A Designer At Home

Gift Guide for the Homebody

November 6, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey there! Do you have one of those friends that just love staying at their home? I’m one of those people! I know we can be difficult at times to gift to, but it’s actually quite simple to keep us happy! Simplicity is the key. I’ve put together this gift guide to make gift shopping easy. And to let all my friends and family know what they can buy me for Christmas and my birthday!

This gift guide is one of more than 60 gift guides, bringing you the ultimate gift guide! Jeanette from Snazzy Little Things pulled together this massive collection so that everyone has a fool-proof collection of items for everyone on their list! At the end of this guide, you’ll find a link to all of the other guides. So make sure to browse them all to get inspiration for everyone on your list!

Homewares:

The homebody loves to be comfortable in their own home. Cozy and stylish throws are a perfect gift especially during the cooler months. Does your homebody drink coffee or tea? Try a unique mug. Go for a really unique and thoughtful gift and go for customized artwork. Minted offers an array of options from artwork submitted by artists to pieces that feature zodiacs and locations to turning your own artwork into unique pieces. And even calendars, stationary and a massive collection of cards.

Art/Stationary: Custom Art Gifts | Custom Calendars | Notebooks & Planners

Cozy Throw Blankets: Herringbone Throw | Baroque Jacquard Throw | Faux Fur Throw

Mugs: Cute Cat Mug | Peacock Mug Set | Mug Rack

Books

These three books I absolutely have to recommend. If you haven’t had a chance to read them, you need to. I think they all make great gifts for someone who loves to be at home, love their home, or wants to love their home.

The Inspired Room by Melissa Michaels
Create the Style You Crave on a Budget You Can Afford: The Sweet Spot Guide to Home Decor by Desha Peacock
The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes are a great way of gifting throughout the year. With a little planning, you can have a box arrive on at the home of the giftee the month of December. Many services offer different periods of time so you could go as little as the one box or as big as the whole year.

Globein: Global inspired goods in unique baskets- New customers can use coupon code CORINNA to save 25% off their first month’s box with a purchase of a 3 or 6 month Artisan Box subscription.
Love With Food: A subscription box full of junk-free snacks- Get 40% Off Your First Box
IPSY: Monthly Makeup Bag Subscription Service filled with makeup

Candles

And the most cliche gift I can recommend to gift to a homebody is a candle. With so many candles available to choose from, finding one that smells amazing and looks beautiful is an easy feat.

Pineapple Candle | Mercury Glass Initial Candle | Moroccan Embossed Candle Jar

And don’t forget to make sure you’re getting your cash back on your online purchases! I do so much of my shopping online because it’s easier than taking my Target obsessed 3 year old out. But, I always click through Ebates first (and if I forget, I have the extension in my browser to remind me) so that I can get a percentage of my sale as cash back. It’s just one more way I squeeze pennies out of holiday shopping.

Complete Gift Guide for YOUR shop at home convenience

An InLinkz Link-up

#ThriftScoreThursday Halloween Features

November 5, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

I don’t think I’ve taken a moment to ask you how your Halloween was? It’s been a busy week here what with 2 giveaways going on right now, and a third tomorrow! If you want to check them out, there’s a shot at $50 to minted.com here and $75 worth of DIY and craft supplies from yours truly here. And then all of the insane work going into the bathroom remodel (there’s tons of thrifted goodies I’ve been holding back but I can’t wait to start sharing them next Thursday!). We didn’t even do a proper Halloween. My kid sat with a bowl of candy on my mom’s porch perplexed why he had to give it to other kids.

But, by the looks of things on Instagram, it looked like there was a lot of fun going on. Sandra from @vintausshop shared a sweet photo of her daughter in a vintage ballerina costume. What an amazing find! There certainly wasn’t anything that cool at my thrift store. And the makeup is adorable!

12145273_424679981049420_1664617586_n — @vintaushop Normally I don’t post pictures of my kids without some sort of product, but I couldn’t help myself with this one and am adoring all the fun costumes on my feed. Love this little girl and so happy we could find this vintage ballerina outfit for $4! Perfect #halloween costume ❤️?

And then check out this jolly skeleton decor @mariaski63 scored. And I love the way she set him up for the photo. Very reminiscent of dia de los muertos decor I’ve seen. My mom has had several of these paper skeletons with the movable joints over the years. So nice this one made it’s way to a new home instead of a trash bin!

