Episode 128 | How to Shop for Antique and Vintage Finds | Amanda Marie of Sincerely Marie Designs
Curating a home decor style that feels collected takes time and intention. Amanda of Sincerely Marie Designs has done a beautiful job achieving this look and feel in her home, and she is joining me to talk about one of my favorite topics: decorating your home with vintage and antique pieces. Many of our current home inspiration sources — HGTV, Pinterest, Instagram — can give us the unrealistic expectation that our home decor should be perfectly put together all at once. Amanda and I discuss how there is actually so much beauty in slowly piecing together your decor over time. We are sharing some practical tips for how you can source and incorporate antique, handmade, and repurposed pieces into your own home.
In this episode, we cover:
- Where to find decor inspiration that aligns with your style
- Favorite DIY projects: ottoman, stair detail, lampshade
- How to transform a lampshade with fabric and a hot glue gun
- Where to start when transforming a room with antique decor
- The trick to finding what you’re looking for on Facebook Marketplace
- Tips for avoiding secondhand purchases you’ll regret
- A secret weapon decor item for both form and function
- What to hang on your wall when you aren’t sure what you want there
- Things to consider when searching for a rug
- How to bring your home decor together so it feels collected instead of cluttered
About Amanda
Amanda is the blogger and creator behind Sincerely, Marie Designs. She is a follower of Christ. She has been married to her best friend, Josh, for over 14 years and they have a rambunctious little boy named Charlie. Amanda and her family live in north Georgia in a small town. It’s a little slower pace of living with all the charm that goes with an old town. She started her blog almost seven years ago as a creative outlet after having her son. Amanda is a stay-at-mom but has always had a passion for design and teaching others how to create a space they love. Sincerely, Marie is where she shares their story of renovating a southern colonial, her family’s favorite recipes, and some of life’s happenings. Amanda is passionate about creating a cozy and warm environment for her family to grow. Her home isn’t perfect but it’s real. With every project, recipe, and story, she hopes to inspire you as well. She hopes you’ll find that you too can love the house you’re in!
Resources Mentioned
Tessa Foley of Nine and Sixteen
Heather Strommen of Sweet Shady Lane
Pleated Ottoman Slipcover How-To
Connect
Amanda Marie of Sincerely Marie Designs | Website | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
Lisa Bass of Farmhouse on Boone | Blog | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Pinterest
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Transcript
Lisa Bass All right. Welcome back to the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast. Have a little baby snoring, but he isn’t snoring in the interview. I actually just hopped off a call with Amanda from Sincerely Marie Designs. That’s going to be sharing with you today. As many of you know, homemaking is very near and dear to my heart. I create lots of videos on just sharing what I do to make this place a home, whether it’s cleaning, cooking something from scratch for my family, decorating. Part of that is creating a beautiful home that feels cozy and comfortable. Now this can take many different forms. For some people, this will be a very minimal task that just makes the home very comfortable and inviting. Some people are more interested in decor, and I am definitely one of those people. I love designing a room. It is something I’m passionate about, and one person who I really admire their style is Amanda from Sincerely Marie Designs. She creates this cozy, collected vibe that she makes with her own two hands, sources from antique shops and from Facebook Marketplace and garage sales. And when you look at her photos on the internet, you think this home just is so inviting and comfortable without being too stuffy, but also just being very, very beautiful. And so I wanted to chat with her about some of her tips on the favorite things that she makes, what she sews, where she sources things and how she pieces it all together. Because that is just something that I find is really challenging. And I love hearing from people who have experience and who create very beautiful homes. I spoke with Andrea from Pine and Prospect Home. Had a very similar discussion a few weeks back. Amanda brings a whole new perspective on it— very similar, but in her own way, and so I’m excited to share that interview with you.
Lisa Bass Well, thank you so much for joining me, Amanda. It’s been forever. I remember you live down near Atlanta because I remember meeting you that one year. You still live down there, right?
Amanda Marie Yeah, we do. We’re about 45 minutes to an hour north of Atlanta. But yeah, it’s been a while.
Lisa Bass I know I think it was like— when I first started my blog, I went to the Haven Conference and had dinner with you and Deb and a few others.
Amanda Marie It’s been a long time, but thank you so much for having me.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I’m so glad to have you. Actually, it was interesting. The other day I was at my homeschool group and one of the moms was like, “Well, I was really inspired—” we were talking decor in her kitchen and she was like, “I really want to do something like Amanda from Sincerely Marie Designs.” I’m like, “She’s going to be on my podcast.” And she’s like, “What?” I’m like, “I know. That’s so random.” It was so funny.
Amanda Marie Oh, that’s awesome.
Lisa Bass Yeah. She was like, “Well, I love her house. I love everything about it.” And I’m like, “Me too. That’s why I’m having her on my podcast.” But yeah, so I wanted to talk about finding vintage and antique finds. This is a hot topic on my channel, on my podcast, because there’s just a lot of experience that goes into it, and I feel like you really nail it all throughout your home. You have a very collected home that I can tell came together over time, and it’s one of those things where there’s so many details that when somebody who isn’t trying to— like, somebody who’s just not a decorator— they might not notice why your home, they like it so much, what went into all those details. So I want to chat through all that. So first, tell us a little bit about you and your blog and your Instagram and your your home or whatever else you would tell us about you.
Amanda Marie Well, my name is Amanda. First of all, I get asked all the time, “Why, Sincerely Marie?” Marie is just my middle name. Sincerely Amanda was actually taken.
Lisa Bass Oh. Well, I like it. It’s my middle name, too.
Amanda Marie Yeah. Is it really?
Lisa Bass I think it’s the number one most common middle name of all time. But still, yes.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I think so, too.
Lisa Bass I still like it.
Amanda Marie I do, too. I started my blog— gosh, I think it’s been about nine years this year. And I started it honestly out of just wanting somewhere to share creative things. I had Charlie, my son, who’s nine now, and I went from working full time to just being at home full time. And I was always so used to just kind of go, go, go and doing things that I was so bored. And you know, newborns sleep a lot. So I was like, “I’ve got to do something.” And so a friend of mine actually suggested, “Well, why don’t you start a blog and share what you’re doing with your home that you have right now?” Because before the house we’re in now, we had another fixer upper. And so I was like, “Okay, I don’t really know what I’m doing.” And I think this was like the same year maybe Pinterest came out. I didn’t know what I was doing at all. The first blog was rough. And so I just kind of like jumped in and I was like, “All right, well, I’ll figure this out.” And just started there. And then over time, the style just kind of came together. And even like— we’ve been in the house for now, six years. My style has changed. You know, when I first moved in, I thought I wanted one thing and I kind of went that direction, and then I was like, “No, I don’t think this is it.” And it’s something I’ve had to work with over time. So it’s been a process over the years, to be honest.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I think that’s how it works for everyone, to an extent. Because until you start trying things, you might not even realize what your style is. Like what’s my style? I have no idea until I see it. Sometimes I think you do have to sort of dip your toe into it and start working on it. So how would you describe it now? Like, what would you describe is the kind of style that somebody can expect when they come to your Instagram and your blog?
