Armoire Design and Decor Ideas

I recently discovered Chairish, and was invited to style an armoire from their collection!

Chairish is a fun, gorgeous and easy-to-navigate site for vintage design and modern design lovers alike. Chairish offers the chance for those who maybe have collected one-to-many decor options (hides) to sell their vintage furniture and decor to one another - and of course, buy some more too, while you're at it. ;)

What makes this different from other online options is that Chairish "exclusively features curator-approved treasures in a full-service and trustworthy environment." So you know that the item you're going to receive is true vintage, in great shape, and worth your investment.

You can check out all of the armoires they have available at the moment here. The collection is always changing and really does feature something for everyone's taste.

So, how would I go about decorating an armoire? Check out what I picked!

See the entire design on Polyvore, and click the items to go to Chairish here.

When styling an armoire, I think bigger is better. More than bigger, I think TALLER is better! Take the back most item to the ceiling (or close to it) to bring your eyes up. This will make the room feel taller as well!

I picked out a painting to get this affect. I also love vintage items, so I selected a soda crate from Chairish.  Everyone needs a wooden crate. I'm serious! I love to stack vinyl in mine, or hide cords on the ground with them. You can see all of the different wooden crates at Chairish here.

I put ivy in the crate to give it a little "life." I'm notoriously bad at houseplants, and would definitely forget to water it up there, so I would use faux. It's far enough away that it won't be obvious!

After that, what fun is decor without a little color? I picked out red terracotta bottles for that added kick. Bottles are SO handy, because you can put a little plant in them, some string lights, feathers - really, anything you can think of. Or, you can just leave them as is! Bottles of every shape and size, I found at Chairish.

Another fun thing about decorating an armoire is that it can be seasonal, too! Using the same grouping concept, think of the seasons:

- A box wrapped in Christmas paper replaces the wooden crate, your square shape.
- A fun print of a vintage Christmas scene, in the frame
- A few springs of evergreen tree replaces the ivy.
- You can replace the bottles with that old, vintage santa figurine. Items that you didn't know where they should go before are PERFECT for the top of an armoire.

The ideas are endless!

Thank you to Chairish for reaching out and inviting me to style an armoire!

My Spring Mantel!

Spring has finally sprung!
One of my favorite things (among many other things!) about our new house is having a true mantel - and I love to decorate it for the seasons.

Winter Mantel 2014-2015

 I love to use things I've collected over the years - and other people seem to like to give it their own touch too. ;)

Spring Mantel 2015

Since I had a layout that I felt worked well already, I just switched out a few key items and left some of the elements that still worked, like the mirror (hi, by the way) and the candlesticks.

I added a pinkish purple candle instead of the sage one. I also added a lighter milk bottle than the urn from winter. And of course... added some bunnies.

Using things you find along the way makes it feel less planned - and perfect in a non-perfect way. Hope you enjoyed the spring mantel! Do you like to decorate a certain spot for the holidays?

2012 Christmas Decor at Little Oak Creations

Hi all!
I wanted to share my Christmas decor with you today. I don't have a mantel in this house but I do have a white sofa table that I like to set vignettes on for each season, and here is my Christmas 2012 "mantel." One of my favorite things to do is collect home decor items from thrifting that "work" well together, so I've listed where I was lucky enough to get or make each item.

I made the wreath about two years ago for Mr. LOC and I's first Christmas together. It's gotten a little sun-bleached but I like the way it looks as the sun has made the glitter almost a bright red/orange and I think it's kind of neat. :) The Joy to the World wood piece hanging in the middle was from a dollar store a few years back. "K" stocking hanger is from Bed Bath and Beyond, about 2 years ago. Very heavy and has some rhinestones on it. :) The glass dish is a thrifting find too - it's a greenish gold and one of my favorite pieces.

I also made this column piece at the same time I made the wreath. It's held together quite well, considering it was dollar store greenery, ribbon, lights and pointsettas! I do love the dollar store - sometimes it's hard to imagine each piece separate but when you get it all together, the result can be pretty fantastic.

The LED candle in the glass and metal lantern was a Salvation Army find for like $2.00 (I know, I was pretty stoked about it too!) Worked great and nothing was broken or missing - it's about a foot or more tall too. The little red glass and glitter tree was also a thrifting find, I think it was .25 cents and it was new in box.

The "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him Christ the Lord" printable was from AKA designs, print yours out here for free! Thank you AKA Designs. It's in black/grey and white too, which makes it awesome for black and white only printers.

The frame was a TJ Maxx throw-a-way - I got it for .30 cents because it was scratched to high heaven but it still had it's glass and a beautiful black velvet flocked back... so I took a little bit of black spray paint and sprayed and rubbed off the excess to get the weathered look. The glitter star was a thrifting find on a thrifting adventure with Mama LOC, I think it's supposed to be a massive ornament but I like to set it places for some geometric interest. The glass candlestick is an antique and it was given to me during a set up for a garage sale. It's sitting on Dolly Parton's biography with the cover off and facing down. lol! :) The gold and ivory scarf was a Marshall's find from when I was in college.

And finally, this picture: I thought my mantel needed some dramatic flair. ;)

I do love how you can see my Christmas tree in the background of the print. Thank you for following along and I hope you had fun looking! :)

Linky Parties I am Linking up to!
A Thoughtful Place's home decor linky party!

Nester's 2012 Christmas Tour of Homes!
Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Tree Party!
The Inspired Room's Christmas Home Tour Party! And also hosted by Cottage Magpie!