DIY Extra Large Wood Sign

Okay, this post has been a long time coming and I'm really sorry it has taken so long... but I can't wait to share it with you! I've wanted a really big sign above our bed for SO long but have not been able to find one I love for an affordable price. After searching and searching, I decided it was worth a shot to at least look into making my own. I walked into Home Depot with no real direction so I just walked up to an employee and he helped me tons! You guys won't believe how cheap it ended up being with all of the employees suggestions! It was cheap, easy, and might just be one of my favorite decorations we own! Soo let's get right into it!

What You'll Need:

-A stencil or really good handwriting. I used my Cricut and stencil vinyl to create my own. 

-5.0mm 2'x4' underlayment. It'll be pre cut and really cheap! I found a piece with some pretty natural wood designs. Find one that lays completely flat and stick it in your cart.

-General Purpose Lattice cut into 4 pieces. 2 pieces will be 4 ft and 2 pieces will be 2 ft

-grey wash for the frame

-White wash for the wood

-Black acrylic paint

-White acrylic paint

-Paint brush

-apoxy glue

-Two large sawtooth hooks

What You Need To Do

1) Go to Home Depot and get your supplies. You should be able to purchase everything there. While I was in store, I made sure to take pictures! So here's what you'll need... Also you'll need to cut the lattice. You can absolutely ask someone to cut it for you, but they should have saws out and it's really easy to just cut yourself. 

2) Lay out some plastic trash bags or an old blanket and white wash your big board. After that lay out your lattice pieces and grey wash them. I did a couple coats of each until I found the look I was going for. Let it all dry fully.

3) Lay out your lattice pieces to make a frame on the board. Once you get them all to fit use the apoxy to attach them. I used clean rocks on top to keep the pieces laying flat while they dried.

4) Okay, your board is ready! You have some options here... If you have excellent handwriting, go ahead and free write it. If you have a cricut, create your own stencil. I used fonts from dafont. I used Athena and Italian Breakfast. I did it in three parts, "You Will" (12in across) "Forever" (23in across) and "Be My Always" (20in across). I added on the swirls freehand. I used stencil vinyl and transfer tape to get it just right. I just used black acrylic paint and once it was fully dry, I touched up with white where needed. Your last option is to just buy a stencil from etsy or Hobby Lobby!

5) Once the stencil is removed and all paint is dried, attach your hooks to the back. I did two, one on the upper right side and one on the upper left side. Use a ruler to make sure they are even in height. Then ta-da! Your sign is ready to be hung and will be such a statement piece!

I really hope I covered it all in this post but if not, feel free to reach out with any questions!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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Finding the Perfect Pillows and Mixing Patterns

A trend I feared for quite some time, was mixing patterns.

I loved every outfit I saw on Pinterest where someone wore a striped shirt with a floral skirt, yet I couldn't seem to get myself to do it!

I saw it everywhere I went and I loved it more and more each time.

I loved that it broke all rules of how you are "supposed to match" and left people with the freedom to do what they want.

I also loved seeing combinations I never would've thought of myself.

There's a very good possibility your grandma won't like it... but just know I do ;)

Then I started noticing pattern mixing when it came to home decor and I fell in love.

Who would've thought throwing a whole bunch of different patterns, shapes, and sizes of pillows on a couch would look phenomenal? 

There's definitely a way to do it tastefully though.

And while I'm no pro... my mom is. 

So I asked her what some of her tips were when it came to picking the right pillows, and I added a few of my own.

Pattern:

Choose a pillow with a pattern you love. Then stay within the color scheme you want and pick another pattern. Then find a solid pillow with a common color. You can even add in a graphic (a birdcage, a bicycle, or maybe a pumpkin for fall). I also love all the pillows my mom has with words on them. You could do black and white stripes with pink and white damask. Then add in a sequin black pillow and maybe a smaller white rectangular pillow.

Size

On that last note.. let's talk about size. I think it is so important to add different sizes of pillows on your bed, couch, or anywhere else you put pillows. You aren't going to achieve that "pinterest look" without adding several different sizes. Try for a few large, a few medium, and a couple small all mixed in with each other. 

Shape

Shape is another important one. We all have bigger pillows on our bed to sleep on, but what about the decorative ones? I have 6 larger rectangle pillows so the smaller decorative ones aren't right up against my headboard. I then added 2 square pillows from Overstock, one square from Hayneedle, and one bow pillow from Target. Oh, and I'm definitely not done ;)

Those are just a few tips that will help you when deciding what pillows to add to a newly decorated space, or a space you just want to freshen up. If you need more advice or even want a consultation, here's my mom's business. Also, make sure to check Overstock.com for all your pillow needs. I found so many awesome options and I love the pillows I chose. They are all affordable and there are so many awesome brands to choose from. They have several different shapes, sizes, and patterns so you are bound to find something you like ;)

I added a few of my current favorite pillows out there with a more shabby chic/farmhouse look below... so it's now time to put your knowledge to the test... which ones will you choose to mix and match? ;)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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Master Bedroom Makeover

Happy Friday!
Although, for me, it's been a really stressful Friday...
But, it's still Friday!
I am beyond excited to share our bedroom makeover reveal with all of you tonight.
We worked on this room literally all summer and it turned out exactly how I had envisioned it.
If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw I said we put our blood, sweat, and tears into this room and I'm not even exaggerating!
All of it, was so worth it though because we absolutely love the results!
If you follow me on instagram or snapchat you probably also saw that we moved... right after finishing the room... and that's unfortunately true too.
I'd be lying if I said there weren't tears shed as I was packing it all up.
However, life happens and this was what was best for our family.
Plus, I now have so many great ideas for our future home! Whenever that may be ;)
I also cannot say thank you enough to our amazing sponsors that helped bring this room together.
We had a blast working with Devine Color, Ikea, Tuft and Needle, Cariloha, and Hayneedle to bring this vision to life!

