HYD Blog
thoughts on dwelling
I was so excited when I heard that Knoxville has a new second hand outdoor gear shop! Outdoor Gear Revival is in Bearden in an unassuming shopping center near Sonic. How had I passed this countless times without knowing it was there? This kind of shop was one of my favorite places to visit when I lived briefly in Asheville, and when I worked for two summers in Vermont leading crews of young people building hiking and mountain biking trails.
We recently heard a neighbor friend say that her quarantine home looks like “a craft store exploded inside.” Can any of you with small kids else relate?? So, what should we do with all those newly created art masterpieces from our kiddos? We want to celebrate all their little creations!
Instead of just stashing all their art in a folder or adding it to "the pile," here are 10 creative & manageable ways to bring some color into your home, celebrate the seasons, & show off your kids' imagination through art.
So this first one's not rocket science, but it's what works in our home. Our laundry room is on the main level & has gray walls so the art can really pop! I (or my kids) just rotate their art 2-3 times a year in this room leaving tiny holes from the tacks. The way I look it, when the art stops coming home someday, I'll be ready to repaint the room anyway, but until then, I get to be reminded of these little people I love so much while I'm trying to find that missing sock or checking their pockets before they hit the washer.
This is a great option for a more polished look that keeps it super easy to rotate art. Shannon Makes Stuff has great images for ideas. Let the kids have another art project by painting the frames themselves.
This option is a bit more pricey, but well worth the money to have one piece that speaks for many. My kids would love how professional this art display would make their art look.
The folks at Artful-Kids used a hanging wire to display art vertically allowing for easy rotation. This is a great option if you're short on wall space.
We love how Amanda Medlin created this wall for her boys' room with multicolored frames, but all white or all black frames would be another great option to showcase your child's art.
Aimee of It'sOverflowing.com has a great DIY plan to create a fun clothespin line for your kids to be able to change their own art with ease. HYD helped a client design one similar to this last year & it was a huge hit with their four kids.
This is brilliant. ArtKive has designed an app that allows you to photograph the artwork, upload it, and then turn it into books, gifts, or keepsakes.
HYD loves reclaimed wood projects. These from Old House to New Home are some of our favs. Of course, you could use lots of different styles of clipboards that work best for your space.
My thoughtful mother decided to pick a couple of my brother's & my best Christmas creations. My brother's is a Santa with no arms, he's a beauty. I did a lovely manger scene that brings back memories but doesn't come close to the fine artistic ability of my brother. It's been over 30 years since we created them & every year, we reminisce & poke fun at each other when mom hangs them. I love them!
Nothing too fancy here. Just find a color of twine or string that works for your space & use clothespins, paper clips, or even colorful hair clips to hang the art. The image above is our favorite using the spools as the anchors to hang. I have a friend who uses the twine method above her kitchen sink with smaller art pieces & it's so cute. She uses her childs' art in lieu of a curtain valance.
Once you've purged, it's helpful to know which organizations locally need which specific items. It's empowering to know your donation is going to a purposeful cause and is serving your local community. We've put together this resource of where to donate specific items!
Household Items-
KARM: drop off and pick up available
Ladies of Charity
Angelic Ministries
Antiques, vintage furniture & historic building materials-
Salvage Shop
Clothing & accessories-
bare.Thred: Exciting things ahead... Be on the lookout for information regarding donations on June 1. They repurpose clothes and aim to reduce clothing waste in Knoxville!
Bikes-
Kickstand
DreamBikes
Medical Equipment-
East Tennessee Technology Access Center
Arts & Craft Supplies-
The Basement Community Arts Studio
Eyeglasses-
The Lions Club
Volunteer Ministry Center
Construction & Building Material-
Habitat for Humanity
Please share other specific donation spots in Knoxville that you know of!
*Blog Image from Native Maps.
Image from archilovers.com
Spring is right around the corner and we've gathered some tips from around the web to help you purge, organize, and restock your garden shed. Sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to get a jump start on your yard and garden plots but having an inspiring potting shed definitely makes it easier. If you don't have a shed, think about possibly creating a gardening/lawn maintenance corner in your garage.
Image by Creative Organizing
1. There is nothing worse than rusted, dull gardening tools. To keep tools sharp and shiny, try storing them in a sand filled bucket or clay pot and mix in a little bit of oil. Your tools will be well kept and easy to grab on the go.
Image from bhg.com
2. Be resourceful. Think outside of the box and repurpose items you already have. Use a chick feed as a shelf, use an old shutter as a shelf, mount old rusted tools to the wall to hang things from. Once you start thinking creatively you'll find you have all kinds of things you could probably put to good use.
Image from bhg.com
3. To help keep track of when to plant what, try displaying your seeds by month. We love this idea of using ribbons and clothes pins. Seed packets are so pretty it's like displaying informal art.
