Guest Bedroom Progress

Hi friends. It's been a while!

While I found myself diving headfirst into projects around the house, in a desperate attempt to finish all of the little things that have been nagging at me, this sad little guestroom has been a total struggle.

I think the rug is throwing me off because I'm stumped about accent pillows and adding more color to this space.

We finally painted the room a bright and very pale green, Spare White by Benjamin Moore. It's safe to say I'm loving it! Such a stark contrast from the angry tan which is still in 3 more rooms of our house. Ah!

 

I picked up this mirror from Target a couple of weeks before they came out with a bigger circular mirror and I'm still kind of kicking myself for not exchanging it. I do love the bronze-gold color though which is a theme I'm trying to stick with in the details of the room.

Andddd that's basically it. The double door closet annoyingly takes up a lot of space opposite the bed so this is the best configuration we can come up with.

I don't know, y'all. I'm drawing a blank! HELP!

So here's what needs to happen in this space:
Some kind of artwork above the bed
Accent pillows (Leaning toward a floral I think)
Ditch that lamp and replace with prettier ones on the nightstands
Drapes (thinking DIY french pleat with tassel trim)
Replace the mini ceiling fan
Style the heck out of the picture frames and tray

Any and all suggestions welcome!

8

New Series: Weekend DIYs

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to be starting a new series on the blog so its finally time to spill the beans! I'm so excited to finally be getting back to one of my favorite parts about this blog, DIY projects!

And in case you ever think your house is a complete mess, go ahead and bookmark this post so you can come back to it and instantly feel better about your current living situation. 

It's been a while since I had time for holiday DIY projects or coerced my husband into building a coffee table, but with so many things on our new house to-do list my goal is to knock one project off every couple of weeks. While it would be fabulous if we could hire someone to do this for us, we're on a budget and I have (probably too much) confidence we can do it.

I should probably point out that we are still beginners when it comes to DIY projects around the house, in fact it took us 3 hours to comprehend IKEA instructions for a baby gate last week. Which is still not installed by the way, ahem....

Anyway I hope this series will inspire you, give you a few laughs at rogue projects that don't go as planned (there are bound to be a few in this bunch), or help if you're planning to start a similar project of your own.

First things first, we have to discuss some of said projects! There are many, many small projects like replacing the kitchen faucet that did not make this list but here are the biggies with the horrifying visuals.

Guest Room: Paint

I have been going back and forth on this room color but finally decided on Sherwin Williams Spare White. It's got the slightest hint of green in it which I think will pick up some of the colors in the rug and go well with the dark bed frame and gold details. Now I just need to find the time to paint! That dinky fan needs to go too now that I see it photo bombing this picture.

Guest Room 2/Rowan's Big Boy Room

This room is a hot mess and I can't even believe I'm sharing this photo. It's currently serving as storage obviously but it has gotten slightly better since I took this photo. The previous owners thought it was a super good idea to paint a very dark navy on alllllll of the walls, so who knows how many coats of primer and paint it will take. I want to do a board and batten statement wall like this on the wall where you see my sad little sewing machine set up.

Office: Organize

I am normally one of those people who always keeps their work space immaculate and organized, but right now it is so far from it. I've got first birthday projects everywhere, random Target Dollar section purchases on the floor, a gallery wall to hang, etc. It's bad. At least its painted and has a pretty light fixture!

Laundry: Paint + Add Cabinets 

Pretty self explanatory, nothing fancy but it could use a face lift with some prefab cabinets. 

Dining Room: DIY Wainscoting + Paint

This room has lots of potential and I think the wainscoting will add a lot of value, plus a good coat of paint will cover up whatever the eff the previous owners had going on with these walls. It also needs a new light fixture, curtains and curtain rods... just to name a few. And hey, maybe someday we'll even furnish this space!

Not pictured but something we'll most definitely hire some help with are painting our kitchen cabinets white and redoing our half bath. I just know those are not doable projects with how hectic things can get around here!

So there you have it, our project list in all of its messy, unfinished glory.

If you have any words of wisdom or suggestions for dining room paint colors, send them my way! I'll keep you all updated on our progress every couple of weeks!

