Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I hope everyone has a safe and fun day!

I love, love, love Halloween.  I love seeing the crazy costumes the kids get dressed up in. I love hearing the doorbell ring every five minutes with pumpkins or bags held out for candy.  And I especially love decorating for Halloween.  Unfortunately, this year, I ran out of time to string the black and orange lights and hang the cheesecloth ghosts from the tree branches, but I did manage to DIY one cool Halloween decoration for my front door. I was inspired by some ideas on Pinterest to make a Halloween picture frame wreath.  I also pinned a few other Halloween ideas while I was searching for wreaths, you can find them here.

Since this wreath is going to hang outside during our unpredictable fall weather, I opted to use prefinished polystyrene decorative moulding because it’s moisture resistant so it won’t rot or mold. You can pick some up at Lowe’s or Home Depot.  And you can get as fancy or creative as you want because they have a lot of different profiles and styles to choose from. I wanted mine to be fairly simple, so I went with an 8’ x 4-1/2” piece standard wall base moulding. Mine is a 2’ x 2’ wreath, but you can make yours any size you want.  Here is how I made my Halloween picture frame door wreath:

Step 1:  Using your miter box saw, measure a 45 degree angle at one end of your moulding. Because I wasn’t going to put a picture or glass in the frame, I didn’t have to worry about inside measurements. Go ahead and cut the other side.  Make sure you cut your angle in the opposite direction.

Step 2:  Next, cut your next 45 degree angle piece. Repeat this step until you have all 4 pieces.

Step 3:  Smooth the edges of each piece by gently sanding. Lay the pieces together and make sure they are flush with each other.

Step 4:  Glue the ends of each piece together with wood glue. I used small wood clamps to clamp together overnight as it dried.

Step 5:  Once the glue is dry, attach L-shaped corner braces to reinforce your joints.

Step 6:  Paint the frame. I used Interior/Exteriors Valspar Black Satin spray paint.

Step 7:  Here is the fun part!  Decorate with ghoulish appliques, bows, spider webs, whatever you want!

Voila!  You’re ready to hang your Halloween picture frame wreath!  Please share your Halloween decorating ideas.  It’s always inspiring to see new ways to spook up your home!

Did you know that clutter can zap your energy, drain your time, kill your creativity, and actually cause stress in other aspects of your life?  I didn’t know that, but I certainly believe it. Recently, I’ve made an extra effort to get myself organized, not only in my office, but throughout my house.

One of the first places I have to start organizing is my jewelry.  I have a bit of a jewelry obsession. I love costume jewelry, especially anything in gun-metal or baubles.  Because of this obsession, my jewelry box is a tangled mess.  I found this simple organization idea on line.  It’s a piece of prefinished decorative moulding secured to a small piece of lumber that you can buy at any building supply store like Lowe’s or Home Depot, with some small hooks installed to hang your necklaces. I also like that the top rail doubles as a shelf for perfume bottles. Of course, I will need to buy a wall length piece to hang all of my jewelry!

Another consequence of clutter is not being able to find car keys in the morning.  My hubby and I go through this at least three times a week each.  Here is our solution. I found a DIY prefinished moulding key cabinet that we hung in the kitchen. Here’s all you need to make it:

Materials

• One 8’ length of casing. I used an Oak for this frame, but you  can use any color finish you want 
• One 8’ length of prefinished white lattice
• One 6’ length of 1”x4” prefinished pine wood stock
• One 11”x14” piece of thin plywood or Masonite (Most building supply stores will cut this for you to the size of your project)
• 3 cup-holder screw hooks
• Finishing nails
• Black latex paint
• Chalkboard paint
• Color-matched Oak painters putty

Ta-dah! You’re ready to hang you keys so you’ll know exactly where to find them in the mornings.

OK fellow DIYers, I would love to see how you cut clutter and organize your life. Share your pictures and ideas.

Man cave.  There, I said it. Every woman’s nightmare.  When I think of a man cave, I imagine smelly socks tucked into the couch, left over pizza slices on the coffee table, empty beverage cans stacked to the ceiling, and sports programs blasting for hours.  The fact is I know my hubby wouldn’t commit any of these man room sins, and in reality, he really does need a room of his own.  He has lots of hobbies and interests, which are currently spread out on my dining room table.  One such hobby is building electronic drum kits from scratch.  I have diodes, wires, and disemboweled drum parts everywhere.  So I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s time to give in to the man cave craze.

We have a finished basement that has essentially been hubby’s workshop since we moved into the house.  With a little decluttering (a lot of decluttering), I think we could create a great space.  Though I’m leaving the design ideas up to him, he does ask for my opinions. I’ve helped him look through pictures on Pinterest and Houzz, but of course the first step is figuring out how he’ll use it the most.

