my home Archives - Darling Darleen | A Lifestyle Design Blog

Exterior Home Reveal

New Paint + New Patio Gives An Updated Look

Welcome to my Home | Exterior Paint, Blue Front door || Darling Darleen

Welcome to our Home! We are coming up on our year mark since moving into this house, and I look back at how much we have accomplished! As far as what we have done on the exterior, the list is quite long. We have painted the entire house. We have fixed the flagstone around the house and added an entire flagstone patio off the kitchen and firepit. We have painted our fence and restained our garage door. We freshed up our landscape. We fixed the sprinkler system. We have done a ton of maintenance like fixing gutters, regrading our backyard, fixing exterior doors. We fixed the heating and cooling, roof and sump pump. Seriously the list is so long! Homeowner life! Since we only have a few more things on the list ,which is basically maintenance items, I thought an exterior home reveal was needed!

I’ve mentioned it before in a previous post, but we bought this house with me never seeing it until the day we got the keys. My husband basically picked it out. I only saw the house through pictures, and honestly it was not a house I would of picked. Just looking at the online pictures, there were so many things I didn’t like about the house. One item was the color of the house. Our house was painted a dark gray with black shutter. Not bad, but it looked so drabby, dull and outdated. I felt like it needed to be freshened up. Also the garage was a dark red stain. One of the first items on the house list was to paint the house white! You can see the before pictures and my paint colors line up on the exterior house paint post.

Welcome to my Home | Exterior Paint, Blue Front door with porch || Darling Darleen

Exterior Home Reveal with Porch swing on Front Porch || Darling Darleen

We ended up painting the house Steam by Benjamin Moore. I love it! So glad we went with this white color. It has the perfect amount of warmth while it’s not too bright. Steam has a little bit of yellow undertone, yet it is a very calming white. For the shutters we went completely different than what I listed on my inspiration board. We painted the shutters Chelsea Gray by Benjamin Moore, and the front door Athabasca by Benjamin Moore. I love the shutter colors! The front door changes colors throughout the day from a dark bluish gray to a brighter blue in the afternoon as the sun hits the porch. I love that I can just paint the front door any color in the future. Very versatile. For the garage door, I wanted to keep it stained because it is made out of wood and so beautiful with it’s wood grains. We had it sanded down and then I used the Sikken wood stain color Cedar. The daybed porch swing adds so much charm to our deck porch and one of my favorite outdoor spots!

Exterior Paint Reveal before and after, white house with blue door, dog on front porch || Darling Darleen

Our flagstone patio and firepit has been a great addition to the backyard. We’ve been spending every summer night out there. We have sliding glass doors that open up to the outdoor patio, and it’s easy access from kitchen to outdoor. There is also a trampoline and playground on the opposite side of the yard. We love how it is a great way to spend evenings together as a family.

My Georgia Home Tour

My Georgia Home Tour

This summer has been a whirlwind of moving, traveling then moving again. I can’t believe how quickly summer has flown but also how much it has dragged on and on. Moving took a lot out of me if I am going to be honest. I never thought it was going to be easy, but this was something else. I’m glad this is all sorted now. A friend of mine is currently in the moving process to a house near little lake, so I thought I would give her some advice, to help make the move a lot easier. Moving is exciting but there are so many different things that need to be considered. As she basically lives on the other side of the world, I was doing some research and recommended she looked into something like ConveyOnline service these suburbs, just so she knows that when it comes to the legal documentation of moving, she doesn’t have to do this alone. It is always great to know that there is someone out there willing to give you a helping hand, especially from people who know what they are doing. This was a really good tip that someone gave me, so now I feel I should offer it to anyone who needs help when it comes to moving. Anyway, we have been unpacking our new house in Connecticut. I finally have my computer up, wifi and a little spot in my new office to work. But everything is still a complete mess, and we are still mostly in boxes, which makes me nostalgia for my home life in Georgia. Moving is the worst on so many levels! One tip I would give if you are moving house, is to make a list of your new local emergency contacts just in case, for example, if you’re moving to Perth you might need a locksmith in Bentley quickly. So since I’m in this sentimental stage I thought I need to give you my Georgia home tour since I haven’t really given the grand tour, just bits and pieces of rooms. I will say when we bought the house six years ago it was not a house I really liked. The whole house was painted yellow inside and there was a lot of brown. Very southern especially with it’s sweeping staircase. But slowly I made it my own. Just before we put it on the market I really loved the home, and we created so many wonderful memories there. We lived right outside Atlanta and had the convenience of a big city but our neighborhood backed up to a little river and a private nature preserve with walking trails. We felt like we had our own little forest in our backyard. I’m excited to give you my Georgia home tour:

