Holiday Shopping is here: Our Favorite Decor Related Presents

Candles with a Designer Touch

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Candles are always a great go-to decor gift for any occasion. One fun way to add a little something extra to this gift is by choosing a candle that has a designer touch. This could come in the form of anything from a marble outside to a rose gold finish. Giving a candle with a pretty design allows the gift receiver to incorporate the candle into their decor in a fun and stylish way!

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Unique Frames with a Special Photo or Note

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Photo frames are another fantastic decor gift to give this holiday season. When choosing a frame, try to go with something a little more unique than your average black or silver frame for example. There are fun, unique frames in almost any store that carries frames. Some of our favorite spots to shop for frames are Homegoods, Pier 1, and Hobby Lobby. All of these stores have beautiful and reasonably priced frames to choose from. 

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Personalized Artwork

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Another decor gift to give this season is personalized artwork. This could be art that includes the city or state that person is from, or include the family’s names or monograms. These are two examples of personalized artwork that would make fantastic gifts. Etsy.com is one of the best sources to find pieces of art like this.

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Quick Tips to Ready your Home for Thanksgiving Guests

Create a Centerpiece 

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If you are not wanting to go all out with Fall/Thanksgiving related decor, you can simply create a centerpiece for your dining table. This is a great way to concentrate your decor on one space which will create a nice impact without having to break the bank by having pieces throughout the house. These are all good examples of centerpieces that would work perfectly for your Thanksgiving table. The all white centerpiece was created by Liz from the inspiration photo beside it. This shows you how you can get an idea from places like Pinterest, and make it your own!

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Do a Quick Decor Refresh

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Another easy way to ready your home for your Thanksgiving guests is to do a simple decor refresh. This can be accomplished by taking down all of your accessories off of builtins, bookshelves & console tables, for example, then re-working where you have them placed. This will give your home an updated, fresh feel to you and your guests who may have been to your home recently. This is a great way to give your house a little pick-me-up without spending a dollar!

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Consider the Best Placement of Your Furniture

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Depending on the amount of guests you have coming over, you may need to re-think the way your furniture is placed to accommodate more people, or at least make it feel a bit more spacious. The more open you can make your home feel the better. When you have a large amount of people coming to visit, comfort is key. This may even mean tucking some things away that will make the space feel more crowded, like large blanket baskets for example. 

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How to put Together a Bathroom Renovation Timeline

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Last week we talked about putting together a kitchen renovation timeline. This week, we continue this series as we move onto bathroom renovations. A lot of what we discussed last week holds true for bathroom renovations as well. Once again, every project is different depending on the size and individual needs. This makes it difficult to name a standard timeline for a bathroom renovation, but here are some elements of the process to understand before diving in. 

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Try and have all of your selections made ahead of time so you can order everything and have it waiting once each sub-contractor is ready to complete the job. The last thing you want is for time to be lost because you are waiting on products to arrive. You can assume it will take around 3 weeks to get most of your materials in (ie. tile, harware, fixtures), but you want to add in buffers to that so you don't run into any backorder surprises.

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One of the most important things to remember when doing any type of home renovation is that it is very hard to predict how long something will take and what you may run into. You never want to put yourself on a timeline that is squeezed in right before a major event you are hosting such as a holiday party or hosting guests of any kind because you can be sure something will come up and throw off that timeline. Try to pick a time of year where you have plenty of time after said renovation to be completed before you truly need it to be finished. When all is said and done, you can be looking at anywhere between 6-12 weeks for a bathroom renovation depending on the size and specifics.

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How to put Together a Kitchen Renovation Timeline

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There is no “standard” kitchen renovation timeline simply because every kitchen is a different size and renovation needs vary.  You have to factor in the availability of the sub-contractors (electricians, plumbers, etc). Ideally you can line them up back to back, but it rarely works out perfectly, so expect a couple days of downtime where no work is being done on your project. 

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If you have all your selections made and materials ordered before demo begins, a project could be completed in as little as 6 weeks. If there are a lot of custom elements, walls torn down, plumbing moved, or hiccups in the project it could take as long as 3 months. 

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Typically, cabinets take 4 weeks to manufacture.  When having custom cabinets made, the timeline can increase to 12 weeks or more, depending on the workload of the carpenter.

Most materials, such as tile, take 3 weeks from order to delivery, assuming the stock is good.

Granite takes 2-3 weeks from template to installation. The template cannot take place until your cabinets have been installed.

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When talking with your contractor about the timeline of the project, add 2 weeks to the total timeframe.  This is simply to offer a buffer in case of any surprises found along the way.  Surprises could be anything from materials being backordered, to discovering the wall you want to tear out has an HVAC vent running through it, to ripping up the floor and finding rotten floor joists. Building codes also offer challenges in the renovation process. What may have been up to code when your house was built, may now be out of date and require some changes while you are renovating (think plumbing and electrical).

How to Transition form Halloween to Thanksgiving Displays

Keep your Solid Pumpkins but Ditch the Jack-O-Lanterns

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Although it can be tempting to keep those Jack-O-Lanterns and painted faced pumpkins up on your porch, when transitioning into Fall / Thanksgiving decor its best to say goodbye. Solid color pumpkins or even pumpkins with painted designs on them can easily transition into your new displays. 

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Add in Leaves, Take out Anything Spooky

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Leaves (both real or fake) are your friend when transitioning away from Halloween decor. When you take away things like witch hats or skeletons from your displays you may feel they look sparse. This is where adding in some great fall foliage can help your case! 

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Use Earth Tones and Neutrals

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Halloween decor tends to lean toward black and oranges, so once you are ready to move on, switch to more neutrals and earth tones. These photos show two great examples of how using whites and tone on tone items makes for a gorgeous and clean look! It is a fun departure from your classic reds and oranges. 

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