@mariaski63 Bonehead. Mr. Bones is about four feet tall & getting ready for Halloween. I have him doing a little yoga to relax, loosen his joints & fit in a square! ?◾️?◼️? #skeleton

What about this aviator costume from Hayley? Isn’t it phenomenal? Everything but the cap came from the thrift store, but she mentions the cap came with a bit of ingenuity so all around a stellar costume!

@hudginsathome So I'm an old woman and fell asleep, phone in hand, trying to post this last night when it was ACTUALLY Thursday. Regardless, I present one of my favorite costumes for #tbttrickortreat from way back when cell phones still had crappy cameras... Amelia Earhart! ✈??? Additionally, my friend Laura @yellowcottagenc asked to see some #thriftscorethursday... Here ya go! Everything was thrifted for this, except the aviator cap, which my dad made with an old baseball cap and leather scraps. — @hudginsathome So I’m an old woman and fell asleep, phone in hand, trying to post this last night when it was ACTUALLY Thursday. Regardless, I present one of my favorite costumes for #tbttrickortreat from way back when cell phones still had crappy cameras… Amelia Earhart! ✈??? Additionally, my friend Laura @yellowcottagenc asked to see some #thriftscorethursday… Here ya go! Everything was thrifted for this, except the aviator cap, which my dad made with an old baseball cap and leather scraps.

And the last Halloween themed feature I have for you today is this beautifully ominous vignette from @creativelicence. I am enjoying the black and white. I spy what looks like vintage milk glass, which I normally wouldn’t associate with Halloween, but it’s been paired perfectly in this set up.

And because I just simply could NOT let this #thriftscorethursday pass without showing off this BEAUTIFUL sofa spotted by @theeventmaker. It would have come home with me. My husband wouldn’t have said anything aloud and all would have been magical with the world.

@theeventmaker A little ming fabulousness I ran a cross today.

And that’s it from me on this beautiful #thriftscorethursday! I’m skipping sharing a find of my own this week because I don’t have a finished (or almost finished) bathroom to show them off in. And I really want the full effect! So, I’ll see you next week?

Don’t forget to stop by all of the fab hosts today. We have awesome guest hosts this week, so be sure to visit them, too and check them out! Have a great day and happy thrifting!

Want To Join In? Here’s The Rules!

We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
Each week, Trisha from Black and White Obsession, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Myself (A Designer At Home) and occassionally a guest co-host will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.
Please remember that we can only share love for photos shared on public accounts. If your profile is private, we can’t see your finds.

Interested in hosting with us for a week? Want to see your face on this fabulous little graphic? You know you want to, it’s so much fun! Shoot me an email, and we’ll get you coordinated to guest host!

Progress on the Boho Global Craftsman Bathroom Remodel

November 4, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

It’s just 1 week until the finale of this challenge and I just want to thank you guys who are keeping up with the process and for not criticizing the idiocracy it is to plan and execute a bathroom remodel in 6 weeks. It probably would have gone smoothly if I had planned some of this beforehand (or more like a lot more). So far the bathroom is just starting to take shape. In all reality, it only just started to be really demoed last week. So we’ve made great process in that time.

If you’re just stopping in from Calling It Home‘s One Room Challenge, “hi!” My name is Corinna and I run this design/DIY blog. Read my “About” or browse my posts.

Late last week our contractor added new plywood beneath the new tub so that it would be higher up and level with the rest of the floor. He also reran pipes for the new shower and tub hardware we have.

This week he’s put the sheetrock and cement board up and put in a cut out for recessed shelving in the shower. Since we were already having someone do the majority of the work, we found that a small luxurious addition like this was a no brainer for the budget.

And the custom soaps I commissioned a coworker to make are finished. They’re the perfect shade of blue (it’s crazy how on point she was without having seen any of the other elements) and smell like raspberries. It’ll look striking against the copper soap dish I picked up.

I chatted yesterday about the High & Low Lighting Options we looked at for the bathroom vanity. They’re all so beautiful!

We had quite the mirror dilemma and I’m happy it’s all come to an end the day before electricians show up to set up the lighting. The Kichler Etiquette Mirror has been the most sought after item of my entire life. Finding a pink ukulele when the mood struck took a matter of a couple hours. I’ve been trying to purchase this mirror for freaking 5 weeks. It’s discontinued and thought it is still listed on a bajillion websites, every order I replaced was rejected within a matter of a few days because the mirror has been discontinued by kichler. Dammit.