Amanda Marie So there’s a blend of a lot of things. I’ve discovered there’s a lot of little details of a lot of different styles that I like. I really gravitate towards like English country. I just I love old things. I always have, even as like a little girl. And I like country, but not necessarily rustic country. So English country. I love certain things about— well, we live in a colonial home. So there are aspects like old Americana, colonial type, simple, clean things that I like as well. And then there’s a little touch of probably— definitely cottage, maybe, I would say. So it’s a blend. To try to pin it down— I’ve tried to come up with it before, like, “What is my style?” And it’s really— I feel like it’s a little bit of all of those things.
Lisa Bass Yeah. Well, sometimes you want to just go on Pinterest and search for a name so that you can get some inspiration from people who are similar to yours, and I also find it really difficult. Because I have all of these images in my brain of how I want my home to feel. But it’s hard to find. I’ve found it in some design books, some magazines, some Instagram accounts like yours, but ultimately I don’t even know how to search it because you can’t search certain things. You can’t search farmhouse, you can’t really even search cottage.
Amanda Marie It’s so true. Yeah, it’s so true. Like another term that’s become kind of popular is like grand millennial. And like, I can see some of that in my home, too. But when I search that style and I pull it up, I’m like, “Oh, well, it’s not exactly that,” you know?
Lisa Bass Yeah, sometimes that one comes a little bit younger. Like, I want mine that, but for a 36-year-old.
Amanda Marie Yes.
Lisa Bass It looks like a 22-year-old’s apartment. And so I’m like, “Eh.” I like the collected look of it.
Amanda Marie Yep, I know what you mean. There’s there’s still like a modern, almost like new look, in a way, to it. So I know what you’re saying.
Lisa Bass Yeah, it’s hard to nail down when it’s called if you want to search for inspiration. I don’t know what to tell you, except for lots of books that I’ve found and then also certain Instagram accounts— which this is jumping way ahead, but we can go there. What are some of your inspirations whenever you’re designing your home?
Amanda Marie Oh man, you know, I pull from all over. And I know that you had mentioned if there were any shows or anything on like— like honestly, I don’t watch any of them. I really don’t. I feel like I used to, years ago. And then I just got to a point where like—and I think you said this—it’s hard to get design ideas for a home that looks layered and collected and homey, I guess, in a TV show, because it’s really impossible for them to do.
Lisa Bass Yeah, they’re not thinking for about one house for 10 straight years.
Amanda Marie Right. Exactly.
Lisa Bass They’re thinking about it for a season or maybe three or four months or something.
Amanda Marie Some of my favorite accounts to follow— I absolutely love Tessa from Nine and Sixteen.
Lisa Bass Okay, I’m going to have to make notes here.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I think what I love about her account— she’s an interior designer and she’s done some beautiful, beautiful rooms. She’ll share some of her projects that she’s working on and has done in the past. But she also just shares little bits and pieces of her own home. And I think what I love about her style is her fabric use. The woman, like— oh my gosh, she has so many beautiful fabrics that I have to study each picture because I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” You know, like, every little detail. And some of the fabrics are like way out of my price range, but I can definitely appreciate. Like I look at it, I’m like, “Oh, how could I replicate that in my budget?” So I love her account. I also really like Jean Stoffer— which I actually think she has a show now on Discovery Network? And what I like about her stuff is not just her decorating so much, but it’s the way she re-does rooms. She does a lot of older homes, and she still maintains a lot of the beautiful, charming details. And all of her rooms are so cozy and there’s a lot of drama and even some things I wouldn’t necessarily do in my house, just color wise. But I look at hers and it’s inspiring to me, because it is—.
Lisa Bass Yeah, you can draw inspiration.
Amanda Marie Yeah. So I love those accounts. I’ve got so many. Oh my gosh, I’m sitting here thinking. Heather from Sweet Shady Lane. I really like her a lot. She’s got a lot of beautiful decorating ideas, and she does these boxes each season where she’ll sell a little decor boxes and they’ll have different little things in it that you can order. Super cute, cute stuff. But those would probably be—on Instagram—some of my like— I like to draw inspiration from, I think, the most.
Lisa Bass Yeah. And I also noticed you have a lot of design books around your house— which my podcast listeners are probably sick of hearing about it because I think I’ve mentioned a lot of these books, like—.
Amanda Marie A million times?
Lisa Bass —fifteen times now. Yeah, because we all have the same books and we’re trying to bring a homey feel. You know, because that’s just it. I started noticing that I was sick of everything being really bare. I wanted there to be layers. I would look at people’s homes and think, “Well, what is it I like about this?” Then I started noticing things like, I like the quilts, I like the lampshades. I like the antique pieces here and it took me literally studying each of those over time, collecting those things, for it to sort of come together like that. So yeah, that’s all new to me.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I think that was kind of the case, too, with our house. Like when we first moved in, everything felt so empty and so bare, and I felt like it took me forever. But I look back, I’m like, wow, you know, in six and a half years we’ve been here, like— this didn’t happen overnight. Like, this is this has taken years to get to this point. So it’s not something you can rush.
Lisa Bass You can’t. I mean, you can if you’re not interested in that kind of style— which I’m obviously fascinated because I talk about this constantly. But I love when you look around your home and you see all these pieces—and actually it’s funny because I’m coming to you from the most bare room of my entire house because the rest of the house is taken over by children right now.
Amanda Marie Oh, don’t worry.
Lisa Bass But normally, like if I’m sitting in my living room or my kitchen or my bedroom, like the main area downstairs, I look around, I’m like, “Ooh, that came from there. I made that. I made that. That came from there. Remember the day that we did this? Remember when I found that bargain on Facebook Marketplace?” Every single piece is curated from somewhere, whether it be on the internet or just somewhere I went and got something or a DIY. And it’s layer upon layer of, you know—we’ve only been here for three years—but three years of intentionally designing this home is what has brought it together. And I love that.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I love that because then everything kind of has a story, too. Like when you can look back and you’re like, “Oh yeah, I remember when I got this.” Or like, we’ve got this hutch in our dining room that somebody was giving away on the marketplace, and it was like one of those, you know, whoever gets to it first.
