Haden’s Room Makeover

Taylor’s room re-do sparked another fun project!  Marc’s been wanting to makeover Haden’s room for awhile now.  He’s had pretty much the same room since he was a baby, minus the crib of course, so it was time for a more mature room.  Haden loves to fish and loves baseball – a pretty typical boy!  So, we wanted to incorporate that into his room, but I wanted to also give it some style and continuity. 

I got the main inspiration for his room from a Pottery Barn Teen bedding set, and it developed from there:

You can find the links on my board here.

His room before was a hot mess!  It needed some serious work!  He’s what I like to call a hoarder collector… He needed to purge, organize, and his room needed a design.  His whole room makeover was a surprise.  We did it this weekend while he wasn’t home.  The week prior, he helped by just getting rid of toys and books that he didn’t want any more.  I am kicking myself for not getting any before pics!!!  Guess you’ll just have to trust me, because this was a huge transformation….

 

I used the same type of idea for his focal wall as I did in Tay’s room, but did horizontal lines instead.  More manly, don’t ya think?

I used a light gray (Silver Bells) as the main wall color and a navy blue (Admiralty) as the accent horizontal stripe color from Porter Paint.

 

Haden is one lucky boy to have a new bedroom set of furniture too.  I ixnayed the whole matching bedroom furniture idea, and encouraged him to just go with the bed and a dresser.  The rest we’d coordinate together and make the room look less “matchy matchy”.

The shark bedding is on backorder, but here’s how it turned out without the comforter…

I added this Ikea (Besta cube in black/brown) cabinet across from the bed with orange accent bins for more functional storage.  Those cubes can hold a lot!  He’s got some empty space for room to grow now.

The curtains where navy blue panels from Ikea, mounted high to accentuate the height of the ceiling and window.  They are also black-out, so when they are shut, not an ounce of light gets in.  I’m jealous and want these for MY room now!

Some of the fun details of the room include… an ocean painting canvas from Home Goods, more miscellaneous fish art work over the doors and a new updated lap shade on his pre-existing lamp from Lowes. 

And another fun detail, is the under-bed storage!  I love this idea!  More drawer space and open bins for toys or whatever!  Definitely some functional storage that can grow with him throughout the years!

 

Oh, and this fun candle holder that I found at Home Goods – thought it tied in with the room nicely, so I couldn’t resist!

It was so fun doing this whole project for Hades – but the best part was the reveal!  He was shocked, speechless, and ever so grateful for the great room makeover!  I even got a handmade thank you card from Haden today that was all his idea.  So sweet!

Okay…what room can I decorate next?!?

Taylor’s Room Re-do {Chevron Wall}

I stumbled across this DIY tutorial on how to do an “easy” Chevron accent wall here.  I was a little nervous how it would turn out because I am not the best at attention to detail when it comes to projects.  I don’t have a lot of patience, but I decided to give it a try anyway.  It’s just paint, so worst case, I would paint over it and pretend it never happened… right?!

So here was the inspiration for Tay’s accent wall:

Here was her room BEFORE

The bed was against the wall and the room had 3 lighter walls and one darker, accent wall.

You may recall, I made Taylor’s headboard shown above.  Instructions for that here.

The Chevron Wall instructions were really simple and easy to follow.  The part that takes the most time is measuring out the wall.  This has to be precise and down to the inch or else your lines will be off.  The tutorial explains how to measure it out.  Then you connect your measurements with painters tape.  One challenge I had that was not covered in the instructions is what to do if you have a window on the wall you’re painting.  This made measuring a little more difficult, so keep that in mind if the wall you have has a window or door.

Now for the fun part… painting!  The first step of painting is to re-paint the base color in the sections you plan to paint the accent color.  You only need to paint over the painters tape and this seals it so your accent paint does not bleed under the tape. 

Paint colors I used:

Alpine Valley 355-4 by Porter Paint (base color)

Turquoise Mist 355-3 by Porter Paint (accent color)

I lucked out because I had both colors left over from when I originally painted her room.  I had about half a can each and that was plenty. 

I applied this coat, then took a nice long nap while we had a huge rain storm.  It was glorious!  When I woke up, it was time to apply the accent color!

 

While the paint was still wet-ish, I carefully pealed off the tape to reveal perfect painted lines!  I was thrilled to see it turn out so well. 

Sure, there are a few little imperfections, but that was due to taping issues.  If I do this again, I will be even more meticulous with the measuring and taping, but overall I am still really pleased how it turned out!

