Inspiration

 

I get asked a lot where my inspiration to design + decorate comes from. Like most of you, I love looking at pictures on Pinterest to get the majority of my ideas. Recently, within the past year, I feel like my style has evolved. To be honest with you, some of the decisions I made when we first bought our house I wouldn't necessarily make today. The excitement of owning a new home can make you make hasty decisions that you aren't happy with looking back. For me, a major regret would be the paint colors I chose. I LOVE them and chose a lot of colors that were in our families home that I knew I liked on the walls, but now, seeing that my style has evolved, I wouldn't choose them again. Hence why we are repainting after the first of the year... Hubs isn't too happy about that :) But, you live and you learn.

On the other side of that, I believe that Pinterest can also make you feel as though what you have isn't good enough. Granted, I have my whole life planned out on those boards. Future ideas for kids, dream home ideas, recipes, decorating for the holidays, etc. Evan + I's dream is to own tons of land one day with a beautiful farmhouse and animals. But, you have to be happy with where you are. God put you there for a reason. So what, your home doesn't look like the pins you pin on Pinterest? Well, after reading a lot of decorating books, those homes don't look like that either. They are staged for pictures and professionals come in to decorate and then leave you with a mess. If you want to know the behind the scenes of photo shoots for homes, you should read The Nester's book. She talks all about what her rooms actually look like and what they look like when stagers come in for magazines. We all want nice homes, but lets be realistic here. I believe in functionality and beauty.

Recently, a lot of my inspiration has come from Joanna Gaines and her show #fixerupper. I feel like her design style is simple, farmhouse chic. Which is right up my alley, And, to me, its attainable. A lot of the things she uses I have seen at target, home goods, or found similar items at my favorite antique stores. It's not so out of reach compared to other HGTV shows. Another place my inspiration comes from is from my favorite blogs. Before I got started with this blogging adventure, I always followed My Sweet Savannah, The Nester , Dear Lillie, and Liz Marie Blog. I LOVE their style. I still want my living room to look like My Sweet Savannah's. They're just so inspiring. They are moms that made it in this design world. And to me, that's awesome.

Another source of inspiration would be my Mom and Mother-in-Law. My mom's style is very shabby chic and just all around pretty. My mother-in-law has a mixture of rustic, coastal and traditional. And I love each of them equally. I've tried to blend the two in our home with a little touch of my own thrown in there :)

Hope this post could inspire some of you as well...
Until next time.

xoxo,
Ellany

MMS Milk Paint + A Giveaway! :)

We are going to try something we have never done before here at The Crowe's Nest. A GIVEAWAY! I always talk about how I love to repaint furniture, what products I use, and how to do it on my Instagram account. So, I want this to be accessible to all of you.

I recently discovered Miss Mustard Seed, and COULD NOT be more OBSESSED with her products. I ordered a packet of her milk paint, just to try, and quickly fell in love. Don't get me wrong, I still love chalk paint. There is no substitute for that. But, for those of you who love the distressed look, this is the kind of paint for you. I swear to you, it cracks and distresses on it's own. ITS AMAZING. Her paint comes in powder form and you mix it to create the consistency that you want. The powder makes 1 quart and covers approximately 70 sq. feet.

I ordered the color grain sack. I ordered it because "t’s a chameleon color, meaning it looks different depending on what is around it.  Sometimes it looks white, sometimes gray and sometimes more beige." (from the MMS website)

I first tried it out on an old antique tool box I bought on Etsy at the store FoundNMade. I wasn't really sure what to expect and wanted to get a good feel for the consistency and coverage of the paint before I used it on a bigger project. The MMS website has great tutorials and tips on how to use her product as well.

Here are all of my supplies. I also bought her paint mixer.

I mixed it based on their instructions, one part water + one part powder. Mix for 1 minute and let sit for 10 minutes before using. I found it easiest to mix it in a mason jar since the measurements can be found on the side.

Here is my tool box after one coat of paint. I ended up doing two coats total. The coverage was great!

Isn't this awesome?! It chips and distresses itself.

finished product

I had some pretty sweet company while working on this. Love my jackdoodle.

SO,  if you want to try milk paint and are intrigued after reading this post-- here is what you have to do:
[1] FOLLOW me @thecrowesnest_ on Instagram
[2] COMMENT on my Instagram photo with at least 3 friends tagged
[3] REPOST my photo to your Instagram account tagging @thecrowesnest_ + #thecrowesnestgiveaway

...and BOOM! You're entered// winner will be announced Friday November 7th. 

Happy Sunday!