Lisa Bass Yeah, no holds.
Amanda Marie Yeah. I couldn’t get in touch with anybody. My husband was in a meeting at work. My son, at the time, was I think like five. And I was like, “Well, how am I going to get this?” I’m like, “Well, I’ve got a minivan, and I’ve got some plywood.” And so I just went. And I thought I was going to probably kill myself trying to get it loaded. But I did it.
Lisa Bass All by yourself.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I did. And it’s funny, my husband and I, we look at the all time and he’s like, “Remember that one time you went and got that and you had to load it all on your own?”
Lisa Bass Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Amanda Marie That’s right. That’s right. So, yeah, I love that everything has a story. I think it’s great.
Lisa Bass Yeah. So in your home, a lot of pieces are handmade, everything from slip covers to even your lampshades—which I’m very intrigued by and definitely want to try my hand at very soon. So what are some of your favorite DIY is in your home?
Amanda Marie Oh man. Okay, so I was thinking about this. There’s so many because I feel like so much of our home is DIYed. I mean, I think we went into it kind of thinking like, “Okay, what do we have to pay somebody else to do?” And so I’ve narrowed it down a little bit. I think one of my favorite things that I’ve done—and I think, too, because I get so many questions about it—is my ottoman in our living room. It’s a square ottoman. I made it. It was very simple, like super inexpensive. And that post is on my blog. And then I also made a—.
Lisa Bass Oh, I’ve looked at it a bunch because I want to make something just like it. I’m very familiar.
Amanda Marie Yeah, it was so easy.
Lisa Bass It’s so pretty.
Amanda Marie I was thinking, I was like, “Oh, it’s so simple. We’ll see how it does. Like, I like it. I don’t know if anybody else will care.” But that has been like one of the most popular one of my—.
Lisa Bass It’s, like, the one.
Amanda Marie Yeah, and I think it’s because it is simple and people can do it. And sewing just opens up so many doors. It’s like a game changer. I basically taught myself how to sew on YouTube. Just watching YouTube videos. So a lot of my favorite things are sewing projects. So that slipcover. Another simple thing that I didn’t really think about too much when I was doing it, but now that it’s been done, I’m like, “Wow, I’m so glad I did that,” was we— on our staircase, we had this disgusting carpet when we bought our house. And it had to be ripped out before we could move in. And at the time, I was like, “Well, I don’t really know what I’m going to do here.” So I just painted. They’re just pine treads, and we just painted them, and it turned out so neat and clean, and I thought maybe it’d be a temporary thing, but it hasn’t. It’s held up great, and I really love it. And then last year or two years ago, I just added little like stair details. It’s like a little detail trim on the sides. And to me—.
Lisa Bass Oh, yes yes.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I forget what they’re called. They actually have a name. I don’t remember.
Lisa Bass Where did you find them?
Amanda Marie I ended up going online and ordering them. I’ve got a blog post about it. I ended up finding them. I had to search. I think I searched for like months. So the blog post is called “Adding Charm to a Staircase,” and they’re just little brackets and you basically like a nail and glue them on and paint them. I mean, it’s that simple.
Lisa Bass Yeah, and it really does add so much character.
Amanda Marie It does. And I look at it, I’m like, “Wow, those look like those have always been there.” So I’m really happy I did that. Another really fun project— like we’ve done a lot of rooms, like renovation rooms, and some of that’s been some of my favorite projects. But just like simple DIYs— the lampshades you had mentioned. Those are so easy to make.
Lisa Bass Okay, I have to because I was searching on Ballard Designs and I’m like, “Oh.”
Amanda Marie Yeah, I know, right?
Lisa Bass Shoot. It’s like $90 for a lampshade this size.
Amanda Marie Oh, I know. It’s crazy.
Lisa Bass And they’re so pretty. I mean, to add these patterned, pleated lampshades are just— it’s just one of those details where—to the untrained eye, which I’m very much the untrained eye, I’m just like studying and trying to figure it out along the way—
Amanda Marie Yeah, I’m the same way.
Lisa Bass You look at a room and you think, “That room is so cool,” and then you’re like, “Wait a minute. That’s because there’s not a white lampshade. That’s because the quilt on the bed is hand-stitched. And it’s because—” you know, just like so many little things. And the lampshades is really one of them.
Amanda Marie Yeah, we’ve been we’ve been lucky enough—talking about Ballard’s—we’re lucky; we actually are like 30, 45 minutes away from their outlet store. Pretty much everything— things I do have in my house from there have all come from that outlet store. Like I think, I paid like a fourth of the price.
Lisa Bass Actually I was looking at the lampshades, and one of the first pictures on the lampshade was your photo on their website.
Amanda Marie Yes. Yeah, they did. They they did ask. They’re like, “Oh yeah.” And I’m like, “I guess.” But yeah, so I have bought things from the outlet, which, you know, you can go and you find super good deals. And so I feel lucky. I’m like, “Oh, I’m glad we live nearby.” But I’m with you. There’s been so many lampshades, like there’s one on there right now I want, but I’m like, it’s almost a hundred dollars. I’m like, “No.” So I started searching a while back. I guess it’s been like a year or two ago, or maybe is right before COVID. I started looking for a class that I could take on how to make lampshades because apparently they have these places where you can go and it’s like a two-course class and they’ll teach you how to sew it and do it the proper way, but I couldn’t find one in my area. Like there wasn’t any anywhere within driving distance. So I went online and at the time I couldn’t find anything. There was nothing online. So, you know, I’m like, “Gosh, there’s got to be a way to do this.” So one day, I just took scrap fabric that I had and this like little shade that was stuffed in my closet at the time that wasn’t being used for anything else. I’m like “We’ll try this.” And I just got all my hot glue gun and just cut little pieces of fabric and folded them over and just hot glued it and then put— and it turned out so cute. You know? I don’t think anybody will ever know that I made this.
Lisa Bass Well, yeah, it doesn’t have to ever come off again. So why does it have to be sewn, you know?
Amanda Marie Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so I’ve thought about going back like, “Oh, maybe I’ll learn the proper way, proper way to do this.” But for now, like I’ve done two or three shades—
Lisa Bass I definitely never will. Not if there is an easier way.
Amanda Marie Yeah, it is. It’s so easy. And I know like, you know, anybody who comes over or who maybe knows how to do the right way would look at and be like, “Oh, that’s not right.” But who cares?
Lisa Bass Yeah, it looks good. I wouldn’t have known that.
Amanda Marie Yeah, so there’s a post on that, too. And like I said, super easy. You don’t have to sew. If you’ve got a hot glue gun and scissors, you can do it.
