KJ's Big Boy Room








I finally finished KJ's big boy room and he could not be more excited. We kept the same wall color, dresser, and rug, but everything else has been reworked and added. The bookshelf was once in our room, the mirror is freshly painted, the shade was once our old Pottery Barn duvet cover. I found the bed at a local antique shop and painted it Benjamin Moore Hale Blue. The frame behind the bed may be my favorite piece. It was made by Kiwi Wood Works and Design and I am smitten. I am now deciding whether to add a photo or design a special print. The last image has the fabric that I am thinking about making the pillow out of. It has a touch of every color and my son loves it.

Bedding: Ikea
Rug: Pottery Barn Kids
Basket under bed: Home Goods
Gallery Wall: more info here.
Chair, bed, dresser, side table: Vintage
white frames: ikea Ribba
Frame behind bed: Kiwi Wood Works and Design

From here on out for the next two weeks everything had been guest blogged or pre-posted. I am hoping to still enjoy all your blogs daily but commenting may just not happen right now. Kellen has been my editor and he can not possibly edit every comment I have till I am fully off the meds. Hope you all understand. I am one loopy lady lately.

Gallery Walls Obsession

It seems I like a gallery wall. Maybe a little too much since almost every room holds one. The first is in the hall that is right off the entry towards the kiddos bedrooms. The bottom right frame will soon hold the kiddos art project the rest are filled by my Mr...


This is the one in KJ's bedroom. It was inspired by the art walls in Moomah.

The two bikes are by Hillarie Tasche who seems to have closed up shop.
The two bottom 5x7 are by Simplesong Designs.
Middle is from Seesaw Letterpress.
The four middle 5x7's are note cards from Moomah.
The two top 5x7's and the right top are by me.
The top left was a gift.


This is in Ellie's room. The green walls photographed much more saturated than they really are.

Top left and large abc print were gifts.
Bottom left was designed by Brooke of Blueprint Bliss.
Top middle and wooden flower are by local artists.


Of course you have seen this image before, but it is part of my gallery wall obsession just with a slight twist.


I have been checking my list off left and right and it feels so good. KJ's room is almost finished just need to sew a pillow for his bed and a few odd and ends. Ellie's room just needs a coat of paint on the bed to finish it off. The office supplies have been ordered and now waiting for arrival so it can be completed. Oh, and my deadline is to have it all done by the weekend. Why such a hurry? Well I am having surgery that will keep me laid up for a good six weeks at least. I know it doesn't really matter, but I do not want any of my uncompleted projects hanging over my head. I am a dweller.

A Few New Things



I am not sure if you remember, but part of my New Year resolutions of sorts was to simplify. I feel as if I am getting there slowly but surely. One step towards this goal was to refrain from buying lamps for 6 months. I have a bit of addiction to them. So my time is up and I came home with this beauty and another similar tall lamp which will be revealed along with Ellie's room. Honestly I think it would have been hard not to get them even if my time were not up. Isn't she gorgeous? If you can't tell this is my entry which is always changing. This feels perfect for summer to me. The copper planter is filled with sea shells from all our beach tips, the glass bottle holds my favorite flower, the thrift store bowl with gold detailing is perfect for mints, and my favorite new piece is a print I won from Le Papier Studio. I think a print like this would make for a unique wedding gift. I just adore her shop and blog. Vana truly is an inspiration.

Getting Organized

Our "office" is also part of our keeping room right off the kitchen. I love the location, but with all our photography paperwork, bills, Ellie's new school paperwork, and being the place I blog from it is becoming one huge mess. Well, in order to contain all the necessary clutter I am thinking a bookcase is in order which will replace this side table that will then move into KJ's big boy room. I like the simple lines (and price tag) of this one from Ikea...


I then hope to get organized in a few of these lovely binders from Russell+Hazel...



I already own one of these clear file sorters but another may be in order. I love how simply changing the folders can change the whole look.

Over the desk I want to cover a huge bulletin board in some simple linen to hang photos of clients that we love, calendars, and other inspiration that comes along my way. Think Erika's office board of Urban Grace. A few plants will done the top of the shelf along with the same lamp although it now has a different shade.

I hope a few of these simple changes will get this mess in order. We are making an Atlanta trip to Ikea on Friday so hopefully this task will be done sooner than later.

A Mouse's Back

If you have been reading my blog for awhile you know I have been going back and forth about painting my cabinets. Finally I am ready to take the plunge, but finding that perfect color has been harder than I have expected. My wall color although nice is an odd color and if you pair it with the wrong color it can look yellow which is something I don't want. Also painting my walls is out of the question, open floor plans makes for a lot of wall space. Anyway, I came across this gorgeous image on Lonny. The cabinets are painted Mouse's Back by Farrow and Ball. I was thinking of going lighter, but this has my wheels turning once again. I have finally succumbed to asking for help and Marianne is coming to my rescue to narrow down what I like for me. I am at the point where I just want someone to tell me what to do. I think she will be perfect.

