A Pretty little spot by the Garage *

A Fresh Start-

Happy New Year! I hope that your holidays were filled with laughter, food, family, and friends.

It’s been a while- I have been MIA from here on the blog. Life has been really hard and has gotten in the way. But I am ready to jump back in and work. Let’s start this new year with a few posts that were started and not finished. Ready?

As usual, I have so many photos that have been taken for posts that just didn’t happen on time. You can plan on seeing posts with some pretty pictures that may or may not be for the current decorating season. First up: A Pretty little spot by the Garage.

Make every little spot pretty!

Since I started blogging a few years ago- I am always decorating pretty little spots all around my home. And I take A LOT of photos. Many of these photos I post on Instagram, where I post to my feed almost every day. If you’re not following me over there, please do! I would so appreciate it!

Anyway, back to pretty little spots or small areas- Each year when decorating I try to change them up from the year before. This is one of those little areas- A Pretty little spot by the side of our garage that I decorate and changeup. Not a very big spot. Not an exciting spot. Not a spot to sit in. Just a little spot that will make our home and our spaces a little more pretty with some decor. It’s located just outside our back door, and we can see it from the Kitchen window. The way I see it- there is always time to decorate and enjoy our spaces.

Can decorating really help your mood?

I believe that we can be affected by the surroundings of our homes. I also know that I, myself can be affected by color and texture. It makes me happy and lifts my mood to make even the smallest spot or area in my home pretty. The act of decorating is fun for me, and the practice of tweaking the accessories over time can make me happy as well.

Check out how this spot has changed over the years

We moved into our cute little rental house back in the fall of 2013. Every spring and summer season since I have decorated this same pretty little spot. Check out a few of those posts below:

Looking at the titles of these posts makes me think that maybe I am not as creative as I thought! Another goal for 2019- be more creative with titles.

Paint and Color- are music to my ears!

When decorating I always like to use a color palette or color story to start with. My favorite color is Blue, and this vintage step stool got a makeover in one of my go-to Teal Blue colors. All it took was a can of spray paint. You can see that transformation in the post-Paint is a Wonder

This Teal Blue acts as a neutral color for my backyard spaces. I use it everywhere. I just love this color. Then I add other colors like the Yellow stool on the left to have contrast and add some interest.

Painted Pottery

I love Mexican and Spanish painted pottery, it is so bright and colorful. It makes me happy- I am all about filling my home with items that make my life bright and beautiful and happy. Now, this type of painted pottery called Talavera can be really expensive. I was able to find these two flower pots at a discount store- and you know I love a good deal!

This type of pottery also makes for a good DIY craft. I have painted a few cheap plastic pots over the years in this Talavera style, and I have a blog post where I show you how to paint step by step- DIY Mexican Painted Pottery

You can also see how my DIY pottery has held up over the years with these posts:

The little Welcome sign on the right I also painted in the Talavera style. It was just plain red clay- that was dry and stained with grease or oil. I found it while out going to garage sales and I just knew I could give it new life with some colorful paint! A good cleaning, some paint and time were all it took to make it a stand out.

Accessories don’t have to be expensive!

I am on a budget- like most of us. But I also like to change up my decor and accessories to keep my home vibe fresh. How do I do that? Thrifting of course. You can find the most interesting items at thrift stores. And if you don’t like the color or finish? That is where a good cleaning and paint come into play.

You can also look around your house for items to use in new ways! See those wood pieces on the bottom step of the stool? Those are scraps from the woodpile that I thought was cool. Zero cost decorating at its finest!

What do you do when your favorite coffee mug gets a crack? You put a plant in it of course! See that “Nope” mug? Well, I was so sad when it dropped in the kitchen sink- but I just couldn’t throw it away. Knowing it was a keeper even with a crack- I put a small plant in it. You might be thinking but the mug is broken what about the crack? Well I knew that it would act as drainage for excess water. Kinda of genius if you ask me!