Entry Way

The entry way was the selling feature of the home with its grand curved stair case and two story ceilings. I always felt a little embarrassed by its grandiose entrance especially when friends came over but I tried to keep it minimal and welcoming with seating and a basic cow hide rug (which is the best rug for a lot of foot traffic!). I made the DIY entry metal bench, which had storage for shoes and a place where guests could place their bag. Having the piano in the entry way was such a great idea because every time my kids walked past it, which was multiple times a day, they would sit down to play it.

Family Room/Great Room

This was the room where the family hang out most of the time. We watched TV here, played board games, held parties. I really loved how the great room opened up to the kitchen area. These two rooms were our favorites and are missed the most. I pulled all the wooden blinds down and added curtains and made the roman shades (which I still need to do a how-to post). We had the two sofas reupholstered to the current fabrics. They used to be brown and yellow! We added the orb chandelier. Check out how I styled our built-in bookshelf. And check out how to make your own DIY copper planters and DIY copper blanket ladder.

Kitchen

I’ve posted my kitchen frequently through my social media outlets. My kitchen is your typical white builder-grade kitchen. When we first moved in all the handles were dark brass and there was no pendant lights over the island or chandelier over the kitchen table area. We made those changes pretty fast and it brought beautiful visual interest and was a fairly easy update.

Office

My office is right off the entry way so I wanted it to be another inviting room but also functional for my every day needs. I recently posted all about my office studio and the inspiration behind it along with many more photos! Find out more along with resource guide.

Dining Room

This is the room that gets the best morning light! We added wallpaper to the room to add visual interest. We bought the ikat wall paper at a local wallpaper store and I can’t remember what the style or brand! The dining room table is my favorite from Restoration Hardware along with the white pleather chair that have held up so well with children after so many years.

Guest Bedroom

You can read more about my Guest Bedroom, which I posted many of the resources. The gold framed art pictures were an easy watercolor DIY. Our guest bedroom was located on the main level.

Powder Bathroom

You can see the before and after pictures of our powder bathroom. We wallpapered the entire bathroom and I still love that trellis wallpaper! It’s amazing how a few easy updates can drastically change the look of a room even in a bathroom.

Boy’s Bedroom

I just recently posted all about the boy’s bedroom. This was a room I ignored for a while! But slowly the room came together. The boys loved this room. The final decorating piece we added was the pendant light, which I was so sad to part with. Such a fun light! Check out all the resources on the original boy’s bedroom post.

Girl’s Tween Bedroom

Another favorite room that we are sad to part with or at least the wallpaper! We still are so obsessed with that wallpaper and it’s been over 5 years! This was a room I quickly put together shortly after moving into the house. You can find all the resources and additional photos on the original girl’s tween bedroom post!

Master Bedroom

Okay our master bedroom was the VERY last room…or two that we furnished, partially because it was so large and needed a lot of furniture. I did a few DIYs in the room like our dresser (which isn’t pictured) but you can see the before and after of the dresser. Also I lacquered the two tall bamboo mirrors that are beside the bed. The little tub chair was a garage sale find that I reupholstered. I should of done a little more posting on that cute chair because I love it and love how it came out with the complementing solid and print fabrics! You can, however, see the before pictures of the chair. The two tall lamps was a flea market found that my friend found for me. I lacquered the middle section white and then spray painted the bottom and top gold and replaced the shades for new ones. I really wanted to do a few more things to this bedroom so I wouldn’t say it was completed but close to it!

Thanks for coming along my Georgia Home tour! We have loved this home but are excited to change up the new home we are have moved in! Let me know if you have any questions about resources. I will try and answer!

