piano room

Recreating model home decor {decorative moss rocks}

08/20/2012 11:25 pm by Allison 19 Comments

One of my favorite things to do is browse through model homes. They are chock full of decorating ideas that are usually very appealing to most styles. I have learned so many little tips and tricks about decorating and styling a home simply by walking through model homes and taking lots of photos.

In a recent model home crashing I saw the simplest decor that had a big impact. I just had to recreate it the second I got back home.

Can you believe it’s as simple as a bowl full of faux moss rocks?

I saw this simple wooden bowl filled with basic fake moss rocks and just knew it would be perfect for my piano room. It helped that I already had the rocks and the bowl at home in my stash.

I found these moss rocks months ago at the Dollar Tree. I have looked for them since then with no luck. However, I saw a box of moss rocks last week at Target that will work just fine.

On a side note, if you see these rocks pop up at the Dollar Store again in the future, let me know, k? They are the perfect cheap versatile decor item that you can never have too many of. They look great in glass vases, wooden bowls, lanterns, wreaths, etc.

I scored this large wooden bowl at Target last year on clearance and have been stumped with what to do with it since then. It is large and deep and besides using it for salad I was really at a loss as to how to decorate with it. Thank goodness for the moss rocks!

I used four packages of moss rocks but I probably could have used at least 8 packages. To make up the difference I wadded up a bunch of tissue paper and stuffed it in the bottom of the bowl before I added the rocks.

This new cute little decor is the perfect addition to my side table between my two chairs. I love how the green moss really pops out against the red in the pillows.

Isn’t the wood grain on the bowl just fabulous? This whole ensemble just gives the perfect amount of earthy vibe to our piano room.

I still can’t get over how simple this addition was to recreate. And I’m kicking myself that I had the bowl and the rocks just sitting there for months and never thought to put the two together until now.

The moss texture on the fake rocks is so soft and fuzzy. When anyone sits in the room they instantly gravitate towards picking up and playing with the rocks. Kids and adults alike!

So there ya go, a simple easy to assemble decor addition that really makes a room *pop*. It’s always fun to be crafty and make stuff, but sometimes the simplest things end up being my favorite.

What are your go-to decorating accessories? Do you like browsing model homes? What is your favorite decor item in your home?

Enjoy life and have a great week!

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: Dollar Tree, piano room, Target

Like, OMG. The piano room actually has curtains now?!

01/03/2012 10:53 pm by Allison 31 Comments

Four long months ago I proclaimed I was going to hang curtains in the piano room.

Sounded simple enough. Hell, I already had the curtains. How long could hanging two curtain panels really take?

I tried them out by hanging them on the wall with some tacks…

They were waiting for Noah’s Flood, so I tested out some gray fabric I picked up at ikea. Yup, this little plan I hatched was going to work out perfectly.

I even added this little curtain project to my list of 24 projects I should have finished by now (project #6) {aka I’m a huge procrastinator}.

So why is it freaking January 2012 and I’m just now mentioning them again?

Because of my life mantra – Nothing I do is as easy as it should be.

Really, there were only two tasks to complete this little should-only-take-an-hour-or-so Project: 1) buy and hang two curtain rods, & 2) attach fabric to the bottom of the curtain panels. NOT THAT HARD, ALLISON. Srsly.

And that’s where things went horribly off track…

First off, the panels were dirty so I carefully read the label and washed them as directed.

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When I pulled them out of the dryer, to my horror the toile fabric SHRUNK. Like, a lot.

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Oh, this is for real, folks. I can’t even make this crap up.

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All FOUR panels shrunk. In a moderate temper tantrum, I threw them on my floor and ignored them for a week or so. But then the curtain bug bit again. There had to be a way to salvage these curtains.

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Yup, I went all Freddy Krueger on them and hacked the lining right out.

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I had originally planned to use only two curtain panels (though I had 4), but once they shrunk to all hell and then I removed the lining, they seemed really sad and thin, so I ended up using two panels per window (I used all 4 panels instead of just 2).

Well, this pretty much screwed me on the gray fabric. I had enough to cover two panels, not four. No biggie… I headed back to ikea to buy another yard.

{Here comes big issue #2 with hanging these dag-gum curtains}

FAIL. Ikea has been sold out of that gray fabric for four freaking months now!

So now they look like this:

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Because of the shrinkage, they are now waiting for an even bigger flood than before. {Maybe I should give up on the ikea fabric and just go get some at the fabric store…}

Well, there has been one semi-good thing to come from all this.

I bought and hung two curtain rods!

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I say “semi-good” because, well, I bought these rods and hung them before my DIY curtain rod was even dreamed up…

If I could go back in time, I’d do one long rod on the windows in the piano room (like the DIY one in the dining room) instead of the two shorter rods. {sigh}

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Eventually I may swap these out for one long one, but for now, these are paid for and hung, so I’m just gonna go with it.

So, now that I’ve been all Debbie-Downer on the curtain rods, let me tell you all about them!

I found the two curtain rods at Wal-Mart for $14 each.

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They are nice rods, but man that $2 conduit pipe rod sure sounds nice right about now…

So anyway, I bought two rods from Wal-Mart…

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…and also two packages of rings with clips ($7 a package).

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I attached the rings the same way I explained here to create a faux pinch pleat.

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That’s pretty much it. After four long months, the rods and curtains are finally hung, but I still can’t check this project off my to-do list because the bottom of the curtains are unfinished.

