Maggie Overby Shows How To Decorate When You Are In The Military

When Maggie Overby's husband Chuck decided to go back in the army after finishing LSU, she knew there would be moves involved but didn’t expect eight moves in thirteen years. The Overbys are New Orleans natives, and Maggie is from a family of women who love to decorate HERE and HERE, and they are very very good at it. She is an excellent sewer, and makes and sells things from her Facebook site Maggie Overby Studios.

Let's take a tour of a US Army family's home on Germany

Although all this moving can be hard Maggie says she loves having a new house every few years to put her stamp on. She says, "I love the hunt for the new house, the planning and shopping for all the new things we will need and bring in all together. This last was different though, we were moving overseas to Germany and I had no idea what to expect. I knew the house would be smaller but what should I bring. Previously moves I had gone ahead, and many times already decided where we would be living before we even began the move. This time we were jumping in completely unaware of what laid ahead. I packed using William Morris’ maxim, 'Have nothing in your house you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful'.”

This is the living room. in the off-post housing in Germany - Maggie and Chuck painted all the rooms - Their new rental home was built in 1962, and the wonderful quirky vintage light fixture came with the house

I love the colors, the patterned rug, the pillows, the walls - it's all so happy

Maggie said they shipped almost everything from the States to Germany

Maggie sews all the drapes and pillows -  Love the globe collection on the windowsill

The valance was made from a tablecloth, and the table was painted white to offset all the wood cabinets in the kitchen that could not be changed in the rented house

I love the sign over the door painted by New Orleans artist Simon

Maggie tells us, " The thrift store table repainted and a banquette made from re-purposed nightstands."

Maggie was thrilled when Amazon would ship to an APO military address, so she ordered this cute patio set and made all the pillows for it

They brought their cat Ozzie....

...and their dog Stella - I love Stella's patriotic collar

The master bedroom - Maggie made the drapes and bedding and pillows - The rug is from Ikea - Germany has several great Ikea stores

All the DeBroeck girls (mom and sisters) collect these big metal letters, and Maggie brought hers from the USA and uses them in the master bedroom

The closet in the master bedroom is from Ikea - Many of the chairs are vintage finds that Maggie reupholsters

The little girls room is so pretty - Maggie says this about the pretty bed, "Its is a $40. flea market find with a fresh coat of paint" - Of course she made the bedding and the wonderful valance on the window, She says,
"I made the Greek key valance as a test for another project. It works great in this room paired with a $20 Ikea shade."

The pink chandelier and aqua painted desk are so cute

Maggie says. "Since the wall over the bed is sloped it limits what you can hang there. I decided on doing a 3-D butterfly collage and was going to cut the butterflies by hand when I happened on the new paper department at Ikea. I found these great pre-cut butterflies for only 75 cents for 30 in various sizes. A little folding and some glue dots and we have a masterpiece."

The house is off-post for Army family Overby in Germany

The Overbys will be in Germany for three years. I asked Maggie how long it took her to get the house to this point: "Three-and-a-half-months. I get manic about the house and once I start I am so excited for the final result. Plus we don't know anyone here yet and barely speak the language, so what else am I going to do So far I have four rooms completed but I still have a few more to go. My son’s room is next and it will be nautical since he is totally infatuated with the Titanic."

She tells us, "We arrived in Germany in April and found a house pretty quickly but spent a month in the hotel waiting for the old tenants to move out. By the time we finally got into the house I was ready to get settled, and fast! The house was in good condition but needed a good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint just about everywhere. I fortunately had a good place to start. I have one ritual I complete before every move. I always buy new bedding for all the beds (sheets, blankets, pillows, the works) and I buy fabrics that I can use for drapery and pillows, etc. Since I am my own seamstress, I have a little obsession with fabric. This ritual paid off in a big way, not because it gave me a good start in getting the house together, because they don’t often sell Queen size bedding in Europe, and fabric is hard to find and extremely expensive. Once we moved in I had a week to wait for our household goods to be delivered so I spent the time cleaning and painting. When our furniture was delivered I was ready to get to work with my bedding, fabric and my useful and beautiful things."

The Overby family in Germany

 
I think Maggie could write a handbook on packing, moving, and decorating that not only would be useful for military families, but for all of us civilians too.

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