Add a personal touch to your wrapped gifts with these Nordic style Christmas printable gift tags in graphic red and black!

I'm sharing 5 easy and affordable ideas for decorating a beautiful and classic Christmas table.

Make these DIY marbled ornaments in just minutes using nail polish! Watch my video to see exactly how to do it!

Turning your bedroom into a cozy and romantic Christmas retreat will make going to bed even more magical!

This tutorial will show you how to make graphic black and white wood framed snowflake signs, perfect for a Christmas mantle!

Decorating for Christmas can be done on a budget! Here are 20 of my favorite DIY Christmas ideas that are budget-friendly, on-trend and gorgeous!

Soups can warm your heart and soul on a cold winter's night! Here are 30 recipes for soul satisfying soups, chilis and stews.

Make the holidays sparkle with frosted Christmas luminaries! These snowy, icy jars will light up your holidays!

Turn your home into a winter wonderland with these amazing finds from Walmart, all under $20! 

This DIY Christmas wreath is quick to make, budget-friendly and will add a classic farmhouse Christmas welcome to your front door!

Turkey day will be here before you know it! This is the perfect time to make one (or more!) of these DIY Thanksgiving day decor ideas. 

I'm sharing some simple ideas to decorate your dining room and set your table for Thanksgiving, plus sharing a FREE printable for you to use!

I'm sharing an easy way for a beginner to paint a sweet country church in a field of flowers!

 

I'm breaking out of my neutral loving rut and taking an antique cabinet to bold new heights!

I'm sharing how I repurposed some wood pieces to make this cottage style breakfast bed tray in a soft jade green.

Turn ordinary store bought pumpkins into reflective copper beauties! An easy and inexpensive project that anyone can do in just minutes!

I've rounded up 8 amazing DIY decor ideas that cost $20 or less! You are going to want to check these out asap!

This tutorial will show you get a brand new look for very little money by reupholstering your own chair cushions!

I'm sharing two different no-sew Fall pillow ideas that make a dramatic statement in black and white, perfect for all you neutral lovers!

I'm sharing how we created a small round side table from three antique legs, and added cottage style with a quilt-inspired stencil.

Some simple and inexpensive ways to add cozy, rustic fall feels to your bedroom!

Drop cloth pumpkins are perfect for neutral decor and farmhouse style and you are going to love how easy and inexpensive they are to make!

Rethink the lowly 2x4! Check out these 9 amazing wood projects made from 2x4s!

Fall is fast upon us and I'm sharing some of my favorite DIY pumpkin ideas that you can make for your own home! These no-carve ideas are easy and affordable!

These easy to make, large-scale 2x4 wood pumpkins will add beautiful presence to your porch this Fall! Read on and I'll show you how to make them!

I'm sharing how I gave a pair of road-side-rescued drawers fresh new life, ball feet, and ideas for using them for both storage and display!

Platform beds are an inexpensive way to add clean, modern style. I'm sharing how we built a Queen size platform bed for our teenage daughter's bedroom for only $125!

Two hours is all it really takes to make these beautiful DIY projects for your home! From wood to metal, paint to rope...there's something for everyone!

Fake cakes are a fun way to add some "fresh-baked" goodness to your decor...that will actually last! These cakes are a cinch to make and very affordable!

Today I'm sharing how I turned spindles from an old chair into farmhouse chippy candlesticks! This is an easy project even for power tool newbies!

Adding simple farmhouse patriotic decor to the living room for the summer

How to easily turn regular mason jars into hanging flower display! Hung from a rustic shutter, they create an instant garden on the wall!

Updating a teenage girl's bedroom with modern decor, a DIY platform bed and a new Nectar mattress.

Today we're sharing the process for building a set of double barn doors. Mr DIY and I (but mostly Mr DIY!) built barn doors to replace french doors off our Master bedroom. They add such rich farmhouse style! Keep reading for the tutorial!

Does your dining room need a refresh for summer? I'm sharing how I added fun pops of color and cute accessories for less than $20!

This tutorial will show you how to make inexpensive DIY bee skeps/hives for under $10! Plus tips and tricks for the best outcome!

I'm sharing a roundup of outdoor projects to get your home and yard ready for summer fun!

I'm sharing where to buy some of my favorite home decor items today! These are viewer favorites that many of you have asked about and most of them are on sale!

