroom may have been the room that needed updating most.

like the rest of the house, it needed some love; but it had lots of potential. such as:

his + her closets -- this was huge for us because the original tiny white house only had one closet in the entire house
a linen closet
separate toilet room
large space for vanity
a window — this was exciting to me because I love windows + natural light
high ceilings

and then there were the not-so-good things:
wallpaper everywhere — and not just one, but three complementing patterns
a blue-gray tub
a vanity that took up a little too much space
outdated fixtures
outdated + grossish tub surround
popcorn ceilings

I had a vision in mind of what I wanted, but our budget was tight. here's what I knew: the wallpaper had to go, the ceilings needed to be scraped, the vanity + tub surround would be ripped out, the ceiling fan would be replaced with a light fixture, and all fixtures would be updated.

we knew when we bought the house, we needed to do as much of the work as we could ourselves. I have always had a knack for decorating + fixing things up, so I was thrilled about this. but as we got into this adventure, I realized it wasn't possible for us to do everything ourselves. and frankly, it wasn't wise either. there are certain things one can get away with doing themselves, but some stuff should be left to the pros, or the brave/extreme DIYers.

in our case, we did all the painting. after getting a quote and realizing the cost for a professional to do it was the same amount as the budget for the entire house, that got scratched off the list fast. we did decide, however, to splurge and let professionals do the flooring + tiling. I'll share more about that with each room; but for the master bath, we hired someone to lay new tile for the floor and install a new tub surround.

the old bathroom tile, which is also in our living room, isn't terrible. it's not exactly my first choice, but it could be much worse. I think it had been updated at some point since the house was built. I knew we were ripping out the vanity, though, and there wouldn't be any tile underneath it, so we decided to rip it all up and put something new down. one area we were able to "save" in our master bath reno was to rip the old tile up ourselves. and obviously, when I say "ourselves," I mean my husband. he scraped every popcorn ceiling, as well. he's the best ever.

Now you have an idea of what we were working with. ready to see the transformation?

I decided on a small, white hexagon tile for the new bathroom tile. I know this is "in" right now, but it was also used in bathrooms a hundred years ago. something you should know about me is that I hate to be trendy or do what everyone else is doing. so, my decision to install hexagon tile was purely because 1) I liked the clean look of it and 2) it's timeless. I chose a light gray for the grout color. I wish I had gone a little darker, but overall, I am pleased with it.

some of the generous people that took care of us during the flood gave us a dresser that I refinished and we used as our vanity. I wanted to strip it and stain it; but for the sake of time, I decided just to paint it. I used this chalk paint in Boot Black and sealed it with a satin polyurethane. I wish there wasn't as much of a sheen to it, but I suppose that's the tradeoff for using a dresser as a bathroom vanity. I stripped and stained the mirrors that belong to this vanity, and I'm so happy I did because I really wanted to feature some dark wood in the bathroom somewhere.

The old vanity had one large sheet mirror and since we were going from one mirror to two smaller mirrors, I asked [read: begged] my husband to change the electrical wiring so we could do a wall sconce in the center, rather than two overhead light fixtures. he made this happen, and I found our light fixture on Wayfair. I really love it. I added these crystal prisms that I found in a junk store and a little sheer ribbon from a craft store.

Once we realized the blue-gray tub was cast iron + porcelain, we decided to keep it and refinish it. this worked best with our budget; and I knew once a new tub surround was installed, the whole thing would look brand new. after some research, I ordered a tub + tile refinishing kit and my dad refinished both the upstairs and downstairs tubs. we chose a white subway tile for the tub surround. again, I'm going with the timeless factor over the trendy factor.

After scraping and painting the ceilings, we exchanged the old ceiling fan for a little teardrop chandelier I found at an antique store. I added a ceiling medallion I found at Lowe's to give it a little something extra. this is one of my favorite details.

I made our window treatment following a tutorial by Miss Mustard Seed. I'm certainly a beginner when it comes to sewing, so don't look too closely. however, I love the simplicity of this little valance. I plan to make something similar for the upstairs bathroom eventually.

I love the way our bathroom renovation turned out. such a transformation! it was especially fun to see this space transform right before our eyes. I love just stepping into this room and soaking in that pretty painted tub. it's amazing what a little paint, a little money, and a lot of hard work can do for a room.

sources:

the nursery | part ii

July 1, 2017 Ally Willis

A little more than a year ago, we welcomed our first child into the world—a sweet little boy named Grey. he was born in a time of adversity, as our house, the place we planned to bring him home to, flooded a month before he was due, mere days after I set up his nursery. after losing our home + most of our belongings, we moved in with my parents. I set up a nursery for him there, as well. I can remember the mix of emotions I felt each time—excitement, disbelief, sadness, fear, exhaustion, bitterness. but because of Him, the underlying emotions were hope and joy.

when he was about six months old [and we were still living with my parents], my husband + I found out were expecting again. to say we were surprised is a bit of an understatement. it was not exactly the timing we expected or had planned for; but ultimately, we were beside ourselves. admittedly, it was laughable, especially considering all that had taken place that year.