Darleen Meier Jewelry Office Tour

Darleen Meier Jewelry Office Tour | Feminine and Chic Office Reveal

I am excited to finally share my girl boss space and give you a full Darleen Meier Jewelry office tour for my business, and where I make and design jewelry and where I blog. I’m not sure why I haven’t shared my office before, but I think it’s about time! This office space is right off the front door entry, so it’s one of the first rooms you see when you enter the house. I wanted to create a feminine and chic office that has the design elements of my brand, but is also inviting and cozy. We love this space and hang out here every day! It’s the perfect time to show off my office because we have been growing so much recently! So much so that we are even thinking about expanding our range to include body jewelry! We still need to look at the prices of Wholesale Body Jewelry because I wouldn’t make this type of jewelry myself but it’s something to look out for on the store.

One of the things I had to deal with when designing this room was storage. As a jeweler, I have a lot of raw materials, chain, stones, tools and packaging goods that I need to store and hide. So a cabinet was a definite need, but I wanted to make it appealing for the space. The mirrored white cabinet was perfect because the top is also a great way to lay out orders and current products. I already had the blue glass curio cabinet from our previous house that stored china and glassware. I bought it at a local wholesale furniture shop, and I love the shape and unique color, so I knew I wanted to display my jewelry styles. It’s been so great because I have customers who come over and shop the case. The picture gallery was a recent design element mixing old art with new art and prints. My grandma’s painting of the red barn is a priceless favorite, and I love that I get to see it everyday and have it close to me. All the unique picture frames and sizes goes so well together. It draws in a lot of different art styles but all complement each other. My desk is large, and I keep going back and forth whether to refinish it, but the black finish goes well with the white shag rug and hides alot of my jewelry tool marks! I also love the large desk space, and I usually have many projects laid out on it! Here is my design list breakdown:

White velvet modern sofa (similar)

mirrored white cabinet

blue glass cabinet (similar)

off white shag rug

black desk

small side drawer

gold frame coffee table (DIY)

Abstract art pillow

pink greek key pillow

Drum chandelier light

clear glass table light

white shelves with gold shelf bracket (spray painted)

gold task lamp

three glass ball table lamp

pink watercolor print

watercolor ink blot print (DIY)

If I have missed anything please let me know! I hope you find inspiration for my Darleen Meier Jewelry office tour.

SHOP similar items:

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DIY Copper Hat Rack

DIY Copper Hat Rack

DIY Copper Hat Rack: Summer time is usually when I rock a hat..almost everyday. Protection from the sun and blocking harmful UV rays makes me all about wearing a hat when I head outside. So, my hat collection, specifically my straw hat collection, has become a little out of control, and I have been in desperation of organizing the collection. I have wanted to buy a hat rack, but most of the hat racks on the market weren’t quite what I was looking for. But after DIYing the copper clothing rack, I was leaning toward a DIY copper hat rack because I had left over copper supplies and thought it would be a great way to use up my copper inventory. All said and done, this DIY copper hat rack what SO easy and took about five minutes to put together with total supplies of about $15. Of course, not including the cost of the hats!

Find a spot in your closet to set up your hat collection. Or this DIY copper hat rack is so chic and stylish you could use your hats as display over a headboard or dresser. I recommend using parts from Tradefix Direct as the price and quality are both very good!

Supplies for DIY Copper Hat Rack

All these materials are available at Home Depot or your local hardware store. Or you can buy with the links below, but prices will be higher.

1/2″ in diameter and anywhere from 5 ft – 10ft copper pipe depending on how wide you need. You can also buy long and cut down the copper. See the how to.
2 copper end caps (1/2″ diameter)
2 copper pipe strap (3/4″ wide)
Curtain rod ring with clips
Hammer
Nails or screws
Leveler (optional)

Instructions for DIY Copper Hat Rack

Figure out where you want to hang your hat rack. Think about how wide your hats are and make sure to leave room from the end of the hat to what it will be near. Also think about how many hats you want to hang. You can double similar hats together to maximize space. Also if space permits, you can hang from the clips rope or string and then attach hats with clothing clips to the ropes. Lots of different options!

