Personalized Presentation

One of the most common mistakes I see in home decor is a lack of personal touches.  Many people feel that they just need to fill the space and forget to make it reflect themselves.  To make a home feel like YOUR home it has to represent you and your family.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with a few generic store bought elements but be sure to mix them in with your personalized details wherever possible to make your design more YOU.

Here are a few examples of ways that we have personalized our home both aesthetically and functionally...

Personal touches- The silver tray was a wedding gift, the mirror and the type writer box were both from antique store ventures with my mom, which is a pretty frequent thing(the type writer is on display in our office).  But, the real PERSONALIZATION here is in the functionality of this arrangement.  The storage basket (from World Market) is a hiding place for our 2 year olds train track toys and the console is of course a great place to hide all kinds of junk.  As I continue to share pictures or our home in future posts you will probably notice a trend of storage solutions for toys.  We are swimming in toys these days.  Entry Table- Hand-me-down from my parents that I refinished to tie in with the rug (also a hand-me-down).  No, that is not chalk paint.  It is just a paint and primer in one from Lowes and my own dark wax concoction (regular furniture wax with ebony stain mixed in).  The pulls are from Hobby Lobby.  

This wall decor collage is full of personal elements.  A print my Dad gave us from an artist in his hometown, a map of our beloved SouthEast, New Orleans print from our first road trip together, vintage postcard from our time living in Arizona and the Hobby Lobby magnet frame is a great way for us to switch out more temporary photos.  

The Family Business- This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE artwork.  It may not be pretty to most people but it has a very personal story behind it and means so much to me to finally be able to display.  My grandfather was a draftsman and the hours and hours that I spent with him in his workshop growing up are a big part of why I decided to become a designer.  I actually used a lot of his drafting tools in my architecture classes in college and have several of them displayed throughout our home (including the two small compass on the wall).  This floor plan and detail that he drew were for a home that my parent's built that I grew up in from age 8-18.  Up close, you can see his perfect architectural handwriting and even eraser marks since this was an early on draft. I have been carrying these around for years and my parent's had these framed for us as our housewarming gift.  

MANTLE DECOR- I have a never ending obsession with switching out this arrangement, especially for various holidays.  Right now though, this is one of my favorite looks mainly because of my PRICELESS artwork.  Yes, that is a finger painting from my two year old!  I would much rather have this displayed than art from any other artist and the best part is it was free!  It makes me smile every time I see it and he loves to show off his "painting" to all of our visitors.  I always like to include elements from the various places that we have lived so when I saw an episode of Fixer Upper where they used cotton branches I had to steal the idea to represent the cotton farms that we live near.  The milk jug and window are more antique store finds and the vase and bird are my splash of color, I change my mind on colors pretty frequently too so I like to use things that are easily switched out or moved to other rooms.  

It's Fall Y'all

mgfinteriors.webs.com

FALL SALE and FREEBIE!!  In honor of 

the first FALL FEELING DAY (kinda) MGF Interiors is 

offering 10% off all design services to anyone 

who shares our website on their Facebook and 

Pinterest.  

PLUS!!  For a limited time we are offering a 

FREE 

DESIGN CONSULTATION to

 the first person 

whose recommendation brings in a new client.  

This offer is only valid for a short time so HURRY, 

HURRY , HURRY and book your design consultation at

mgfinteriors.webs.com.  

(to be eligible for 10% off you must provide proof that you have shared mgfinteriors.webs.com on both your facebook and pinterest.  For the Free consultation you must provide proof that your recommendation brought in a new client)

Rustic Dining Room

MGF Interiors has a great new design project to showcase.  Valerie and Ryan displayed their collection of great antiques and furniture pieces from their years of travel together along with a few new, yet still rustic finds.  This great design mixes high end pieces with thrifty finds seamlessly and truly reflects their personal style.     

mgfinteriors.webs.com

mgfinteriors.webs.com

Simple Fixer Upper- Burlap Stool

I found this great, sturdy little stool at a thrift store and couldn't pass it up. The finish is a little blah and the fabric was pretty awful but I could see it's simple potential.

First- I removed the legs (just screwed into the bottom) and wrapped burlap right over the existing fabric. Just pulled it tight all the way around and stapled it along the bottom as I went. Just make sure the burlap is smooth as you go but don't worry about the bottom being pretty. I folded another strip of burlap and stapled underneath to give the edge a clean look.

Once everything was secure I simply trimmed the extra fabric.

Next step was painting the legs. I used push pins to hold the legs onto a piece of cardboard and sprayed away. I used a flat black paint from Krylon and highly recommend using a spray paint gun to make it much easier and cleaner for your fingers. (don't worry, I did this before I was pregnant)

The last steps were just to re-attach the legs and add nail head trim to finish off the look. You can find the nail heads in a variety of sizes and colors at your local hardware store. These were in the nail section at Home Depot.

EASTER INSPIRATION

I can't believe Easter is just around the corner! Since I don't have any kiddos to help decorate eggs I decided to get inspired with some more grown up Easter fun. These are just a few design ideas to help you get in the Spring frame of mind.

These vintage baskets would make great Easter baskets, especially filled with hand painted eggs. You can find the baskets here and the eggs here on Etsy.