But I found the Uttermost Kenitra Mirror. And It’s really beautiful, slightly bigger than the other mirror, more expensive but it’s available.

And that’s really it for this update. Next week I’ll start sharing some of the pieces I’ve found for #thriftscorethursday so stay tuned for that. Hopefully I’ll have the base of the bathroom finished in the next week so I can share that!

Bathroom Vanity Lighting Options

November 3, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

One thing I’ve gotten to do in this whole bathroom remodel that I haven’t gotten to do in any other space is choosing lighting! I’ve made overhead lights for two other rooms I’ve designed. And the living room didn’t have any hardwired lamps. In the bathroom, we are replacing the dated 80’s vanity lighting. I’ve seen fabulous makeovers for these exact lights, but I just didn’t want to mask a “problem” in this space. Choosing new sconces to flank the mirror were a given for us and our situation.

Wish List/Blows The Budget Lighting:

Heirloom Wire Guard Aged

Brass Wall Sconce $320

Stratford 11” High Wall

Sconce $386

Artcraft Legno Rustico 12″ High

Dark Pine Wall Sconce $210

Pelham Collection 11″ High

Wall Light $300

Sonneman Chelsea 14″ High Satin

Black Edison Sconce $180

Taj Collection 11 3/4″ High Antique

Brass Wall Sconce $272

But, considering we’re totally human and we’re working within a very real and very tiny budget, I have a second wish list of lighting I’m considering. If you’re already following me on Facebook, you hopefully saw my call for your help in making a decision on our lighting last month. It was so helpful because it got me thinking about a lot of things I hadn’t considered, but it also made my decision harder because you guys had good arguments for lights I was thinking of pulling off the list.

Wish List/Total Reasonable Pricing

Hinkley Collier 17″ High Heritage

Brass Wall Sconce $99

Quoizel Edison 4″ Wide Western Bronze

Wall Sconce $99

Congress 13 1/2″H Clear Glass Oil

Rubbed Bronze Wall Sconce

Kichler Braelyn 9 1/2″ High

Olde Bronze Wall Sconce $107

Feiss Urban Renewal 10 1/4″ High

Rustic Iron Sconce $80

Congress 13″ High Clear Glass Oil

Rubbed Bronze Wall Sconce $149

*Money Saving Alert: If you’re totally loving the Artcraft Legno Rustico Dark Pine Wall Sconce, the Quoizel Edison Western Bronze Wall Sconce is SO similar and half the price. Mount it onto a piece of wood stained in a similar tone and you’ve saved yourself dollar dollar bills, y’all.

There are a lot more Oil Rubbed Bronze options in the budget friendlier choices. I’m pretty much right on the line as far as which finish I love more. True Story: I actually had made a decision on the bathroom sconces. But when I went to put in the order they were discontinued! Why?! It’s actually the last lamp shown under the “totally reasonable pricing” lamps. I just had to have it in that brassy finish. It’s now only available in oil rubbed bronze and chrome. I just don’t completely love the lamp in those finishes. So the hunt continues…

Up to this point I’ve made little progress to show! Completing this task in a mere 6 weeks is looking unlikely. A disappointing craigslist exchange left us 2 days behind schedule with the new tub installation. But that was both a blessing and a curse. We’ve got a much nicer one that’s deeper now. It’s this one from Lowe’s if you’re interested in checking it out.

So far everything is coming together beautifully. At least everything looks very well coordinated and beautiful laying on the floor in the corner of my living room. My contractor is really wonderful and hard working so even if we miss the 6 weeks, it’ll be very soon after.

There are loads of showstopping pieces in the space, but I think a subtle and beautiful detail like lighting can really tie together lots of eye catching elements and help make them make sense. That’s what it’ll do for us in our space. Lighting can also be the show stopper. So if you’re working with a bland space that you’re wanting pretty a pretty instant upgrade in, check out lighting. It’s easy to swap lighting out and just skim above and you’ll see possibilities are endless.

I hope you’ve found this post helpful and interesting. If you did, please be sure to leave a comment and give it a share!

Little Ways To Make Card Giving Extra Special

October 30, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

*update! I’m sharing our Christmas card design at the end of this post!

Hey guys!

Do you know why I look forward to Halloween? The day after is when I start my Christmas decorating. Because I friggin’ love Christmas. It’s my favorite! This year I am hunkering down and getting my Christmas cards sent. Since I’ve been so terrible about it the past few years, and because I really really love my friends and family, I wanted to make the cards just a little bit extra special.