Image and tutorial from Turtles and Tails
4. If you have limited space and you're sharing real estate in a garage, use this handy pull down table to create space for potting plants when you need it.
Image and tutorial by Instructables
5. Need seating and storage as well? This step-by-step tutorial walks you through how to create these tasteful and useful benches when storage is limited.
HYD hopes these ideas give you reason to get outside, get a little dirt under your nails, and enjoy the spring that's on it's way!
We sat down this week to interview the lovely Lindsay Heath about her house, her decorating style, and her philosophy on home. If you've never met Lindsay, the best way I know to describe her is that her presence feels like a warm hug.
Honestly, to focus on Lindsay's decorating style and her home in it's purely physical sense would be a disservice. Lindsay has a natural eye for creating beauty but what struck me the most about our visit was the overwhelming sense that when you walk into her home, the pressure is off, you are invited, welcomed, and appreciated.
With a knack for quirky items and for the cast off's of both friends and strangers, Lindsay and her husband Jonny have created a patchwork home that incorporates the practical, lovely, and eclectic parts of life in every sense. One thing Lindsay said that I've been thinking about a lot is that "space is defined by the people who inhabit it and use it". With a desire to make the people around her feel more important than the things she surrounds herself with, she aims for making spaces feel touchable and approachable; like you can enjoy yourself without having to worry about your surroundings. She mentioned that over the years she has come to find that an object can evoke a memory but that she doesn't have to retain the object in order for the memory to continue. Lindsay loves the creative aspect of decorating with objects that can be repurposed or reimagined. She loves finding unwanted objects and looking at them in a new way... kind of like when you find a house that's about to be demolished so you pick it up and move it two blocks over to save it... yes... she actually did that!!! (more on that at a later date) She shared with us that many, if not most of the things, in her house have been given to her and she in turn passes things along when she no longer has the space or need for them.
Lindsay is the first renter we have interviewed and we were especially interested in what she had to say about decorating a rental. Upon moving into their home they were asked not to paint or hang large things on the wall. As a result, Lindsay has used her limitations to find creative ways to dwell and make the space feel like home. Large art pieces lean against the walls, thumb tacks or Velcro strips are used for lighter objects. Lindsay has found that sometimes limits help you see things in new ways, limits force you to think creatively.
We asked Lindsay what "home" means to her and she mentioned the end of a stanza in the daily reading in the book of common prayer. It reads, "May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you; may he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm; may he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you; may he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors." The lines resonate with Lindsay in that to her, home is a place to welcome people in from the weariness, from the pace of the world.
"Home is a place for gathering and celebrating and for relaxing and eating: the really elemental practices. Home is the hub of human activity. The way that we relate in homes can be so formative- be it through decoration, presentation of food, accessibility to objects. Our relation to all those things that make us human make up a home; a place that can encapsulate all of the best parts of human life. "
Another unique thing about Lindsay and Jonny is that since they were married, they have always lived with other people- sometimes other married couples, sometimes single folks, but always someone. We asked her to tell us a little bit more about that decision. "On a practical level, when we got married, it made sense financially to share the expenses with others along with the fellowship, the space, the being known and knowing. The incidental disciplines and sacrifices of being not as able to hide the things that as humans we are tempted to hide and the discomfort of sharing space have been an unexpected and challenging reward. With the different people we’ve lived with, we always sit down and talk about all the reasons to live together, economic, practical, division of labor, fun -- but the primary reason we share a home with people is to become more like Christ. It’s been a very consistent practical way to be challenged and to challenge others in the comings and goings of every day life. Living with others creates a lot of opportunities to do that hard work. It has been a great way to keep in check the temptation to hold onto things tightly. Living with others is often inconvenient but there is an ethic of being uncomfortable that I’ve found to be a wonderful crucible-- that’s been a refinement of my walk towards Christ."
Image via Farm Chicks
We consistently find that our clients and friends struggle with finding ways to organize gift bags and wrapping paper etc. Typically, it all ends up in a jumbled mess thrown in a closet, smashed in a drawer, or scattered all over the house. We have some ideas for you that might make the Holiday Season and wrapping all those Christmas presents less stressful.
We have come up with ideas to work with any space.
If you would like to keep your wrapping supplies in a closet, try out one of these ideas.
Image via Southern Scraps
Image via Krazy Coupon Lady
If you don't have closet space, what about a dresser?
Image via Real Simple
Image via Ballard Design
Under the bed storage options...
Image via Iheartorganizing
Underbed storage tote from The Container Store
Free standing storage options...
Try a decorative laundry basket or trash can (Image via Smart School House)
Repurpose a bar stool (Image via Princess Pinky Girl)
We are interested in your ideas as well? How do you keep your wrapping materials organized?