Lisa Bass Okay, well, that is good to know because I do want to start jazzing up all of my lampshades. You can just get like a $12 lampshade at Target. And then do you have any recommendations for fabric for that kind of a DIY project?
Amanda Marie Yes. Okay, so I have noticed—and I figured this out a couple of years ago when we did our guest bedroom—I had ordered this fabric on Etsy. It was like this vintage fabric. I got a great deal on it, and it was so pretty, and I was like, “Oh, wouldn’t it be awesome if the lampshade could match the drapes?” Well, it was a drapery fabric. And so I did make the lampshade with it. But the fabric is thick, and so it makes the lamp very dim. So I would stick with like a thinner—.
Lisa Bass Oh, I didn’t think about that.
Amanda Marie Yeah, it makes it dimmer, so doesn’t put off as much light. It also is just bulkier to work with. And so it was a little bit temperamental. I finished it. It looks great. It’s just, you know, there’s not much light there.
Lisa Bass It looks good in the daytime.
Amanda Marie Exactly, exactly. So I found with the other two, I did like a thinner, more like cotton fabric— works awesome. It still lets light permeate in and it’s easier to work with.
Lisa Bass Okay, I have these pillows that I got last year from Target and they’re like stamped. Is that what you would call that? Because I’ve been wanting to search for more fabrics like that where they look like they would be stamped on. Do you know what I’m saying?
Amanda Marie Yeah, like a block print?
Lisa Bass Maybe that’s what I’m trying to come up with.
Amanda Marie Where it’s almost like— a lot of times it’ll be like florals. I think it originated in India, which I’ve actually— if you go on Etsy, you can buy block print fabric for really inexpensive. I’ve done that and that fabric is actually thin enough. You could do some lampshades with that really easily. They also have like block print quilts, which I did a blog post on that—getting quilts from Etsy that come over from India. You got to wait a little while, but they’re so much more affordable than anything you’ll find here.
Lisa Bass Oh, that’s a good tip.
Amanda Marie And yeah, they’re beautiful. Like, I absolutely love mine. But yeah, block prints. I don’t know if there’s another word for that, but that’s all. That’s what I call it.
Lisa Bass Okay, well no. That gives me something else to search for because I kept trying to search for like “stamped,” and that wasn’t really turning up the result that I was trying to come up with because I don’t really know, but I want more pillows like that. I keep moving them. I’ve moved them to photograph in the cottage and then back in the house. I’m like, “I want more of these pillows.”
Amanda Marie Yeah, yeah, I actually I know which pillows you’re talking about that you shared. And those are super cute. I’m pretty sure, yeah, I would consider that block print. That’s what I’ve always called it— which I’ve actually tried to make my own block print fabric.
Lisa Bass I’ve seen somebody do that, like stamping.
Amanda Marie It did not work for me. Maybe I didn’t have the right paint or something. It didn’t turn out as good as I wanted it to look. You know, like when you do a DIY, but you don’t want it to look like a DIY.
Lisa Bass Yes, like every time.
Amanda Marie This very much looked like a DIY, and I was like, “No.”
Lisa Bass No. I know that’s just part of the process, I think, sometimes having those fails, but it’s nice to learn from other bloggers and things so that you don’t have to try things that maybe won’t work so well. What is your process like when you go to decorate a room? Because this was something I was talking with Andrea from Pine and Prospect Home last week. When you’re trying to design a room and you can’t really create a mood board because everything’s going to come from all over the place. Do you make a list or do you have like a general idea? Or is it just you don’t have any idea and you just sort of piece it together over time?
Amanda Marie Oh, goodness, okay. So any time I go to do a room, I’ll make a list. Like right now, we are moving our powder room out of our laundry room, which is right off our breakfast nook. So for so many reasons, we want to move the bathroom out of there. So it’s not right beside our table in our kitchen, basically. So we’ve got it— we’re moving it out. And so I knew that I kind of had an idea in my mind of what I would like it to be and what I’d like it to look like. And so I have made a list and essentially, like with all of our rooms or any time I go to do a project, I basically make the list. I’m like, “Okay, what can we DIY in this space? And then what do we have to buy?” And when I’m going to buy something, I’m like, “Okay, well, ideally, what do I want in here?” So I want—for our bathroom—I want two wall sconces. And so first place, I’m going to go look is on the Facebook yard sale site. I try to get anything I can. Like, I would bet 75% of our house has been purchased through the Facebook site, through Craigslist, through yard sales, thrift stores, antique stores. So I try to kind of get an idea of what I want in there, like basics. Like lighting, lamps, and then I’ll try to find those things used first. And then once I kind of get everything together, I’ll go back— like all those little decorative things, like things for the walls or a cute little soap tray or something— I’ll just kind of find here or there. I feel like no room has ever just come together all at once or like perfectly like I would hope it would. It seems like every room, I’m always adding something as the years go on, and I feel like it’s always evolving and it’s always getting better. But it’s one of those things where I realized when you want something to look collected, you have to be okay with waiting.
Lisa Bass Yeah, because you can’t always just go— you definitely can’t just go find it, especially if you don’t have an endless budget. So whenever you’re getting on Facebook Marketplace, what are you searching? Sometimes I’m like, “Okay, I searched ‘sconce’, but then it doesn’t really turn up the kind of thing I’m picturing.” Do you have any tips for how to find stuff?
Amanda Marie Yeah. So I used to be very detailed with what I would type in, like I would type in exactly what I was looking for, like “brass wall sconce”, or, you know, whatever it was. And I found that it just made it harder to find things because I think what most people do—if they’re just trying to get rid of something—maybe they don’t even know exactly what it’s called. Maybe they don’t know technical terms for it, or if it’s an antique, maybe they don’t know it’s antique.
Lisa Bass They probably just write like “light”.
Amanda Marie Yeah, they do. So I just got to where— I just started searching more broad terms, and I do this on Facebook, I do it— I rarely go on Craigslist anymore, but if I do, I just do very broad, like “wall light”. I’ve even typed that. Or just something super simple because it pulls up more things that way. And that goes with anything. Like if I’m looking for in particular, like an antique dresser, I’m not going to type in “antique pine dresser”. I’m going to type in “dresser”. I’ve even typed in just “pine” before, “pine”, and just see what pops up. And that seems to work much better. Super broad.
Lisa Bass Yeah, that’s good to know. I feel like whenever you’re trying to learn what your style is, sometimes certain things look— like, you think that’s going to be really great. You see the little picture of it on somebody’s garage floor. You go get it and then it doesn’t at all look like what you were thinking. Do you have any tips for like— okay, like right now I’m trying to find lamps because I’ve never really had like a lot of lamps in my house. And I don’t even know what I like when it comes to lamps. I see a lamp, and I’m like, “Maybe that’s cute. I don’t know. I have no idea,” till I see it in my space. So do you have any tips for that?