Green & Aqua

Ellie's room is about to go through a little redo. Nothing too grand, but I am in the mood to change something so her room wins. Here it is in it's current state...


The green walls she picked out herself so those will stay. What will be new are the curtains and bedding. I am doing the curtains in Paula Prass Flights of Fancy Garden Trellis in aqua with green piping along the top. The fabric width is only 45 inches, but will work fine for one panel on each side with lining. I will also make two euro pillows for the bed.


I will also be sure to mix in Ellie's love for pink. She currently has a raspberry basketweave linen lumbar pillow that will be used once again. I then want to move her bed between the two windows and hang my own version of this Sugarboo art piece. This is her lullaby that we have sang to her since birth.

Pretty art in white ribba frames would add more pink that Ellie loves.


Of course, this print will make it's way into the room. A gift from Brooke that I just adore.


I will continue to use the tall ikea lamp by the bed and add a white garden stool for when she reads in bed and needs a place for her books. I am thinking the bed may need a paint job too, but haven't decided on the color of that yet either. The bedding will get a simple white duvet. I would love to add our entry way table into her room since she is about to start kindergarten but I am not sure it will fit with the kitchen and doll houses. I will have to play around and see.

So those are a few of my ideas of late. Oh, and did I mention we are also transitioning KJ's room into an official big boy room? I will share more on that later.

ART



{sorry for the awful reflection, it's driving me nuts}

I had quite a few inquires about the walls that I was standing in front of in this post so I thought I would show you more. The first is a small wall off the kitchen and keeping room that I painted out in chalk board paint, but we have yet to actually draw on it. The art is strung on twine and is changed out constantly. It makes the kiddos feel extra special. The second is made up of old windows that I snagged when my old college apartment building was getting new windows. I simply took 6x6 prints of our favorite pics, scotch taped them on the back, and then used scrapbook dot adhesive to attach them to the backside of the window pane and when I say I, I really mean Kellen. We also change out a window every new season. We like to keep things fresh.

Kitchens, Baskets, and Painting...

In our kitchen we have a lot of dead space between our cabinets and ceiling. I am not into decorating above the cabinets with ivy and knickknacks so I have just left it bare. I have always loved the idea of putting rows of cake plates on top, but the space is so high it would have lost the impact. Some time ago I came across this image and saved it into my inspiration folder, I recently came across it again and became quite enamored with the baskets above the cabinets. I love the natural feel it brings without any fuss.


So this brings me to our kitchen. I have started my basket collection. I have two so far and rather like how it fills in the dead space. So if any locals come across any lovely baskets for great prices then be sure to let me know. These two came from Home Goods. Also my wall paint color is reading a bit more yellow than it should in the shot. I swear it's because it's the color of the cabinets (more accurate color interpretation found here). My wall color is sherwin williams rice grain. Doug I am sure you will be so excited to hear I am back on my wanting to paint kick. We are in this home for the long haul so I mine as well make it the best that it can be, right? I am thinking this would make a superb birthday present to me.


I am thinking a color similar to Farrow and Ball Hardwick White without the price tag. Then again maybe I should take the plunge? As you can see my mind is not quite set. Something close to this...


I know this color would go with my decor quite nicely. Any of you know a color like this that you absolutely love or if you think I am going in the wrong color direction let me know? Also has anyone used Farrow and Ball? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my last post. You all had me blushing. I suppose a picture or two a week would be no big thing.

A Pick Me Up




I have been feeling a bit under the weather. I am thinking food poisoning, but alas I am still not feeling back to my old self. Well, I have been seeing peonies all over blog land lately and they happen to be one of my favorite flowers so yesterday I went out and bought a bunch. They make me happy.

Images taken with my blackberry (I was being lazy) and then uploaded using this. Thought it made my bad pics not so bad, ha!

My Garden

I thought since I shared my garden inspiration yesterday then I would share my back garden today. Please excuse my weeds I plan to conquer them today. Oh, and yes I am well aware that the huge hydrangea bush needs to be moved. I had no idea it would get so big so fast. Live and learn, right?



Here is a view of my garden. I would love this look throughout, but wow its a lot of work. Well worth it though I think. What I would love is to disguise the fence all the way around. I love having a fence, but would love to mask it more. Oh, and that's the hydrangea that needs to be moved. I also plan to plant climbing fig to cover the vinyl back of our house. The other three sides are brick. I think this is my cheapest, I mean best option, right?