When I put the room back together, I decided to rearrange the furniture a little too.  I found a great mirror at Home Goods that I think looks great over her bed.  I definitely recommend using the DIY instructions that I followed.  It was fairly easy and makes a huge impact!  I can’t wait to see the look on Taylor’s face when she sees her updated room for the first time this afternoon! 

I am already thinking of what other accent walls I can paint in my house!  Happy decorating!

 

Tour of Taylor’s Room

I just love love love how Taylor’s room has turned out, so I thought I’d give you a tour of it!  It really came together so nicely, as if I had planned it all out, but I didn’t really!  I never had an overall vision for her room, I just started from choosing her comforter and added in the things I had from her nursery and it evolved from there.

The design began with her furniture… Before I even closed on our house, I went my first model home auction.  Talk about fun!!  They auction off literally everything in the model homes and you bid.  If you win, you haul the furniture right out of the house and take it home.  It was exciting!  Anyway, that is where I scored her nice dresser and nightstands.  They turned out to be really nice quality and is something that can grow with her. 

Before picking a paint color, I picked out the comforter for her bed.  I found one I really liked at Bed Bath & Beyond.  It wasn’t baby-ish which I like; more little-girlish.  Once I picked the bedding, the wall colors just fell into place.  I went with a two-tone, Tiffany-blue and teal shade.  It’s very calm and serene. 

 

Luckily, items from her original pink & gray nursery worked well with her new teal room.  This was her rocking chair from her nursery and I think that it compliments the teal room nicely.

 

A few fun details from her shelves…. Baby pictures, knickknacks that we pick up along the way, and an old toy that I had from when I was a baby.

And, what little girl’s room wouldn’t be complete with out a large, color coded, closet and lots of matching bows??

I completed Taylor’s bed this weekend with a handmade headboard upholstered in white fabric.  This such an easy and inexpensive project!  It literally took me 10 minutes and only cost $25 in supplies!

All you need is a scrap piece of plywood cut to size.  I had the guy at Home Depot just cut the piece for me.  He found some scrap wood, cut it, and it only cost $1.08!!  Next, you need batting and/or foam based on how thick you want your headboard to be.  I went with two layers of batting which just so happened to be 30% off at the fabric store.  Lastly, you will need fabric to cover it all.  I went with a basic white textured fabric to complement her colorful comforter.  I found that on clearance for $8/yard.  SCORE! Just lay everything out, pull tightly, and staple around the back edges.  Mount the headboard to wall, and VIOLA!

Here’s the before and after.  I think it finishes off her bed nicely.  She was pretty happy to see her headboard finished today when she came home.  We both love how it all turned out!

 

The Red Door Project

The first thing I noticed when I first pulled up to my new house was that hideous bright blue front door!  YUCK!  I couldn’t wait to fix it! 

Painting projects are a lot of fun (mostly) because it’s an inexpensive way to make a big impact.  Allison and I have both been talking about painting our front doors red, so we teamed up this weekend to tackle it.  We met up at the paint store, picked our color, and headed straight for her house to slap on a few coats.  “Few” is a bit of an understatement… her doors were previously painted in a high-gloss dark brown, so it took at least 7 coats of paint.  I actually lost count.  When we first put it on, the red looked more like a mauvey pink, but end in the end, it tuned out great. 

See for yourself… this is Allison’s before and after:

 

 

Luckily, painting my front door was a lot easier possibly because it was previously painted in a flat finish and the color was a lot lighter.  Two coats later, here is the finished product!  I am so happy with it! 

Here’s my before and after… What do you think?!

Happy home-improving, All! :)

Home for the Holidays – Dining Room Edition

Taylor and I are finally in our HOME; just in time for the holidays!  I have been so busy doing a lot of cosmetic upgrades to the house.  It’s so fun to see things coming together.  Thank goodness I took some “before” pics because it was pretty atrocious!  When I walked in to the house for the first time though, I could see it’s potential, and it’s starting to come out! 

I have this vision for my dining area… I really want a round dining room table, in a dark finish, that is simple and contemporary.  I don’t like a lot of ornamental carvings or claw feet or anything crazy like that.  Just simple and elegant.  My design style as “comfy contemporary”, not at all to be confused with modern.  Modern doesn’t doesn’t describe my taste at all.  Any who, back to the table.  My other requirement is that it is large enough to seat 6-8.  This is a big area that I need to address and a small 4 seater table would be lost in the room.  Is all this too much to ask?!  I don’t think so.  From the few stores I have browsed at so far, there is nothing that fits this criteria, so I have started looking around online.  A lot of the pictures that I found do not link back to anywhere I can buy it, I guess they are just design ideas. 

