Christmas Open House at the Queen of Hearts

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus…There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence… The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.”

In 1897, Francis P. Church wrote this infamous letter in response to a little girl’s question about the existence of Santa, one that is incredibly appropriate to share following the Queen of Hearts Holiday Open House events in Alpharetta, Buford and Marietta.

As a child, nothing quite compares to the magical enchantment of Christmas – the sights, sounds, snow, decorations, and the presents! The Queen’s Holiday Open House helped reveal that feeling again in "kids from 1 to 92." Maybe it was the chill in the air, Tom Ladow on the piano, or the wonderful refreshments and snacks from our dealers, but the store was full of laughter, smiles, and awe from customers as they paraded around marveling at the creativity displayed throughout the store.

There were lots of exciting trends this year at the Queen of Hearts Open House, that we will be sharing on our Facebook page. Expect this Christmas to use lots of great texture including burlap and barnwood, vintage ornaments and Christmas décor, and upcycled projects including handmade ornaments.

But one trend that stood out above all else, was the most traditional element of Christmas: Santa Claus

This amazing Santa can be found at BIRCH in Buford and could be used as a front door ornament or somewhere within the home as a festive accent.

These Santa’s were “high flying” and Santa’fabulous’!

Traditional, modern, or rustic? Doesn’t matter….there is a Santa out there just for you! Check out these great options from Appalachian Vintiques (LIVJC) in Buford!

As we begin this holiday season in full force, don’t let Christmas get away from you. Get your decorations and Christmas shopping complete, or we might just have to tell Santa!

Dealer RFE

Dealer DUST

This blog was written by dealer Jennifer Turner, of Appalachian Vintiques (LIVJC) on Court St in Buford - like her on Facebook to see all of her fabulous finds!

Family Ties & Butterscotch Pies: Guest Post from Appalachian Vintiques

As we approach the holidays, my mind wanders back to my grandparents' house in the holler of Western North Carolina in a town called Waynesville. At Thanksgiving especially, the house came alive with family, laughter, music, jokes, football, and the smell of turkey and homemade biscuits. And then there was my great grandmother’s delicious butterscotch pie that we ate on the "special occasion only" dishes on her mahogany table. I cherish these memories, but if I could change anything it would be to make those moments happen every day, not just once a year.

As I prepare for this year's Thanksgiving, I'm changing traditions. I'm investing in china, decor, and furniture that won’t be reserved for one day a year, but are timeless, quality pieces that I can enjoy every single day. I don’t want to lock up the "special occasion only" pieces because every day that I spend with my family is special.

At the Queen of Hearts in Buford, the ability to find quality pieces that remain timeless is an easy feat. Your most difficult task will be narrowing down the fantastic options. At my booth, Appalachian Vintiques, we specialize in high quality, primitive pieces found locally in Western North Carolina.

This fantastic buffet is made by Lexington and is made from a beautiful mahogany; it reminds me of one in my grandmother’s dining room and would make a beautiful accent for any of your family meals. The antique gilded mirror and the delicate stemware is traditional and classic.

Don’t let a small space prevent you from finding a timeless and functional piece that will be a great conversation starter. This fantastic dining table with four chairs, also found at Appalachian Vintiques, makes entertaining easy while practical.

Dealer SJ at the Buford location offers this exquisite dining room set with quality china pieces. Add a centerpiece like this and make your dining room festive year round.

Dealer SPCA in the Buford location offers this unique serving platter. Perfect for your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham, but can be used year round - what about your next Superbowl party? This platter could hold enough wings to feed the team!

Dealer MNELW at the Buford location is offering this amazingly unique buffet. This classic French accent is sure to be a conversation starter at any gathering, and beautiful to admire when you are just eating dinner with your family.

I could post hundreds of photos from The Queen of Hearts in Buford. No matter what your style – traditional, modern, classic, romantic – there is something here for you. As you approach this holiday season, I hope that you will remember that people are what makes the moments special, not a date on the calendar. Whether it’s Sunday dinner after church with just your kids or entertaining your entire family for Christmas, choose pieces that you can create memories around that will last a lifetime. I will always remember my Nanny’s butterscotch pie...leave your family and friends with their own special memories.

Jennifer Turner is a dealer at the Buford Queen of Hearts and her booth is Appalachian Vintiques, dealer code LIVJC or VINTQ, located on Court St. Follow the link to like her on Facebook and see all her amazing finds!

Guest Post from HALO: Parisan Room Makeover Reveal!

