Yum Sweet Home update today!
I’ve been so excited to make the house pretty and warm and cozy since we moved in in November, but as I may have mentioned a few million times, these last few months have been, oh, how can I say it? Chaotic and unorganized. Yeesh. –> Which is totally why I’m trying to reset my life with a new job focus (here’s more on the full time blog gig) and you guys? It’s been 200% better. And I’m not melodramatic about life at all.
So during that crazy time when I was doing both teaching and blogging, I had a million and one little updates and projects and details that I wanted to work on with our house because apparently I like to tackle unnecessary projects right in the middle of the times when I need to be doing something else. I would go through my whole day and get all the regular stuff done, and then right around bedtime I would start to get the house-decorating-bug. Like: get excited about a new shelf, measure the walls for where the new shelf might be able to fit, research ways to hang shelves on plaster walls without taking out half of the wall with it, get mad when attempted hammering of nails into plaster turns into plaster chunks for days, plan another trip to Home Goods to return that shelf that actually did not look awesome in the living room, lay shelf on floor behind chair and ignore for 3 weeks. And then it was midnight and I was sweaty and stressed out and avoiding going to bed to get up in the morning to do it all over again. House-making is a lot of work.
Now that my schedule has changed, suddenly there is more open time to make small house updates, specifically those updates involving buying a handful of things from Etsy to fill in the empty spots on walls and shelves and floors. We’re still not totally there, but honestly, do you ever get totally there with a house? Little by little by little, this old, charming, fixer upper house (affectionately known as Yum Sweet Home) is coming together.
A quick word about Etsy: it’s my favorite place to shop on all the internet. I love that crafty people make these cool things and then you get to buy them directly from the crafty people. The things I find on Etsy are always so unique and so beautiful and I feel proud having this art made by such creative craftsmen (and women) in my little house.
Today I’m just showing you a few of the detail and decor things that I’ve found on Etsy that I like best for our little old house. If you have recommendations for Etsy shops that you like (of any kind! beauty, fashion, home decor, etc) please share in the comments! Etsy-surfing is one of my favorite ways to semi-wastefully but actually sometimes productively spend time.
Wood Clipboards From Brittany H Designs
I had this great idea to fill our empty dining room hall with pictures of food on clipboards, but then I ran into the massive problem of not being able to find clipboards anywhere. I can’t even remember how I found her, but with some combination of search terms like “rustic” “wood” “super cool” “clipboards” “cute house”, I eventually I stumbled on Brittany’s Etsy shop and I knew right away this was exactly what I had pictured in my mind. I ended up taking some pictures at the farmer’s market during one of our recent trips and printed them with a cute white border, so now we have this awesome set of colorful food photos displayed on clipboards in our dining room. If you want clipboards, this is your place.
Reclaimed Wood Mirror and Chalkboard From Hurd and Honey
I now own three large pieces from this adorable Etsy duo – they make all kinds of wonderful reclaimed wood pieces and other fun rustic modern home decor, like soap pumps from mason jars and other hipster things like that. This is my go-to for new reclaimed wood decor – the wood that they use is so gorgeous, and it’s finished just the way I like – still totally grainy, knotty, and rustic looking but polished enough not to give you immediate slivers. If you’re into this kind of old barnwood reclaimy thing, I highly recommend this shop.
Painted Mason Jars From Drop Cloth Design Co.
I use these little jars for anything and everything – vases for flowers, holders for pens and scissors and other desk-related organization, and even bookends when filled with some rocks or something heavy in the bottom. They have a rustic chic look that is subtle but still eye-catching, and people ask me about them all the time. Although they’d be easy to make yourself, I prefer to keep my DIY projects limited to things like hummus and crackers.
Pallet Wood Crate From Annie’s Images
These crates are hands down the best decor purchase we’ve made for our house so far. They are functional (like little end tables and/or storage boxes at the end of each couch in the living room) and they look completely and utterly stunning. The wood is fantastic – it’s pallet wood made into these incredible crates with wheels and rope handles and it is just varied enough in color and texture to really grab your eye. I even ordered one for my BFF when she moved into her new house a few months ago. We love these!
