In case you didn’t know, I’m actually an artist! I went to art school and was a graphic designer in NYC before switching to teaching art. I paint and sell and like to do stuff for myself to keep as well…but as much as I love abstract art as decor, there’s nothing like reliving some of life’s greatest moments, big & small, every time you walk into a room.

I honestly forget how I first found Smallwood Homes, but it was probably on Pinterest or Instagram. It was those extra large custom frames and the second I saw them, I had to have them. After our first ever family trip to LBI in October of 2020, I ended up with three amazing photos of the boys, that I thought would be amazing for these custom frames. We were also completing our shiplap wall in the stairwell and I just had such a vision; these frames would be so perfect!

These are the XL, 25″x44″ custom photo frame in the Almond color.

The quality of the canvas was so exceptional, I was truly blown away. It’s different than I expected but they’re fabulous. It’s thicker and harder than I imagined it would be and the pixels are mind blowing. I can see every detail of the photo crisp as if though I zoomed in! The grains of sand on Jack’s face make it.

I also dabbled in their custom wrapped canvases just a bit….they’ve kind of exploded all over my house. The problem is, I have 40,000 photos on my phone and I hate that I never see the photos! I spent countless hours sifting through and thinking back to moments I enjoyed, from when Bert was a baby and so on. I was able to come up with some of our simplest but most treasured moments….at Oak Hill Farms, in the wild flower garden, at the beach…simple.

This is our home office and these are the XL Square, 25″x25″ custom wrapped canvas.

I love the wrapped canvases because they have dimension and you get to see the photo from every angle. Again, the quality is second to none. I have these, the small squares which are 13″x13″ and some of the 17″x25″ rectangles. See below!

This is our stairwell to the playroom, playroom, upstairs hallway entering our room, Bert’s room and the other corner of the office. [Don’t mind the rooms, none of them are completed yet!]

The phrases, sayings and custom wording that you can create are also a favorite of mine. You can play around with fonts, sizes, colors and add a personal touch to accompany your beautiful photos!

Use CODE GRACE20 for a discount!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO
Kel

Updated: Nov 3, 2020

While a small and simple part of a home, the foyer is the first impression people get, when they walk in. What do you want your home to say about you? I want ours to say, “We’re simple and organized”, even if only the simple part is true. The foyer in our home was already spacious, but being a colonial, it was closed off to the rest of the downstairs. You could enter it from either the front door or the garage [still can] and it had 4 openings; one to the formal dining room, one to the kitchen, one to the sitting room and one was the landing. to the stairs. Our before picture is from when we had just bought the house, so don’t mind all of the clutter! You can see how I originally had it set up as well. I’ve since spray painted the metal on the console table black, in the interim, until I get a new one.

In this bottom photo, you get a sneak peek of my DIY kitchen and through the plastic, the start of the major reno! When we first bought the house, we painted [most of] it natural gray, by Behr. I was on this gray kick and we attempted to achieve the perfect shade so many times, our home literally ended up 50 shades of gray! Not exaggerating, every room was different. My husband, Rob, and I took turns picking out the shade because we “knew what we were doing”. In the end, we landed with the natural gray, and while it was definitely gray, as you can see in the picture, in certain light it looked purple. Drove us crazy. So we decided for the renovation, to make it simple, we would go “white” but “not white”. And so the saga continued…

SPOILER ALERT – we chose Polar Bear by Behr from @thehomedepot and we love it! In fact, we literally get EVERYTHING at The Home Depot. Walt, who ours kids now call Uncle Walt, either loves us or hates us, he’s had so much interaction with our family. He’s been with us through good times and bad, well behaved toddlers and moments where they were at the brink of a mental breakdown. 8pm deliberation over windows when bed time is 7pm. 6am Saturday morning door discussions, and last minute run ins for the random stuff…speaking of, I can’t wait to share my homemade built-ins with you, that I made from Home Depot cabinets! I’ll post our process!

Getting back on track, here’s the rough after of the foyer. The kitchen is now gone and you can see what was happening behind the plastic. I’ll post about it later, but two major walls were removed and the porch was enclosed to become part of the house. The windows, ALL THE WINDOWS! [13 to be exact and a set of french doors]. I remember the day the plastic came down. I felt like I could breathe again!

Here she is! Still not quite done yet…I’m anxiously awaiting a new front door, which I’m hoping is a double door, a new rug and finishing decor touches. Don’t mind the price tags on my baskets…or my not streaky mirror [slapping my forehead]. I’m also in search of a new console table. I’m thinking something with darker wood, like an oak, taller and with no bottom piece. Just when the reno is done and you think so are you…the real work begins; design!

As a matter of fact, I am SO excited about the new HGTV show coming out by @theramblingredhead. Do you follow her? If not, you NEED to. She has a gorgeous home that she showcases on her instagram and her show is going to be No Demo Reno. We are planning another major addition and renovation of the upstairs, but most of the bedrooms are staying the same, including ours. So, I’m super excited to get some inspiration from her about how to transform your current spaces into something amazing, without major structural changes or mega bucks. I have some ideas already…but one thing at a time!

Updated: Oct 10, 2021

I posted a picture of my foyer and the compliments that flooded in regarding my front door were incredible. I laughed because we’re currently looking for a new front door [in fact, we’re looking into double doors] and in the interim, I gave it the good ole DIY makeover. I didn’t want to just paint it, because I wanted it to appear like it had wood grain and not flat, so I started looking into products that could do that. I found this amazing kit on Amazon. It was super affordable [about $35] and so easy to use!