Thankfully, after much prayer, tears, and waiting [patiently and not so patiently], the Lord provided us with a home. we all were excited for so many reasons. it was just the right timing as my parents reminded us that we were quickly outgrowing the two bedrooms they had so graciously given us in their home for a year.

the house we purchased has three bedrooms + two baths. this is an ideal arrangement for a family with two children; but I knew from the beginning, I wanted the babies to share a room. with our first child, we chose to find out the gender. with this second one, we decided to be surprised. I mean, why not carry on with the element of surprise? regardless of the gender, I want our children to share and there are a few reasons for this. in short, I think it's sweet. it's also economical. another plus is that the bedroom that is used as our nursery is a good size room, so I'm not worried about it being crowded. and having shared a room with every member of my family at some point, my brother included, it wasn't even a question to me of whether or not a boy and girl could share.

When I decorated Grey's room(s), I chose a mostly neutral palette. this proved to be beneficial in our case, because it's not too "boyish" of a nursery, should a sweet baby girl join the family this time around. I plan to make a few minor changes, such as adding another crib, different bedding, furniture placement... just to name a few.

Now baby #2 has not joined us yet, so we will see how all this goes. I have heard from both sides how or why sharing a room will or won't work. the baby will be in our room for awhile, so we'll just see and cross that bridge when we come to it.

click here to read about a nursery for two...

a {mini} fall tour.

October 28, 2016 Ally Willis

Decorating for holidays, and decorating just because, looks a little different than it used to, as we have been living with family since the flooding of our home. I really and truly have loved almost every minute of it, but it has certainly been challenging, at times, for all my "roommates."

One of the wonderful things about being back at home is that my sweet mother has given me complete "creative control." in other words, I am free to style, decorate, rearrange, etc. the way I would in my own home. this woman is so gracious to do this because, you know, it's not even my house! but to be completely candid, I think she has probably enjoyed it a little, because who doesn't want a live-in decorator?

that said, it is interesting to decorate a different house in these new seasons. I never dreamed that last fall and Christmas would be my last time to decorate for the holidays at the tiny white house. however, at my parents', I have a great canvas to work with. for instance, they have a mantle! I know, I know—what a luxury, right? but this is something we didn't have in our first home, so it's fun to create something centered around this.

But enough with all the words! without further ado, I'd like to share the 2016 {mini} fall tour with you!

When I began to envision my fall decor, I knew I wanted to incorporate this oversized frame. I actually acquired this sometime earlier in the year. one afternoon, I was driving the little girl I nanny to her voice lesson. the church where her lessons took place was located near Good Will; so some days, if time allowed, we would stop by to see if they had any treasures for us. but, that's actually not where this came from. it was on the way to Good Will that I spotted a dumpster behind a store and what looked like a dresser sitting near it. so we took a detour and that's where I happened upon this piece! the dresser was beyond repair, but this frame was on the ground behind it. it used to frame a mirror, but I suppose the dresser + mirror fell and cracked so the store threw it out. obviously, they didn't realize they could paint it, staple some toile fabric in it, and place it on their mantle for fall decor, but that's neither here nor there.

In the spring, we hung a boxwood wreath in the frame. but when our baby arrived, that wreath moved to the nursery. so the frame sat empty for some months, and then September rolled around. I got the idea to frame some fabric and then remembered I had a couple yards of toile fabric I'd bought from Hobby Lobby to recover some pillows. it had been sitting under our bed, folded up, in the very plastic bag it left the store in last fall, waiting for its time to shine. with some assistance from my mother, we stretched + stapled this fabric in the frame. it's a little simple, maybe even understated; but, to me, it definitely shines. this is one of my favorite projects to date. and the best part is it cost less than $10 to make!

As I've mentioned before, silver is one of my favorite things to feature in my decor. this antique silver ice bucket was a gift from my husband last Christmas. clearly, he knows the way to my heart. in the spring + summer, it was filled with hydrangeas. for the fall season, it holds stems of cotton.

The ice bucket sits upon my great grandfather's Bible. my mother has several Bibles that have been in our family for generations, and I'm jealous and I want them. isn't that ironic? to covet someone else's vintage Bible. she says I can't have them [yet, anyway]; but since we're roommates, I am free to use them in my/our decor.

Of course, pumpkins are a staple when it comes to fall decor, and there's just something about white ones. the oversized blue pitcher is a favorite of mine and adds a little color to this mostly neutral scene.

A wire basket filled with cozy blankets is a simple, yet decorative way to create storage and warmth—quite literally.

In the 2015 {mini} fall tour, I mention that simply placing pumpkins throughout your home adds a little touch of fall without much effort. this lovely vignette is on the shelves of the hutch in the kitchen. you already know I love blue + white dishes and greenery, throw in a pumpkin and I'm sold. and would you look at that? another old Bible I covet.

As pleased as I was with the way the mantle turned out, I couldn't help but feel as if the fall decor wasn't complete. so, I decided to set the little drop-leaf table in the kitchen. I used my favorite blue + white dishes, fresh apples + berries, and a few nuts I found in the backyard.

I was excited to use these chargers I scored at Home Goods when we were visiting family in Texas last Christmas. I found them hidden under some bowls on a bottom shelf and just had to have them. I did feel a little bad, though, because I'm pretty sure someone hid them there with the intention of coming back for them. but you know, finders keepers, or whatever.

the mismatched flatware is part of my collection that I've gathered along the way, from antique stores to garage sales and junk shops. the antique linen napkins were another Christmas gift from my husband. cloth napkins are another one of my favorite things to collect.