Once if you figure out where you want to display your hats, take your hammer and pound in one of the pipe straps to the wall with a nail. Use screws for a stronger connection or if you are planning to hang quite a bit of hats on it. Make sure you get 3/4″ pipe strap, NOT 1/2″. That way you can slide your copper pipe in and out of the pipe strap to add or remove ring clips without marking your walls too much.
Add the end caps to the ends of the copper pipe and then slide your curtain rod rings on it and keep them in the middle of the pipe. Then slide your copper pipe into the pipe strap.
Use your leveler, or if you have a good eye, to make sure the pipe is straight against the wall. Then take your other pipe strap and place one the other end of the copper pipe. Secure in place with either nails or screws.
Grab your hats and clip them onto the curtain rings. Then enjoy!

SHOP these straw hats:

Check out these other COPPER DIY projects

COPPER Plant Stand

6 Spring Ways to Freshen Kitchen

6 Spring Ways to Freshen Kitchen

The birds are finally chirping and the blossoms are blooming. The cherry blossoms and dogwood trees have flower buds on them. Color and greenery is finally returning to my area. I’m eager to bring bottle up spring and bring it indoors. Everything is so beautiful! Obviously, you can’t actually bring the spring season inside the home, but there are ways to emulate the feeling of spring and spring colors throughout your home and kitchen with decor and colors. I am sharing 6 spring ways to freshen kitchen and revive and restore the drabby natural colors left over from winter. Don’t forget though that a simple way that you can freshen up your house is to make sure that it is clean and tidy as well. If this is something that you know you struggle with then you could easily hire a professional cleaner from somewhere like Sparkle and Shine.

6 Spring Ways to Freshen Kitchen

Bring Pantone Greenery into your kitchen . I love the 2017 Pantone color “Greenery”, and it has spring written all over it! The color trend is big among many retailers this year, so add a pop of the invigorating Greenery in your kitchen through milk glass cake stands, plates, decorative fruit bowls and linens.
Add a houseplant or fresh flowers in your kitchen . I finally found a spot for my new houseplants and copper stands, and they are located right next to my kitchen. I love how alive they make the room feel. And the houseplants also go along with the Pantone Greenery color. Houseplants are a great spring way to freshen up a kitchen. And you can never go wrong with fresh flowers especially spring flowers like tulips, daffodils and daisies. Fresh flowers always bring a smile to the face, and you will enjoy having a little color and life in your kitchen. So if you are thinking that you would like to get some houseplants, but are unsure about how you would look after them, then all you need to do is check out s a cite like Bloomspace who can help you with your decision making.
Adorn the counter or kitchen wall with Artwork or Print. Placing artwork or a fun print with favorite saying in your kitchen is unexpected but clever and a great way to enjoy a little splash of color. Art is a great spring way to freshen up kitchen. It can glam up a space or just put a smile on your face every morning. It doesn’t even just need to be the art that gets changed in the kitchen. You could even take a look at something like this huge range of kitchen wall panels to change things up a bit. It all depends on what you actually want doing to your kitchen.
Buy a new decorative kitchen item. I love buying something small and new for my kitchen each spring. It could be a pedestal fruit bowl or a new set of tea cups or a cake stand. This year I wanted to get matching ceramic measuring cups and measuring spoons. I probably use them everyday, and they are just so pretty to keep them out on display!. Also, they are a part of the Pantone Greenery family color.
Display pretty linens. Liven up your kitchen with clean, fresh linens. It could be dishtowel, tea towel, fabric napkins, tablecloth–anything that has a splash of color or spring colors. Throw away any old rags or spoiled cloths. It’s nice to start off a season with fresh clean towels or linens to add to a table or hang over a towel rack.
Buy pretty hand soap and candles that smell like spring. Bring the smell of spring in your daily hand soap or kitchen candles. After cleaning my kitchen for the night, I love to burn floral candles. Also, washing my hands with floral soap or lemon soap is a favorite for spring!

Those are easy 6 spring ways to freshen kitchen and my favorites ones that I like to incorporate each year. Do you have some tricks to freshen up your kitchen for spring?