Hello Queen readers! My name is Lori Hollaran and I am the owner of Halo Design & Interiors. I have a booth space (HALO) at the Queen of Hearts in Marietta and am located at the end of King Street. I am so happy to be able to share with you my second blog post for the Queen! If you happened to miss my first post, it was titled "Decorating with Doors". I had such a great time sharing my knowledge, creativity and custom design work that I could not wait to post again and am happy they wanted me back!

Besides spending endless hours painting, repurposing and revamping furniture for my booth space, I also have a full service interior design company. Needless to say, I am busy! It is quite rare when I actually have the time or the opportunity to redesign a space in my OWN home. Today, I am very excited to share with you my daughter's new Parisian themed bedroom. It is filled with easy DIY projects, thrift store find makeovers and many design ideas for mixing and balancing vintage pieces with new ones. Plus, the best part of it all is that many of these pieces or ideas can be found with items purchased from all of the three Queen of Hearts locations. Keep reading to see how it all came together!

Here is the before picture of her room. Super cute but very playful and youthful. She was turning 9 soon and I wanted her to have a room that she could grow into. As you can tell, I had already started to take things off the wall (almost a year and a half ago) with the intention of getting it done within a week. Ha Ha, who was I kidding? Life got busy and so another home project was put on hold!

Finally, after much patience on my daughter's part, I finished her room and LOVE how it all came together. Here is her new space... Parisian chic with touches of vintage glam!

I knew I wanted to use black, white and gray as the basic color palette but being it was for my 9 year old daughter, I knew I had to add a splash of color. So, with only 2 seconds of deliberations, PINK it was!! The entire room design was based around a canvas I found at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. (HINT - remember I love mixing new with the old ) Score!! You can see it here...
  

I always like to start decorating a space by figuring out the biggest pieces of furniture first. One of largest pieces in this room is her 10 drawer black dresser. Check out the before pic... not much character to it, huh?

Yep, she was an old, beat up vintage piece that I found. Amazing what a few coats of gloss black paint and a revamp of the hardware can do to a piece. Love it now. Pieces like this large dresser are SO easy to find at the Queen of Hearts. There are so many dealers just like me that find great vintage pieces that just need some TLC.

Here is a nightstand I found for $5. Yep, you read that right...FIVE BUCKS.

A few coats of white paint on the body and some black paint to the hardware and she is like brand spanking new!

The last big piece I was looking for was a vanity. I first thought that my daughter would need a desk, but then thought again. A vanity seemed to go better with her Paris theme. I looked for a few months for the perfect one and finally bought this one from a friend. I did not take a before pic (I think my memory is clogged from all the paint fumes I inhale!) But trust me, it was old and not in that great of condition. I do know it was from 1920's and was a dark cherry wood. It had one of those old trifold mirrors that came with it. I decided to continue the theme and paint it a gloss black. I opted not to use the mirror and instead found this one from TJ Maxx. Again mixing old with new is always a great balance. Then I changed the fabric on the stool to coordinate with one of her lamp shades and now she has an adorable place to admire herself. So many dealers at the Queen have vanity sets in their booths. You can find them in their original finish or some that have been painted like this one.

Next, I needed a headboard. At first, I was going to have my hubby construct one for me and then I remembered how readily available and plentiful old shutters are at the Queen. Check out the ones I found and re-purposed into my daughter's headboard. Super cute and very simple to do...just hinge the shutters together, that's it. A great first DIY project for anyone out there.

So, now that the basics of her room were complete, all that was needed were the accessories. Enter this sad and worn out piece of luggage and outdated rack. Yep, you guessed it, another Queen purchase for me. Gotta support my fellow consignors! Once I saw this I knew immediately what I wanted to use it for...a place to house all my daughters books.

After a few coats of gloss black paint, some stenciling and a new inside lining this is the end result...

  

No, I did not stencil the word "livers" on the top like my 9 year old daughter was convinced I did. It is "livres" which is french for books! I also added a cute luggage tag to make it look like she was a well traveled little girl. Now, I can honestly say that she loves going to choose a book to read each night . Makes it all worth it!

Windows are another great way to bring a vintage feel to any space. I found these 2 windows at one of the Queen of Hearts locations awhile back. They were exceptionally perfect for this project because they were not your traditional multi-paned windows. They only had two panes and I thought they had a more of a Paris apartment feel to them. They were originally white, so of course I painted them gloss black. My intention was to just hang them as is on the wall to resemble windows, but then I had the idea to repurpose them into picture frames. Check them out with these black and white family photos...makes me so happy my daughter wanted them on her bedroom wall.