Find year round inspiration from these ombre Easter eggs in Urban Outfitters ombre duvet cover.

Ombre eggs how to here. Urban Outfitters duvet here.

I love these adorable drawer pulls from Anthropologie! They would be so cute in a nursery. You can find them here.

This egg shaped dish is another great Urban Outfitters fin, check it out here.

Custom Kicks

Okay, so this is a little off topic from Thrifty Thursdays but I had to share my favorite birthday present from my husband.  My craftiness is rubbing off on him, he designed these new shoes just for me...

He picked every detail from the pink interior, to the gingham tongue and stripe down the back and even the color of the stitching and stripes.  I love them!!  They are just unique enough but still have the classic Converse look.  You can go really crazy with the designs, create your own here.

http://www.converse.com/#/landing/create

BRING SPRING INSIDE- HOUSE PLANTS HOW TO

The easiest way to bring life and color to your interior space is by incorporating live plants. Plants not only improve the air quality in your home but they can also improve your overall mood.

I do not have a green thumb so I won't even try to give you gardening tips but I can point you towards a great source.  Delray Plants offers monthly YouTube tips to help get your garden growing.

GROWN UP FIELD TRIP: RECLAIMED WOOD FLOORING

A few weeks ago I got to go on a FIELD TRIP for work.  There were no school buses or bagged lunches but I did get to tour a factory and my parent's were there as chaperone's.  Actually, they were kind of my clients too.  They are building their own home right now (check it out here) and were in search of authentic, old hardwood floors so we took a trip to Locust Grove, GA (just outside Atlanta) and toured the Authentic Pine Floors warehouse and showroom. 

The majority of their flooring is reclaimed from old barns, distilleries, etc.  They also mill 'new' wood but everything is milled, stained and sold from their location in Georgia.  A very rare thing in any industry these days. 

Staining process.

 You can buy the  wood pre-finished or unfinished and have it stained once it has been installed.  Above is some planks drying between layers of staining. 

The possibilities are endless at this place.  They will distress or handscrape the wood for a more rustic look and there are several different stain options.  They also have planks up to 12 inches wide which are really cool looking and hard to come by in the flooring industry.  (Standard widths range from 3-5 inches).  No, I am not getting paid for advertising, I just really fell in love with how beautiful there flooring is. 

Here is some of the flooring displayed in Authentic Pine Floors beautiful showroom.

How fun is this Ping Pong table!

Just wanted to give you a better perspective of how big each beam is. 

Super windy that day!

SEEING STRIPES

$15 THRIFT STORE FIND ! This simple arm chair was pretty dirty and needed a little love but it was structurally sound and easily recovered so I couldn't resist. The fabric is heavy duty canvas and durable enough for upholstery use but only about $8/yard (1 1/2 yards were needed).

The silver furniture tacks (from Home Depot) are not only functional (hold the back panel in place) but also add a great little detail. I sanded and distressed the finish and then finished it with a coat of polyurethane to keep it protected. * Use 220 grit sandpaper before you put on the final coat to get a smooth finish.

SALVAGED INSPIRATION

If you are in the Savannah, Madison or Greensboro, GA area you have to check out Pinch of the Past!!  Such a great store for any DIYer or antique/vintage lover.  It is an Architectural Salvage but they also have many other random vintage finds.  Piles of old windows, mantles, columns, doors, knobs, ironwork and much, much more.  Pinch of the Past is definitely the kind of place you are going to want to spend some time sifting through to find great pieces for your home. No, I don't work for them, I just really love this shop!! ( I should totally get an extra discount though for all of the name dropping I do for them)

Many of the things they have would be great to use in a restoration project or permanent changes in a home that you own but there are plenty of opportunities for finds that can move with us renters.  The old corbels and wall brackets would really dress up a book shelf, the old columns could be cut down to use as table legs and I think a few pieces from the old pipe organ would just be cool to hang on a wall as an art piece.  

  They have stacks of old mantles, in good and bad shape.  Some are ornately carved and others are simple and classic.  I love the old iron fireplace grills and summer covers so much that I convinced my parents to buy one for the home they are building (keep an eye out for how that project turns out).  

 The random accessories are great too.  I would love to paint the bust and globe some crazy metallic or fluorescent color and those doors are amazing.  I just have to find the right project and customer to convince. 

Are you thinking, hey not cool, I don't live in Georgia?  Don't worry.

Most towns, especially older ones have some place similar to this, it just takes a little searching.  Because they are small businesses you aren’t likely to find them on Google so ask around.  Any local designer, decorator or small shop owner should be able to point you towards some great hidden gems.  Most antique/thrift store owners know about all the other local places too so don’t be afraid to ask them to point out a few others.  Some of the antique/ thrift stores in Savannah have even put together a brochure with a directory of all the local shops and they often trade and work together.  

Also, Pinch of the Past has a catalog on their website of select items you can order.     

DESIGN IN BLOOM

It may be earlier than usual but SPRING IS HERE!!Which means my allergies are out of control and so are my ideas for spring projects. Flowers are blooming everywhere around here and not just outside. Floral prints and designs are huge in home decor this season and adding a little touch here and there can really brighten up your home. Here are just a few affordable floral designs from 4 very popular home decor stores...

Pottery Barn

Crate and Barrel

Target and World Market