Restyling for Fall

With Halloween approaching, we thought we'd restyle the bookcase at the landing of the stairs. This bookcase from Sauder is the perfect piece of furniture for easy accessory swapping. I still love the bookcase as much as I did the day I put it together. Here was the spring/summer look:

The cubicles swapped out with Halloween decor:

To easily transition the bookcase after Halloween, we'll keep the more neutral pumpkins and swap picture frames with fall photos. The bookcase is in the Barrister line. Right now I'm also really liking the the Cannery Bridge storage wall.

I added a second piece of furniture from Sauder from the Edge Water collection:

This is a tricky little corner in my living room created by the unusual shape of my sectional. I used to have a small leather folding seat placed in the corner to hold a blanket for the couch, but I relocated that piece when I moved some other furniture around and needed it as a desk seat. The shape of the space makes it tricky for a standard sized end table, but then I found this smaller end table from Sauder.

Flat-box furniture can feel intimidating to some people, but I find it to be rather empowering...like, "yeah, I built it". Here all of the pieces dumped out from the well-packaged shipping box:

Everything comes out a little dusty, so I like to vacuum it all off before assembly. After vacuuming, I lay out all of the pieces in an orderly fashion and get busy.

Elmer's glue scares me a little when it comes to building furniture, but its use in this table is pretty inconsequential- just a little more security, not for any stability. Here I am more than half-way through the assembly:

Sides go up, top goes on, feet attached. Done in less than 25 minutes...all by myself!

We rarely sit on this side of the couch, but with the lamp there now and table to set a glass of water, this is a new reading spot.

Because of the table size, it is versatile to use in other areas of the house. It's even the perfect size to play up the depth at the front door:

To see more ways to use these versatile furniture pieces and other accessory ideas, visit my Home Pinterest Board.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder. The opinions and text are all mine.

Tulip Glow-in-the-Dark & Black Light Fabric Paints

This is a compensated post as part of a campaign with Blueprint Social andTulip Glow in the Dark Halloween. All opinions are my own.

These Tulip Glow-in-the-Dark and Black Light Fabric Paints couldn't have shown up at a more perfect time.  A local yoga festival hosted a Black Light Yoga class Saturday night called:  Dark Side of the Moon.  Time to GLOW with the FLOW!

Here are all of the fun paints lined up and ready to decorate a plain black pair of yoga pants.  I wasn't certain I wanted to spare a pair of pants for the yoga glowing cause, so I decided I'd create a design that I'd want to wear beyond the black lights.

Starting with two different sized plates as a template for the half circle, I followed the arch of the plate with black light dots.  The blue dots show the larger plate and the pink dots followed the arch of the smaller plate.  I found a smaller tupperware lid for the yellow dots and filled the rest of the design in with zig-zags, triangles and more dots.  The fabric paints easily flow from the bottles with sharp enough points to make detailed designs:

I woke up at 8am, had the pants made by 8:15am to go out the door for the first of 5 classes for the day starting at 8:30am.  By 8pm, we were heading out the door for the last yoga practice of the day and the best one of the festival.  Here are the pants in the light:

 Under the black light:

What made this class even more fun was the little guy lined up next to my yoga mat, my son.  He thought it was one of the best nights ever and can't wait to decorate his own Halloween apparel.

A black light yoga flow makes it difficult to capture the impact of the yoga pants, but you can see how the fabric paint really pops.  I had a friend wear them and all of my yoga friends thought they were amazing.  The glow in the dark is amplified by the black light and still shines when the black lights turn off.

This is a fun, fun, FUN product and I am soooo looking forward to decorating pumpkins and other glow-in-the-dark attire for Halloween with the paints.  For more Glow-in-the-Dark and Black Light project ideas, follow Ilovetocreate on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

My locker by Looker Lookz

This is a compensated post as part of a campaign with Blueprint Social and LLZ by LockerLookz. All opinions are my own.