Here are a few other accessories you could find in your hunt through one of the Queens locations...

Vintage perfume bottles, old cast iron lanterns and rusty old metal signs. I got lucky and found this replica of an old iron lamp post at Hobby Lobby. I know, Hobby Lobby rocks! I was walking to the checkout and saw it standing there in the aisle. Without even stopping or caring what the price was, I just scooped it up and carried it to the register. It was perfect. Again, I love finding new pieces that have a vintage feel to them. Funny thing is, that a few days later, I saw one similar for sale in the Marietta location!! I swear you can find just about anything you want at the Queen.

Lastly, I want to share this great black trunk at the end of my daughters bed. It could not be more perfect... adds beauty to the room with it great silver nailhead design while it serves as a great place to store all those things you don't want everyone to see. Trunks come in so many shapes, sizes and finishes. They are great when used as storage units and even better when repurposed into things like coffee tables. The possibilities are endless with these babies.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my daughter's new Parisian room as much as we enjoyed creating it! It was a long time coming and a lot of work but so worth it in the end. I love to lay with her on the bed and look around at all the different pieces she has and remember the journey each one took to get to where it is now. It is truly amazing what a creative mind, a little paint and some elbow grease can accomplish. Remember, a balanced mix of new and old is always a good design move. It can really bring a room together. Thanks again for reading and happy shopping!

Lori Hollaran  is a dealer at the Marietta Queen of Hearts and her booth is Halo Design & Interiors, dealer code HALO, located on King St. Follow the link to like her on Facebook and see all her amazing finds! 

Lightning Bugs, a Bright Idea: Guest Post from Appalachian Vintiques

Here in Western North Carolina, we call this place “God’s Country.” Small, southern towns with charm, sweet tea, front porch sittin’ and best of all, lightning bugs. As a kid, my grandparents would sit on the porch sipping sweet tea while my brother and I ran carefree through the grass near the ‘crik’ using our old mason jars to catch thousands of lightning bugs. Inevitably, we would run as fast as we could to show the grown-ups our special finds, poking holes in the tops of the lids and providing just enough grass for these amazing creatures to survive.  

What is interesting about lightning bugs is that they are the most efficient light producers in the entire world. Additionally, they have the ability to create a soft glow in even the darkest of country nights, which for me was always a comfort. In a similar way, the way we choose to light our homes can provide that same type of comfort. There is nothing more welcoming then walking into a home where the homeowner has paid special attention to lighting. I often think sometimes that lighting comes as an afterthought, which is unfortunate because the right lighting can add such pizzazz to any space.

With the advent of Pinterest and social media, there is no shortage of ideas for ways to incorporate lighting into any space. You can repurpose everyday items into focal points that become great conversation starters, or you can reintroduce beautiful pieces from the past. At the Queen of Hearts in Buford, there is an abundance of great options to fit any taste. 

We found this unique, upcycled lamp and added it to our booth space at Appalachian Vintiques in Buford. This piece is a great mixture of old metal and old car parts and would make a great addition in any rustic space or man cave. This is sure to be a conversation starter for anyone that sees it!

We absolutely fell in love with this beautiful antique hanging light fixture found at the Queen in Buford by dealer GATE. 

Dealer SMM at the Queen in Buford has several stunning options to offer homeowners and decorators alike. This dealer provides customers with a mixture of upcycled, repurposed, vintage, and antique lights – a taste for all lighting pallets.

Looking for a certain style – Parisian maybe? Check out dealer PARIS at the Queen in Buford for this fantastic fixture for a home office or living space.

Wanting to take a unique piece and upcyle it into something more useful? Check out this old chicken feeder we had lying around the house. I love the texture and color, but we don’t plan on having any chickens anytime soon! We drilled some holes into the sides and now we have a conversation starter that emits fantastic lighting.

Lighting should never be an afterthought when we are designing spaces that we love. Not only should we take into consideration energy output, but also placing pieces in our spaces that emit the right light and provide texture, color, and unique qualities will create spaces that we love and cherish for many years to come!  

Jennifer Turner is a dealer at the Buford Queen of Hearts and her booth is Appalachian Vintiques, dealer code LIVJC or VINTQ, located on Court St. Follow the link to like her on Facebook and see all her amazing finds! 