Side note: the shop owner does not have this listed in their shop (it’s a custom project) so if you wanted to order this from them, I would suggest contacting them directly and asking about the wood crates with rope handles. You can reference this post.
Text Print From Petek Design
This is a unique and design-y shop with lots of interesting prints and posters and even phone cases. The poster that I got is obviously text only – I am inspired every time I read these words from Nelson Mandela, and I love how simply they are laid out in this print. But this whole shop is full of super creative and artistic pieces that go far beyond text. The girl behind the goods is located in Israel, so you can feel extra cool getting some international mail when you order from her shop.
Distressed Frame Sets From Birdie Go Go
I know I’ve shown this to you before, but this is my collection of photos of the kids from CSC that we have on display in our living room. I got these frames from the Birdie Go Go shop and they work together perfectly. They’re the perfect balance of style without being overly expensive – the frames themselves aren’t super sturdy but the most important thing to me was finding a whole big set of similarly styled frames that were still unique from each other in the details, and this set fit the bill.
I’m currently waiting on my next Etsy order which is something super exciting: NEW WOOD BOARDS for my food photography backgrounds! I am seriously so excited I can’t even stand it. I’ve never been a DIYer so I am so so happy to have a found a shop that specialized in helping people like myself get really unique, rustic, individually created pieces for my food photos. Wohoo! I’ll be sharing some pics of those boards (I mean, obviously in food but also in an additional post) if they end up being as awesome as I think they’re going to be.
I hope you’ll share your Etsy favorites with me so that I can borrow a piece of your style and so that I don’t (or DO?) get sucked into the black hole of Etsy search for hours. Because let’s be real: there could be worse things.
Thanks for coming over today! It’s like we had virtual coffee and snacks – always snacks – together right in my living room and I likey that. If you want to check out more about our little Yum Sweet Home, I have a few other posts that can be found here or you can look through the hashtag #yumsweethome on Instagram.
Nice work
I love this article and very interesting and amazing information.
Thanks for the sharing this article
Hi Lindsay…I love your style! I’m looking for a framed mirror for my powder room bath that has oil rubbed bronze faucets. I really like the wood mirror you have on this site with the metal brackets in the corners. Where can I see/buy that?
Thank you!
Paula
all very nice and original, congratulations!
I love everything! But especially the clip board planks of wood .. I’m looking into buying them. What size photos did you print off ?
Gosh, I can’t remember – they were bigger than 4×6 – maybe 5×8? I think I ordered them from Mpix.
Hi, Kaitlyn! I’ll pass along your question to Lindsay.
Thank you for sharing your Etsy favs! I love Etsy for buying + selling. It think it’s really important to support artists and crafts people. I love hearing about your home remodeling projects. My hubby and I are in the constant process of updating and making our 1955 Mid-Century Modern home more our own and there’s still so much we want to do even after living here for little over a year, I guess it all about loving the process, right? It’s definitely an encouragement to see others making their house work for their needs. Awesome job also on your kitchen renovation, saw the videos & posts (we have to gut our kitchen to bring it into this century:| Can’t wait to see more of what you do with your house!
Thanks Sara! Good luck on your remodel! š
I love those little wood clipboards! What a cute idea. I don’t have any space left on my walls, but I could make space for thoseā¦.
I know! So versatile, too!
I love how you have decorated your home! It’s beautiful! š Thanks for sharing your Etsy finds too — I’ve bookmarked them all; may I ask where you got your grey seat from? (giggles)
Yes! We bought that set from HOM Furniture.
I really like the empty frame photo college.
I am wondering for the frames you filled, how did you do it — did you add glass or? Thanks!
When I bought them from the Etsy shop, they came with glass, so the ones with the photos in them have the glass but the small empty ones don’t have the glass in them. š
One of my favorites is The Broken Plate Pendant Co. She turns broken china into jewelry. So cool!
Oh my gosh, so cool! I’ll have to check it out.