Amanda Marie Oh, goodness. Okay, so if you could see our basement right now— oh, how I wish I could take you on a tour. It is full.
Lisa Bass Oh, do you have a lot of random stuff?
Amanda Marie Oh my gosh. Tons. I’ve had a lot of like trial and error, and my husband makes fun of me all the time for it because he just thinks it’s hilarious. But I would say I would do the same thing. I would get something like, “Oh, this is going to look so great,” or I’d be like, “Oh, well, that’s, you know, that’s pretty popular. I’ve seen people use that before. I’ll try that.” And I would get home and I was like— you know, I might live with it for a few weeks. And I’m like, “Oh, I don’t really like this like, I thought I was going to.”.
Lisa Bass That wasn’t it.
Amanda Marie Yeah. So it’s like, “Okay, goes down to the basement,” or I’d have to like relist it on the yard sale site to try to get rid of it. And I’ve done that so many times to where now I’m very hesitant to buy anything. I’ve got to a point where I’m like, unless it’s just an absolute necessity we need immediately, I will sit on it. I feel like it’s kind of the opposite of what a lot of people will tell you to do when it comes to antique shopping. They’re like, you know, “Well, if you see it, you got to buy it when you see it.” I’ve actually found that not to be true. I feel like there’s always going to be something cool to buy. There’s always going to be something antique. There’s always going to be something that would work in your space, but waiting until you just find the perfect thing. And I think the more you develop your style, the easier you can recognize, “Oh, that would work.” And there’s been times where I’ll see something on the yard sale site, I’m like, “Oh, I like it, but I’m not sure,” and so I’ll save it and I’ll it saved for like three or four weeks. And sometimes I eventually end up going and getting it. Sometimes I don’t. But I think I’ve learned restraint, which has been my best friend. Because I think it’s saved me from a lot of like bad buy choices.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I think we do get that scarcity mentality sometimes with with the antiques, because once you start looking more, you do realize that certain things are more common than maybe you originally thought they were. Like, you start looking for one certain things, and you’re like, “Okay, that’s everywhere. So that’s good. Now I just know that I can maybe, like, sit on this for a minute.”
Amanda Marie Yeah, it’s so true. And this is where I try to stay away from trends a lot because it all just cycles through too quickly. Like you can go into an antique store and you’ll see tons of certain things. And that’s because they know it’s trendy. They know people are looking for that. Well, if a bunch of people are looking for it, chances are you’re not the only one who’s going to have it in your house. A bunch of other people are going to have it too. So then my my thought is, “Well, it’s not really that unique.” And I think that’s the case with a lot of antiques. There’s a lot more of that than you think there is. But yeah, getting back to lamps— all of my favorite lamps have either come from the outlet store. I did splurge on two or three lamps in my house that they are just like the simple brass. They’re from Pottery Barn, but I bought them at the outlet store. And even at the outlet store, they were a little more than I typically would spend on something like that. But I actually bought them like 12 or 13 years ago, and I still have them and I still use them and I still love them. So to me, that splurge was worth it. But it was one of those things that they were simple enough that I was like, “I can use that in any style.” And the quality was there. But thrift stores. I think the rest of my lamps that I really love have mostly been from thrift stores.
Lisa Bass Yeah, yeah. I’ve been finding them more and more at thrift shops trying to come up with which kind I like in my house. And I’ve bought a few that I— once I sit on there, I’m like, “No, that’s not it at all.” But it was three bucks, so it’s okay.
Amanda Marie Exactly, exactly. I’ve done that. I’ve gotten it home, and it’s like, “Oh, okay, well, five dollars. All right. Well, you know, that was not the right thing, but at least I didn’t break the bank with it.” I find that brass, like metal lamps, just simple ones, I don’t ever get tired of those. If I get bored with it, change the shade. And then I also really like ceramic ginger jar lamps.
Lisa Bass Okay, I don’t know what that means.
Amanda Marie Do you know what I’m talking about?
Lisa Bass No, I’m going to have to Google that one.
Amanda Marie It’s shaped almost like— not cookie jar. They’re called ginger jars. I don’t know why.
Lisa Bass Yeah, we can Google it.
Amanda Marie But a lot of them are just like white or cream, and then you can find them in like blue and white, which is really popular too. I don’t have any of the blue and white, but I’ve got a lot of the white ones. And those I’ve found—I’ve got two or three of them—I think I found those all at thrift stores. I think maybe one, I bought at Home Goods years ago, but they’re pretty easy to find. Pretty simple, too.
Lisa Bass That’s good tips. So do you have any go-to decorating secret weapons? So for example, I noticed around your house, you have a lot of stacked baskets, and that’s something that I started implementing into my home because one, I just think they look so pretty and then they add additional storage. So that’s probably one of your secret weapons. Do you have any more that like, whenever I have a blank wall or a blank space next to a couch, this is a good go-to.
Amanda Marie Yeah. Okay, so the baskets— those are super handy, not because not only do they look good, but they also hold junk.
Lisa Bass Yeah, exactly.
Amanda Marie I wouldn’t call myself a minimalist per se, but I don’t like clutter. I don’t like stuff that we’re not using. It stresses me out. I don’t like cleaning around it. So I found that the baskets— I actually keep a few empty all the time. In I would say almost every room there’s an empty one because I found when people come over or if we know somebody’s coming— I can quickly go around with that and like, just pick up random stuff. Or like when I’m doing pictures for my blog, there’s always going to be— you know, when you got a family.
Lisa Bass Yeah, there’s going to be stuff.
Amanda Marie You know, there’s just stuff everywhere. So, super handy. And I love that no one basket is the same. They’re all so different. They’re all individually made. And I love baskets with lids. Those are my favorite. Because, like you said, you can stack them. So that’s always kind of like a— if you’ve got like a space where you’re like, “Oh, I need to fill this with something, but I don’t want just like a knickknack or something like that.” I always say baskets are awesome way to go because you put them on shelves, countertops, you can have them sitting on the floor in the corner.
Lisa Bass Yeah, and they’re so warm and they add texture. More items like that make a room so cozy. I’m thinking like, I used to be like, “Okay, the less in here, the better.” Now I’m like, “Really, these layers make this room cozy.” I don’t like clutter. Like you said, I don’t want a bunch of items sitting around. But something like that doesn’t feel like clutter to me.