9

Fa La La La

Life has been crazy busy the past week so I just wanted to pop in and share some photos of our Christmas decor! Since its our first Christmas in our new home and Rowan's first Christmas, I was so excited to go super traditional with the colors.

I was going crazy trying to finish decorating for a little Christmas party we had this past weekend with our friends and their babies. Despite the smoke detectors going off twice and my husband telling me Christmas music was not allowed because the NFL games were on (insert eye roll here), it was so much fun! Nothing like giving myself a little pressure to finish decorating. 

I'd like to say we have a perfectly styled coffee table or side tables, but the reality is my child will demolish any and all decor attempts. He is even starting to remove the corner guards on our DIY coffee table so I guess we'll be covering all wood furniture with rubber and bubble wrap.

Joking... Kind of.

Also if you've been around long enough you know I love me some DIY holiday decor but this year I just haven't had time so I stuck with my plaid tablecloth pillow and this DIY no-sew deer pillow. 

Stockings. Garland (Michael's Arts & Crafts).

Pillow (Home Goods).

DIY Christmas Tree Bow Tutorial

I actually decorated two trees- a faux one with only gold and silver ornaments which I neglected to take a photo of (I'll blame that one on mom brain... will share later this week!) and a live tree with all of our family ornaments.

Mercury Glass Christmas Tree. Faux Boxwood Plant. Winter Wonderland Printable.

I'm obsessed with these new DIY shelves in our kitchen area. More on these later this week!

And as promised, I decorated Rowan's nursery. However changing his diaper is like wrestling an alligator so putting a mini tree on his dresser was a big fat negative. I had to keep side table decor to a minimum for the same reason. He also noticed the garland I hung above his rocking chair and he wasn't a fan so we had to take that down. High maintenance over here!

Reindeer Knit Doll.

The music box was a gift from my grandma years ago when I was in high school. I used to keep it in my room and now I love having it in Rowan's room!

Cutest smocked PJs ever via Smocked Threads

Rowan has mostly left the Christmas trees alone but he is getting more and more gutsy so I don't think I'll be singing that tune for much longer. He is at the sweetest age right now, I wish he could stay this little forever!

If you saw on Instagram, Rowan will need tubes in his ears after his 4th ear infection in 2 months. I wanted to share that while on Instagram and this blog I try to stay positive and share festive photos, it's kind of my coping mechanism. It's not all pretty over here and I've been struggling to stay positive through all of the health (and sleep) struggles we've had.

So there's that. I just thought y'all should know our house is usually a train wreck and I've been buying extra concealrer for the bags under my eyes! And now that the babe is asleep, I'm off to have a little bit of this!

19

Our Color Scheme

I blinked and just like that was Wednesday!

It's been a little bit of a hectic week topped off with a call from a our painting company that they could get us in... TODAY. We were expecting to have until late June to get our shit together, take out the five billion nails the previous owners left in our walls, and mentally prep for a messy house. If I'm being honest, its been messy from day one so that really wasn't an issue.

So in addition to my mama and work responsibilities, I'll be bossing around painters for the next 3 days. And in honor of the painting, I thought I'd share another peek into our plans for the house!

Everything in our new home is painted builder-grade tan, grey, or the one random bedroom which is navy with an orange stripe (SMH....). We're painting the bedrooms, bathrooms, and dining room on our own but we didn't have the time or energy to tackle everything else so we hired out for the big jobs.

Here are the colors so far. I want everything to be very light and airy, then use accessories to liven it up a little. 

The top three colors are more of a warm grey than brownish hue in person, I swear.

Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter :: Entryway, Kitchen, Living Room, Stairwell, Hallways,Upstairs Loft, Guest Bedroom #1

Right now the stairwell drives me crazy because the bottom is grey and the top is tan. It's going to look so much better as one matching color!

Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray :: Half Bath and Guest Bath

Our half bath has the same brownish tile as our kitchen so I'm at the mercy of finding a good griege that will work with it. 

Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue :: Office

Benjamin Moore Silver Gray :: Master Bedroom (I think!)

