WordPress Wednesday:: Learning the Ins & Outs of WordPress

I have been using WordPress since March. I’m still loving it, but I’m still trying to figure out all the different plugins available and how to format certain parts of my blog. I’m not a super tech savvy person, but I’ve certainly learned a lot since I first started blogging in May of 2011.

I know when I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress, I was super overwhelmed with trying to figure out the new back end system and spent hours googling how to get certain things to work and look like I wanted {and also bugged fellow bloggers with countless emails}.

So, I’ve been toiling around with the idea of a new series to share all the things I’ve learned and would have loved to have known in the beginning when I made the switch. And today I’ve decided to bring that idea to fruition.

I’m calling it WordPress Wednesday.

Wordpress Wednesday

I know not all of you who read my blog are bloggers yourself so don’t worry, this won’t be an every Wednesday kind of thing {just thinking every other week or so starting next week}.

But, for those of you that do blog, and currently use or plan to use WordPress, I’m hoping this series will be of some help to you!

I’ll share everything from how to buy your domain, WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, the plugins I’m using and a little bit of html coding as well {what little I know thus far}.

So, I would love to know, do you have any specific questions about WordPress? Just leave your questions in the comments and I will do my best to answer them!

I’m going over to a neighbor’s house tonight to help them decorate/style their bookshelves. Hoping to apply some of my own tips to their shelves. Will definitely document the process and share the result as soon as we’re finished!

Happy Wednesday friends!

Be sure to check out some of the posts from the series that have already been posted::

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

Securing a Domain Name

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Where To Find Bookshelf Accessories

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. The weather here this weekend was great so I spent a lot of time outdoors soaking up what’s left of summer.

Last week I showed you guys my fully accessorized bookshelves. I also showed you how I went about styling them here.

How To Style Bookshelves

The hardest part in getting your bookshelves styled is filling them with lots of accessories. For the most part, most of us could shop our homes and find things to fill them with. For me, I didn’t have a lot of stuff on hand already so most of the stuff I collected over the course of a few months.

I thought I would tell you where I got everything today in case you are on the hunt for accessories like I was.

How To Style Bookshelves

1. The trophy came from my grandmother’s garage. I think someone delivered a flower arrangement to her in it. I just liked that it was something different to add to the mix. I have to admit, the trophy was actually once a bright and shiny copper color. My roommates and friends ever so nicely made comments about the color a few times, so I finally caved and spray painted it a more muted metallic. They were right, this looks much better :)

2. I absolutely love the old school hardback Reader’s Digest books with the funky covers. I’ve started collecting them and have some in my room as well. I found most of mine at my local thrift stores like Goodwill.

3. The wire basket came from a local antique store {and I have totally forgotten the name by now}. I love the look of wire baskets and when I saw it I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the shelves somehow.

4. The porcelain pitcher came from one of my favorite home goods store here in town called PD’s {Premier Discounts}. If you live in or around the Franklin area, I would highly recommend this place. Their stuff changes all the time, but it’s good quality high end items that they are able to provide and sell at a discount. If I had all the money in the world, I could buy everything in that store.

5. The old Coca-Cola crate came from the Nashville Flea Market.

6. The faux plant came from another great home decor store, Home Goods. Always a great option for affordable items!

7. This set of books actually came from my grandmother’s house. I didn’t realize that she had such a treasure trove of fun antique things, but I mentioned that I had been looking for old books and she let me go through her collection and take a few.

8. The framed antique skeleton key art I actually made a while back and used in my bathroom in our old apartment. You can see it in the bathroom here {please excuse the awful pictures… when I look back at those pictures and my pictures now I can certainly tell my photography has improved}.

9. Both blue mason jars came from a local antique store called The Arbor Mall. The faux dried hydrangeas came from JoAnn’s.

10. The spindles came from a local antique fair that I went to last year called Bella Rustica. I had never heard of it prior to going, but there were some amazing vendors. It’s happening again in September and I’m hoping I’ll be able to go this year.

11. Also got this set of books from my grandmother’s fabulous collection.

12. This faux antique fan came from Kirkland’s. Not quite as cool as a real vintage fan, but I kind of like it.

How To Style Bookshelves

1. The bubbled purple vase and mirror were also purchases from PD’s.

2. The PRAY framed artwork came from Hobby Lobby. We actually used this in our old apartment on our shelves in our living room.

3. I absolutely love this wooden frame. There’s really nothing to it, but I just love it for some reason. I got this at a cute store in downtown Franklin called The Shoppes on Main. We also used this on our shelves in our old apartment.

4. White ceramic vase came from IKEA.

5. These really worn tiny books came from the Nashville Flea Market. I just loved how worn and old they were.

Do you have a favorite place or store you like to shop for accessories?

I’ve had a few people ask me to help them style their bookshelves {including my mom} so hopefully I’ll have some more fully decorated bookshelves to show you in the near future!

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How To Decorate & Style Bookshelves

Earlier this week I did a little reveal of our living room bookshelves. I needed to prove to you guys that I have in fact decorated at least one thing outside of my room. Today I thought I would show you guys how I went about styling the shelves.

How To Style Bookshelves

Just as a refresher, here’s what the shelves look like now. You can see them in their prior barren glory here.

How To Style Bookshelves

Now, I am by no means a professional decorator and for all I know I could have broken several cardinal rules when it comes to accessorizing bookshelves. But, I’ll share with you how I went about styling them and share a few tips that worked for me.

I’ll start with the right hand side of the built in bookshelves first.