We have a swing set, not quite inspiration garden material, but it is fabulous for the kiddos. The swings and hand rings are from Ikea.


I am planning on getting new dining chairs this year. I am thinking these for the side and two big wicker ones for the ends.

Now for my garden to bloom so I can have cut flowers for free!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mama! Can you guess what your present is?

Thank You


Thank you all for your sweet, sweet words. I wish I could let you all know how truly happy you all made me feel. Blogging is such a funny world and some of the friendships I have leave me feeling very blessed. I feel much better and things are lining up. I may not know it all but I have comfort in knowing we are in God's hands. So all in all I am going to learn how to lighten up and not worry so much about the little things. And what's a post without a picture? I made this pillow the other night, just a simple envelope back and I now realize I should have ironed it better. It's Barbra Barry for Kravet. I got it from Jenny.

3x6

On Tuesday Brooke came over to help me tackle my kitchen backsplash and I could not be more excited about the results. I stuck with a simple 3x6 white subway tile with white grout. The process was much easier than I had expected, but the clean up took much longer. The actual tile job took about 6 hours with only a lunch break in between. Brooke really is my hero. She doesn't have much longer till her due date and she had more stamina than I do on my best day. I really could not have done this without her. Well, her and him. He passed out tile like no other...



Sweet Brooke rocking it out. Yes, I did help, but I did stop to take a few pics in between...



The finished product, well besides the outlet covers. That will be happening tonight with the help of the hubbs...



I am so happy!

Around the House

I feel like I am continually tweaking our home. I have some new additions and changes that I thought I would share. Nothing big, but I enjoy them just the same.



In the dining room I added a mirror that we had and a few plates. The mirror I painted mega griege by Sherwin Williams. This room gets lots of light so I added a natural touch with plants. The candle sticks were all thrift store finds.


This is the main living room. The wall behind the chair is huge and I could never find the "perfect" addition to fill it up a bit. Three years later we came up with a solution. The picture was taken by my husband at our favorite beach spot. We had it blown up and my husband cut it to fit six Ikea ribba frames.



In my entry I simply added a couple of reader's digests and a Penguin Classic, but after seeing this from A Little Sussy I am thinking I want to add more. A lot more.


Our master has the addition of the two front pillows. A friend bought them at market for her home, but they did not work. I traded two lamps for them. And yes, I should have made my bed better for the picture, but I was just grateful the kiddos did not jump on it while I was taking it.


The bath I painted Benjamin Moore stratton blue when we moved in. It's the main bath and sits between the kiddos rooms. I wanted to tone it down a bit, but was not willing to paint. I am somewhat over painting for awhile, so I took out all the red accents and added black and white. The towels are from Ikea, the antlers were an ebay score, and the shower curtain which set the whole tone is from Target.


Finally here is the new gallery wall. We had all black frames prior to this and we wanted to mix it up a bit. Of course you can tell it's not completed, but its on its way. I was going to slipcover the bench in a fabulous pink, but I think it's too much for my neutral love so the fabric will become a couple of pillows for Ellie's room and I will do something neutral. The garden stool I found at T.J Maxx for $30.

Currently I have my dining chairs and a bench that goes at the end of my bed at the reupholsters. I will share those as soon as they come back. Again, nothing too jazzy, but more practical for the kiddos. It's how I roll these days.

PINK

It seems I have become quite smitten with pink lately. Not to say I haven't always loved it. My wedding colors were pink, black, and white. I just never embraced it as a decor staple. Oh, not counting my daughters room, we fully embraced it there.

{via Domino}

I have become especially smitten with this chair since posting it over a week ago...

{via The Vintage Laundress}

I then came across this fabric at a fabulous local fabric shop...


I love how it is more raspberry pink then hot pink. I think it would look nice on a bench we have that I plan to put in the hall that leads to the kiddos rooms. It will sit under our (in progress) mixed frame gallery wall. For those who know I don't do too much color that is another story when it comes to my kiddos part of the house. And yes, when I go fabric shopping and don't want to check out samples I take a pic with my blackberry and it helps me remember pricing. I am practical like that.

Elegant Touch


As you all may remember I have a slight addiction to pillows, well this is the newest addition to our home. I found this pillow cover from Elegant Touch on Etsy and I must say I am smitten. She was a doll to work with. I needed a special size and she was more than accommodating. The price was great as is the craftsmanship. Now I just wished I ordered another to combine shipping, oh well. Here are a few more I loved from her shop...





I will definitely be working with her again.