I’ve already chosen the most amazing cards of life, but when my recipients open those cards, I want there to be a special touch that makes them smile. I’ve been thinking about this for months now and I’ve come up with quite a few cute ideas so I had to share them with you just in case you wanted to do a little somethin’ this year, too.

The best part? Many of these are like a small gift and they’re all relatively inexpensive to make and/or pick up. Since it’s out of our budget to buy actual gifts for everyone on our list this year, this is our special little way of letting them know we care.

Oh, and get $25 off your minted order by using my referral link!

Coordinating Stickers

One of the first really cute ways I thought of to make opening a card more fun for the receiver is to have stickers inside that coordinate with the design of the card. There are many cards that have coordinating stickers available.This would probably be the easiest way of adding a surprise to your card giving.

Snowflake Square Holiday Cards | SnowFlake Square Stickers

Snowflake Band Holiday Photo Card | Snowflake Wall Stickers

Confetti Filling

Maybe not the most practical of ideas, but how fun would it be to open up a card from a loved one and have coordinating confetti slip out. It’s like a mini party in a greeting. I’ve seen this done for Wedding invitations, but why aren’t we doing this with every card? It would make me happy to live in a house with confetti everywhere form cards.

Heart Be Light Foil Pressed Holiday Cards | Gold Star Confetti

Glitter In Matching Colors

On the flip side, if you want to irritate your receiver and have them thinking of you for days after opening your card, you could put matching glitter inside! They’d be cleaning flecks of glitter off themselves for days. Probably not the realistic of ideas but it occurred to me so I figured I’d share for humor purposes.

Bold Sparkle Holiday Photo Card | Glitter

Hand Drawn/Hand Colored Art

If you’re particularly talented, you could hand draw mini pieces of art for your recipients. I enjoy letting my son doodle on the back of cards so that a piece of him can travel to our friends and family. If you’re not particulalry proud of your artwork, you can also source out artwork similar to your cards design. There are very cool ready to print and color options available nowadays!

Joy Cheer and Love Holiday Cards | Hand Drawn Flower Printable

Choose Cards That Are Ornaments

Of course, you can always just opt for cards that are a small gift. Like cards that are ornament ready. I love this idea. I wish everyone were on board with this so I could just have a tree full of beautiful cards and reminders of friends and family.

Snowflake Holiday Ornament Card | Sparkling Be Merry Ornament Card

Coordinating Flat Magnet

Do you live afar from friends and family? Why not get a card that honors your location while giving the recipient a little something to remind them of you every time they go to their fridge? Yes! Flat fridge magnets are light and won’t cause dimpling in the card. You could also spin this in another direction and have custom magnets made with your face on it.

Holiday Map Card | Somebody Loves Me Magnet

Pressed Matching Botanicals

Is there a botanical element to your card? Why not include matching pressed botanicals? Many cards feature mistletoe in one way or another. An idea would be to pick up pressed mistletoe to slip into the card. Of course you’ll want to protect the card so slipping card stock on either side would be a good idea, but it’s a gift the receiver can display well after the holidays.

Sweet and Soft Joy Holiday Card | Mistletoe

Feathers

By far my favorite card stuffer idea is feathers! How sweet would that be softly falling out of a card. Again, it’s the idea of pairing an element that would coordinate with the card itself. I’ve seen many cards with flowy details that would compliment feathers.

Painterly Holiday Photo Card | Feathers

Outtakes From Photo Shoot

And one last idea for you. When I see cards with photos I always wonder what the outtakes looked like. Wouldn’t it be such a special treat to share those funny pictures within the card? Just have a stack of fun outtakes printed off at your local drugstore and slip one in. The recipient is sure to love it.

Timeless Greeting Holiday Photo Card | Metropolis Holiday Photo Card

Which card & stuffer combination is your favorite??

Here’s our Christmas cards this year!

I had to sneak in an outtake! I hope you have just as much creating and sharing your Christmas cards this year!

Halloween Features for #ThriftScoreThursday

October 29, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

It’s the Thursday before Halloween and that means a couple of things for #ThriftScoreThursday. 1. We love any reason to get thrifty. Save a costume from a landfill, create a unique one from finds at the thrift store, or just spice up your seasonal decor with all the one of a kind treasures. Share those finds with the #thriftscorethursday hashtag on Instagram because we are 2. Planning a thriftily Halloween feature palooza next week. And 3. We have a plethora of awesome guest cohosts today to help spread the word about this fun feature.

