Where to use outdoor rugs in your house

Living on a farm, and having boys, we have so much traffic (and dirt) coming in and going out of our house.  It's ridiculous.  As someone who loves to decorate my home, it kills me to not have a beautiful entryway way filled with a gorgeous flat-weave rug, fresh flowers and a few throw pillows.

But practicality, and reality, took over.

Although, I really did need a rug. It just had to be inexpensive, handle dirt, wear and tear, and be easy to clean.  Then it finally dawned on me that an outdoor rug was the answer!  It handles my kids wet stuff from the snowy winter months and the mud they drag in after a rain in the summer.  When it gets dirty enough, I just take it outside and spray it off with a hose.

Not only was the outdoor rug the answer for my entryway, it was also the answer for our old farmhouse basement.

As our family grew in size, and the piles of toys have accumulated, we fixed up our farmhouse basement as a toy room.  It's a little chilly down there with cement walls and floor, and has a tenancy to get a little damp following a hard rain but all-in-all it works pretty well as a toy room. 

Since the basement can get a little damp, a traditional rug was not the answer for the space.  They hold water and take forever to dry out which leads to a stale smell and potentially mold and mildew.  The perfect solution, again, was an outdoor rug. It was inexpensive (we all know kids have the potential to ruin things) and it drys out quickly since it's made to handle the weather. 

I'm sure you noticed that I have the same rug in my basement and entryway - this was a total fluke. I ordered the 5x7 rug from Target for the basement because I liked the style even though it was too small.  Then the 8x10 came back in stock so naturally I snagged it and moved the 5x7 to our entryway.  The UPS man for sure  had de ja vue.  Target has some pretty stylish outdoor rugs that you can usually find on sale.  Bad news is that the one I have is out of stock but, I did link some of my favorites below.

Oh, and I do actually have an outdoor rug outside!  The boys are often outside playing on it and sometimes we even grab a few books and pillows and find ourselves reading stories on nice summer nights. 

Contrast Edge Outdoor Rug

Mod Desert Outdoor Rug

Mod Fish Outdoor Rug

Worn Stripe Outdoor Rug

The Ledge Shelf + Sophisticated Art Work

Our living room addition has been done for just over a year and I've kind of been a weird-o about decorating the space.  I guess I've learned to take my time to get it to look the way I want it to rather than spend a whole bunch of money to just be moderately happy with how it looks.  However, this ledge shelf about my couch was definitely something I wanted but the thought of putting screws in my new walls kind of freaked me out because if I ever wanted to move the shelf or re-arrange the living room it would mean that I have to fill in big holes and really, who wants to do that?

Here is what the room looked like before the shelf was hung.

And after...

Just before my maternity leave ended and 2 days before Gabe's baptism, I got my ledge shelf.  My husband said, "ok, let's make it" so I showed him the Chris Loves Julia Ledge Shelf tutorial and $30 and 45 minutes later I had my shelf. (Yep - my husband is handsome and handy!) Our only argument was how high above the couch to hang the shelf.  He thinks anything on the wall should darn-near touch the ceiling, I believe it should be "eye-ball" height (or around 60" from the floor to the center of the print.) 

The funny thing was, he assumed I had stuff to put on it. Of course I had things I could put on it but my style has evolved over time and I wanted more grown up and sophisticated artwork instead of all typography and abstract prints.  I wanted the art on this ledge shelf to be interesting yet inexpensive.

Art can be super expensive, especially by the time you frame it, so I faked it.  I purchased digital downloads of art and had them printed locally.  My two favorite places to look for printable art are Juniper Print Shop and Etsy.  For $20 or less per print I got the mix of art that I wanted with multiple ratio files to get the size of prints that I wanted.  I sent my files to a local office center in town and for just under $40 I got 6 pieces of art printed. From there I was able to find a few frames around my house and picked up a couple of poster frames from Target. This way of getting art is seriously so smart and cost-effective!

My boys have had their grubby little fingers on the shelf and art a few times but fortunately they find it un-interesting. Except for the No. 5 print - Colton thinks it's because he's going to be fine and Adam had no idea why I would frame a "5." Well dear, it's because we have 5 people in our family. Sometimes I just shake my head.