*Also I would like to say thank you to A Spoonful of Dish for awarding me the Happy Award. Upon receiving the award you list 10 things that make you happy. Here is a post from when I was featured on Wide Open Spaces on my 10 happy things.

Surprises


I just love a good surprise although I am not too keen on waiting for one when I know there is one to be had. My husband has been teasing me with a so called surprise for the last couple of weeks now. He says this is the weekend for me to get it. My skin is crawling with excitement. He says its not only good, but really good. He knows me well and I am already certain I will love it. I will be sure to share next week. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Oh, and I almost forgot how much I love having fresh flowers in the house. They really can brighten up the dreariest of days.

A New Lamp for the New Year


Before we left the beach I took one more look in Tracery to make sure there was not something I so desperately needed/wanted. Well, I came across the Edison Lamp that I have admired for some time. I bought it with no where to actually put it. Officially my lamp addiction has gone completely out of control. I still love it though and I will find a place for it surely. Anyway this leads me to my New Year resolutions of some sorts...

- This year I am going to learn how to cook. I hope well, at least for my husbands sake.
- I am going to put to good use our new spin bike after I get the full go ahead to work out again and no we did not spend that much of ours in case you are wondering.
- I will not buy a new lamp for a whole year, okay maybe 6 months. I must be realistic.
- I will finally do our backsplash in the kitchen.
- To be more cheerful when doing house work. I am hoping my new toy will help.
- As a couple we are going to try to grow our savings account which in turns means less spending. This lady inspires me greatly in this area.
- More one on one dates with the kiddos.
- To live more simply, which I started last year and flopped miserably towards the end of the year. {Which means I may be having sale sometime soon: home goods, children's clothing, my clothing, etc.}

I am sure this list will be added to, but for now this one works.

My Master Bedroom Reveal








So all those fabulous photos I took with the rented wide angle lens, well, these are not them. They are forever lost in my computer, but I wanted to share our room redo before this new addition arrives and makes my room less pretty. Anyway, this room redo was done on a major budget simply because I just redid my room early this year, but soon found out I am not funky and needed to go back to the basics. So that is exactly what I did...

-The corbels are from Home Goods. I loved the raw wood feel.
-The botanical prints were found at a local shop Leaf & Petal.
-The dresser and side dresser were painted my own gray color that Benjamin Moore helped me with.
-Faux roman shade I made with simple burlap and lining.
-The lamps I bought at an estate sale and painted black. The lampshades are from Target and have a fabulous gold lining.
-I made the headboard. Directions on how found here.
-The pillow shams were also bought at a local shop, Three Sheets. I loved the gray/brown color and they are what the whole room is based around.
-Leather chair was a Home Goods find and it's brother lives in the family room.
-the sconces that still need candles are from Tracery Interiors shop in Rosemary Beach.
-The curtains were found at Hobby Lobby of all places and I added black out lining.
-The table was painted white and is used for sewing so that is why it's basically empty.
-The desk chair is from CB2 and is perfect for sewing.
-The final chair was from Home Goods ages ago and has lived in almost every room in our house. My husband thinks it's a great place to throw his clothes.

So now you have it. Sorry for the not so great pictures, but I promised to share so I am. As you all should know the room is not 100%, but it's getting there. I am on the search for the perfect fabric to recover a bench that sits at the end of the bed if you all have any ideas I would love to hear them.

Adding Charatcer

We rented a wide angle lens for a couple of weddings we shot recently so I thought I would take advantage and get some new pics of our home. I thought I would share over the next couple of weeks. We live in new construction because my husband loves it. He loves me and knows how much I would love a home with unique character so in return he let me change a lot. We are still in process, but for now I am happy.



My husband built me this piece, it helps keep our entry free of clutter.



The main living room. Awkward space, but we worked it the best we could. Oh, and the empty frames on the wall is a project in the works, no need to worry.



This was the sun room, but now acts as our dining room. It works better for the way we live and yes I know there is a lot of furniture in a small space, but my home is small. Did you notice the new/old dining chairs? A Craigslist find. They are all in good condition, but need to be reupholstered. Wait did I say they were all in good condition. Not anymore, little Ellie broke the top of the back off of one of the chairs while with a babysitter. I am hoping to be able to fix it, because one day I hope to have these surrounding a parsons table, but not until my children stop coloring off the paper.


This is the former dining room now family room hence the pendant light. The sofa faces the kitchen. I love having this space, it's where I blog and hubby edits. It makes fixing dinner feel like a family affair. Oh, and doesn't everyone have a large tent in their home and lamps without shades? I have the perfect pair of shades living in my head, but have had a hard time finding them in real life. One day I suppose.

So this is it for the main living areas. If you have any questions I will be more than happy to answer them.