Guest Post from Dealer Art History Story: Antique Dating

When I opened my first booth at the Queen almost exactly a year ago, I named it Art History Story. Here’s why: I love beautiful things, and I needed more of them in my life. I figured other people did too. That’s the art part. And I love to research. That’s the history part. I love finding an antique piece at an auction of merchandise shipped in from England or France or even Indiana and figuring out what city the piece came from, what time period it dates to and how it was first used. And I think almost every piece has a story to tell. I always try to find the story of who made it and why an item is unique. Today, I’m going to try to teach you how to do the same in a few steps:

Step 1 - Always trust your first impression

Malcom Gladwell, in his book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking", says, “There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.” He tells the story of a Greek kouros statue brought to the Getty museum and claimed to be 2,500 years old. One expert, on first glance, knew that something wasn’t right, but he could not say what. Later, he would say, “Anyone who has ever seen a sculpture coming out of the ground could tell that that sculpture was never in the ground.” He just knew. After much money was spent on proving that the sculpture was a legitimate antiquity (and after the museum bought it), it was later discovered to be a forgery. The man who “just knew” was right, despite all the expert findings to the contrary. If you see a beautiful piece, and you “just know” it is old and beautiful and what you want, go for it. You may want to consider the price, but first impressions often stick.

         

Look at these two pieces. Both are in my booth. One is really old. One was distressed to look old. Without any training, you will be able to tell the difference. Sometimes it’s that easy.

Step 2 – Investigate

Though first impressions are good, there are other ways to find out about a piece. Turn a chair upside down. Look on the bottom of the seat for a label from the furniture company or a stamp or hand-written numbers. Generally, if it says “Made in Malaysia,” you’ll know it’s not an antique. (In 1930, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act required that imported products be labeled as such. Furniture makers got much more specific about labeling after 1930). But you may find other marks, and that is where the story part comes in.

Last weekend, I bought three chairs from a junk dealer. One had glitter glue spilled all over its seat, but it was beautiful. I loaded it up with furniture stripper to get the glue off and then turned it over to make sure I wasn’t stripping anything on the underside of the chair. I found a mark that said, “Grand Ledge Chair Co.” on it. So I looked it up. Grand Ledge, Michigan has a rich history of furniture making and entertaining tourists. And I was even able to approximate the date the chair was made by reading the history of the chair company’s production. I was amazed at how sturdy it was to last so long. The label on the bottom of the chair also told me that it was mahogany. I gained a lot of information, just from turning it upside down.

You can look on the bottom of silver items to make sure they are really silver or silver plate. Things that come from Italy might say they’re from Italy on a tiny gold ring around the piece or from some mark in Italian hidden sneakily on the piece. Furniture makers often burn or print labels on the inside of the top drawer or on the back of a dresser or cabinet. Examine what you’re buying very carefully, and look for any kind of marks you can find.

Step 3 – Smell it

Those of us who love antiques also (usually) love the smell. Antiques smell like antiques. They don’t usually smell like fresh wood (cedar chests excepted). If you have been buying antiques for long, strange as it may sound, you can smell the different between an Ikea piece hacked to look like an antique and an actual antique.

This can sometimes be a negative. Some antiques smell musty, or they may just smell old. Trust your senses. And if you love the piece but don’t like the smell, try filling a bowl with coffee beans (or dry grounds) or charcoal and putting the bowl inside the piece somewhere. Both coffee and charcoal soak up smells well. You may also choose to wash your piece with an oil soap or just let it sit out in the sun for a day or so.

Step 4 – Go With What You Know

If you want to find out the story of the piece, go with what you already know. Do you know it has a roseback or a braceback, or if it’s a Windsor chair. Does it have Queen Anne style legs or bun or claw feet? Does it have hidden drawers or unusual paint? Run a Google search with the most identifying features you do know about it and click on “images.” Look for pieces that look like the one you’re investigating. Read the story of items that have something in common with your piece, and follow their trail. (Pinterest can also be a good place to look for these.)

If you are old-school, you can also make a trip to the library and check out an antiques book. Kovel’s is the best and most current about value. (By the way, if you look at the value of antique pieces in books, you will find that the prices you get at the Queen are usually far below the piece’s actual value, even often less than you would pay for the same piece online!)

Step 5 – Visit an Expert

If you think you might have found something really valuable, take your piece to an expert. I bought an antique grandfather clock from an auction of French pieces. When I wanted to determine its value and learn its story, I researched and researched. I even tried to write a letter to a clock maker in the city where the clock was built. But my French is terrible, and I finally gave up my online investigation. So, I took it apart and took the pieces to a Swiss clock repairman in Roswell. He was able to tell me the value of the clock as well as what it would take to get it into perfect running order, and now he will be a resource to me any time I buy another one.

And getting an appraisal could be easier than you think. Steve White, an appraiser in Cumming does $10 appraisals once a month or so. There are also online appraisers who will appraise your piece by photos for a small fee.

Step 6 – Follow the Rabbit Trails

This is for the story piece. When you buy an antique, if you have the opportunity to talk to the former owner of the piece, ask as many questions as you can. Where did it come from? How much did they pay for it? Is it a family heirloom? Did it come from another state or country? Do they know of anything special about the piece, marks, etc.? All of this can help you to understand what you have, and you may win a friend in the process!

I once bought a set of bedroom furniture from a woman who had hoped to repair it and found she could not. She told me it had a lot of sentimental value. I saw it on Craigslist and chose it immediately because it had a kind of leg I had never seen. When I asked her about the piece, she told me it had been her grandmothers in the Dominican Republic, and that her grandmother told her it had been in the family for years before her. The pieces turned out to be from the early 1700s, and I might not ever have been able to discover this if I didn’t have the information from the girl who sold it to me.

Step 7 – Study Up

Learn about the periods antique dealers use to identify items. Go online and search “date antique by legs” or change the word “legs” to “feet” or “chair back,” etc. Knowing what William and Mary stretcher bases look like or when and where pieces with barley twist legs were made might help you when you are shopping for pieces in the future. 

You can read in a book (again – I would recommend Kovel’s), or you can just look to see what you can find online. If you like to learn, you will find a lot! If you are visually oriented, you might find pages like this one of great interest!

Step 8 - Visit the Queen!

You may decide to leave the study of Queen Anne behind and head over to the Queen of Hearts! It’s a great way to practice what you are learning as you study. Look around for some really old pieces and then get to work. Pick up the piece. Turn it upside down (you may need to ask permission if the piece is bigger or fragile) or look behind it or open the drawers or climb under the table top and have a peek. Smell the wood, check the finish, listen to your gut. The store is a perfect place to do this kind of detective work. You may find something you think is really old, or something you really love. Trust your gut. If you love it, you’re probably right!

Jill Turner is a dealer at the Alpharetta Queen of Hearts and her booth is Art History Story, dealer code AHS, located on Meeting St. She also has a booth, dealer code HOPE on E Bay St. Follow the link to like her on Facebook!

Guest Post from Dealer HALO: Decorating with Doors

Hi there to all the Queen of Hearts blog followers! My name is Lori, aka the painting queen, and I am a dealer/consignor at the Queen of Hearts in Marietta. My booth is dealer code HALO and located at the end of King Street - you can also like my Facebook business page Halo Design & Interiors! I have been at the Marietta location since we opened back in November of last year and have loved being apart of such a talented group of designers and artists. It is truly a wonderful place to work and even more wonderful place to hunt for treasures. Most days you can find me in my garage in my infamous paint clothes (I will go anywhere in them), working on my next creative project, hanging at my booth restocking, rearranging or 'refluffing', or helping a client bring their design dreams to life.

I am the owner of Halo Design and Interiors, a full service design business. After building our home in 1999, I spent 10+ years getting it dressed, undressed and dressed again. Unfortunately at my hubby's expense, as my learning process improved so did my house :) Over those years, I learned that a can of paint, old beat up furniture, scrap fabric, a creative mind and a little elbow grease could drastically change the look of any space. I loved knowing that I turned someone else's trash into my treasure and am so happy that I can share it with you all. 

So, with that being said, check out all the great decor ideas that can come from 'Decorating with Doors'.

One of the easiest things to find on your hunt at all the three Queen of Hearts locations are old doors. I know of two dealers in the Marietta location with doors for sale at this time: GHW has a great black shabby door and PDG located on King Street has an old vintage white door. Whether they are old and chippy, wood paneled or glass paned, grab one and the possibilities are endless! Here are a few projects I have just completed using doors in the last few months:

This is a shabby chic corner cabinet built by my husband and I. I had a few old pantry bi fold doors lying around that I had always wanted to use but knew were a bit too small to use in a door space. Then I had the idea to make them a corner unit. The hubby made me 4 shelves and constructed it for me. The doors were originally white and pretty beat up, so I painted a chocolate base coat and then an old white top coat. I then sanded it real good to give it a shabby chic look and added some vintage inspired hardware and now look at her. Beautiful!