Here are the art sources:
Salt Box
Peachy II
No. 5
Rosy Street
A Meditation

12X18 Frame
16X20 Frame

Gabe's Nursery

Nursery is a weird word to me.  It's Gabe's bedroom, it's not like he's going to switch from a "nursery" to a "bedroom" at some point, it's just not possible - we are out of rooms in our house.  But none-the-less, I'm titling this post Gabe's Nursery because that's what people go wild over.  Have you ever thought about that, kinda weird huh?

Now that Gabe is over 3 months old I figured it was an appropriate time to do a little show-and-tell of his room.  Actually, it's because I couldn't get my act together until now to put this post together.  Taking pictures of rooms is a lot of work - lighting needs to be right, I like it to be clean, and preferably not have a sleeping child in the room - or big kids around for that matter.  Well, the stars finally aligned! Ha!

His room is a pretty simple space.  Mostly because it's so small, it's the second smallest room in our house, but it is one of my favorites because it's on the south side of the house  so it gets so much natural light and it has an awesome plank wall that some friends and I built without telling my husband. You can read that post here.

When I was thinking about this room for our new baby I had one vision in mind - an over sized, black and white, long horn cow print and ta-da! I found it.  I think Gabe this cow have become buddies - it's pretty cute. 

The rest of the room was easy from there.  We've had the same basics for all of the boys - crib, dresser/changing table, and chair - and there are very few ways to arrange the furniture.

I also wanted the room to not be too-baby so he could grow with the room and eventually all we'll have to do is take out the crib and rocking chair and add a bed.

Here are some more pictures + the source list is below.

Source List
Crib
Rocking Chair
Dresser
Changing Pad Cover
Mirror
Sound Machine
Stool
Galvanized Letter
Clothes Basket (similar)
Long horn cow print (sort of similar) look in stores at Hobby Lobby

The Boy's Bedroom

If I were to own a business I think it would be interior styling. It's fun, relaxing, my creative space, my escape from the day-to-day of corporate America.

One of the benefits of my corporate America job is that I get the whole week between Christmas and New Years off as a holiday! IT'S AWESOME! So naturally this was the perfect time re-decorate Colton's room and turn it into Colton + Hank's bedroom!  Let's be honest though, I'd been bringing this decorating plan together for months. Package by (hidden from my husband) package!  It's not that I spend a lot of money, I just get a lot of why questions. Dude, trust me!

The good news is, the boys were beyond excited to share a room! They are only 21-months apart in age so not only are they brothers, they are buddies so sharing a room was a big deal to them.    I had documented the room coming together on my Insta-stories so they watched the room take shape while they were at daycare. They were ready to go to bed at 7:00pm.

I've had the vision for their room for quite a while and stored my wants on this Pinterest board.  It all started with the striped IKEA duvets - loved them, had to have them. I knew I wanted the room to say "Boys sleep here!" so I went with the natural boy colors - blue and green.  The only new things I purchased for the room were the duvet covers, navy blue fitted sheets, the green throw pillows, a rug, and the dresser.  It was tempting to buy matching sheets but I reasoned with myself - no one sees the sheets when the beds are made, no one cares, I don't need more stuff!  (Yep hun, I'm saving us some money!)  Everything else was already in their rooms.  Full source list below.  I also knew that I wasn't going to paint - I like the current color, Sherwin Williams Repose Gray.

The whole process went smoothly, except for the dresser.  I thought I had ordered something that would fit their clothes, and was reasonably priced.  However, there were 3 things wrong with it - it was too small (even though I had measured, some things just look different in the space), it was made of cheap material, and my husband had to assemble it.  Cost savings are not worth it to him if he has to assemble it.  I think he said something along the lines of "Don't ever buy furniture again that I have to assemble, just buy something alreaassembled that's quality." Done.

We were pretty practical when we got beds for the boys.  We just got a standard box spring and metal frame.  So, if you need a quick fix idea for covering your box springs put a fitted sheet over them, that's what I used the navy blue fitted sheets for. Smart, simple, and inexpensive

The bedroom is pretty small overall, but then again so is our whole house.  Two beds and a dresser fill the room up pretty quickly.  Fortunately we are not bedroom people.  We sleep in our bedrooms, that's it - same for the boys.  A bedroom just isn't my sanctuary.  The boys don't have any toys in their room so there isn't any reason to spend time there.  I think this is what has helped them become really good sleepers - no distractions.  Our bedrooms are for sleeping.