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It’s all good though. This large randomly placed basket with no use hides the unraveling edge pretty well.

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On a good day, the piano room and entry way are looking pretty good. Not finished, but better than before. (Ben is in a band, so the piano room is usually littered with at least 2-3 guitars, a large amp, a banjo, and his Russian accordion. Yes, I’m married to a musical wiz. I gave up trying to compete years ago. (I play the piano. But, of course, he does that better too!))

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I have exactly two sets of curtains hung in this house (pathetic, I know). And you can see both of them at the same exact time:

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I like the way the toile looks in the piano room, but man, I just adore my orange curtains. I could wear them I love them so much.

Posts are always WAY more fun with a good ol’ before and after, so here ya go!

{Before}

{Now}
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I’d say that room looks pretty smokin’ hot compared to the “before”. Only a few more tweaks until I can check it off the list!

I guess in four more months I’ll update you again when I finally have the gray sewn to the bottom of the toile curtains. lol

And, as always, thanks for reading! Make yourself at home.

Filed Under: Decorating, DIY Tagged With: curtains, IKEA, piano room, wal-mart

THE actual real-for-real House of Hepworths (for realz)

10/25/2011 10:58 pm by Allison 27 Comments

Hey you guys! I have a little treat for you today! Well, okay, it’s probably not that cool, but it’s a treat for me at least!

I have wanted a floor plan of my house for a year now. I’ve scoured the internet looking for it and it’s nowhere to be found! I tried to draw one using one of those free floor plan services. Ha! It looked worse than a kindergartner’s drawings.

Well, I mentioned to one of my friends down the street that I wanted a floor plan (this house was built almost 6 years ago) and to my complete shock and elation she whipped out a floor plan for me! Turns out she and her husband almost bought this exact house from the builder, but they bought one down the street instead. I’m so glad she saved it!

So, finally! I can now share the floor plan of this house with you. Maybe now when I show you guys rooms you won’t be so confused trying to figure out where they are located.

Here is the official Hepworth House floor plan. Is it anything like you imagined my house would be?!

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Do you like looking at floor plans and home layouts as much as I do? I will go to builder sites just to look at floor plan configurations… for fun. I know, I must have a screw loose to find that entertaining. But, seriously. I LOVE it. I even draw out plans when I’m bored… you know, for fun.

Here’s a more zoomed in version of the first floor…

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And one of the second floor…

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And because I obviously have way too much time on my hands, I even made one with the 2nd floor stacked on top of the 1st so you can get an idea of how it all fits together. Screw loose I’m telling ya.

HoH_master_floorplan_stacked

Are those just some of the most wicked photoshop (gimp actually) skillz you’ve ever seen? I know, I know. I really impress even myself sometimes. (I’m kidding. Look at how awful my lines are!)

I seriously won’t torture you by going through every single room and bathroom in the house, but I do want to highlight some of the rooms I’ve blathered on and on about for a year now.

So {obviously} I just HAVE to start with my most favorite room so far (even though it’s still a work in progress)…

You know this room? The one that where Barney was tragically murdered and I had to clean it up?

Ya, that room. The Barney Room (will it ever outlive that terrible nick-name?) is located here:

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Curious about my piano room?

Yup. It’s right across from the dining room. Did you know that?

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Our office is actually Bedroom 5. But I think we are about to move it to bedroom 4 upstairs. Maybe. We’ll see. It will involve a LOT of trips up and down stairs so I’m kinda avoiding it.

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Our family room is right smack in the middle of everything. It’s definitely the heart of our home and the hardest working room without a doubt.

(the white sofa table project can be found here)

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And another view of the family room facing the breakfast room and kitchen.

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Remember that part where I said I wasn’t going to do a play-by-play of the entire house?! I think I lied. Because it sure seems like I am, hua?! Okay, I’ll stop soon, I promise.

Shall we walk upstairs? Okay, come on, let’s go!

Bedroom 4 is the guest room, Bedroom 3 is our daughter’s room, and bedroom 2 is our son’s room. Got it? Good!

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And last but not least, the game room is smack dab in the middle of the upstairs. In fact, it’s directly over the family room and is the exact same shape and size. So basically we have two family rooms.

HoH_master_floorplan_2nd_floor_gameroom

I’d show you pictures of the three bedrooms upstairs but then I’d have to kill you.

The guest room is literally SMURF BLUE. I wish I were kidding. If we do the big ol’ office switcharoo then I’ll be painting the blue asap and you will for sure get a good ol’ look at it. Poor Kinsey still lives in a football field. I will be painting her room within the next month, promise. Travis lucked out and has builder beige walls.

If you’d like to see every room in the house, you can read about all the progress we’ve made on the house after a year of living here.

I’m so giddy that I finally have these floor plans! I made up one per room so whenever I’m talking about a room in the future now I can be sure to show you exactly where it’s located. Maybe it’s overkill, but I seriously love floor plans, so I figured you might enjoy looking at it as well. If not, then just let your eyes glaze over them whenever you see one.

Also, I’ve had a TON of new traffic lately, so if you are new here, Welcome to House of Hepworths, where all your wildest dreams come true!

Make sure to stop by each Wednesday evening/Thursday Morning to link up your posts to my Weekly Link Party. It’s THE PLACE to be, so don’t miss out on the fun!

If you got this far, thanks for toughing it out. Now go enter the Silhouette Cameo giveaway if you haven’t already!

And if I may, I’d like to leave you with an inspirational poster: