Spring Home Tour

Since I've last logged into this blog (about two years ago), there's been plenty of art created and furniture rearranged, but the most precious addition to our family, is a new baby! He's now scooting around with a huge smile on his face, and loving the attention he gets from morning to night. He might just be the cutest baby on the planet... yes, I might be a little biased.

Even though I'm not quite ready to start blogging on a regular basis just yet, I thought I'd sneak on here and share some recent photos while the baby is napping and the older three are outside playing "camping". These photos were snapped after the house was cleaned and the pillows were fluffed; my house does not look like this on a normal day. If you're coming over for dinner, it might, but stop by unannounced and mostly likely you'll walk through legos, and blocks, and school papers and books stacked on just about every table, dirty laundry in a pile, and folded laundry that has a hard time making it to the bedroom closets.

It's fun to look at these clean photos; I love a clean house! But as I'm going through this season of life I'm trying to embrace the messes and love life with these little ones who I've been called to raise. They're precious and much better than a clean and perfect house!

Free Printables: Organization Labels

Now that the holidays are over, guests have said goodbye and decorations have been stored away, I realized there were more things lying around the house than what I started with at the beginning of December.... mostly kid's (tiny) toys.  I like to have a designated spot for the kid's toys, especially the tiny toys... it helps me keep the house organized (and limit the number of times I hear "Mommmmmm, where's Darth Vader's head?").

So, after I (uh, I mean "we") ate the last of the holiday sweets, I had a few food containers leftover.... and empty food containers = tiny toy storage (and the need for cute organization labels!).

To get these containers toy-storage-ready, I first peeled off the packaging labels (these containers are the Archer Farms brand from Target, like this).  Then I used Goo Gone to rub off the leftover paper and stickiness.

Goo Gone took off all the stickiness (and of course I forgot to take a picture of the super clean, clear containers).  After the labels were removed I washed the containers in warm, soapy water and let them dry.  While the containers were drying I created and printed labels, then trimmed the edges.....

After the labels were trimmed, I sprayed the back of each label with Krylon's spray adhesive and placed the labels onto the containers, then put a few on the shelving unit in the playroom.....

.... and one in my son's bedroom for all his little Star Wars men, especially for Darth Vaders head!

Here's printable labels for you!  Click the link below to download the pdf file and print on 8.5/11" paper (preferably white/cream colored), then trim off the white borders and spray an adhesive to the back and place on a container(s).  As a side note, the first few are labeled "Toys" and available in a few colors: black (like mine), orange, gray, green and pink.  The last available download is a Word document, so if you're able to open it then you could change the color and/or update the text to be more specific!

Organization Label - Green
Organization Label - Gray
Organization Label - Orange
Organization Label - Black
Organization Label - Pink

Here's the changeable one I mentioned above... the font I used above is Ostrich Sans by Tyler Finck, available here.

Organization Label - Editable

Have fun labeling and organizing!

A Look Back: Favorites of 2011

As 2011 comes to a close, I thought it would be fun to go through the projects that I've worked on this year and post my favorites.  I love looking back and seeing the progress of rooms coming together or projects being completed.... it motivates me to start another (crazy, huh!).  So, here are my favorites of 2011 (click on the titles for details).

Favorite Room Makeover

Kid's Playroom

Favorite Project

Nailhead Bulletin Board

Favorite Child-Inspired Gallery Wall

Living Room

Favorite DIY Wall Art

Family Hand Portrait

Favorite New-Found Product

Washi Tape (on the entry wall)

Favorite Quick Update for Curtains

A Band of Ribbon

Favorite Question

Boy and Girl's Shared Bedroom

Favorite Party

Gingerbread House Making Party

Favorite Easy Dessert Recipe

Brownie Strawberry Trifle

Favorite Free Printable

Smile

Well, those are my favorites of 2011.  I'm excited to begin a few new projects in 2012 and share them with you along the way!  Happy New Year!!!

Playroom Mood Board

Early last week, I posted a mood board for a boy and girl's shared bedroom.   My cousin is combining her two toddlers in the same room for a short time and wants a stylish look that's catered to kids, so I put together a sleeping area for her space. Today, I'm expanding the design and adding a play area.

Mood Board for Kids' Playroom:

The design is small enough that it could be added to a large bedroom or it could easily be expanded as a kid's playroom.  The colors (orange, white & teal) coordinate with the shared bedroom plan that I originally put together.

Here are the details for the playroom:

1.  Paint Colors:  The paint colors are the same as what I chose for the bedroom.... Moonlight White for the wall color and Simply White for the trim, both by Benjamin Moore.  The paint colors are both a creamy white and with light colored walls, it'll really open up the space and give a clean feel (I know how fast a kid's room can turn messy!).  It will also help to emphasize the furniture, fabric and pattern colors!  To add a bit softness and dreaminess to the room, I chose a very light teal color for the ceiling, Adanna Aire by Mythic Paints.