You're likely curious how the transition went.  I was only slightly nervous about it, here's why.  The boys sleep a little differently.  Colton is an early riser.  As soon as his eyes open, he's out of bed and ready to take on the day (like his mom dad). Hank is a lounger that will open his eyes for the first time around 6:45, lounge in bed and if you open the door too early, he'll get up to shut the door and crawl back under the covers. So we had to employ a couple of new habits.

1. Abide by the ok-to-wake.  When the clock turns green, it's ok to get out of bed  Get one, you wont regret it.
2. Pick out Colton's school clothes the night before and put them in the bathroom.

As for the first night together in their new room.  There was a lot of running around, giggling, the typical stuff when you're excited.  Night two and on has gone well.  Hopefully this doesn't change when we bring home a new baby!

SOURCES
Rug
Metal Wall Letters
IKEA duvets
OK to Wake Clock
Throw Pillow
Buffalo Print
Moose Head (old)
"ADVENTURE" Letters (DIY Project)
Dresser
Fitted Sheets
"Ladies Love a Gentleman" Print

All About Our New Sectional

I've been asked a whole bunch of times on instagram about my couch.  Not shocking since I fell in love with this sectional through pictures a friend of mine posted on her Facebook page. So, I thought I'd put all of the details together in this blog post.  Not that there are really a lot of details to share, but you get the point.

Our sectional is from Slumberland, is part of the Rise Collection and made by Brahaus Furniture. It is very simple with clean lines and square arms.  What I loved about this collection is that you can mix and match the pieces so you get exactly what you want.  The standard sectional is a 3-piece, right chaise sectional that comes in the exact color I have.  This basically means that they have all of those exact pieces in stock and you can get your coach within a few days.  For us, those 3 pieces weren't exactly what we needed for our space so I worked with Keith (he's great!) at Slumberland in Carroll, Iowa to put the pieces of our sectional together.

Our sectional is 3 pieces, two sofa-like pieces and an extra armless seat.  The sectional could have been two pieces, using the sofa-like pieces and I would have been perfectly happy and about $339 richer but my husband insisted that we get the extra seat so there was plenty of seating in our living room. (I wish I could insert an eye-roll emoji right here.)  So basically if 10 of you all come for a visit, all 10 of you should have room to sit on the couch. 

Unfortunately the couch comes past the wall which makes me totally crazy.  So I added this gold lamp from Target to balance it out a little bit.  Once I round up some non-husband help, because this will have to be a secret mission, I might take out the extra seat and use it as a slipper chair somewhere else in the living room. 

Anyhow, since I ordered pieces that weren't generally in stock it took about 5 weeks for the sectional to arrive. (It just missed Hank's third birthday so everyone had to sit on the floor... of course that would happen!)  Since the pieces that we ordered had to be made, the salesperson had me look at the different fabric options, I stuck with the standard gray, and I got to pick out my pillow covers.  There were a lot to options to select from, most of which were NOT my taste.  Luckily this navy velvet was an option.  I like the color, we use the pillows, and they go with my over decor scheme.  Winning all-around!

Now to answer the most important question - "Is it comfortable?"  Yes! I fall asleep on it almost every night.  Mom life, am I right?!

I find furniture shopping to be both fun and stressful, especially when you know exactly what you want but have a hard time finding it.  Keep in mind that with sofas and sectionals you can change fabric, pillow covers, arm-style, etc...  Once I took a look at this sectional I knew it was exactly what I wanted, I just had to talk my husband into it.  The price-point seems a little steep but for a decent quality sectional, it's right in the ball park.

We've really stuck to our guns on the "no food or drinks in the living room" rule and its been working wonderfully.  My boys have only taken the cushions off the once which I quickly put a hard stop to.

Overall, we are really happy with our purchase!  Now to get something hung on my walls...

Sources

Sectional - Slumberland | Footstool - thrifted | Black & White Pillows - CB2 | Lamp - Target | Faux Fur Throw- Target

A Living Room Addition Update

It's March!

Hard to believe we started our house addition project in January.  And, to tell you the truth, it's moved along rather quickly.  The inside of our house is done with the exception of a little decorating but I think I'm going to drag that out so I don't make all kinds of impulse purchases that seem to add up (money and stuff) over time.  Not to mention, I just can't decide on art for the space - hopefully I can get a more clear vision for it once our new couch comes (fingers crossed it comes Friday!)

I really should have taken more "before" pictures but construction happen REALLY quickly.  Our contractor called the day before he started so it was a mad house trying to get prepared for them to come.  Before pictures had to take a back seat.  I have some and will write a before and after post once I get some furniture in place (and dig up my old house pictures).