Here are some other spring ways to freshen kitchen:

Boho Birthday Outdoor Movie Night

Boho Birthday Outdoor Movie Night

We just celebrated my Stella’s 12th birthday this past weekend with a boho birthday outdoor movie night. I can’t believe how quickly she is growing up! She has gone from the cutest toddler to a beautiful young woman overnight. Seriously! I secretly always get a little sad when it is my children’s birthday. I just want to keep them little and with me forever! So Stella is now in middle school and wanted to spend the evening just hanging out with her girlfriends. We decided to do another birthday party at our house to keep it simple. The weather is so perfect right now in Georgia! The perfect fall weather with cool evenings. We decided to host the party outdoor with a movie and a fire in our fire pit. I wanted to make the patio cozy so the girls can hang out and lounge, so we brought down rugs, poufs and throw pillows.

Her and her friend’s favourite food to have whenever they are all together is Pizza. And as it is her birthday, I thought I would treat her. There’s nothing better than seeing the look on her face when the pizza delivery guy knocks on the door. She loves Pizza that much! As well as this, there were other snacks and treats to occupy them with throughout the night. Stella and all her girlfriends loved the outdoor setting for the boho birthday outdoor movie night.

For the boho birthday outdoor movie night we borrowed a friend’s projector she’d got at RM Projectors and makeshift outdoor movie screen, which is made from pvc pipes and a canvas fabric. A simple white sheet would of done the deal, but we don’t really have a tall fence in our backyard to cover. The cute wooden stand that displayed the cake and sugar cookies was also borrowed from a sweet friend who built it for her daughter as a lemonade stand. Isn’t so cute? She is so kind to let many of our friends borrow it for our kids birthday party!

Stella’s invitations for her boho birthday outdoor movie night was focused around dreamcatchers. So I made a few for party decorations. Once the party began, I taught the girls how to make their own dream catcher. I made gold-dipped feathers prior to the party to add a little glitter to the dreamcatchers. The girls loved the project. And they loved it even more that they got to take home something they could display in their bedroom.

When night came, we started a fire in our fire pit and the girls made s’mores and watched the movie. For the candy table, I bought fun marshmallows that coordinated with the party colors but also could be used for the s’mores. I’ve listed the resources below. And how beautiful are the dreamcatcher sugar cookies?? They were so gorgeous in person and yummy of course. My friend popped some popcorn with his Popcorn Maker and brought them over. As far as the naked cake with fresh flowers, I made it! I usually I order my cakes because I’m a horrible baker. But this one I decided to tackle and was pleased with the results.

I would say Stella’s boho birthday outdoor movie night was a success!

Boho Birthday Outdoor Movie Night Resources

Ombre Plates, Small plates, Napkins, Cups

Dreamcatcher Sugar Cookies– The Bakesmith

Marshmallow Candy and Gummy Candy

Tee Pee–I made it here, but a similar one is below to buy

Personalized Glitter Garland

Rug (sold out) similar below

White Pouf and Pink Pouf

Shop Similar Boho Birthday Outdoor Movie Night

Modern Dining Room Light Fixture

Modern Dining Room Light Fixture

We recently replaced our dining room light fixture for a paris flea chandelier in the above picture. Our dining room was without a light fixture for a few months as I looked and looked for a suitable and budget-friendly light fixture (lights are expensive!). We moved the original empire-style beaded chandelier to our bedroom because the size of the fixture was small and looked disproportionate to the table and dining room. We did all the work ourselves, but in hindsight it probably would have been quicker and easier to hire an electrician. Also the fixture had three little lights so at night the dining room was moody and dark. We really needed to replace it with a modern dining room light fixture. But I also needed to consider that we live in a very traditional southern home so I wanted a light that was complemented the style of the home. We briefly considered installing a WiFi light switch like the tp link vs wemo, but we decided against it as we simply preferred the classic look.

When buying a dining room light fixture, you really do need to consider the style of the fixture but also the functionality of the fixture. Here are a 4 tips I have learned while dealing with our dining room light fixture drama.