So without further adieu, here's the before and after!!

And After!!

(Please excuse my terrible panorama skills)

I knew I wanted grey and white to be the main colors and who doesn't love a good distressed shiplap accent wall, right? As time went on, I was able to find some gold accent pieces that fit perfectly in the room and I absolutely love the way it all came together. I worked with Devine Color by Valspar which you can find at your local Target to get the perfect color on the walls. We used Mirage as our paint color and only used one can to do two coats on three walls! We were so impressed! Devine Color also supplied the amazing Distressed wood wallpaper! You guys, this is easily my favorite part of the room. Every time I looked at this wall, I instantly got happy. It's just so pretty and the absolute perfect accent wall. Not to mention, it's adhesive wallpaper so it was incredibly easy to accomplish! The first strip definitely took some time for Hunter and I to figure out, but once we understood what we were doing, I was so impressed with how simple it was to apply. I definitely give two thumbs up to Devine Color!

For the majority of our bedroom furniture, we worked with Ikea. I actually grew up with this dresser in a different color and loved how much storage it had so it was incredibly easy to pick out a dresser. I chose the matching nightstands to go with it and I just love the sleek look of them. White is my absolute favorite color when it comes to decor so it was also super easy for me to pick the color. Ikea furniture does take a little while to assemble, but you seriously cannot beat the price and the quality is wonderful! Hunter and I actually enjoyed our date indoors putting together our dresser and nightstands. As with any dresser, make sure you secure it to the wall so an accident doesn't happen with your little ones. We managed to score our bed off of Craigslist and I used Waverly chalk paint to paint it in only two hours!

Our mattress is a little piece of heaven. We worked with Tuft and Needle on the mattress and I could not be more happy with it! First off, Tuft and Needle is an amazing company with great values and even better customer service. They even thanked us with cute shirts! Now that's a company that values their customers. Tuft and Needle was started after the owner went shopping for a mattress and was pressured into buying an overpriced mattress that was far less than comfortable. After this experience, they vowed to create an exceptional mattress at a fair price. I can honestly say that they have accomplished just that! Our king size mattress has been amazing and we are blown away at how they shipped it! It comes right to your doorstep in a box and it almost "inflates" when you take it out. It was so fun!

Our bedding was supplied by two amazing companies that I would hands down recommend to anybody! Our heavenly sheets, pillow cases, and the grey throw are all from Cariloha. The white bamboo bed sheets are the softest sheets I have ever felt. They are thermal regulating and are soft and smooth because of the box stitched seams. I honestly don't know how else to describe these sheets other than sleeping on a cloud. They fit the bed perfectly, came with a fitted sheet, bed sheet, and two pillow cases. I loved the customer service they provided and they made sure to fit every one of my needs. The bamboo throw blanket is my absolute favorite blanket to take a nap with. It is also thermal regulating, has a cute herringbone pattern, and is beyond soft. Our comforter and decorative shams are from Hayneedle. I was so in love with this comforter from the moment I saw it on their website. If you know me, you know I love ruffles! The ruffles on this comforter are so cute and the perfect statement for your bed. It is also very comfortable! I was very impressed with how comfy it is. I thought it was sort of feminine at first, but my husband actually loves it, win win! I also got this white pillow from Hayneedle and think that it's the cutest little accent pillow. The super cute gold striped bow pillow is from Target and it just so happens to be on sale!

As far as the small decorations go, I got things from all over the place! The lamps were from Burlington and I got a great deal but these ones from Target are very similar. I made the prints for our night stands and put them in dollar store frames I already had. The glass jars are from Michaels with dollar store faux flowers. On my dresser I did a little DIY with the jars and used Mod Podge  and Gold Glitter to add a little flare. The bird candle holder I already had but I think I'll add these candle holders at some point because I love them! I'm such a sucker for a cute vintage white frame and found mine a few years back but I'm loving this one from Target. I got the white mirrors as a wedding gift but these ones look almost identical! In the middle I hung two of my favorite wedding pictures in poster frames from Target. I bought my bird cage picture frame from Hobby Lobby but it was on clearance and this gold one  is seriously dreamy! I used a milk crate to set my mirror on top of and loved the way it turned out. The canvas hanging next to the mirror was my mothers day gift a year ago, but if I could choose another one, I would get this one in a heartbeat! My mom also gave me her old curtains, but before she did that I was totally eyeing these ones!

 

I really loved putting this room together, and like I said before, I was so sad to leave it! However, these pictures will always bring me nothing but good memories and I'm so glad we had the experience of being able to act like Chip and Joanna Gaines for a summer ;) I now have so many ideas for our future home, the countdown to Hunter's graduation is so on! I hope you guys enjoyed this post and really hope that it gave you some fun ideas for a little makeover yourself. If we could do it, you totally can! If you have any more questions about how we did things, feel free to ask me! Feel free to shop some of my favorite farmhouse bedroom styles below too! Now go have yourself a fun Labor Day Weekend!

All my love,
Aleigh Joy

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