The kit literally provides everything you need, even the painter’s tape! You start by painting the door, letting it dry and then using the mitt that they give you, dip it in the “magic” top coat and rub it on, following the natural wood grain direction. You can do one coat or 3, depending on how intense you want it to look. VOILA! That’s it! It took me maybe an hour or so to do my entire front door and sidelights. They have a few color options to choose from. I used the Black Walnut. The kit I used for the garage covers 2 doors for about $70. Way less than new doors!

Also, I should mention that you DO NOT have to sand down your door prior. I did not sand the actual door itself. We only sanded the sidelights because my original intent was to stain it all, but I wasn’t loving the color [bottom left] which is ironic, because it probably would’ve looked like the paint job! The sanding and removing of years and years worth of paint was just so much work. So, we made it all this way and threw in the towel as I changed courses and ran with the painting kit option.

Meet Jake 🙂 I even painted the white, vinyl storm door to blend in and look like wood. I didn’t do anything to prime it either; no sanding, nothing! Below is a photo of my first round, the Black Walnut.

I was really experimenting here, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted black or natural wood front and garage doors. After doing the garage doors the same way, with another color, I decided to go with the natural wood look. Below is an updated photo! I used English Oak.

I should add that, I painted both my front door and garage doors over a year ago, and they are still as perfect as the day I did them! It allowed us to achieve the look we wanted while we wait to be able to afford actual new garage doors and the double front doors of my dreams. 🙂

Let me know if you have any questions and make sure you subscribe to never miss the inside details on my home projects and easy, everyday style tips and deals!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Kel

Updated: Jan 1

The time spent mentally preparing myself to install this runner took longer than installing the runner. I can’t express enough, how truly simple this was! I did my research beforehand, which certainly helped and hopefully this post can save you that much and lay it all out there for ya! I used a Dash and Albert rug, by Annie Selke and I can’t say enough great things!

What you’ll need…

1. I hope this is an obvious one, but measure your space two
2. or three times and order more than you need, by at least a few feet! My runner came in 2’6″x8 or 2’6″x12′ and I used 1 entire 12′ and then probably another 4 or 5′ of the second runner. Don’t worry, I’ll go over how to combine two together.
3. Make sure you have rug pads for each tread. My stairs were finished hardwood so we didn’t have anything. I actually found a 2×8′ runner pad with a rubber backing on amazon. I loved this for multiple reasons; I didn’t have to adhere anything to the hardwood because the rubber keeps it in place, it was so easy to cut through to make the individual tread pads and it was only $25!
4. Tape measure, staple gun, crown staples and a flat tool. [A spackle knife or wallpaper smoother will work; I used my wallpaper smoother]
5. Pliers , to remove any staples that may go in wonky.

How you do it…

1. Center rug pads on steps, all the way down and double check it with tape measure, on the sides.
2. Lay the runner out to get an idea of placement and have all of your materials ready to go.
3. I lined up the binding of the runner [because I wanted it to show] with the top of my step’s kick plate. I angled the staple gun upward and shot staples into the top corners of the rug, on the kick plate, to hold it in place. Afterwards, I used my fingers to keep the rug even and stapled it along the top, 2-3 more times.
4. Use the flat tool to tuck the runner into the back bottom crease, taut, and staple as close to the crease as possible.] I turned my staple gun sideways to get it as close to the tread as I could. Again, I avoided stapling into the tread. Do this on the 2 ends and then fill in the middle with as many staples as you need. I used about 4 across every pass.
5. Using my hands, I kept the runner aligned on the bullnose of the tread [because my pattern required that] and then holding it taut again, stapled underneath, repeating the above steps.

Watch the below video to see how I did it…

What to do if you run out of…runner…

1. Using scissors, cut across the runner, leaving enough rug to cover the last kick plate on your bottom step. [Better to leave even more; you can always trim it further]
2. Fold over the start of the new rug, aligning it and layering it over the cut edge of the first rug. Staple the same way as you’ve been. You may need to use extra pressure to get through the multiple layers, depending on how thick your rug is. [I didn’t love how this was looking with my pattern, so I actually just stapled the raw cut edge on top of the new piece.] It blended in enough and I chose a height that no adult would really see if they were standing near the steps.
3. When you get to your last step, you’re going to cut the runner again, and bring back that last bit from the first, that you saved. Attach it the same way you did above. Then, making sure it’s straight and taut, staple in the bottom along the base trim. We had quarter round lining every step, which is why I kept the binding. It just fit nicely into the recession of the trim. If you don’t have this, you may want to pop off your trim and put the runner behind it! It all depends on the look you’re going for!

That’s it! It took me less than an hour and I did it while all 3 kids were playing upstairs. I may go back in and staple some more, as the cotton stretches a little with the constant pull and I also went VERY light on the initial staples.

Helpful Tips…

1. Keep the rug pads evenly sized and the front edges straight. I would keep them almost as deep [within an inch] as the stair tread. If it’s a 10″ tread, cut them 9-10″
2. The rug pads shouldn’t be as wide as the runner; you want the runner to lay flat at the edges.
3. I used an electric staple gun. Less man power needed.
4. Take your time and make sure you’re pulling as tight as you can, keeping the pattern even, if it applies to your rug.
5. Use a rug tape or adhesive to help hold it in place, if you don’t care about your steps’ surface.

I am so happy I finally dove in and completed this project. It has brought warmth and dimension to our home and the whole family, especially the dogs, is enjoying the transformation. Thanks for reading and as always, comment with any questions!

XO

Kel