Girl's Bedroom in VA

I'm in the process of decorating my girl's bedroom, but before I go any further, I'm going to show you what their room looked like in VA.  Just about everything that was in their bedroom in VA will be incorporated into their new room here in TX, a little updated of course!  I'm hesitant to post these pictures because the room was never finished, but I'm hoping that when I finish their new room it'll show how easy it is to use what you already have to decorate.... just change it up a little!

The twin bed, nightstand, some of the bedding and a lot of the accessories will be used in the girl's new room.  The headboard used here is made from two wooden shutters, painted and hung on the wall. 

The crib has been taken down and stored... we're adding the twin bed from the extra guest room we had in VA.  So, we'll now have two twin beds in the girl's room (I can't believe how fast these kids grow!).

So, with most of these pieces I'm going to decorate this new room.....

I can't wait to put it all together!!!

Guest Room Makeover

While we were living in VA, my brother-in-law had been living in Barcelona for a few years and decided to make a trip back to the states to visit for the summer.  Since we had the space and we absolutely love, love, love him, we opened our house and offered him a guest room (not the pink one).

One of our guest rooms was empty and ready to be used, but first it needed some work.  His flight was booked pretty quick so I needed to get movin' and fix up the space (fast).  Here's what I had to work with (remember, this is in our house back in VA)...

Since the room was empty, meaning NO bed, the majority of the budget was spent on purchasing a twin bed.  With the little money I had left-over, I bought fabric for the desk and a throw pillow.  Everything else in the room was borrowed from other rooms around the house.

After I painted the ceiling, walls and trim (using left-over paint from other rooms), I arranged the room to help make him feel at home.

The headboard above the bed was a scrap piece of plywood leftover from another project... I painted it with Benjamin Moore's chalkboard paint.  The piece was longer than the width of the twin bed, so I hung it to extend over the nightstand.  My brother in law is an entrepreneur, so I thought if he woke up in the middle of the night with one of his brilliant ideas, he could quickly jot it down on the chalkboard.

I layered the bed with a few extras that were stored in closets (the throw and studded pillow are now being used in my son's bedroom here in TX).  And the tree stump was saved after we had half of our yard chopped down... I scraped off the bark, dried it out, sanded it down, sealed it, then placed it in the room to use as a nightstand.  Perfect size!

On one of the walls I placed a desk area since my brother-in-law would mostly likely be working from the house.  I thought I'd give him a desk as one option to work and set it up with work-related things (lamp, pens, books, magnetic board, etc).  Behind the curtain is a place for all the unsightly-cords, storage, etc.  And since he likes to travel, I hung a map above the desk. 

This bedroom redo came together pretty quick...

If you've been following along, you may have noticed that a lot of the things in this room have been moved around to different rooms in our new house.  The framed map is now in the playroom; the desk, curtain rod, nailhead trimmed pillow and throw are in my 4-yr old's bedroom, the striped pillow is used as a chair cushion in the playroom, and the frames started in a pile but have now moved all around the house, especially in this gallery and this gallery.

I love decorating an entire house with a coordinating color scheme.... things can get moved around and around and around again....

Linking up to It's A Hodge Podge Life, Between Naps on the Porch, Laugh, Love & Craft and Savvy Southern Style.

Fireplace Make-Over

I love a good before and after photo (like here and here)... so, I'm taking you back to our house in Virginia again (since I'm working on a few painting projects over here today).  This was the way our fireplace looked when we purchased the house... it must have gotten A LOT of use (look at all that soot on the corners).

Before...

 And, after (just the way it was right before we moved to Texas, Halloween pumpkins and all)...

That fireplace got a good coat of primer and paint, that's all (you can ignore the child-proof padding around the fireplace edges).  This was a quick and really easy update!  If your fireplace resembles our fireplace in the "before" photo and you're contemplating giving it a bright (and cheap) make-over, John and Sherry from Young House Love have an awesome tutorial on painting a brick fireplace.

Looking at these photos brings back so many memories... good times in Virginia, bright and lively (just like the photo).

A Kitchen & A Few Gallons of Paint

Toward the end of last week I posted before and after photos of a few, little adjustments I made in our kitchen to freshen the look.   Today, I thought I show pictures of our previous kitchen back in VA, since I used a few ideas from that kitchen to update our new kitchen.

You might remember the post on my "Mom Space" a while ago... that was actually part of the kitchen too.  Now, here's the other side of the kitchen where I actually cooked, baked and did all the fun stuff!

Here's the before...

 And, the after...

Here's the before of the other side...

And the after...

Sooo different, eh?  Paint is amazing.  The ceiling was painted Gentle Tide by Glidden and color matched into a Benjamin Moore paint, the walls and cabinets were painted White Dove, the trim was painted Simply White, and the door was painted Black Beauty, all by Benjamin Moore.