Here is a look at progress...

I wanted a clean, airy, almost organic feel to the space with deep wood tones and black accents.  I'm using light colors and dark walnut accents to achieve the feel I'm going for.  I also opted for a patterned carpet.  I like the look of texture and this is one of the ways I'm bringing texture into the space.

One of the best things we did was add recessed lighting with a dimmer.  Let me tell you - it's AMAZING!  If you are thinking about lighting, I'd encourage you to think about recessed lighting with a dimmer.  It's looks clean, floods our space with light and can be dimmed in the evenings which helps our boys to wind down before bed.  In our old living room we only used lamps so it felt dark because we couldn't light up all four corners of the room.

The other thing we did was save ourselves some money by keeping this big custom window.  It's crazy how many people have come to our house and noticed this window.  They never knew it was there because it was somewhat blocked by the porch on front of the window and covered by a shade on the inside. Without the porch or the shade, we can see for what feels like miles and miles.

In the kitchen and dining room we decided to change the floors - since we were making all kinds of changes anyhow. We previously had a dark laminate flooring that was hard to clean and blended in with the cabinets.  It was inexpensive when we bought it and it showed four years later.  I opted to go for something lighter and high quality. This is an LVT flooring that is waterproof and virtually indestructible.  When it was being installed I was nervous I'd hate it because it was SO drastically different but I love it.  Not to mention, my floor stays clean-looking rather than smudged and smeared from the wear and tear of two boys.

We are loving this extra space!  The fact that we can all spread out is incredible - we can have rodeos in the living room (I have two boys that want to be cowboys) and the boys can wrestle with their dad on the floor without the chance of wrecking anything.

Do you all want to see decorating updates and how-to's?  Let me know!

Want to see the full design board - check out this post. My kitchen rug is linked in that post.

SOURCES

Carpet - Resista Soft Style, Framework in Kahki | Paint - Silver Birch by Glidden

If you want to see more of this space, how I'm decorating it and how we live in the space, follow me on instagram - @bethmariekohler

Hank's Toddler Room + How We Transitioned Him to a Bed

It's hard to believe but Hank is going to be two in March! I think your second child (or any child after the first) seems to grow up so much more quickly than the first.  Maybe it's because we are so busy tending to multiple children that time flies by or perhaps it's because they have an older sibling that they learn (way too quickly) everything  from. Likely it's a combination of both.  If you want to see Hank as a baby, check out his cuteness here.

As we began to close in on two-years-old we decided to get Hank into a big-kid bed and transition his room into a toddler space. We did this for a few different reasons.

First, we transitioned Colton out of the crib around 18 months so we felt it was only appropriate to make the move with Hank at about the same age - we like to think we are fair parents. It was out of necessity that we transitioned Colton so early, Hank was only three months from being born.   Second, Hank was starting to outgrow his crib and baby blankets. He would get cold at night which would result in him waking up.  (Yes, I'm a mom that gave her kids blankets in their crib.)  Finally, the kid LOVED beds - his brother's bed, our bed, basically any bed he could crawl into and cover up.  All signs that it was an ok time to make the transition.

Between Christmas and New Years we decided to take the leap and move Hank into a big bed.

Obviously there are some concerns associated with moving a toddler to a big bed.  Will they stay in their bed? What if they fall out?  What if they don't like it?  That's where I suggest getting your head in the right spot to make the transition.  Once you take down the crib there is likely no turning back so you may as well set your expectations low and be ready to handle what comes at you over the next few days (or weeks, hopefully not weeks...)

I had my expectations with Hank set really low. I expected him to be out of bed every hour, on the hour, just because he could.  That's how he rolls. Not to mention getting out of bed was Colton's biggest issue when we transitioned him to a big bed. I was prepared for the worst. Fortunately Hank has stayed in bed since we introduced him to it and he's slept through the night nearly every night since. With Colton, we ended up having to switch around door knobs so he would stay in his room.  Once he figured out he was supposed to stay in his room all night, he began to sleep again. Now he loves his bed too!  We tried to put up a child gate but Colton was too smart for his own good and knew how to take it down.  If this happens, keep in mind that this is just a phase, mama.

Colton (he's 3 1/2) is also an early riser so we got him an ok-to-wake light up clock which has worked really well!  It lights up when it's ok for him to get out of bed.