Take into consideration the size of your dining room and dining room table. Measure the height and width. Proportion is the key and a good place to start. A dining room light fixture should have 30-34″ of clearance from the tabletop.
Consider the height of your ceiling (which was another issue of ours). We have really high ceiling so I needed to find a chandelier that had substance. I love all the wire modern light fixtures and arm light fixtures, but in my dining room it would have become lost. You want your light fixture to be the attention seeker of the room. Also when installing, make sure there is enough clearance between the bottom of where the chandelier will hang and the head of a tall person.
Lighting! Consider how many light bulbs the dining room light fixture will have. Like I said before, our previous fixture only had three light bulbs so the room had didn’t have a lot of light when the light was on. Good for a romantic dinner, not good for entertaining. Make sure your lighting is soft and not too blinding.
Consider the style of the chandelier. I love mixing styles, but you don’t want to go overboard with many styles clashing in your house. The dining room is one of the home’s main focal rooms, so keep it consistent and have complementing styles. The modern dining room light fixture is really in style right now. But you don’t have to feel pressure to put a style in that everyone is doing and then in the end doesn’t look good! I’ve done that before too. I do like how there are modern contemporary light fixtures and then modern traditional light fixtures. The best of both worlds! I’ve shared some of my favorites modern dining room lights below.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

I love these contemporary modern dining room light fixtures. They are statement pieces but are still not completely over the top. With four or more light bulbs and also their size and width seem adequate.

Here are some more contemporary modern dining room light fixtures:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

I love that there are so many traditional modern light fixtures now available. A classic updated look. There are so many choices and metal finishes. The light fixture that I bought for our dining room is option #6 (it comes in a gold brass finish too). I just added lamp shades for a more finish look.

Here are some more traditional modern light fixtures:

DIY Abstract Art Painting: Anyone Can be an Artist

DIY Abstract Art Painting: I am determined, and have set a goal to get our home finished this year. Which means, I need to fill empty walls with pretty pictures. Doing a DIY Abstract Art tutorial has been on my to-do list for some time. I am by no means a professional painter, but I have taken many art classes and know the basics. But really to make a DIY abstract art painting, you don’t have to be a professional or have taken an art class. Any one can do it! Even a child because I’ve done many with my own children, like this DIY abstract painting. Abstract art is my favorite, and I love how you can take different views and perspectives from it. So, grab some paint, canvas and brushes, and let’s make a DIY abstract art painting for you to admire!

Supplies

water

Any canvas will work to make a DIY abstract art painting. It really depends on your wall space. I painted on a 30×36 canvas and bought the cheapest one. If you don’t have one, set up a work space. I used two stools and leaned the canvas against a wall. Make sure to cover you space with paper or an old cloth. Also have a paint palette to hold your paint and mix colors.

On your palette, I organized the paint by color family (pinks with pinks, blues with blues, neutral with neutral). Make sure you have white paint. That was color I used the most! I have two different shades of white. You can use any color you are going for. These are just the colors in my house. So if you want to use reds and yellows or some other color, go for it! I just suggest getting three different shades of the same color family. One medium, darker and lighter. Unless you know how to mix colors!

If you’d like you can prime the canvas with a color. Use Gesso paint to do that. A primer also helps to control the texture of the paints. But I didn’t do that with mine. I just started with a blank canvas. Begin by painting with the medium color with brush strokes of up and down or side to side anywhere on the canvas. This will set where that color family will be located. Make sure you have a few different brush sizes to create different lines.

You can start by making horizontal rectangular formations of brushstrokes. Start out with a vague plan of composition and color
Work around the canvas in your color family, but be open to change and let go of out expected outcome. That’s the fun of abstract!
Start blending the color families together connecting them with complementary colors
Add white to paint over areas you don’t like or want to blend together or want to lighten. I used a lot of white!
Don’t be afraid to create depth and use circular motions and patterns. I wanted to tone down all the up and down strokes so I changed to circular patterns in the middle.
Once you are satisfied, paint the sides of the canvas to create a finish piece

I also suggest walking away from your DIY abstract painting and then coming back to it 10 minutes later. You might see it in a different way and add more colors or different patterns. To finish it off, I added gold metallic acrylic paint to create depth and interest.

Once dried, you can add a finish gloss over your piece. Don’t forget to name it and sign it! This piece is called Ocean Rainfall. Then display it and create more!