We added cottage curb appeal to our front porch with new shade loving bedding plants and a few inexpensive decorative essentials! 

Affiliate links may be included for your convenience; my full disclosure policy can be found here. If you click through and make a purchase I'll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you!

It's that time of year when the nice weather draws us outside and we are motivated to spruce up our yards! Our Texas farmhouse needed a little more curb appeal, and today I'm sharing how we added that with a front porch refresh and new bedding plants.

Let me show you our home. Here's a picture taken in October 2016 just after we moved in. I know you're staring at our gorgeous Golden Rain Tree...but take your eyes off those amazing blooms for a sec and look at our front flower beds. See those hedges? Ew! They were FULL of spider webs and just did nothing for the curb appeal of our beautiful home! I believe they were intended as a privacy hedge, but we never sat on the front porch because who wants to look at spider-infested bushes? NOT ME!

So a few weeks ago, Mr DIY and our son dug them out! I stayed far away during that little project! They also removed the azalea bushes that never bloomed and planted them in the back yard where they'll get more sun. 🌺🌺🌺 Which meant that the beds were basically empty and we were left with a blank slate!

The challenge in our front yard is the shade. We have two huge trees that provide shade almost 100% of the time. And yes, a new mailbox is in the works too 😉

Front Yard Before

We have had some beautiful yards in the past, gardens too, but I don't consider us to be gardening gurus...we needed some help! We did some online research, and even spoke extensively with the owner of a local nursery to find out what plants would do best in our yard! We are fairly new to Texas, so we weren't sure what would grow in this spot or if flowering plants would even be possible!

We saved a ton money by purchasing small plants! They will grow and I cannot wait until they fill in! We also added black mulch to the flower beds, which makes such a difference.

Here are the beautiful results.

Front Yard After

It looks so much better! I'll share a list of the plants we added below, but I just want you to enjoy the change!

Once the plants reach maturity, it will provide some privacy for the porch, and I can't wait until we have lots and lots of blooms!

Porch Refresh

After the wet winter that we had, our porch was a mess! Mr DIY took the pressure washer to it, and then we made it look pretty for summer with a few simple additions. For my birthday in April, the kids and Mr DIY bought me hanging ferns and ivy for the openings between our porch posts and my son planted them into hanging baskets with coco liner for me. I love the leafy look!

I shared in my Christmas porch tour how I had found the black rocker and table at the curb one day! Woohoo! But they looked a little lonely on our 30-foot porch, so I started watching Craigslist and FB Marketplace for porch rockers and found this white pair for only $50! Some outdoor cushions from Target add a little more color. 

Last year I painted our side door blue (my favorite color) in just 30 minutes using a paint specifically for exterior doors , and knew I wanted to emphasize that color on the front porch too!

I purchased 2 12-foot outdoor runners to draw your eye away from the concrete! Initially I wanted to paint the porch floor, but no one in the family was in support of that idea...😕 These are the exact runners I purchased, and I couldn't be happier with them!

The runners are easy to hose off and I love the additional pop of color against our white home!

We added shade loving flowers to our pots, like these gorgeous double begonias and geraniums. If you follow me on Instagram, I shared the makeover for this white chippy plant-chair in the fall. 

And a new flag banner was a simple afternoon DIY project that will hang up all summer!

Here are the plants that we used for our front flower beds. They get a little afternoon sun, but are in shade for most of the day. I'm linking to them so that you can see what they look like. I recommend shopping at your local nursery for plants native to your area!

Shade Loving Plants

• hydrangea
• jasmine (this is a beautifully scented vine that we're training up the trellis at the side)
• camelia
• viburnum
• several varieties of hosta
• vinca minor (love this blue shade!)
• foxtail fern
• several varieties of coleus

I hope this post is helpful for you. A home with curb appeal and a welcoming front porch is SO NICE to come home to! I still want to change out our mission-style lights to something with cottage style, and I've always wanted a porch ceiling painted haint blue...so we'll see if I get to those projects this summer or not. The heat and humidity have started climbing into the stratosphere, and early morning/late evening is the only time it's cool enough to sit out on the porch with a glass of iced tea.

This Canadian girl is turning a little Southern, eh? 😍

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This blog's content is for entertainment purposes only and is not professional advice. By reading this blog and attempting to recreate any content shared on it, you assume all responsibility for any injuries or damages incurred. Read my full disclaimer here.