Versatile Decor - Shopping Your Own House

With Christmas just around the corner, I've been pulling out all my holiday decor and planning how I want to add new special touches around the farmhouse this season. Every year I like to tweak things just a little bit. Changing or replacing a lot of decor all at once can get really expensive really fast. So rather than buying all new things, I like to "shop the house" instead.

Like most of us, I have a few closets where I like to store miscellaneous decor and I also collect a lot of primitive things in our barn. Natural elements really inspire me so I often explore outside gathering wood, acorns, leaves and pinecones to incorporate inside. And once I've made a massive mess by getting out of all my stuff, then it's go time! 

I don't know what it is about pulling out all my options and seeing it all spread out in front of me.. It just jump starts my creativity! Sometimes all it takes to see an item in a new way is to take it down from where you put it to begin with. It can be hard to imagine something else in it's place or a new use for something without moving it in the first place and clearing your mind. Start with a clean slate! So many times I've forgotten about things I have or pieces that I haven't used in a long time. It's so fun to swap things around and it saves me SO much money. Sometimes shopping around my own house for new ways to use my old things is all the inspiration I need! And it satisfies that urge to shop so I get the quick fix I'm craving without spending a penny!

I've never been one to splurge on a lot of trendy clothing or decor. I love what I love and although my tastes have changed and evolved over time, many of the classic pieces I've invested in still remain my favorites. I recently got a new fun item from one of my favorite shops and it's so versatile! I thought it would be the perfect example to illustrate how I often use a single piece of decor in many ways. The Box Spring Card Holder from Painted Fox can be used for so many occasions! Take a look at how it's travelled around our house..

Christmas Card Display

I found this small wicker wreath while unpacking some holiday decor. A friend had gifted it to me and I had forgotten I even had it! By adding some fresh greenery picked straight out of our backyard and "shopping my house" I was able to create this fun holiday display without spending a penny!

Nursery Vignette

My son's nursery is one of my favorite rooms to decorate.. Kid spaces are so fun! I found these cool vintage flash cards while shopping around at the Nashville Flea Market. I had originally strung them up to create a paper garland, but my bed spring card holder was the perfect piece to display them in a new way!

Farmhouse Mantel

Swoon... a farmhouse loving girl can never have too many tobacco baskets! This one sits on one of our six mantels and I swap out the decor here often. I was stumped for a long time on deciding how to display these flashcards, but my card holder provides a great layer of depth and texture in this space. 

Recipe and Mail Sorter

I have TONS of loose paper in my kitchen.. recipes, mail, shopping lists.. I need about three of these to organize it all!

Spare Bedroom Decor

Our spare bedroom is one of the only fully decorated spaces in our farmhouse at the moment. It seems as though every other room has something ripped out for the sake of renovation. But this one is a bit of a getaway for me when the mess of the house starts to get overwhelming and I want to sit in a room that feels like ME.  Not to mention, these are a few of my favorite things.. Chippy - Farmhouse - Home.

Would you like your own Bed Spring Card Holder to decorate in a million different ways? You can buy one at Painted Fox Treasures!

(affiliate link)

Making a house a home doesn't have to cost a lot of money. In fact, it doesn't have to cost any at all! Switching up your decor and "shopping your home" can be so much fun. It's even therapeutic for me at times! Maybe this will inspire you to play around with whatever you can find around your own place and give some of your things new life. Let your creative juices flow! Do you have any really versatile pieces that travel around your house? Show me!

-Lauren

How to Antique New Galvanized Metal - Get The Look For Less!

I absolutely love the authentic natural patina of vintage metal pieces, but they can be a bit pricey! I've been collecting rusty garden accessories and decor for years and recently I scored a handful of olive buckets at Target for $5 on clearance! (Not to mention several adorable metal accessories out of the Target Dollar Spot. My guiltiest pleasure!) You just can't beat the $5 price and the buckets were just precious! My only hesitation was that they were just a little too new looking. And so commenced: Operation: Rusty Buckets. :)

I've seen tons of tutorials on Pinterest and blogs and I knew I wanted to give this DIY a try. I also want to be completely transparent in my trials and errors during this process! Spoiler Alert: I had some major fails! Rusty antiques can take years to acquire their perfectly aged patinas, but hopefully my tips can help you to speed up the process if you love the look as much as I do.