Benjamin Moore Winter Gates :: Dining Room

Eventually we're going to do some DIY wainscoting in the dining room, and since this room gets a lot of light, I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a bit for a darker shade. I'm hoping it looks similar to this.

Benjamin Moore Grey Owl (lightened by 25%) :: Nursery

In our rental the only room we painted was Rowan's nursery, where we used Benjamin Moore's Grey Owl. I liked that color a lot but I thought it was a little gloomy for a nursery so I opted to have it lightened by 25% for the new nursery. Y'all that made such a huge difference!! I'll share photos soon.

--

I'm still stumped on what colors for Guest Bedroom #2 and our Master Bathroom. I'm so impressed by people that can make these decisions all at once!

And no, this was not sponsored by Benjamin Moore. I just grabbed a bunch of paint color chips from once place and called it a day. #momlife

18

Wednesday Randoms

Happy hump day, friends!

We've had quite the week so far around here. It seems as though Rowan is going through a growth spurt and possibly a developmental leap all at the same time, so our 3 week stretch of sleeping through the night has been interrupted. Rowan has been such a happy, fuss-free baby so this has really thrown us for a loop.

Since energy and time are hard to come by, I'm taking a page from Katie's book and doing a quick update for y'all! Also linking up with Natalie and Annie!

Loving: this blush bucket bag, doing ab exercises during nap time, and the lips, cheeks, and double chin below (heart eye emojis times ten!)

I told him to enjoy the rolls now because they aren't as widely accepted when he's my age.

Loathing:  postpartum hair loss, witching hour, pale legs + shorts, and being allowed only one glass of wine between feedings

Looking Forward to: Girls brunch this weekend, closing on our house, and my first Mother's Day!

Making: Breakfast for dinner most nights. Its easy, quick, and good after the inevitable reheating with a fussy baby around.

Sharing: My friend Lo's blog! She has a super cute giveaway going on here, head on over and check it out!

Pinning: Living and Dining room inspiration, including paint colors. All I've narrowed it down to Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue for my office and Revere Pewter for our living room/kitchen/entryway. I'm planning a paint/stenciling job in our half bath so stay tuned!

Also I'm obsessed with this coffee table, I just need to figure out where I can buy it!

Shopping: We haven't decided on living room furniture yet (thanks so much for the help!) but I did pick up this metal bed for our guest room. I've also got this rug, this maxi dress for mama, and this sweet button down for my little man in my shopping cart. 

Watching: Scandal, Game of Thrones and Veep

Hope y'all have had a great week so far! Don't forget to join Stephanie, Laura and I tomorrow night (or Friday) for our Can't Live Without It linkup!

14

New Home :: Living Room Furniture

Now that closing on our first home is less than 2 weeks away, I've officially changed my mindset when it comes to cleaning and organizing the house.

Clothes are falling off of the shelves? Winter sweaters need put away? Nah, I'll just be packing them up soon anyway. Bathrooms need scrubbed? Can't see through the mirrors? Eh. I'll have to do a deep clean in 2 weeks, they can wait.

Does anyone else feel this way when you're about to move or am I just completely lazy and gross for not cleaning my bathroom? For the record, I did clean it a little bit.

Anyway, with the larger square footage of our new house we're on the hunt for new living room furniture and this is where I need y'all to help! You can see some of my inspiration here.

For a refresher, here is the room I'm talking about. Hopefully before Christmas there will be a fireplace installed!

We're thinking of doing a large sofa + loveseat or a large sofa + two side chairs. My basic necessities for the sofa are:

• Spend a little more for great quality so I don't hate it a week after the purchase. I really want to avoid saggy cushions.
• Must have lots of color options because we're still undecided. Shade of grey or tan? I love white but that will never work in this household. #Firstworldproblems
• Not too traditional, but not too modern either

Here are the sofas we have narrowed it down to...

Basset Comfort Classics Sofa

Basset HGTV Custom Classics Sofa

Pottery Barn Comfort English Roll Arm

I also found a similar option from Ashley Furniture here, does anyone have thoughts on their quality? Does it hold up?

And if we go the sofa + chair route, I'm loving these chairs. 

So what do y'all think? Any other places I should be looking?!

23