Okay, so here is the BEFORE….

(I really hope the ex-home owner doesn’t read my blog :))

And, here’s what it currently looks like….

Like our $5 “dining” table from Ikea and Tay’s folding chair?  Classy, I know.

 

Lastly, there are some of my room inspirations.

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I love these chairs…

 

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Traditional Dining Room design by Las Vegas Interior Designer P. Scinta Designs, LLC

See, all I need is good lighting, window coverings, and furniture….

Please, please let me know if you know of anywhere where I can find something like this, preferably without breaking the bank to.  K, thanks! :)

Happy Decorating!

How To Make Your Husband Happy

Want to know the secret to making your husband happy??

 

Buy him a recliner.  I did!

For an early birthday gift, I surprised Josh with a recliner for his office.  It wasn’t my first pick of furniture, but I knew it was what he wanted.  I went shopping for it one afternoon and found the perfect chocolate leather recliner that seemed really comfy to me.  The sales guy was able to take it out of the box and fit the two pieces into the back of my car.  When I got home, I unloaded it myself, and then realized that I’d need my Dad to help me get it up the stairs and set up.  By the time Josh got home that evening I had everything set up, so when went up to his office, he discovered his recliner!

After trying out the recliner in his office, he decided that he wanted more of a love seat sized couch in his office and he’d prefer to have the recliner in the Living Room.  Ugh!  So… we moved the new recliner back downstairs to try it out in the Living Room.  Needless to say, he thought it looked great in the Living Room and was REALLY happy with it.

I was never a big fan of recliners.  I don’t like the big overstuffed look, but I guess it’s not so bad.  What matters is that he’s happy with his new recliner and that I was actually able to buy him something that he liked! 

In conclusion – buying your husband a recliner is a simple gesture and I promise you, he will love it!  It’s a small price to pay! :)

I should also mention that I’m really enjoying the recliner too… I’m blogging from it right now!

Happy Birthday, Babe!  I love you lots!!

headboard project

Ever since we moved into our new house, I've intended on making a headboard for my guest bedroom. I've had the plywood for it for months, but that was as far as I got. One day when my neighbor Holly came by, she noticed my plywood in the garage and I told her what I planned to do with it. She's been wanting to make a headboard too, so we decided we'd tackle the project together!

Getting all the materials was probably the most difficult part. Holly got the 3" foam and batting, and I found my fabric at Ikea. Since I picked striped fabric, I had to buy extra to sew pieces together so that the stripes would be vertical. I decided on a 4' tall headboard to make it the focal point in the room.

Here's the Guest Room before, as I am measuring the fabric out.

Once we had all the materials together, Holly and Jamie came over and we sprawled everything out in the empty Bonus Room.

First we glued the foam to the plywood, then covered it all with a layer of batting. Next, we covered it with the fabric and stapled it all to the back.

And, Voila! The finished headboard!

I had some leftover fabric, so I made an accent pillow out of it. I think it really ties in the bedding with the headboard. Here is what the guest room looks like now!

While I was at Ikea picking out the fabric, I found this sheer, cream fabric that works perfectly as drapes for the room. It was on clearance, so I couldn't pass it up. I'd never sewn anything like this before, but it was really simple. Just a couple of hems, and you're done!

The project seemed really ambitious at first, but once we got going it was really simple. Everyone's headboard turned out GREAT! A big thanks to Holly and Jamie for finally pinning me down to get it done!

painting project

Yesterday, my Dad and I painted the arches that are in between my living room and dining room. They were all painted the light gray color, but I thought they needed a little something to accent them, since they are a cool architectural detail. I decided to paint them the same color as the adjacent wall, which is a dark grayish-blue. It's Behr's Hidden Peak, actually. This paint job was a huge hassle. There wasn't much area to paint, but a whole lot of edging, so it was difficult to get it to look just right. Now that it's complete, I'm afraid I'm not happy with it! Let me show you the before and after shots I took, so you can let me know what you think:

BEFORE - Dining Room

BEFORE - Living Room

DURING...

AFTER - Living Room

AFTER - Dining Room

The arches before where kind of plain, so it definitely needs something. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but right now I am not happy with the blue. I think it needs to go back to the original color, then I need to do a faux paint treatment on the arches.

Give me your honest opinion... What do you think?

P.S. THANKS again Dad for helping me with the painting! I really appreciate the help, and it was fun hanging out with you :)