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these are the interior spaces I have designed
Hello, dear readers! I'd like to introduce you to my home, Nora's Nest 2.0! It's been a couple years since I've written a post, mainly because we've been renovating our new house, all with our baby girl (now toddler!) in tow. It's been quite a ride, and I'm so excited to show you the before and after renovation photos in the upcoming months.
In lieu of authentic glass heart ornaments for Valentine's Day this year (for which I searched but couldn't find), I decided to make my own! Making these faux antique glass hearts was so simple and gave me instant gratification. By hanging them in Valentine Trees like I did in
To sweeten our home for Valentine's Day this year, I made 3-D paper hearts that float over my Valentine Vessel in the dining room. Bring whimsy to your own Valentine celebration using my easy DIY: Hearts and Crafts directions!
If you enjoyed my Hearts and Crafts for Valentine's Day post, below are the DIY directions on how to make your own hanging hearts!
After six years of marriage and a little one in tow, I think my husband may have figured me out a little bit ;). While wandering around an antique shop this past weekend, my husband called out to me (without showing me his secret find), "Hey sweetie? I'm just going to go ahead and put this at the register. I know you're going to want this thing.”
As promised from my post, Living Room in the Nest, here are some before and after shots of our living room transformation. The before photos are what we saw when we walked into the house for the first time!
The Easter egg tree has been a long standing tradition in my family. Every year, a few new eggs are bedazzled using different techniques -- paint, marbling, dye, and even gold-leaf!
For every Valentine's Day I can remember as a child, a tree branch adorned with heart ornaments graced our home this time of year. Each tree had vintage glass hearts and homemade hearts that my family and I would create in the days leading up to February 14.
For some silver pop on my holiday mantle, I've created a modern twist on the green garland. This silver holly garland is the perfect compliment to my antique mercury glass beads and silver glittered pinecones, giving my mantle a reason to shine for the holiday. Make your home shine with a silver holly garland of your own!
After a recent stroll through a California forest, I was inspired to create faux mushrooms and nestle them into moss for autumnal house decor. I remembered doing paper mache as a child and creating anything my heart desired -- rabbits, monkeys, boats, etc. So I thought, why not paper mache mushrooms? It's been several years since my paper mache days, but the project was just as fun as I remembered, and the mushrooms turned out cuter than I had imagined!
Dress up your home’s focal point in a glamorous fashion this Halloween. On this mantle, I’ve kept the color palette fairly simple: to black and white. A collection of white pumpkins, black bats, a black urn, white coral, and a black handmade spiderweb makes this mantle perfectly Spooky-Glam. Just Beware…You won’t want to turn your back!
It's officially the month of Halloween, and I couldn't be more thrilled! After spotting these adorable black cat wine bottles at World Market, I knew they had to become something for this year's spooky-glam festivities. Their shape and color seemed purrfect for candelabras, so "cat"alabras is what I made!
When a sweet friend gave me this urn last Friday and said, "Maybe you can do something with it!", all I could think of was how lovely it could be once painted and refreshed. Although its color was austere, I loved its simplicity and thought it could be perfect for displaying a house plant or (my favorite) coral. And so the painting adventure began!
Hope everyone is having a lovely 4th of July!! When planning decor for this fun summer holiday, images of stars and the beach came to my mind. Combine those two images, and I got starfish!!
Happy Fourth of July!!! This holiday, I decorated my mantle with traditional flags, yellow flowers fresh from my garden, and of course, blue coral.
When my darling bride-to-be friend asked if I could help her antique her large, new silver mirror for her wedding, I was thrilled to take on the challenge! She needed the mirror frame to look gold and aged -- its purpose to provide the reception's seating chart via beautiful calligraphy and compliment the gold, neutral, and blush pink tones of her wedding. In under two hours, we transformed her mirror from new to antique. So let's begin!
As promised from my last post, Creating Our Home Office, here is how we designed our home office from scratch. It all began with a custom-made desk that my husband built and I painted!
Just like a nest, our house is "perched" atop a hill and often feels like a treehouse. The height gives it a beautiful view, and the bonus room at the top front of the house has one of the best views of all. For this reason, I thought it was imperative that this view be enjoyed and admired every day. And so, a home office was born!
Good morning, and Happy Easter Day! Looking for a last minute centerpiece, but one that's edible, too? Look no further than this naturally beautiful Eggstravaganza!
Seeing as how I am obsessed with nests (obviously) and all things naturally beautiful, there really couldn't be a more perfect holiday for me than Easter. For this year's celebration, I decorated my buffet table with simple decor in variations of nests and eggs. The only other thing this table needs is a large display of delicious deviled eggs!
Making a clover herbarium is extremely easy and so fitting for St. Patrick's Day!
Springtime is around the corner. Want to add some pop to your garden? Nestle pots and planters made of different colors, shapes, and materials throughout your outdoor space. You can find red vintage pots from flea markets or bright blue glazed pots at retail stores like Anthropologie. Want to make your own? Glue clam shells to your planter in a scalloped fashion, and you have a garden masterpiece!
Happy Valentine's Week! To prepare our home for the special day, I created heart ornaments to hang in my trees and chandeliers (as seen in the last post, Valentine Trees). These heart ornaments are wonderfully fun to make, last forever, and don't even require a special trip to the store. Below are the materials and step-by-step directions to make approximately 45 hearts.
It isn't just Valentine's Day that I love creating (or receiving :)) a bountiful bouquet of flowers, but there's something about this time of year that makes a floral arrangement even more magical. As I was searching for bouquet inspiration for our home, I came across these whimsical beauties, each one of them making my heart skip a beat. I hope you enjoy!
Whenever Valentine's Day rolls around, it's impossible to know what to give my husband. But I know that the true way to his heart is with sweets! Therefore, I've decorated for an afternoon Tea For Two in our breakfast nook that will set the stage for his beloved sweets when Valentine's Day arrives.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday! New Year’s is just around the corner, so there’s still some time to enjoy the festive decorations and lazy days ahead.
Traditionally, my family has always had a Christmas feast on the night before Christmas, so tonight, the dining table must be merry and bright. For my Christmas decor, glittered pinecones are the stars of the show as they drip from the chandelier above our table. On the body of the chandelier are silvery green leaves and swags of ivory ribbon cradling larger glittered pinecones.
If I've spent the time to find the perfect gift, I want to give that gift the perfect wrapping. And it all starts with the wrapping paper! For a blank slate, I love to use brown wrapping paper...it allows me to create designs directly onto the paper, emboss stamps or drawings, and add virtually any color ribbon or accoutrement I desire. Here are simple DIY directions for wrapping the perfect gift:
Want to style an orchid like a pro? Here are a few simple tips to designing the perfect orchid planter for your home. For these three projects, you'll need the orchid plant (comes with stakes and clips), a planter, moss, and natural sticks of your choosing. These magical beauties need very little care and can last for months. Let's get started!