How to Style BookshelvesThe main rule or tip I used when trying to figure out where to place things was the rule of triangles. Basically that means you place like objects in a triangle pattern. This helps to balance your shelves and it’s also what’s the most visually appealing.

Here’s an example.

How To Style BookshelvesIf you follow the coral arrows, you can see that all of my books {with the exception of the stack in the upper right corner} follow a triangle pattern. Also, since I had so many, I tried to place them in a variety of different ways. I stacked them both horizontally and vertically and also leaned some of the books.

How To Style BookshelvesI also added a few {faux} plants to the shelves. If you follow the gray arrows, you can see that those are also placed along a triangle or diagonal pattern.

I think plants, even if they are fake, help to add life to any space.

How To Style BookshelvesI also used a few over-sized or large items on the shelves {the fan, coke crate and wire basket}. Once again, if you follow the green arrows, I also placed those along the triangle pattern {are you beginning to notice a trend?}.

I mentioned this before, but it really did take me several weeks to get the shelves like I wanted them. I know some people can throw stuff together all at once and it absolutely looks amazing. For me though, I really had to take some time to live with them for a bit, and then adjust or tweak after deciding I didn’t like where something was.

I by no means set out to have everything perfectly placed along the triangle pattern. But it’s true, it really is the most visually appealing. Everything just ended up fitting into that rule once I stepped back and was happy with how they looked.

How To Style BookshelvesThe left hand side of built in bookshelves doesn’t have as many accessories since the bulk of it is taken up by our tv.

How To Style BookshelvesBut you can see that with the vases and the two frames, both sets of objects follow the triangle pattern. It’s weird how that works!

For additional styling tips, both SAS Interiors and Home Stories A to Z have great posts on how to achieve well styled bookshelves.

Do you use the rule of triangles when you are decorating? Other than the rule of triangles, what’s your one go to trick when styling your bookshelves?

I’ll be back Monday with a roundup of where I got all the accessories I used to fill my shelves.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Linking up to: Serenity Now, Liz Marie, My Repurposed Life, Home Stories A to Z, Uncommon, Shabby Creek, Creative Kristi

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How To Select & Layer Fabric {Selecting Fabric For Pillows}

One of my goals for this month was to either find some pillows to add to my bed or find some fabric to make pillows out of. That’s a bit of a challenge for me for a few reasons.

A) I’m not the best at mixing different patterns/colors since I’m typically a pretty neutral decorator. So, since I’m looking to add some color to my bed, I’m having a hard time figuring out what kind of pattern/print and color to add.

B) I don’t know how to sew. So if I find some fabric I like, it should be an interesting task to figure out how to even attempt to make pillows from it :)

So, for all of you out there like me that struggle with how to mix and pair patterns together, I’ve rounded up a few inspirational images with pillow fabric pairings done well.

I would never put together all those colors and fabrics in the above picture, but it totally works for this cozy couch area.

The image below is a lot like the look of my bed. I have the ruffle comforter and a bolster pillow in the front. I’ve thought about adding some type of grain sack fabrics like they did, but a part of me just wants to take a risk and go bold with color.

Love the pairing of the different brown fabrics on this couch. Right up my neutral loving alley :)

To further help us in our endeavors, I’ve also rounded up a few posts with some helpful tips from a few experts in this area.

-Interior Design Musings has a great post with tips on how to go about selecting fabric.

-The Handmade Home  has some great advice on how to mix patterns.

-Once you have an idea of what you are looking for, Censational Girl has a fabulous post on the best places to find fabric online. Included in her roundup is a site called Spoonflower. I’ve never used them, but if you can’t find a fabric you like, you can make your own pattern or print with them.

I’m hoping to get out this weekend and do a little browsing. Fingers crossed I’m able to find something I like. :)

If you are an expert at selecting fabric, do you have any additional tips? Do you have a favorite place where you like to buy fabric? 

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Inspiration:: Typography

Lately I’ve been really into fonts and ‘graphic design.’ I have no design experience, but through this blog & reading blogs, I’ve become more aware of design and the use of fonts/typography.

The right font can make a huge difference in giving the right impression or feeling about a graphic/image. Same goes for a wrong font. Using the wrong font can instantly make a gorgeous picture or graphic lose all its appeal.

You Only Live Once- Jessica Hische

{Source: Jessica Hische}

I love searching for fonts.

Dream Big Print- Graphic Anthology{Source: Graphic Anthology}

And finding just the perfect one that fits with what I’m trying to create.

make today beautiful

{Source: Laura Winslow Photography}

Since we live in a Pinterest world where you want your images to be ‘pin-able,’ it’s even more important to create visually appealing images and a lot of times that means adding some text to your images.

Enjoy Yourself- DesignLove Fest{Source: Design Love Fest}

I use a free program called Gimp to create most of my graphics. I’m planning to put together a few tutorials soon to show you guys how to use the program for adding text & creating collages. It’s takes some time to get used to, but it’s great and it’s free!

Blackberries and Bracelet-Creature Comfort{Source: Creature Comfort Blog}

If you are interested in downloading some new fonts to add to your collection {whether for your blog or for personal use}, here are a few websites to check out.

Free Font Resources:

Dafont.com

Lost Type

Free Typography

font snob-the handmade home{Source: The Handmade Home}

The Handmade Home also rounds up free fonts occasionally. Here, here, here and here are some of their roundups.

Are any of you really into fonts? If you have other free font resources that aren’t mentioned above, feel free to share those with everyone in the comments!

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