Vintage door shelf. I have to be honest, once I finished this door, I wanted to keep her for my own. However, I took her to my booth instead where she sits waiting for a home :) I found the door on its way to the landfill. It had just been taken off the front door of a house built around the 1960's. It was in great condition so I did not have to do much to it. It was originally a dark wood color so I painted it in Annie Sloan old white chalk paint (which can be found at the Queen) and distressed it heavily. I painted the back of the glass panes with Krylon Looking Glass Mirror-Like spray paint. This gave it a vintage mirror look from the front which I loved! The hubby once again made me two shelves and attached them for me. I found a brown metal vintage inspired door handle to finish it off. 

I had an idea to make a sofa table out of an old door but could not find the size door I had in mind. So of course, I turn to my awesome sidekick, aka best hubby in the world, to construct me one. Loved the way it turned out... solid wood construction with the top painted in Annie Sloan pure white (again found at the Queen) and a onyx black for the bottom. Love the vintage inspired hardware with the crystal knob. 

Aqua, who doesn't love aqua? Check out these cute cabinet door chalkboards!! I found an old beat up cabinet, one you might hang over your toilet in the bathroom. My goal was to repaint it and give it a new life. Once I got into the sanding stage, I realized it was too beat up for me to salvage :( I was sad because I saw the possibilities with this cabinet. Then I decided to do something with the doors because they were still in good shape. I decided to paint the center with chalkboard paint and add a piece of jute twine with some chalk. So cute, if I do say so myself. Perfect for your grocery list or notes. Available to purchase at my booth!

Changing out a door to the basement, office or laundry room is simple and creates a whole new feel to that room and the area around it. Here are a few examples of what you can do with a great door find from the Queen of Hearts!

LOVE how this homeowner exchanged their tradition white door with this old wooden door . What a great conversation piece this would be!

Another great example of mixing old with the new.... so easy to switch out a basement door!

First, totally digging this burst of red in this neutral kitchen. Second, what a great way to use an old screen door! Why didn't I think of this? I am going on a hunt at the Queen for one of these babies for sure!

Another great way to decorate with a screen door.... This would look great in a farmhouse style kitchen. 

Coffee tables, we all have them right? But what do yours say about you? I have a few glass paned doors and a great wood paneled door in my garage. They have been patiently waiting for me to come out and play with them. I am already thinking how I need to get my hubby on board with creating some great door tables. Here are a few of my design inspirations...

Love this lime green color!

If you have ever visited my booth at the Marietta location, then you probably have seen one or two of my clock tables. I kind of went through a phase of being addicted to putting a clock face on everything!! Well, luckily, that phase has slowly been fizzling out...until now!! I just saw this great clock door and knew that I had to make one too. Such a unique way of displaying a clock for any room. So easy to make, too. All you need is a door (which can be found at any of the 3 Queen locations) and a clock set (found at craft stores or online). WOW is all I can say....so creative!

Another great use for an old door is turning it into a coat rack. Again, so easy and a great first time DIY project for those willing to give it a good ole try! Here are a few photos for inspiration...

Just add a few hooks for this simple DIY project 

Using an eclectic group of vintage door knobs makes for great way to hang coats or backpacks...

When you cannot find the real thing, go for a replica. I found this great selection of vintage inspired door knobs at Hobby Lobby, go figure. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a vintage feel they add to my pieces. And, they won't break the bank. 

Cannot tell you how much I adore this repurpose. I just wish I had a larger mudroom wall to display it on. Best of both worlds...display for photos and coat rack.

Okay, now I think I am going a little crazy with doors, but I just love how accessible they are and how easily you can decorate with them. Another very simple way to add a pop of color to a space is to add a colorful old door. Just prop it up against a wall or put it in a corner...it is that simple.

I have definitely saved the best idea for last, in my opinion. I first got inspired by this photo last September when I was in full design mode getting items ready for my booth opening. I did not have any old doors at the time but I had a set of board and batten shutters. I added some wrought iron candle holders to them. They were a huge hit. I just love the old worn look of this door with the two toned paint color. Hopefully this will be a project for me in the near future. 

Well, I think that is a wrap! I hope this post has given you all some inspiration and direction in decorating with doors. Taking something like a simple door and realizing all the possibilities really makes my creative juices flow. I understand that not everyone has the DIY bug in them and that is okay. That is why the Queen, in all her three locations, exists. So whether you are looking for that old, chippy door to put your DIY skills to the test or just want to stop in hoping to find a finished treasure, do so today! We have so many talented and unique designers; you are sure to embark on a great treasure hunt where there is always something very everyone. 

Bye now and happy hunting!

Lori

Halo Design & Interiors, Queen of Hearts Marietta located on King St