Amanda Marie No. And to me, it’s like they serve a purpose. Like everything, I look around our house, I’m like, “Okay, I want to love everything I see.” I don’t want there to be anything in my home where I’m like, “I don’t really like that.” Or that’s just there, but it’s not really useful, and it’s not exactly cute to look at. Those kind of things bother me. Whereas like baskets, like you said, they’re great texture, they’re super cute. You can store things in them. I’ve got them on my shelves in my kitchen and they hold dish towels and things because I’m hurting a little bit for drawers and things in our kitchen. And so that’s been super handy to have. Another thing I really love to use are—and they’re kinda like baskets, but wicker trays. I’ve got a couple that actually have handles on them and they are so handy. They’re super cute to decorate with because you can put them on any surface and then put whatever you want on them, and then you can also use them. So like when you have company over— like we spend a lot of time outside, which I haven’t actually shared much the outside of my house because, like the inside, it was a jungle. I wish you could have seen it, Lisa. It was crazy. Crazy overgrown.
Lisa Bass Do you have any before pictures for the blog?
Amanda Marie Oh my gosh, we have got— I’ve got certain areas, I feel like maybe that we shared. I’ve got a lot stored and we are kind of working through— like, we just finished like a gravel, pea gravel, like fire pit area this past year.
Lisa Bass Ooh, we’re getting ready to do that very soon.
Amanda Marie So I saved the before photos so that— because I haven’t quite shared it on the blog yet, so then I could do all at once. But it’s just been a jungle. And so I use those trays. I have gotten to where I’ve bought two or three of them. I’ll use them for my pictures and decorating stuff, but then I’ll take them outside when we do s’mores at the fire pit or when we’re having lunch or dinner out on the deck. So they’re just super handy. I like decor that serves two purposes, that you can use for two different things.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I agree. Totally. So do you have any like secret weapons for wall art?
Amanda Marie Oh man. Okay, yes. I think people either love this or they hate it, but I love it. Plates. I love antique plates, antique China. So bowls, plates, whatever. And I’ve found that in our home, where we’ve had like certain walls that I haven’t found a piece of artwork there, or maybe I don’t want something as personal as like family photos, that vintage plates work perfectly. And you don’t have to use them just in a kitchen or dining. I’ve got them in my living room. I’ve actually got them in my guest room. And they come in all different colors. You can get just the white, like antique white ironstone. You can do the blue and white transferware that’s really popular. There’s all different kinds of prints, I guess you’d call it or whatever. But that’s one of my favorite things to do. If I’m just like, “I need a little something, but I don’t know what,” plates or platters work really well.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I agree. I just did that yesterday, actually. We were redoing— we have a cottage on our property and we’re making it into a guest cottage. I did like this little tiny kitchen area.
Amanda Marie I’ve been following that.
Lisa Bass Okay, well, it’s finally done. There will be a video coming out very soon.
Amanda Marie It’s so cute. Like what you’ve shared—little bits of it—is adorable.
Lisa Bass I love it. We finally got it to where it’s guest ready. Like there’s curtains on the windows. There’s a little mini fridge and like coffee and the plumbing all works and there’s a nice mattress. I’m like, “Okay. It’s comfortable.”
Amanda Marie Yes. Fantastic.
Lisa Bass But yeah, I put some plates up yesterday in the tiny little kitchen area of that.
Amanda Marie Well, I love that you can find them. I don’t know about everybody, but like where we live, I feel like I see them all the time for like $2-$5, somewhere in that range.
Lisa Bass Oh yeah, they’re very easy to find.
Amanda Marie Yeah, and I mean, it’s easy to go and find some where somebody’s like, “I want $35.” But on average, no. I paid like anywhere from two to five bucks a piece for them. So they’re super affordable.
Lisa Bass Yeah, yeah, they really are. They have to be, too, because sometimes they get knocked off the wall and it has to be okay for them to—.
Amanda Marie Yeah, it’s so true.
Lisa Bass So do you have any tips for rugs? I don’t know if I really even studied your rugs closely. Are you doing vintage rugs?
Amanda Marie Okay, so I actually just got my first vintage rug like a few weeks ago, and I got it from Revival Rugs. And I was honestly—maybe this is naive—but I was terrified. I was really worried because I’ve never bought a vintage rug before. I didn’t really know what to expect. I was like, “Okay, is this going to have some weird smells to it? You know, I didn’t know. And it said they were cleaned and everything. I was so surprised when I took it out. Is like the most beautiful rug ever. We got it for our master bathroom, which we did re-did like two or three years ago.
Lisa Bass Oh yeah, I saw that. So it’s just a small rug, but adds like a lot of color?
Amanda Marie Yes, that was one thing with vintage rugs— the patterns and the colors are so beautiful. And I love that you can buy an old rug and you know that it’s a one of a kind. Nobody else is going to be about to just go out and buy that exact same rug, which I think is so cool. But the rug was in like pristine condition. It was amazing. So I love that. I don’t like to think of myself as cheap, but I think I am kind of cheap because I hate spending money on rugs. I love them. We don’t have any carpet in our house at all, so rugs are a must.
Lisa Bass Yes, same here.
Lisa Bass But I will search a fairly long time before I buy a rug. I recently lucked out. I was out in Dawsonville, which is about an hour or so north of us, and there is a Pottery Barn outlet, which I don’t really go to very much. But we stopped in, and I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, which is typically when you find something. But we found a big 9×12 wool rug, and I instantly thought of our master bedroom, because the rug that we had, I liked, but it was slightly small for the space. And it was in perfect condition, and they had marked it $199 and it was a 9×12—
Lisa Bass Oh man, that is cheap.
Amanda Marie Yeah, for like 100% wool rug. I was like, “This can’t be right.”
Lisa Bass You can get like an acrylic rug for that.
Amanda Marie I know. And I was looking and I was like, “This has got to be mislabeled.” And I look up the label, and I’m like, “Yeah, that’s not the same rug.” And so I mentioned it to somebody and the lady at the register, she’s like, “I’ll sell to you for that.” I was like, “Hot dog. Sold.”
Lisa Bass Yeah, you can’t go wrong.
Amanda Marie I wait for those really good deals. Wayfair, too. I’m not buying Wayfair shopper. I actually hardly— I know it’s really popular. A lot of people love it. They do have a ton of stuff. I find it slightly overwhelming because there’s so much.
Lisa Bass Oh, I agree. Yes. I want just like a few good curated designs. Like, show me this and then I’m good.
Amanda Marie Yeah, when there’s like 50 pages of rugs, I don’t have time. So I have found a rug here or there on there for a good deal, but most of mine have come from outlet stores. The rug that I bought for my son’s room not too long ago, I actually got at Home Goods. It was a Ralph Lauren rug. I paid a little bit more for that than I really wanted to, but it was a 12×14. I mean, it’s huge.