Check out our shop. http://Www.etsy.com/shop/primitivetimber
We are just starting out with many projects to come!! I love your recommendations!
Awesome! Thanks Crystal!
Your home looks beautiful, warm, cozy, and so unique iwth all of your Etsy finds! I want that chalkboard for sure! I’d love to hang it in the kitchen with our meal plan for the week.
I use it allll the time! š
PS: Actually it doesn’t come framed – I’ll have fun finding the perfect frame.
Yay! Now I found the perfect gift for my niece’s college graduation – the framed Nelson Mandela quote. Just went onto Etsy and ordered it. Thanks!
Oh, Lindsay, I *LOVE* your style!! Seriously, I was swooning over your gorgeous pieces…I could so buy like almost all of those! Thank you so much for sharing! Looking forward to more updates on finds and new additions to your home…and, BTW, I totally know what you mean: me DIY = food-related. š
Thanks Hannah! That’s so sweet of you! š
That crate is beautiful! I love it. I also love the idea of hanging food pictures in the dining room. If only my pictures looked as good as yours!
Thanks Ana! I had a lot of fun taking those at the farmer’s market!
This is seriously awesome. I have been in the process of remodeling my house as well so I always look forward to your posts showing us what you guys have been doing in YumSweetHome! š The framed script you have with Nelson Mandela’s quote was seriously the most inspiring thing I have seen all week. It sounds cheesy, I know, but it really spoke to me in a big way.
Thanks for sharing! š
I love hearing that Sarah. It speaks to me too (obviously, that’s why I have it up in my house). š
Hi!
-yes, etsy will be the death of me- I just know it.
I am addicted to homemaking, especially the crafty, thtifty kind.
My sister and I have an etsy shop, though we don’t sell homemaking supplies. We’re more in the market of nurseries.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetCozyBaby
We sew baby toys from vintage sewing patterns- I like to use vintage re-print feed-sack, and/or other repurpoused vintage fabrics.
Must love vintage!
Oh how cuuuute! thanks for sharing!
I love everything, Lindsay! I love the woods and clipboards. They are so my style.
Also, can I ask where you got your wood board for your photos? Thanks!
But if you’re talking about the wood boards that I have already and use normally, those are from the market in the Philippines! It was an old table I bought from a guy who had all his cloths piled up on it. š
The one I just ordered came from Erickson Wood Works shop – https://www.etsy.com/shop/EricksonWoodWorks – haven’t seen it in person yet but I’ll share details when I do!
Etsy has soooo many cute stuff!! It’s actually more dangerous than Pinterest!
Here is the link of some friends on Etsy, they make beautiful wooden utensils! https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TwoRibka/reviews
How fun! Thanks for sharing Melanie!
Ooh, your home is going to look so cool when you’re ‘done’. I love love love those clipboards… And of course the Nelson Mandela quote. š
Thanks Helen! Little by little…
I love, love, love all your reclaimed wood purchases – the chalkboard and mirror and crate – ahhh mygosh so cute. I’m also seriously in love with those wooden clipboards and the way you used them. Cannot wait to hear about those photography backdrops as well!!!
Thanks Alexandra! I’m sure I’ll be overflowing with excitement to share when they show up at my door next week. eeee!
Etsy has the best stuff! Such creative, unique, beautiful things. I had planned on redecorating my living room this summer– but I am living overseas, and whenever I begin, I think, is it really worth it? How much longer will I be here? But it might be a while– and a few personal touches would be nice.
Oh my gosh, Michelle, I totally know what you mean. We felt the exact same way in the Philippines. I am so thankful to have a semi-permanent home base to sort of set up and establish for us. It really makes a difference in how you feel in your home. I’m not sure how long you’ll be abroad but I really do wish I would have taken the time to make our home in the Philippines a little more comfortable, and “us”. It’s an important time to have a place where you feel like you can relax, and we just didn’t put that much time into it and I sort of regret that. š Thanks for the comment!
These worn out woods really create a warm feel to the house
I literally love it all – your home is so beautiful!!
Thanks Angelyn! We’re getting there š