Happy Halloween!

Have a spooktacular Halloween!

Did you know?

Did you know that we’ve been blogging on here for over a year? (I can’t believe that I missed our Blogiversary!) Take a look back at some posts from last October when we first started.

Did you know that I’m on Twitter posting my less-than-140-character thoughts related to design, blogging, economics, feminism, and living in the Bay Area? You might like to follow me on Twitter if you like any of those things, too!

Did you know that I get more spam comments than real comments on here? Could you maybe help me change that?

Did you know that I’d love to add your blog to my ‘Favorite Home Design Blogs’ tab? Just email me or leave me a comment!

Did you notice our new photo on the side bar over to the right? Now you can see who we are!

Thanks again for stopping by, and let us know if there’s anything you’d like to know about us or any new features you’d like to see! Our email is justabouthomeblog (at) gmail (dot) com.

-Liz

Pimp My House (For Halloween)

My house is pimped out for Halloween! At least the outside is.

I got my pumpkins out, made an orange felt wreath and stuck my Halloween pumpkin string lights in the ground.

I love Halloween, and I got my craft on a bit last weekend. I made the wreath after seeing a similar, pretty one I found on Pinterest (linked to here). It was super simple–I just cut out a bunch of circles from a large piece of orange felt freehand and folded them loosely to pin them onto a wreath form. Check out the previous link, or the original inspiration from Design Sponge for detailed instructions. I wasn’t so concerned about getting perfect circles, but I did have to readjust the pins a bit to get a consistent ’pack’ of the felt.

I carved my pumpkins after I took these pictures. So I might show you my spooky designs later this week

Hopefully the trick or treaters will appreciate my work next Monday night! (Yeah right!)

-Liz

Thrifty Karma

My friend, Sarah, texted me this photo last night. It’s a picture of her living room with some new curtains installed.
The curtains are made from old bedsheets that I found at an estate sale about 6 months ago. I was going to make curtains with them, but couldn’t find a good place in my house for them. So when I saw Sarah on Saturday I gave them to her. She quickly whipped up some no-sew curtains! The sheets were already the perfect shape and size for her large living room window.
I love thrifting karma and the fact that something that isn’t right in my house can look so good in someone else’s!
-Liz

Romantic Love Letter Bedding

I have a weakness for bedding, if you didn’t know that already.

Sometimes I come across a product that I don’t need, but wish I had a need for. Maybe you do?

I wish I had an extra bed for these beautiful and romantic Love Letter sheets (that are on sale!) from anthropologie.

How cozy would it be to wrap yourself up in these sheets on a cloudy Sunday morning?

-Liz

Boston Brownstones for Fall

Hi all!

I spent the last few days in Boston, on a mini vacation. I spent lots of time reading in cafes (devouring Steig Larsson’s Millenium series), walking around, and visiting with old friends.

I also took a few photos of pretty doorstep decor and seasonal decorations in Beacon Hill. If you’re not familiar with Beacon Hill, it is a historic neighborhood in Boston, filled with old, quaint houses that are from the 1700′s and 1800′s. It was a wealthy neighborhood then, and still is.

First off, I noticed that my mom and I are right on trend with Thai peppers from our October Harvest Table photo shoot last week. Actually, my dad is on trend by growing them! I saw them in probably half of the window boxes, and in all colors, including purple!

Plenty of pumpkins too! I like the white ones in this elegant box. 

Traditional orange ones populated many doorsteps!I had a great time visiting my old city and dreaming about colonial architecture or owning am old brownstone.

In the meantime, I’m inspired to decorate for cooler weather and scary holidays!

-Liz

 

October Harvest Table

Hi there. Sorry I’ve been neglecting this little blog for a while now. There have just been some exciting things going on in life! (like writing SOWs for work)

I spent last weekend visiting my parents in Minnesota. I was there for just a few days, but got to spend some quality time with my dad and mom, and talking with my mom got me more excited about the blog. We hope to have a few new things up here on the blog in the next month or so. We also all went on a beautiful 4 hour walk around the big park near my house.

My mom and I also had some time to put together a fall harvest table. My dad is quite the epic vegetable gardener, and every piece of produce in the picture was grown by him, including the pumpkins. If you could look out the window just a bit further, you’d see his huge garden.

So this is my mom’s beautiful kitchen. She is always tweaking things, and we brainstormed a few new ideas for the bathroom she is redoing, her bedroom, the living room, and potentially a new light fixture over this table. I suggested something like this lantern fixture from O.co.  Anyways, this is the ‘before’ picture:

It’s nice and open and airy. But not very fall like. We tweaked a few accessories, and added lots of colorful veggies:

I was going for an ombre-like, rainbow effect with the veggies, but they looked better inside the vintage tool box my mom happened to have on hand:

We set the table for four, using some of my mom’s collection of vintage dishes and an old linen bedsheet as a tablecloth. She has endless sets of vintage dishes and linens. I hope she shares the set of art deco china she just found at an estate sale on here sometime. Gorgeous. She said I can’t have it, because I already have a set of china, and she never got one for her wedding. I guess she’s right that you really only need one set of china, but I’m a little jealous.

That’s it! We had a fun morning taking pictures and setting the table.

Anything you’d like to add, Mom?

-Liz