How To Decorate Your Mantel For Fall

Fall Mantels

Your mantel and fireplace takes front and center in your living room every day, but during the holidays, it should stand out even more. Because mantels are almost always the focal point of a room, what better place to decorate in the fall than that? Whether your mantel is small or grand, there are so many ways to spruce it up with cute fall decorations. We’ve gathered a few of our favorites below!

A fun banner: we like the idea of using words and sayings on your mantel. Hang a festive banner that says “thankful”, “give thanks”, “fall in love”, or for Halloween hang up a big “BOO!”. This one is a great way to involve the kids.

Decorate your mantel with pumpkins, but not the orange kind! We love the idea of unusual colored pumpkins, like these gold, white and sage ones. If your home decor doesn’t mesh well with orange, you can still get in the fall spirit with other colors. This look is very modern too, so you’ll definitely stand out from the orange crowd!

Hang a wreath inside! Get the family together to make a DIY fall wreath. There are so many DIY wreath tutorials online, it’ll be difficult to choose just one! We think this is a perfect way to decorate your mantel, especially if it was made spending time together because that’s what this season is all about. Thanks for reading, happy decorating and happy holidays! 

Feminine, Classy Bedroom

This bedroom pictured below needed a major upgrade! Woodmaster Woodworks was there to help. The owner wanted to do a shiplap accent wall where the bed goes; we LOVE shiplap, so we were definitely on board. The color is a grayish-blue and it truly just gives the entire room the coziest vibe, and makes you want to lay in bed all day and watch Netflix! The whole feel is very serene, and that's exactly what your bedroom should be - it should be a retreat. 

Now, this photo gives you a closer look at what we did to the owner's bed side furniture. The night stands were stained to begin with, so we decided to paint them a similar color to the shiplap wall, and give it a distressed look. The end result is just fabulous; they look brand new but homey at the same time. The homeowner's decorations really tied the whole look together. The delicate pinks with the crisp white comforter makes us want to move right in! 

Switching sides: this is the view from the bed. Woodmaster Woodworks created this custom built-in unit for the TV, plenty of shelves, and wait for it.... a dog crate space! Yes - a built-in space for the homeowners dog crate. We absolutely love this idea because now the crate is not sticking out like a sore thumb, and you won't trip over it anymore! Custom cabinetry and carpentry is key if you really want the end product to look original to the home. You cannot even tell that this wasn't built-in from day one. Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoyed! 

Inspirational Kitchens

With just a little time spent on Pinterest, you can find kitchen inspiration for days! We have put together a list of some of our favorite looks. Which one best fits your style? 

Brick Back Splash: This rustic look is to die for; especially designed in a herringbone pattern. We have a feeling that this warm style is the new classic and it will be around for a while!

Glass Cabinets: We love the open feel glass cabinets give a kitchen. Paired with the marble counter tops and glamorous back splash, you can't go wrong with this look. 

Mint: If you find yourself pining over eclectic style homes on Pinterest, maybe a mint kitchen would be just right for you. Pair it with a butcher block island counter top to tone it down a bit. Classy yet fun and unexpected, this gorgeous color will definitely be a conversation starter in your home. 

Open Shelving: Are you a fan of the show "Fixer Upper"? If so, you've seen a lot of open shelving in their kitchens. This look will put the final touches on a farmhouse style kitchen. Open shelves are perfect for putting your best decor and china on display.

Two Islands: This is a rare kitchen feature, but who says you should stop at one island?! If you're an avid chef or entertainer, this would definitely come in handy. We say, if you have the space for two islands, go for it! 

Thanks for reading the Woodmaster Woodworks blog! We hope that we've sparked some kitchen inspiration for all of our readers. Check out some of our very own kitchen cabinets and other carpentry projects on our website:

http://woodmasterwoodworks.com/cabinetryphotos.html

Bathroom Cabinets

Choosing cabinetry should not be a mindless matter. Sure, you can pick whatever you think looks good, but in order to get more bang for your buck, you should really put some thought into it. Cabinets can be customized for almost anything these days, so why not take advantage of it?

As seen in the photo to the right, the cabinet in the middle is actually a trash pull out. The great thing is that you can't even tell. It looks like a deep drawer, but now there's no need for a trash bin to be out in the open; it can be concealed and pretty like this! We absolutely love this idea because it just makes the bathroom look cleaner overall. Another neat feature these cabinets have is the mirrors double as medicine cabinets. No more clutter on the counters! They're definitely not tiny, dingy medicine cabinets off to the side like traditional ones are. These are top of the line, large cabinets with gorgeous glass shelves on the inside. Who says cabinets shouldn't be as pretty on the inside as they are on the outside?

Traditional vanities have gone by the wayside. Check out how many custom vanities are made now in this photo. Instead of regular shelving on the inside, pull out shelves offer easier access to your things, and easier organization! You will not have to worry about knocking things over while searching for something in the dark back of your vanity. Why didn't someone think of this earlier?! 