My find. I’m not a Halloween person. I think the concept is weird (why are kids allowed to take candy from strangers one day a year?) and I don’t enjoy dressing up. I don’t find short term seasonal decorating fun for anything but Christmas (and that’s because I start the day after Halloween). But, I found the most adorable little piece. Like, seriously so adorable. (And I think if you do enjoy Halloween you should absolutely save castaways from the landfill!)

…

This little ghost head is too cute. He’s got an opening in the back for I’m thinking a tealight. I like the idea of using him as an incense burner and just picked some up last night. He’ll look charming with smoke coming out his eyes!

Features this week are the usual non themed thrifty finds because we’re doing a whole party of features next week. But you can peep in on all items tagged right in the #ThriftScoreThursday feed! Here’s what caught my eye:

Erica Reitman is always killin’ it. Always. Like I probably feature her every week. Here are two of her finds that blow me away.

@ericareitman That moment when Oliver photo bombs your wannabe perfectly styled Insta pic featuring the new/old African mud cloth you bought from a dude named Mohammed in an alley in Los Angeles even though you were just there to hang with @indiebungalow and protect her from Mohammed who was totally cool anyway and could only ever hurt someone by dumping the giant piles of mud cloth he had stacked up in his van on your head. But... — @ericareitman That moment when Oliver photo bombs your wannabe perfectly styled Insta pic featuring the new/old African mud cloth you bought from a dude named Mohammed in an alley in Los Angeles even though you were just there to hang with @indiebungalow and protect her from Mohammed who was totally cool anyway and could only ever hurt someone by dumping the giant piles of mud cloth he had stacked up in his van on your head. But…

@ericareitman When you find tassels that are 3 feet long, you really only have a few options: 1️⃣ Declare that day a national holiday #happynationaltasselday 2️⃣ Text everyone you know to show off and #tasselbrag 3️⃣ Then hang those mofos up next to your front door like they're a piece of art #tasselsarebetterthanart Amirite?? — @ericareitman When you find tassels that are 3 feet long, you really only have a few options: 1️⃣ Declare that day a national holiday #happynationaltasselday 2️⃣ Text everyone you know to show off and #tasselbrag 3️⃣ Then hang those mofos up next to your front door like they’re a piece of art #tasselsarebetterthanart Amirite??

And then there’s this wall hanging couch situation going on at Anna’s crib. *heart eye emoji*

@annabode Found this #vintage wall hanging at @meekvintage for only $75! If you're in the #Denver area you have to check this store out ?? — @annabode Found this #vintage wall hanging at @meekvintage for only $75! If you’re in the #Denver area you have to check this store out ??

And then I have to have this amazing pink horse piggy bank. This is ridiculously awesome, right?

@suite22antiques Little pink horses for you and me... Mid century modern "puffy" horse bank to help you save up for your next vacation! This bright pink pony is in the Danish modern style of horses designed by Stig Lindberg. #mcm — @suite22antiques Little pink horses for you and me… Mid century modern “puffy” horse bank to help you save up for your next vacation! This bright pink pony is in the Danish modern style of horses designed by Stig Lindberg. #mcm

Don’t forget to stop by all of the fab hosts today. All our awesome guest hosts are linked at the beginning of this post and below you can find your regular hosts. Have a great day and happy thrifting!

Want To Join In? Here’s The Rules!

We want you to participate! Hit up your local thrift stores, craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, side of the road, anything! Thrifty doesn’t necessarily mean from a thrift store. We want to see your good deals, wacky finds and treasures.
Don’t feel like you need to save those finds for Thursdays! Yes, features are shared on our blogs and Instagram on Thursdays, but we’re all checking in on (and using!) the hashtag all week long. So, when you see/find it, feel free to share it!
Each week, Trisha from Black and White Obsession, Cassie from Primitive and Proper, Brynne from The Gathered Home, Myself (A Designer At Home) and occassionally a guest co-host will pick a favorite thrift score or two to feature! So please note that by linking up with #thriftscorethursday, you are giving us permission to share your finds via social media or on our blogs.
Please remember that we can only share love for photos shared on public accounts. If your profile is private, we can’t see your finds.

Interested in hosting with us for a week? Want to see your face on this fabulous little graphic? You know you want to, it’s so much fun! Shoot me an email, and we’ll get you coordinated to guest host!