Galvanized metal is usually composed of zinc or iron with a steal coating sealed on top to prevent it from rusting. There are some products that you can use to remove this protective top coat and kick start the natural aging process. What I have learned through many, many, many attempts is that your success is ultimately determined by the actual make-up of the item you're trying to alter. You can have all the corrosive products in the world, but unless your bucket is prepped correctly AND is indeed made of a galvanized product - your attempts may be futile, as mine were! Your results can also vary drastically depending on the item and length of treatment. I've seen my pieces appear to only have a duller finish, with a full rusty patina and even end up with a foggy white finish. All were pleasing! Just be prepared for varying results. And just think of how unique your project will be! Not a single identical one like yours in the world! ;)

So here's what I started with and the look I was aiming to achieve:

Here are a few of the bulk products I had on hand to begin the aging process. There a few items I experimented with that are NOT PICTURED! (Lysol and Clorox toilet bowl cleaner, Zep Acidic toilet bowl cleaner, pre-mixed salt water, salt block, steel wool, tap water and rain water.)

You will also need gloves, a few utility spray bottles and buckets large enough to fully submerse your items in.

Items pictured: Bleach, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, muriatic acid.

Links to purchase all supplies at the bottom of the post!

My initial attempts to age my buckets to the extent I wanted were unsuccessful. I removed the rope handles and started by spraying them down with several coats of a muriatic acid and water solution. (Make sure you wear gloves and protective clothing if you're working with this product!) I repeated this process twice and barely noticed any changes. After the second try, I decided to take it up a notch and I scrubbed the buckets with steel wool, but this time I coated them with several coats of pure muriatic acid. 

Still no changes.

My third attempt was to spray them with salt water and let them sit outside in the elements and rain to see I could see any progress at all. After four days outside - nothing.

I then generously coated the buckets with the toilet bowl cleaners, but after three tries with three different brands I hadn't noticed any change. 

The Indestructible Bucket!

At this point, I realized that the bucket itself may be resistant to this process. I was pretty discouraged! But, I was determined to make it work on something! I grabbed a shiny metal milk jug that I also bought at Target and soaked it overnight in a solution of vinegar, water and bleach. I didn't measure the amounts. I just grabbed what I had on hand and poured it all into a large bucket. The metal needed to be completely submersed so I added water until the solution covered all sides of the jug. I don't have a photo of the jug before I dunked it.. Bummer! But trust - It was S.H.I.N.Y! Much more so than the olive bucket!

Here are the results after soaking overnight! JACKPOT!!!

I knew as soon as I pulled the jug out of the water that its finish reacted completely different to this treatment than the olive buckets had to my other tries. The photo on the left is immediately after removing it from the solution. The photo on the right is after rinsing in clean water and letting it sit outside for a few hours! And the longer it sits the rustier it gets!

LEFT: Just after soaking overnight in a water/vinegar/bleach solution RIGHT: Finished product!

The perfect patina!

So.. obviously after my success I decided to try the same technique on my buckets. Onto try number... 257!?!? 

Sadly.. here are the results. After soaking overnight in the same exact vinegar/bleach/water solution AND sitting outside in the rain afterwards AND another coat of acid - they barely look any different. Two thumbs down. :( Aside from literally getting a grinder on these things I've just about tried everything. My friend Kelly also suggested that we set a salt block in them and let that natural process try to corrode the finish, but to be honest, I was ready to throw the towel in and set up my porch decor!

The Indestructible buckets after their overnight soak..

Olive Bucket result after ALL attempts.