We haven't stopped talking about LLZ by Locker Lookz since I was introduced to the product line several weeks ago.  My daughter jumped up and down for joy when I told her we'd be reviewing this fun line of locker decorations.  

This is such a great product line for a mom and daughter to have fun mixing, matching and designing drab locker space to fab locker space.

Everything you see (minus the shag rugs) attaches to lockers with super-strong magnets.  No adhesives, no residue, no mess!  Hands down, our favorite piece in the line is this motion sensored chadelier.  Open your locker door and the battery operated light turns on!

Developed by two moms of pre-teen girls, LLZ by LockerLookz is the original high-fashion locker decorations.  You can go online and design your own locker.  Even my son wanted to take a turn designing a locker.  The sturdy wallpapers come with punch-outs to accommodate locker hooks and the back side of the locking mechanism on the door.  It only takes a few minutes to fully decorate your locker.

First, we're going to show you on a nice set of wood faced lockers:

Inside the lockers:

 The decor is not just for school.  Decorate a gym locker or work locker, too!

Chandelier set to off:

 Motion sensor on:

The second look is a set of burnt orange lockers.  The pretty turquoise, pink and lime green decor is not a great match for this color, so we selected the black and white collection without a wallpaper backdrop.  Also, these lockers are a little larger than the standard size 12" x 18" x 36", but we wanted to show that you can still mix and match pieces to come up with a unique look for any locker.

The adjustable shelf is great for stacking books and storing extra shoes underneath.  The shelf secures with magnets on both sides.  My daughter can't wait for school to start to share this fun locker decor with her friends.

Want to enter the LockerLookz Design your Dream Locker Instagram Contest??

Official contest rules.

You can find LockerLookz at A.C. Moore, Meijer, Michaels & Staples.

Follow LockerLookz on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, & Twitter.

Stair Landing Restyle

My stair landing had become a bit of an eyesore. A displaced bookcase made the space feel dark and heavy no matter how I tried to brighten/lighten the accents. Then I found a bookcase much more suited for the space and much better suited to my evolving style.

The old bookcase had served as a media console for a few years until I replaced it with a high-end media console early this Spring. When Sauder asked me to select a piece of furniture, my selection was easy. I knew as soon as I clicked to "view all collections" and saw the Barrister Lane Collection, I'd find something I'd love. My eyes went straight to the Barrister Lane bookcase in the Salt Oak finish. I really like how you can shop by space, product or collection. The ordering process was a snap and in only a few days, the bookcase had arrived at my front door. The communication from Customer Service was immediate and they kept me informed when the order was received and when it shipped (the following day!).

The bookcase came very well packaged with super sturdy corner protectors. I was very impressed...as were the kids, who used the sturdy corners as swords for a dual in the backyard while I got to work with the assembly.

All of the pieces were easy to identify and everything was in perfect condition.

The boards were clearly marked with letters and the instructions were easy to follow.

After placing the hardware, the pieces assembled pretty quickly and only involved tightening the cams.

I started around 8pm and finished just after 9pm...all by myself. After attaching the back piece, and standing the bookcase up, I was surprised how tall it is and how nice it looks. It doesn't look like a furniture piece you have to assemble. It is very sturdy.

I found the perfect spot to relocate the heavy bookcase. It slid right into place in my closet to hold my shoes! (Yes, I really do sort my hanging clothes by color).

Check out the befores and afters:

The 3 birds painting is very special to me as my first original art purchase, but I decided it was still heavy and dark, so I finally found a use for the 3 wood carved panels I bought well over a year ago and had yet to hang them anywhere. I hadn't even thought of hanging them in the stairway, but it is perfect for how tall the ceiling rises and looking down from the top of the stairs.

The Salt Oak finish is the exact same color of the laminate hardwood that I was looking at for my living and dining room. I'm used to the dark espresso or black finishes on most of my furniture and it seems to be a dust magnet. The Salt Oak finish hardly shows dust.

Find your style on Sauder.com.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder. The opinions and text are all mine.