Now this photo is actually from Pinterest, because we all know it's the place to find neat ideas! We really like the idea of open shelving in the vanities because it offers easy access for things we use all the time, like towels and storage bins. When you have a larger vanity like this one and plenty of drawers to hide the ugly stuff, you can roll up your best towels and put some items in wooden bins, and put them on display for a rustic feel. So homey! When it comes to choosing bathroom cabinetry, think about what your bathroom lacks, what it could use, what overall style you want, and pick accordingly. We hope that these few tips will help you achieve a beautiful, timeless bathroom!

Features That Make Your Home Unique

Hello there! I think we can all agree that we want a home that is unique to us. This got me thinking, that to have a unique house doesn't mean that you necessarily have to do something dramatic like tearing walls down or repaint the exterior. While those things can be great, sometimes we aren't prepared for a giant project like that. So, I've gathered some suggestions for you on how to add small features to your home to make it unique and special! 

First, you could add a built in shelf as a room or space separator in your home. This particular design is modern and sleek, instantly upgrading the look of the rooms. It separates the two rooms just enough so that there is definition, but without closing the spaces off completely. Now the rooms are distinguished but light and airy with an open bookcase for added decoration and storage. This could be done in a master between the bed area and a sitting area, or between a foyer and a living room. This shelf was done by Woodmaster Custom Cabinets.

Cell phone charging stations are genius. This tiny built in can get so much use in a household. Most likely, every member of your family has a cell phone. With a charging station, all you need is an outlet and little shelves to hold the phones. Add one in your kitchen and/or living room since those are the two rooms we socialize in most. These are usually placed mid-way up the wall, so no more bending down to plug in your phone or your guests phone when you have company over. Now, you can stay connected in the most convenient spots in your home without the fear of a dying phone!

A butler’s pantry may seem a tad fancy, but really it is just extra storage between your kitchen and dining room for coffee and beverages. This particular one was also a Woodmaster Custom Cabinets project. We love the glass cabinets above because they will show off your best wine glasses and coffee mugs, and they just look sophisticated. Underneath, feel free to store the mismatch kitchenware that you don’t want guests to see! J This added area is a great spot to use when you are hosting a party, or just to pour a cup a joe in the morning!

Lastly, you could consider adding a barn door somewhere in your home. These are definitely trending right now so it's an instant upgrade that requires minimal installation. Choose any design and finish you like and pick an interesting metal track to slide it on. Put it somewhere creative, like in front of your pantry, laundry room, or even replace your bathroom door for a barn door that locks! This is one of our favorite additions. Thanks for reading and we hope that our ideas will help transform your home!

Play With Color!

At Woodmaster Woodworks, we love color! Sure, all- white cabinets are in right now, but here’s an idea if that’s not your style. A new take on the plain white cabinets is an off-white color with a black or brown glaze. The glaze gives your cabinets a sense of dimension and darkens the color a little. We can accommodate any color you want done.

You can do any combination of paint and glaze! For example, blue kitchen cabinets are trending right now so you could add a black glaze on that, or a black cabinet with a white glaze. The option of a glaze allows for more variety in color and design.

If you don’t think a glaze will give you the look you need, we can still give you an unconventional look through paint. Navy, seafoam green, gray, light powder blue, etc. are all gorgeous cabinet colors! If the idea of colored cabinets scares you, start with a small space such as a half bathroom or laundry room to get a feel for it. Why should we stick with the traditional browns, blacks, and whites when we can do a fun color?

Another trendy use of color at the moment is to do two-toned kitchen cabinets! Whether you do different colored uppers and lowers, or just a different colored island, we think this style does so much for a space. It’s good to break up the space and add a focal point or contrast.

Choosing an eccentric paint color can do wonders. Get creative and don’t be afraid to do something out of the ordinary anywhere in your home or kitchen! After all, the kitchen is the most used room in the house, so it should definitely be eye-catching! 

Space Saving and Organization Ideas for Any Home

A few of our past blogs have touched on this topic but it was not the focus and I would like to delve a little more into space saving and organization ideas for your home. If you are like most of us, it doesn't matter the size of your home to begin with, you tend to outgrow it in time. Whether from additions to your family, larger furniture, more belongings, the end result is the same- your home seems cluttered with no extra storage space, junk drawers, or rooms, messy attics, garages, and basements. When you need to find something, chances are you find everything but that particular thing. It seems at first that buying a larger home is the answer but I can tell you from experience that is not necessarily true. When I was first married, I lived in a small 900 square foot home that we did quickly outgrow with just a few furry additions to our family, more furniture, and more stuff. About 10 years after our careers took off, we upgraded to a 2200 square foot home that over time began to offer not much more room than our original home with only one more furry addition and a feathered one (yes, we are the proud parents of 3 Kitties and a Parrot). So, I knew something needed to be done. Obviously, if you have more children than bedrooms or have parents or older children that come to live with you maybe a larger home is the option but for the rest of us, there are many easier and less expensive alternatives to working with the space that already exists within our home.