On the back and side of the peninsula, I used a black chalkboard paint to give the kids space to be creative (the chalk usually kept them occupied while I was getting dinner ready).  I also added a desk painted in black chalkboard (sorry for the horrible picture) and a chair painted green that fit under the desk.  The desk held the kid's calendar, jars with crayons, markers and glue, and a bin for scrap paper... they really loved having their own space in the kitchen (so did I).

We didn't have a huge budget to overhaul the kitchen, but with a few coats of paint we were happy with the results... I love paint, it can bring a whole new look to the same room (without spending a fortune)!

Linking up to 'Paint: It's Not Just For Walls' at The Inspired Room.

Chairs... and Vinyl? Or Maybe Slipcovers?

This was the dining room in our house in Virginia.... I loved having pink in the room (I always love having pink in a room... like here and a hint here).  Some of the chairs around this table have a floral fabric for the top and a striped fabric for the seat, both made of a cotton and linen blend. 

The top/back floral fabric slips over the chairs and comes off for easy cleaning.  See those pretty taupe and white stripes on the seat?  Yeah, well I stapled that fabric to the chairs... mistake #1.

And... they're not so pretty anymore... you see, I picked the beautiful striped fabric because it was going in the dining room and my kids rarely eat in the dining room, especially on these chairs.  I thought I was safe.  Then we moved to TX and I thought I would be smart by moving the dining set, instead of our small kitchen set, into the rental to give us more space at the table.  Mistake #2.

My three preschoolers have eaten on these chairs three times a day for the past three months.  I'll spare you and keep the messy chair pictures for myself, but this time around I'll be recovering the seats in a child-proof fabric, like vinyl, or making a slipcover (like the top) so I can wash them after meals.  Makes for an easy clean!  And, there's nothing more that I love than an easy clean!

With my love of pink, I'm looking at a vinyl for the seats like this from J& O Fabrics to go with the top/back floral fabric...

 J & O Fabrics 

Or give a completely new look using fabric with bursting colors to make into slipcovers (for the back and seat of the chair), something like this from Fabric.com ....

Fabric.com

A big burst of fun in the dining room!!!  I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do with the chairs to make them more kid-friendly!

Kitchen Space Turned "Mom Space"

Last week I posted pictures of our new playroom with the french doors removed -- yea for more space!  Well, after the doors were down and my happy dance complete, it didn't take long before I started thinking about what other doors (or cabinets) could be removed to give the house a more open feel.

While I was walking around the house looking at doors and cabinets to "fix", I thought about the kitchen/desk area back in our Virginia house that I turned into my very own "Mom Space".  This was the desk area in the kitchen on the day we purchased the house....

Before...

And after a few "fixes"...

And, since I absolutely love before & after photos, I thought I'd give them to you again -- side-by-side for the full effect....

The cabinet hardware, doors and drawers were removed, then the cabinets and drawers were  cleaned, patched, sanded (just a little), primed and painted.  The cabinets were painted the same color as the wall, White Dove by Benjamin Moore, except for the upper inside... that was painted a greenish/blue color (Gentle Tide by Glidden), just like the kitchen ceiling.

The side of the bottom cabinet was painted with black chalkboard paint.  I loved to write our weekly menu on the chalkboard... it seemed to keep everyone happy.  I could easily remember why I bought four cans of crushed tomatoes at the grocery store earlier in the week and the husband always looked forward to dinner certain nights of the week (and probably knew what days to eat a BIG lunch so he wouldn't be hungry for dinner).

I also hung fabric on a tension rod to conceal the computer printer, paper and all those not-so-pretty-to-look-at cords.

This project really just involved a lot of paint... I love how much paint can turn a room around for the better, for not very much $$.  And, now that I'm seeing this cabinet transformation again, I'm looking at my kitchen here in Texas and thinking I might have another "cabinet project" to put on my list.  Doors removed = lots of space for pretty things!

Linking up to The Thrifty Decor Chick, 320 Sycamore, Remodelaholic, Domestically Speaking and Savvy Southern Style.

French Doors

I absolutely love, love, love french doors.  I love them au natural, painted white, painted black, and especially painted in a fun, bold color.  We had painted white french doors in our house in Virginia and I loved the look.  This was a corner of our living room and the french doors opened to a sun-room -- or playroom as we called it, it was such a perfect layout...

The playroom in our new house also has painted white french doors on the entry way (think office), but today..... they were taken off.  As much as I love french doors they just weren't working for the room.  The doors took up way too much space when they were opened, almost three feet on each side!

Here's the before...

And now....

 

I want to give the kids as much space as possible to play, so the doors had to come down (curtains too).  Ahhh, I feel like I can breath now.... sooo clean!  It probably helps that some of the walls are now a lighter color (Floral White by Benjamin Moore) and the carpet has been updated (Martha Stewart for Home Depot).