Overall, the buckets are ever-so-slightly more dull, but nowhere near the rusty finish I wanted. However, my milk jug looks AMAZING and I am so pleased with it! For a $5 investment I can honestly say these buckets will last you a longggg time and still look as good as new! The cheapest vintage ones I found at the Nashville Flea Market this weekend ran about $40+.. So I can appreciate my clearance finds for the new awesomeness that they are!

Our 2015 fall porch at the farm.

I sincerely hope you can learn from my trial and error and that these tips help you achieve your rusty vintage bucket dreams! Happy DIY-ing!

-Lauren

If you'd like to order any of the products I regularly use to achieve this look you can order them here!

(affiliate links)

Zep Commercial Acidic Toilet Bowl Cleaner, 32 oz Bottle

Lysol Power and Free Toilet Bowl Cleaner Value Pack, 2 Count

Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner With Bleach Rain Clean Scent Bottle 24 Oz, 2-Pack

SUNNYSIDE CORPORATION 710G1 1-Gallon Muriatic Acid

Clorox Bleach Regular, 64 oz White House White Distilled Vinegar 64oz

Bragg Organic Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar 32 oz

White House White Distilled Vinegar 64oz

Mad Buck Innovations Deer Brick Salt Lick Mineral Block with Exclusive Scent Cell, Acorn Scent

Red Devil 0320 8-Pack Steel Wool, 0000 Super Fine

Spare Bedroom Makeover

Remember this room? This is bedroom number two. It could be another master suite with its large closet and en suite bath. It sits at the very front of the house and gets the most beautiful natural light through its four windows! There's also an additional fireplace that's been covered. We've chosen not to start any major demo on the walls or bathroom yet, so it remains behind the sheet rock for now. 

Spare Bedroom Before 

A few weeks ago I decided to go antiquing on a whim. A favorite past time of mine. :) I came across the most beautiful vintage iron bed for only fifty bucks! Score! It was exactly what I had in mind for this room, but I'd never been able to find one at the right price. I guess it was my lucky day!

When we first moved into the farmhouse we had Baker's nursery temporarily set up in this room. And by "temporarily set up" I mean he had a crib and changing table surrounded by piles of boxes and other random things. And we nailed up some cheap black-out curtains from Walmart over the windows. Yes - nailed. It wasn't pretty. But, we transformed one of the upstairs bedrooms into a really cool nursery and once we moved Baker in I was able to slowly clear out the room and get a clean-slate vision for the space. 

We wanted to make the room feel both comfortable and inviting for our guests by incorporating soft, casual textures and authentic farmhouse style. We were able to complete the room on a tight budget, as well, by recycling pieces we already owned and scouting out the local trade pages. I found a beautiful antique armoire for only $85 and the bed linens were purchased from Ikea and Target. We also made our own curtain rods and hardware and used drop cloths as curtains. All very accessible and affordable if you're feeling inspired! 

Want to come visit? Come check in at The Inn at Stillwater Farm :)

The iron bed was missing a pole right in the middle of the headboard. I used a garland from Hobby Lobby ($7) and a wreath from the Dollar Spot at Target ($3) to make this little guy to take up the space.

The bench against the wall was actually from the old barn on the back of the property! No idea how old it is, but it's definitely "vintage" :) We made the curtain rods by using 10 ft. poplar closet poles ($16) and wooden finials ($2) from Lowes. The curtains are made from 4 ft X 12 ft drop clothes from a local hardware store. They were only $7.99! I just cut them to length and folded the top over to create the ruffle. No sew!

A beautiful aerial photograph of the farm and a very special sketch of the farmhouse. 

Our friends might recognize this old door. We used it as a headboard in our last home. It looks completely different styled in this room!

A closer shot of the drop cloth curtains and some vintage goodies..

Antique paddle boards from the fire station Brett works at! They sort of move around the house, but they've settled in this new room for now.

Of course Daddy's little shadow wanted to help!

Hope you enjoyed the tour. We're really looking forward to Spring weather and friendly visits!

-Lauren