If you know A. Dodson’s, you know we’re crazy about do-it-yourself projects and rustic chic decor! Here’s how I’m displaying earrings in my little L.A. apartment…

All you need for the project:

1) Old thrift store frame (or yardsale, or trash find!)

2) Radiator grate (found at your local Home Depot)

3) tube of craft paint

4) nails, wire cutters, and a hammer

Steps: Paint the frame the color of your choice (I LOVED this deep turquoise from Michael’s Arts & Crafts), cut the radiator grate to fit the frame using wire cutters, and using tiny nails, hammer nails halfway through the holes, then bend to secure the grate inside the back of the frame.

Ta-da!!

… and LOVE what you use!

Those wise words from Alison are central to her interior decorating style. When dreaming up ideas for Homearama, or any project for that matter, she tries to take a product that she already has or that may be in rough condition, and give it a new life.

Take the tulle ballerina table in the little girl’s room, for example. The A.Dodson’s team found a small tabletop, gave it a fresh coat of white paint, and then attached legs to the bottom. Keeping true to our theme, we then sourced Made In America tulle, which we purchased from Tulle Source, and attached it to to the underside of the tabletop.

We also love the rebirth of this bookshelf. Before a stroke of A. Dodson’s inspiration, it was looking pretty drab and dusty. With some fixing up and staining, it turned out to be a beautiful piece in our loft room at the Made in America house.

The key behind both projects is keeping an open mind about a piece. With a little creativity, sweat, and paint you can bring new life to even the dullest, seemingly hopeless furniture!

Facebook friends, we’d love to see any projects that you’re working on. Tag us, and you may just give us our next inspiration for a piece!

We all have a special recipe passed down from one generation to the next. But do you have a magic potion recipe? It’s ok, we play well with others here at A. Dodson’s and we also like to share our toys. And potions.

Alison learned a special technique from her momma, Alice Dodson, for removing water spots or scratches on furniture and hardwood flooring. When we were preparing to open our Home Decor Consignment Shop next door, I caught Alison on her hands and knees with a Ball Jar. And then I saw magic happen right before my very eyes.

Alice’s Wood Cleaning Magic Potion

1/2 Raw Linseed Oil

1/2 Turpentine

Instructions:
Dap the mixture on your stain or scratch
Use #400 Steel Wool and rub with the grain of the wood.
Wipe with a heavy towel then let sit overnight. Heavy stains or scratches may take two rounds.

Alice's Magic Potion

BEFORE

AFTER

Alice learned this trick from Jimmy Winn from Mt. Vernon Antiques in Port Norfolk, VA. When we asked Alice how long she’d been using this technique her answer was “how old am I?”

And now, our dear friends, go forth and show us some of your Before and Afters!

Looking for an inexpensive way to cover your dreary situation and impress your friends? Add a little texture to your life with burlap! It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3… Just follow these quick hints and viola, your space has been transformed!

Ask your local coffee shop or garden center for any excess burlap bags. Cut them down to size and start your staple gun. An electric stapler is the way to go…

Cutting the bags into interesting shapes will make the wall really stand out. Start at the bottom corner of the wall and work your way out. Don’t stop until you reach an “architectural landmark” (i.e. a column or window…)

Put your furniture back into place, hang a few pieces of art and presto you are finished. Family and friends will ooh and ahh over your creativity!

If you know us, you know we love to use what we already have when it comes to decorating and fashion. Take a look at a few of the things we used to decorate our walls using things we had laying around.

We found a tree knocked down after Hurricane Irene so we brought it into the shop and made it look like a tree is growing through the floor. We stapled craft paper to the ceiling and hit it with some green spray paint and added twinkling white lights.

We tore out pages of old Mad Libs and made a sort of DIY wall paper out of them! Perfect for a kids room or a guest bathroom.

We bought a huge roll of craft paper and tore of pieces, scrunched them up and staple gunned them to the wall.

We collected tons and tons of wine corks and hot glued them to a wall. Perfect for a memo board in your mudroom or kitchen!

We stapled greenery all over the ceiling of our garden room and laced twinking white lights in them to create an absolutely magical look. Perfect for a little girls fairyland bedroom!