Lisa Bass Oh, that is big.
Amanda Marie Yeah, I think it was like, $250 or something like that, which at the time I was like—
Lisa Bass Oh, that’s not too bad.
Amanda Marie No, at the time I was like, “I don’t really want to spend that for a kid’s room,” you know? But I was like, for the size of the rug— yeah, but the size and everything, I got it. So I mean, most of mine have been outlet stores, Home Goods I’ll look up sometimes. And then Revival, which I just discovered, and I absolutely love the first one. I think I’m going to get a second one for our kitchen, but I haven’t done it yet.
Lisa Bass I’ve looked on there, and I really like them. I do think that they’re probably a little bit out of budget for most people. But for like what you were doing in your bathroom— adding that pop of color with a small— because it’s small, right?
Amanda Marie Yes.
Lisa Bass Yeah, it’s a good way to get into vintage rugs.
Amanda Marie It is. It’s like a 3×5. So it wasn’t huge. Now, yeah, if you’re going on there to look for something large—.
Lisa Bass Like a room rug, like a 9×12.
Amanda Marie An 8×10. Yes. Yeah, yeah, you’re going to be spending a little chunk because they’re not cheap, by any means. But like if you want something small, like for our bathroom, I was like, “You know what? This would be perfect.”
Lisa Bass That’s a good idea. That’s a good place to start with vintage rugs. Yeah, like just get a few small ones for the bathroom to add that piece together.
Amanda Marie Another place you can find some vintage rugs that are actually, I think, pretty affordable is Etsy. I actually know a couple people— Julie Blanner from JulieBlanner.com—
Lisa Bass Yeah, she’s a real life friend of mine.
Amanda Marie Yes. Okay, yeah. I think she’s got some that she’s bought on Etsy. Like a few, if I remember it correctly.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I think she has a post on that.
Amanda Marie So I always look at hers, and I’m like, “Oh, those are so pretty,” and I think, “Oh, I’m going to go on Etsy and search,” and I just haven’t done it. But I feel like she said, when I talked to her, that they were like, I think they’re fairly affordable. But yeah, I would just do like a small one, like start in a small space, especially if the space needs— like with our bathroom, I wanted a very— I wanted it to be warm. So we did a lot of like rich wood tones, but we did the walls in like a cream, like a warm white color. And so it just needed a pop of color. And I felt like that rug—even though I wouldn’t go buy a really large one just because of the price point—but a small one for that bathroom was perfect. It was like just enough color for the space.
Lisa Bass That’s inspiring me for a few of my bathrooms that I don’t have rugs in. I’m thinking, “Oh, that would be a good option to do that.” Because they’re hard to come across— rugs. You can find them online, but then you’re going to pay for what they are. But I find that you don’t just come across antique rugs, vintage rugs. It’s just not a thing.
Amanda Marie No, you don’t. I came across one. Oh my gosh, it’s probably been a couple of years ago now, and it was on the the Facebook Marketplace. And I want to say, I mean, they were practically giving it away. It was huge. It was so beautiful. And of course, at the time I saw it, you know somebody, “Oh, we’ve already got like 20 people waiting.” I’m like, “Rats.” And I think that’s the only one I’ve ever seen on there.
Lisa Bass I think that they’re so sought after that 1) people typically will know what they have and not just give it away, and then 2) if they do, you’re going to have 50 people in line for it. So that’s been a struggle of mine is wanting to have these colorful antique rugs, because I have a few and they are the most comfortable, nice rugs. I’m really glad for what I’ve spent on them. But they’re not easy to come by. Maybe in some areas, but not here.
Amanda Marie No, they’re not. They’re not. But you are right, though. They’re so nice and they’re so cozy. When I got the one from our bathroom, I took it out, I was like, “Oh my gosh.” You know, going from like hard marble tile to then having this nice rug to stand on, I was like, “Oh my gosh, I love this so much.”
Lisa Bass Yeah, you’ll have them forever. The rugs that I’ve purchased, we will have forever. They are so nice and they’re woven. And they— unless, I don’t really know what could happen to them.
Amanda Marie I’m all for it. I’ve gotten rid of enough cheap rugs to last a lifetime to where I just don’t want to buy them anymore.
Lisa Bass Yeah, that’s how I feel. I’m like this floor can stay bare till I find something that’s actually going to be what I want. Well, do you have any final tips—before I let you go back to your day—on collecting things for your home so that it doesn’t look cluttered and like a garage sale? Because your home looks so curated, like every piece goes together like a magazine. But they all came from different places. So do you have any tips for that?
Amanda Marie I think it comes down to really knowing what your style is, and I think that sometimes it can be hard for people to pin down. I know it took me a little while to figure it out. I think what helped is when I shut off the HGTV shows and I stopped for a while maybe like paying close attention to social media or other blogs. Not that I don’t find those resources helpful or think they’re a good thing, but sometimes when we look at too many things, we kind of lose track of what we really love. And sometimes you just kind of have to shut it off for a little bit and live with your house for a little while to realize, “Okay, this is what I love. I don’t really care for this. Maybe it’s popular, but it’s not for me.” I had to do that because I feel like when trends take off, they’re just everywhere, and sometimes you can get wrapped up in it. And so one way— I think finding your style, an easy way would be Pinterest. Like if you go back and you look at your boards and look at what you’ve saved, a lot of times, there’s a lot of things that are similar in those photos and you can kind of easily pick up on, “Oh, well, I have pinned rooms with floral drapery a hundred times. Like, maybe I’m really drawn to that, and that’s why I keep saving those pictures.” And so then when you find out, “Okay, this is what I like,” it makes it easier to shop. Also, when you are wanting a home to collected, you have to be patient. You have to be willing to be OK with waiting. It’s not something you can just go out to the store and— you know, you may say, “Oh, I would really like to find a quilt to go on the back of this sofa in our family room.” Most of the time, you’re not just going to go out and find the perfect quilt the first time you look. It could take weeks, months.
Lisa Bass No, they’re like rugs. It’s going to take forever.
Amanda Marie Yes. Yeah. And the same with like lamps or even— I’ve gotten to where I’m making a lot of our curtains and drapery now and like fabrics, I’ll look sometimes months before I find the right fabric. Or maybe I’ll find the fabric, but it’s not in my price range, so I have to wait for a sale or I’ll look for something that’s more affordable that’s similar looking. It’s a lot of, I feel like, waiting. And then, because I’ve kind of figured out what my style is, I’ve gotten to where I know, “Okay, that’s going to work. That’s not going to work.” But I think pinning down what it is you truly love, and knowing you love it because it suits you and your family and not because it’s just what’s popular, and then being being patient, and knowing that eventually you’re going to find it, it just may not be when you’re looking for it. I feel like anytime I go to look for something— if I go into a store and I’m like, “Here’s what I’m here for today. This is the only thing I’m looking for.” I never find it.