Personally we like to minimize transitions with our kids, it's just worked for us and we believe it's resulted in less sleepless nights and less frustration. From the day we bring our babies home from the hospital they sleep in their cribs (one less transition from cradle to crib or our room to theirs).  I should mention that our house is small so it was never a problem getting to their room if I heard the slightest peep out of them. Then we go right from their crib to a twin-size bed. (one less transition again from toddler bed to twin-size bed).  Again, our house is small so we don't have a lot of room to store extra stuff like beds or even extra bedding.

Since we are moving them directly into a twin size bed we use a bed-rail and after a couple months we'll take it down once we know they are sleeping comfortably.

Here are three additional things we considered as we've transitioned our kids to big-kid beds.

1. We've rarely (if ever) used their cribs or beds as a "time-out" spot.  We want them to like their beds and their bedrooms (and they truly do!)
2. The mattresses we get for them are memory foam mattresses so they really aren't any fun to jump on.
3. I make sure there is a stool or something for them to be able to get in an out of their bed by themselves.

All of this being shared, now that I'm a mom I've learned to not pass much judgement.  Do things about other people's parenting surprise me once-in-awhile? Absolutely. But, we are all doing the best we know how to for our kids because each child is different. So, you do you because you know what works best for your kids.  Maybe you've found something in this post to try.  Share your best suggestions in the comments!

I'm a true believer that God hand-picked us for our children because He knew they needed mom's like us.

Sources:

Quilt, Target | Striped Sheet Set, Target | Dresser (8-drawer dresser) Ikea | Nightstand, local thrift store | Airplane picture (similar), Target | 'Hello' wall art, Hobby Lobby | 'Ladies Love a Gentleman' Art, Hobby Lobby | Galvanized Letter, Hobby Lobby | Toddler bed rail, Target

Want to see what Hank's room looked like before?  Check out Hanks nursery  If you want some details on the plank wall, check out this post.

Living Room Addition Decorating Plan

Yes - we are putting an addition on our house.  No - we are not expecting another baby.

It seems that we tackle a big renovation project when we are planning to add another member to our family.  When we were expecting Colton we renovated the whole main floor of our home.  When we were expecting Hank we re-configured our second floor to add a third bedroom.  Now, we are putting an addition on our living room and re-doing the front porch on our house.  Needless to say, we are spending the rest of our lives here since we've stuck so much money into this 100+ year old farm house.

But, it's home.

If you are new around here, or even if you're not, I think it's important to tell you that my husband and I are not DIY renovators.  We are more like the hire it done type of renovators.  Our projects usually go something like this....

Me: "Honey, I think we need to add onto the living room.  The boys are getting big, we are crammed when people come to visit and the boys have a lot of stuff."
Him: "We'll be fine, when the boys get older we'll never be around anyhow."
Me: "Right..."
Him: "Ok, I'll call the contractor"

He's good to me like that.  We also have a fantastic contractor in our area.

I do enjoy the decorating part of renovations and additions. I usually tackle this on my own.  For this living room addition I feel like I have a clear idea of how I'd like the space the feel - warm, cozy, modern farmhouse-ish.  I am also in love with texture - a variety of texture is what will give the space the cozy feeling.

I put together a mood board to give you an idea of the look and feel for the space. While some of these items will be exact items, I may find similar items that fit the budget a little better. Like the Pottery barn sectional - unless they want to do a collaboration??!!  (I'd do all the posts and complete a list of 100 requirements if they offered up this sectional!)

You'll probably take a look at a few of the items, like the counter stool and coat rack, and wonder what in the world they have to do with a living room decorating plan but let's be real - one thing always leads to another when you're re-decorating.

For the color, I'm going with Sherwin Williams Pearly White SW7009 for the entire main floor - living room, dining area, kitchen, entry, and staircase to our second floor.

no. 1 curtains | no. 2 bamboo shades | no. 3 sectional | no. 4 black & white pillow | no. 5 green tassel pillow | no. 6 herringbone area rug | no. 7 poster | no. 8 gold circle mirror | no. 9 Moroccan pouf | no. 10 velvet pillow | no. 11 runner rug | no. 12 counter stool | no. 13 coat hanger | no. 14 fiddle leaf fig

Want to see more things I'm thinking about for the space? Check out my Pinterest board.

Where I Get My Daily Dose of Inspiration

Social media has become a double-edged sword to for me - it can be a huge distraction to ourselves, our relationship and our families.  It can also be a source of inspiration for areas in our lives where we have an interest. For me that's faith, fashion, food, fitness, home decor and mom life.  (Huh! I guess I have more interests than I thought!)