Now, here's a little secret.... I decided not to patch the trim where the hinges were since the doors may eventually go back on (ya never know) and I'd hate to have to ask my super, sweet husband to carve away trim for door hinges.  So, I just painted the holes the same color as the trim and hopefully it'll blend so it's not such an eye-soar.  If you're ever in my house, just don't look to close :)  Shhh....

Oh, and did you catch a glimpse of the black chalkboard wall?  I love it (more on that later!).

Sweet Potato, Avocado or A Little Dino-mite?

Earlier this week, I posted inspiring photos of boy's bedrooms and it got me thinking how I'd like to style my 3-year old's bedroom in the new house.  Here's a glimpse of what his bedroom looked like back in VA... lots of blues and lots of wooden furniture (even more wooden furniture on the opposite wall)...

I want to freshen the look, so after finding some amazingly designed boy's rooms on the web, I then scoured fabric stores for more ideas.  I have a limited budget so I can't replace everything, but I thought if I keep the striped navy and white quilt, add a duvet cover and window treatments with a contrasting color, it'll give the room a burst of fun.

So, how about orange?  Such a positive color, right?  Its been said that orange evokes happiness, creativity, determination, success, encouragement, stimulation, etc.  Perfect color for a 3-year old!!!

The Metro Duvet Cover in orange from Pottery Barn Teen was a good start.  I especially liked the metal grommets and two cargo pockets on the duvet... perfect to hold his small books, little animals and cars, or even some crayons and paper to write mommy an "I love you" note!!!

 Pottery Barn Kids

Then to offset the navy and white stripes in his quilt and pick up the orange color in the duvet, I thought any of these fabrics would work as a window covering and give the room a jolt of color...

Carrie Orange, Sweet Potato Natural, Zippy Stone Arizona

Carrie Orange is available through Tonic Living, those extra large polka dots are so lively!  Akita Cotton Drapery Print - Sweet Potato/Natural is available through Buy Fabrics, it's a little on the traditional side, but the color would add some unexpected drama to the room.  And, a chevron print would also be great for the windows, like Zippy Stone Arizona/Denton by Premier Prints available through Buy Fabrics.

I liked the orange, but also wanted to see if any green colored fabrics had some interesting patterns.  Here's what I found...

The Ikea narrow green and white vertical striped Sofia fabric would make a great duvet cover and would look fantastic under his quilt....

Ikea Sofia Green & White Narrow Stripe

To coordinate with the green and white stripes, I thought any of these prints would look great on the window.

Schooner Outdoor Drapery Print, Giraffe Cotton Drapery Print, Kaitlin Linen Drapery Print

The Schooner print almost looks educational... I think he'd love to wake up every morning and see ships hanging from his window.  The Giraffe print is so fun, this is a fabric I'd even make into a pillow for the living room.  I love it!  And the Kaitlin Linen print is great too... very nautical  (I'd hang these horizontal on the window since the stripes on the duvet would be vertical).  These three fabrics are all available thru Buy Fabrics.

As much as I thought any of these options would work, I wasn't sold.  I want to LOVE the whole look and I really want my 3-year old to LOVE it too.  So, I kept these options in my head and continued the search.  THEN, it happened!!!  I came across these sheets and everything changed (well, not everything), but I ended up putting together fabrics in what, I think, will be a dino-mite room!!!

 Pottery Barn Kids

Stay tuned, I'll show you the plan early next week!!!

Looking Forward To...

the day I can unpack this light fixture!  Right now it's sitting in storage, packed snug in a box, waiting for us to move to our permanent residence here in TX.

My grandpa made this light (handy, huh?) and my dad hung it in our entry way in Virginia.... I absolutely LOVED how the colors sparkled against the mirror when the light was on.  I'd turn it on even when there was no need for a light just so I could see more pink, turquoise, yellow, lime, and a little bit of red shine in this tiny room (I know, I'm not being very green here, but it was too pretty not to have lit up). 

I don't think these pictures do justice for the light, so hopefully when we move (again) I can get a fantastic picture... once I decide where to hang this precious fixture.

Pink Fancy Shoes & A Ceiling

These little pink shoes are absolutely adorable.  They are so incredibly cute, I wish they were made in my size!  My almost two-year old loves them too, so much so that she insists on wearing them even during nap-time (everyday).

When I saw her wearing these shoes (again), it reminded me of our guest room in Virginia.... I decorated this room for a friend who lived with us for a summer.  She was finishing up her degree in nursing and doing an internship, so I wanted to give her a relaxing space to unwind (in the midst of three rambunctious preschoolers constantly knocking on her door).

 

Wow!  Looking at these photos makes me realize how much I really need a to take a photography class.  Well, it's the perfect time of year to set a goal... so, 2011:  I will take a photography class!

Anyway.... back to the room, my favorite part is that pink ceiling.... it made the room feel so cozy (I actually slept in here a couple different nights just to experience the coziness!).  The upper 1/4 of the wall and ceiling color is Royal Fuchsia, and the walls, trim and doors are Simply White, both by Benjamin Moore.