Cleaning out the Clutter

Step 1 is no doubt the hardest to do. If it was easy, we wouldn't be in this place to begin with. We have to clean out our homes and get rid of things we do not use or have not used in some time. If you are holding on to things because they may be useful one day but they are in a closet or drawer and have been for five years, its a good chance that you can do without them. The same is true for clothing. I know as a female, it is hard to part with smaller sizes in particular, but every time I have lost a significant amount of weight, I got new clothes because that is part of the excitement and my old ones had become outdated anyway. The good news about cleaning out everything is that you get to see what you truly have, keep what you must, and you can have a yard sale or donate what you do not use to a local thrift store or Goodwill for a tax write off while you are also helping others in your community. The end result will make the hard work and giving up your life's clutter worth it and it is an excellent start to getting your home into shape for more space saving ideas.  

 

Space Saving Ideas for Your Kitchen

Regardless of the amount of clutter you are able to part with, the kitchen seems to be the room that creates the most obstacles for many people. If your home did not come with adequate cabinet, pantry, drawer, and storage space this can seem like a daunting and nearly impossible task. Companies like Woodmaster Woodworks do offer various options for homeowners to refinish, rebuild, or replace custom cabinets either matching your existing cabinetry or all new designs that offer more storage options, customized built in pantries, center islands with multiple options, and many other custom woodworking projects to help even the smallest spaces offer more options.  If you are fortunate enough to have enough cabinet and storage space but need organizing ideas, I have included some easy to incorporate pictures below.

Work Done By Woodmaster Woodworks

Work Done By Woodmaster Woodworks

Island Custom Built Pictured by Woodmaster Woodworks

Source: Pinterest    

Excellent space saving idea above, just install a closet rod and rod cups under your sink cabinet to see and grab all your cleaning products with a quick glance.

Source: Pinterest

Another excellent and easy to incorporate idea is using closet shelving in your pantry offering organization and better visibility to access what you need quickly and easily.   

 

Large Spaces

Its inevitable for most of us, the large spaces of our home such as a spare room, garage, or attic tends to accumulate stuff piled upon stuff. If we completed the painful step one, hopefully these spaces are in better shape now but could still use some organization. Some great ideas Woodmaster Woodworks has incorporated into these spaces for homeowners is adding a mud bench to the garage, turning an attic or basement into elaborate stained paneled game rooms (or man caves), and adding  library built ins. I am again including some additional examples of simple and easy organization for your garage.

Mud bench installed beside garage door custom built by Woodmaster Woodworks

Custom Window seat and double built ins in finished Attic by Woodmaster Woodworks

Stained Recessed Wall Panel Game Room done by Woodmaster Woodworks

Source: Pinterest



Source: Pinterest

Using existing studs in your attic, garage, or basement you can  add simple shelves and brackets to create added storage.

Any Space

My all time favorite idea for any space saving and home organization is a custom created and  crafted built in. A built in can be any occasional furniture such as a hutch, desk, bookcases, combinations or variations depending on your needs, style, budget, and most importantly space. Woodmaster Woodworks has created many astonishing, sleek, and versatile built ins to help homeowners save space, create more storage, and help with organization.

Sleek Design Custom Built In with Antique Finish Built by Woodmaster Woodworks

Double Mantle with Dual Built Ins Custom Built by Woodmaster Woodworks

Before and After of a small, virtually useless corner with a custom built in offering beauty, adjustable shelves, multiple cabinets, lots of storage, and display space custom built by Woodmaster Woodworks.

 

Links to past blogs with other space saving and organization ideas:

Ring in New Year with Organization

Make Way For Fall Seasonal Cleaning and Organization

Sneaky Kitchen Spaces Fantastic Extra Storage Built-ins

I hope some of these ideas have helped to give you the inspiration to save space and find more organization in your home. As always, we thank you for following Woodmaster Woodworks Blog and welcome comments and other inspirations!



Ring in the New Year with Organization!

With the arrival of 2014, New Year's resolutions are sure to be on everyone's mind.  If your New Year's resolution is to get organized, here are a few ways to accomplish that.

1.  Desks

Desks with multiple drawers, file cabinets, and storage spaces can be the perfect solution to cleaning up the clutter.  We all know that paperwork can cause a lot of headaches.  However, a custom desk with multiple compartments for paperwork can help you maintain your composure and excess papers.

Source: Woodmaster Woodworks

2. Built-Ins

Custom built-ins can give you added space for your family's newly acquired board games, TVs, DVDs, and any other gifts or treasures that were received during the holiday season.  Rather than trying to find ways to fit everything in the old and cramped spaces, a custom built-in can help you organize your new belongings while keeping them accessible for any occasion.

Source: Woodmaster Woodworks 

3. Custom Spaces

A custom space may be the ideal solution for getting organized and maintaining the clutter.  Designating a certain area to indulge in your latest hobby can help to eliminate the mess by providing a home for any item (i.e.- art supplies, craft supplies, etc.).  You can customize the space by adding cabinetry, built-ins, a desk, or even a curio cabinet to display your favorite pastime.  Your imagination is the only boundary (and the dimensions of the room of course!)

Source: Case 

Source: Cottage Magpie

Source: Creations By Christie

Looking for more inspiration as to how to keep the clutter at bay?  Visit our Pinterest to get more ideas!