Obviously, he’s a musician, a drummer with several drum sets and a keyboard, but he has a lot of other interests like motorcycling, windsurfing, boating, and watching sports.  He is always watching instructional DVDs for each of these hobbies.  I see his man cave as an all-purpose room; a room that he would want to feel like an extension of our house rather than a room off a garage.

This image was the first one he showed me.  I have to admit, I was a little shocked at how sophisticated it was. I guess like many women, I have made some unfair assumptions about what a man cave looked like.  Sure, it’s a bit masculine for my taste, but it’s very modern and grown-up, with clean lines. I love how they used decorative moulding to divide up the walls.  It adds some interest to an otherwise stark wall.  And as a passionate DIYer, I can definitely see myself making the moulding frames to showcase some old black and white jazz images he currently has packed away in a box in the attic. Of course, since it’s football season, no man cave would be complete without a large, flat-screen TV. And snacks. Check out my Pinterest page for some other man cave ideas!

So after seeing that his idea of a man cave is much more in line with my idea, I think I can get behind this.  I’m curious to see how you guys have designed man caves.  Post some pictures you want to share, and inspire us all!

One of the first things I do as soon as the summer temps fade and the crisp fall air moves in is get rid of the white accents and elements that I incorporate around my house for the spring and summer (like white cotton bedding and throw pillows) and replace them with warm, comfortable autumnal tones.  But you don’t have to stop with just accents.  The fall is a good time to experiment with new paint colors, trim, and fabrics to change your mood along with the seasons.

Right now, my living room is very, very summer-friendly.  We have light furniture, light flooring, and light (boring) walls.  In my house, the living room is like our family’s town square; particularly during the fall and winter months, when we’re spending less time outdoors.  It’s where we meet, sometimes eat, entertain, do homework, organize schedules, cheer for our favorite football team, and basically discuss the world’s problems.  Considering we spend 80% of our time there, I want to do something that will make it homey and inviting.

I’ve been looking for some inspiration on how to tweak our living room for the fall and I came across this photo.  Now, for those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that I typically like classic, clean white trim.  But I do occasionally change my mind when the circumstance (or season) calls for it. I am really in love with the darker wood trim and moulding in this image.  Paired with the lighter wood floor and the neutral walls and furniture, this is a living room I could sink into with a great book and a roaring fire, with a game on in the background.   And considering everything I already have is neutral, this custom wainscoting detail would create just the right fall element for our living room.  And by adding my white accessories in the spring and summer, I can lighten it back up again.

I think what inspires me the most about this idea is that I can do it myself and make a pretty dramatic transformation fairly easily and affordable.  You can find pre-finished moulding and trim at your local Lowe’s or Home Depot, and they often have “do-it-yourself” classes on the weekends where they can help you measure, cut, and place the trim.

Of course, I found this other image with beautiful, white picture framing detail on the walls. It doesn’t seem as fall-like as the dark wood, but with some dark colored accents and throw pillows, this could also be an easy summer-to-fall, fall-to-summer design idea.  Choices, choices!

The first office space I ever had was dubbed “the fish bowl” by my coworkers.  The walls were literally glass from floor to ceiling and it doubled as the marking material-filing room-supply closet.  I had a small, boring desk in the middle of the room with no way to personalize it (not to mention no privacy with people constantly coming and going for brochures, staples, and toilet paper).  Fast forward to now when I’ve graduated from entry level to work-at-home professional with a home office of my own.  However, I can’t say over the years I’ve put much effort into my own office space.  So recently, I’ve decided to make it a priority.

I’ve been looking at a lot of design ideas on Pinterest and HGTV.  I’m not entirely sure which direction I want to go, but there is one detail I know I will add for sure.  Decorative moulding and trim.  To me, there is nothing that says sophistication and elegance like adding decorative trim details to ceilings, floors, walls, and windows.  It’s like the perfect piece of jewelry for your room – that final accessory that brings everything together.  Not only does it diminish the gaps between walls and ceilings and walls and floors, but you can make amazing, unique custom details on walls, like the ones in this photo.

I love the “picture framing” elements they created by attaching strips of moulding to look like raised panels.  It looks like high-end wainscoting  but without the high-end price.  Moulding can literally change a square room into a grown-up, sophisticated place of business.

My DIY wheels are already turning. This would be such an easy project for me;  all I need is some narrow pre-finished moulding  from Lowe’s or Home Depot and some spare time!  Probably the most difficult part would be keeping the size and spacing of each frame straight and uniform.

At first I wasn’t sure if I was in love with the natural wood look of the trim and moulding.  I typically like the pure, stark white look, but I have to admit, the more I look at this photo, the more the natural wood is growing on me.  I would definitely go in a different direction for paint color.  This dark blue, combined with the wood trim and the dark furniture, is more of a masculine look, but it’s certainly giving me some ideas I can work with.

For those DIYers  out there who’ve tackled their own home office space, please share your ideas!  I’d love to see how you marry the styles of femininity and power player without  over-the-top girly.  I think that’s the look I’m going for.