So, here are a few people that I follow to get my daily dose of inspiration.

FAITH

First 5 App

Strengthening my faith. That's always a good place to start the day.  My dear friend Leah recommended the First 5 app to me and it has been life-changing! The idea behind it is to spend your first 5 minutes each day with God rather than on social media. I have learned so much about God, the person he is calling me to be and a historical perspective and understanding of what brought us to this place.

FASHION + MAKEUP

Ashley Donielle
Ashley is the cutest mama to be. I found her account on instagram on a whim and I was hooked.  In fact, her style is so me that I bought two tops she recommended.  And, the icing on the cake was that I won my very first blog giveaway on her blog. Whaaaattt? (It was a makeup palette and brushes)

Hi Sugarplum!
Cassie from Hi Sugarplum was one of the very first blogs I followed going back 7+ years ago. She has evolved from home and lifestyle to more fashion and let me tell you, her style is on point.  She's been known to help me to spend a good chunk of change from time to time.

Beauty by Mimi
Ahhh Emily! She has THE BEST makeup - always - and the best makeup tutorials via Facebook live.  I've learned so much about makeup application from her.  She is also a Younique representative and good at it. She's the type of person who you just want to help her business grow. So, if you need Younique products, get them from her.

HEALTHY EATING + FITNESS

Rachel Marthaler
I have personally known Rachel since I was a freshman in college.  She is a beautiful person both inside and out.  Over the past couple of years she has been on a health and fitness journey (go check out her instagram to see this journey or check out her Facebook page.) with Beachbody and has climbed the coaching ranks. After I had Hank, she got me kick started on my own health and fitness journey.  I am now an avid Beachbody on Demand user.  Rachel also has a photography business (Rachel Marthaler Photography) that I highly recommend you check out if you are around Minnesota's Twin Cities South East suburbs.

LL Balanced
Laura Lea is holistic chef from Nashville. Watching her instagram stories has taught me a lot about healthy eating. Her recipes and cookbook are definitely worth giving a try.  I can successfully sneak these recipes on my husband's plate.

Lexi's Clean Kitchen
I've just recently started following Lexi and even got her cookbook for Christmas! Her recipes are pretty simple and filled with good for you stuff - especially if you are gluten free.  You must try out her gluten free cookie dough dip!

HOUSE DECORATING

Chris Loves Julia
Ok - everyone knows Young House Love but do you know Chris Love Julia?! Julia is a must to get to know if you are into decorating your home. Gahhhh... I drool over their house.  If you asked me what my home decorating style was I'd say "Chris Loves Julia." As I begin to slowly re-decorate our home, once our living room addition is done, you'll probably notice that my house may look like a Chris Loves Julia hack. They also have a podcast!

MOM LIFE

One Little Momma
I love following Kilee. Her style is great, basically she is my fashion icon for being a cute, put-together mom. She's also a real mom to 4 (going on 5) boys so I feel she gets me. I think what made me feel the connection to her is that she's the first one to share that life isn't perfect.  In fact, I think we could be friends after she shared on her insta-stories that her boys were eating donuts for lunch while they were getting some work done on their vehicle.  Win!

There you go... a look at my daily inspiration.   As I attempt to start this blogging thing again I thought I'd begin with a soft re-introduction. I hope you stick around.

By the way - who else should I be following for inspiration??!!

home styling 101: add green + a figurine

I have a few interior styling principles that I adopted after attending a design camp hosted by ab choa.  Each room should have something old, something new, something shiny, and something fluffy.

I've added one more to the list.  Every room should have something green.  And by something green I mean something living (or for people like me that don't do well with plants, something that appears to be living.)

This something green adds a natural element of life to a space and instantly brightens the room.  Now, by combining something green with a figurine you've instantly added personal style and appeal to your space.

A figurine can be anything - a dish, figurine (the fox is a salt shaker from target), a diffuser, books, etc... be creative.

Here's a look at a few vignettes in my home where I've applied this principle.

See how I use faux greens?!  They just work better for me.  All I need to do is dust them off and I don't panic when my toddler thinks he should grab them and run. I've had the best luck at finding the faux greens at TJ Maxx.  Pier 1 Imports and Target also have good options, they are just a little more expensive so you'll have to decide what fits your budget.

Super simple, right??!!