Lisa Bass I always want it to be that way. But that’s just not how it works.
Amanda Marie No, it’s not. Or you’ll find something where you’re kind of like, “Well, it kind of works,” but it’s not really truly what you want. And I think it’s better to wait. And even if you have to spend a little bit more for that perfect thing, it’s worth it because then you know you’re going to have it forever. It’s not going to be something in a few months where you’re like, “Oh, well, I didn’t like this that much anyways, so I’ll let go.”
Lisa Bass I think it just comes with time, too, though. Experimenting.
Amanda Marie Yeah, it does.
Lisa Bass You said you’ve brought in a lot of things into your home that end up not working later, so you have to—over time—work with what you have and what looks good in this certain spot. Can’t really know ahead of time.
Amanda Marie Yep. And I think, too, once you kind of— because like I said, I’ve gone through so many things. And some things, I spent maybe a couple bucks on. I was like, “Okay, no big deal.” Some things, I may have splurged on and then years later realize, “Oh, well, I shouldn’t have done that.”
Lisa Bass Yeah, that always hurts.
Amanda Marie Yes. And then you feel so guilty. You’re like, “I don’t ever want to do that again.” But you know, once you start, once you figure out your style and you start layering, you know. And I think that that helps you, too, when you go into a store, you realize, “Okay, is this something that I’m willing to splurge on or not?” Because some things are worth it, and some things aren’t. I’ve gotten to where I will splurge a little bit more on fabric if it’s a certain fabric I want because curtains are one of those things. Throw pillows. I have them forever. I put curtains up and they stay there for a long, long time.
Lisa Bass Well, that’s actually smart because I haven’t gotten to that point. And so I have just a lot of cheap curtains, and I bet you I’ll get sick of them. And I’ll probably want to get something else.
Amanda Marie Well, you know what, there’s things like that in my house, too, where I’m like, “I just need something here and I like this okay, so I’m going to put it up.” But when I started sewing—maybe this is lazy of me, but like when I started sewing drapery—especially after I learned how to make pinch pleat drapes, which I’m obsessed with now—they take a lot of time to sew.
Lisa Bass So yeah, research the fabric first.
Amanda Marie Right. And so I’m like, “I want to love this fabric before I spend all this time to make these drapes.” But when I go— like going back to shopping and looking for certain things, I kind of always have a list that I have in my head of things that I would love to find one day. And it could be— its all different kinds of things. There’s a lot of different things I love, but I just kind of have this running list. And I know one day, I’m like, “Well, eventually I’ll find this, or I’ll find that.” You know? So I think it just takes time. And I know that’s not the easy answer that people probably want to hear.
Lisa Bass You don’t have a magic answer for us here?
Amanda Marie I know, I know.
Lisa Bass Come on. We all do it.
Amanda Marie It’s funny because I’ll have friends that will say, “Oh, well, next time you go to the antique store, will you look for this for me?” I’m like, “Well, I’ll look, but I’m probably not going to find it because you have to—”.
Lisa Bass Yeah. Keep an eye out.
Amanda Marie I think it’s like 90%, or we’ll be generous— 75% of the time, I go in an antique store or a thrift store or even on the Facebook Marketplace, I don’t find anything.
Lisa Bass Yep, I agree.
Amanda Marie You know, I find some things that are cool, but you don’t— I think you have to be willing to look frequently. And when you’re just looking frequently enough, you eventually find something.
Lisa Bass Yes, exactly. People always are telling me, like, “You find the coolest stuff. We have nothing like that where I live.” I’m like, “I think it’s just because I go all the time.” I don’t really know if that’s true. I mean maybe some places don’t. But a lot of things, I even source online. So we all had, like, fair opportunity to find that. So yeah, I think it’s just because I’m obsessively looking at all times for decor for this home.
Amanda Marie I think I think looking, I find it very therapeutic. I actually think I enjoy the hunt as much as I enjoy the actual decorating, if not more.
Lisa Bass Yeah, I love all of it. It’s so fun seeing it come together over time, something that you’ve been imagining is very rewarding.
Amanda Marie Oh yeah, it is.
Lisa Bass And then seeing your family enjoy a space. Like you’re about to work on your exterior. Having that space where your family can enjoy nights of barbecuing and s’mores. That’s all what makes it worth it.
Amanda Marie It is. It is. And I guess the whole homemaking in general is so, so rewarding because, like you said, it’s not just for you, it’s for your family. And to have a cozy place that everybody can relax and feel restored is something that I think happens over time. As your home evolves and as your family grows, your home kind of becomes a haven. And I love that as time goes by, your home changes just like your family changes. But yeah, just takes time. So I would say the thing that I would recommend is just tell people to be patient and to be constantly looking.
Lisa Bass Yeah, and enjoy the process.
Amanda Marie When I have my morning coffee, I’ll like flip through the Facebook Marketplace real quick and just kind of gaze through, see what I find. Most days, I don’t find anything. Sometimes I do. So you just never know.
Lisa Bass Yep, I completely agree. Well, thank you so much for sharing all of your wisdom and tips. For anyone who really wants to just study every detail, the best place to find you is Instagram and then your blog SincerelyMarieDesigns.com. You’re pretty active on both platforms.
Amanda Marie I am. I’ve been a little bit—I don’t know if disenchanted is the word—lately. I think I’ve just been— we’ve had so much going on here at home. All good things. Just been busy, that I’ve been away a little bit more than I want to be, but I’m trying to be better and be a little bit more consistent coming this spring and then this summer, because lately I’ve just been distant.
Lisa Bass Well, you have years of content for people to take in whether you make any more at all. Great place to follow along with you over there on Instagram and your website. Thank you so much for joining me.
Amanda Marie Yeah, thank you so much for having me, Lisa. I was so excited to get to sit and chat with you a little bit. It’s good to see you.
Lisa Bass Yeah, you too.
Lisa Bass All right. If you have not yet hopped on over to Amanda’s Instagram after or during this conversation, I definitely encourage you to do so. Also, check out her blog for lots of DIY home inspiration. I know that I’m inspired to make some lamps, start looking at some of her fabric recommendations, searching for those block print pillows and quilts. So hopefully you learned something or at least just were entertained by us discussing one of our favorite topics, and that’s home decor. As always, thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast, and I will see you in the next one.
