Our home is pretty simply decorated, and I really like to make the most of the ordinary things we use everyday. I like them to be both pretty and functional. This allows the normally plain or even ugly things that have to be hidden in closets to instead be on display.
There are a few reasons why I do this, one of them being that we have very little closet space. We are actually tearing down the only closet on the main floor to make room for our new bathroom. And although we have a basement, it is too scary for me to go down there on a regular basis. When my husband reads this he will deny that it is scary and say that it is just a typical old house basement with concrete walls and tiny windows, but personally I try to minimize the time I have to spend there!
Also, being on a tiny budget does not allow for purchasing tons of meaningless accessories, instead I have a few favourite ones such as my driftwood sailboat. Therefore, my everyday things become the things I decorate with. A stack of white dishes that are used all the time can make for a very pretty display.
Today I made this ruffled cover for my ironing board. Our laundry is in the scary basement so I like to do my ironing in the kitchen, which means that our ironing board is always leaning against the pantry. So I decided I might as well make it pretty and help it contribute to the overall look.
If anyone ever wants to try to make an ironing board cover it is really easy, just take your old one, cut off the casing and sew it to your new piece of fabric, pull the strings and you are done.
Another example of simple things I love is the old mason jar in the first picture, tied with a scrap of fabric leaning against our breadboards, more things that we use all the time.
I often hear the quote by William Morris "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" but I personally think that it is nice to have both function and beauty in one!