2.  Large Map:  I love the thought of a large vintage, pull-down map hanging above a low storage unit.  It's serves an educational purpose, but is still so stylish (and colorful!).

3.  Storage:  The locker storage unit from Ikea is great for a small area and the locker style is perfect for a kids room.  Plenty of toys could be stashed behind the doors and a large basket or a few smaller sized ones could be slid under the unit for additional toy storage.  There's also room on top of the unit for more storage..... just add an industrial style basket for blocks or books.  Then add a  lamp for lighting and color (this is Jonathan Adler's orange lamp, which I LOVE, but my wallet doesn't love the price.  So, I'd be searching for a second-hand lamp to restore with a few coats of spray paint).

4.  Small Maps:  The small maps are take from Anthropologie's vintage map wall calendar and placed inside NYTTJA frames from Ikea.  I love the look of the maps grouped together as one... I'd hang these above the kid's activity table.

5.  Activity Area:  Every kid loves a chalkboard.... and how perfect to have a chalkboard table!  It's not such a huge commitment as painting an entire wall, but on a table?  So easy!  This table is from Mark Tuckey and is absolutely beautiful!  The style would be very easy to replicate.... second-hand stores always have round tables available.  I'd chop off a few inches from the legs to make it low enough for kids, then paint the table top with chalkboard paint.  The small Agen chairs are from Ikea and the pillows, like the ones on the original mood board, are added for comfort.  The vintage orange stool is added for color.

6.  Rug:  The brown and ivory chevron rug from Rugs USA will feel be comfy on little feet while they're playing, sitting or standing.

So, there's an idea for a play area to add to the shared space.... now there's a sleeping area and a play area....

Sometime next week I'll have a free printable that goes along with the plan!

Playroom Big Reveal

Woohoo!!!  The playroom is decorated and was finished just in time for the start of school.... perfect timing!  I'm excited to be doing some of our school work in such a fun room (and I love that I feel a little more organized since books, toys, games, etc now have their own designated spot in the house).

The Ikea Expedit, that I purchased here, is a tremendous help in keeping the playroom organized.  The divided shelving makes it really easy to put toys away and keep them organized in separate areas. The galvanized bins on the bottom are a huge plus..... perfect for storing Lego's, play food, toy cars, etc.

To add more color on the shelving wall (besides all the toy colors), I flanked the bookcase with two frames, colored decorative paper and my daughter's scribbles here....

To keep their scribbles, doodles and artwork highlighted, I painted an entire wall in black chalkboard paint here.  I was a little nervous to have one whole wall black, but I LOVE it!  The kids are constantly chalking and are thrilled they can draw huge, life-size pictures on the wall.....

To display all their art creations that are done on smallish-sized paper, I strung yarn across the room here and clipped their work using dressed-up clothes-pins here.

I thought one huge black wall needed something else (and I needed a place to put a keyboard), so I painted a table that used to be in our hallway in VA with the same black chalkboard paint as the wall and placed the table on one end of the wall.  I added the keyboard, a Bygel rail and three Asker containers from Ikea (I modge-podged small pieces of decorative paper on the containers), and recovered a round ottoman in a chevron print (I used the backside of the chevron - Flatiron Pacifica available thru Tonic Living - so the color was a little muted).

Across from the chalkboard wall is a huge window that lets in plenty of natural light.  I wanted bold curtains that would help balance the dark wall on the opposite side.  I ordered several fabric samples here and ended up choosing Varenna Charcoal, available thru Tonic Living.  I made the curtains floor to ceiling length....

Next to the window is another table for the kids.... their own activity table!  I used a round wooden table top and plumbing materials to make the height of the table at my kid's seated comfort level (more about that here).  I painted a few kid chairs Heirloom White by Rustoleum and sawed off a few inches from the legs of two larger (adult-sized) chairs here to make them comfortable for the kids.  I painted one chair a peacock blue color and added a few pillows for more color....

On the top of the table is a tray to encourage the kids to create more artwork.... I love rotating their pictures on the clothes-pins and in frames throughout the house....

Behind the activity table is a bulletin board to hang more artwork....

The kids love having their own space for creativity and play.... I love that it's organized (and neat at the moment)...

And now for my favorite part..... the before and after.  This is what the room (office) looked like when we purchased the house.  I removed the french doors here to open up the space, I also removed the curtains and painted three of the walls Floral White and one wall in black chalkboard paint from Benjamin Moore.

Love it!  And now it's time to finish up the kitchen and living room!

Linking up to Savvy Southern Style, Not So Simple Housewife, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Chic On A Shoestring Decorating, Tidy Mom, Remodelaholic, Simple Home Life, Family Ever After, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, I Heart Naptime, Lolly Jane Boutique, The Gingerbread Blog, Between Naps On The Porch, The DIY Showoff, Tip Junkie, J&M's Eye Candy & Southern Hospitality.