Hello, 2014

Happy New Year! Wow, it has been a looong time since I've updated. Needless to say, I've been a little busy between the holidays, Gracie's 6th birthday, being sick, being a new mom to a new baby and just living life the best I can. So much has happened since my last post. Gracie turned 6, had a fun birthday party and during the whole thing I was sick as all hell. I didn't have a voice for 3 or 4 days, I lost hearing in my left ear due to an ear infection and was just feeling rather yucky for most of November. By the time Thanksgiving got around I was starting to feel better, but enjoyed spending the holiday with my family. December was another busy month due to the holidays being so close this year, a shorter time span then usual to buy gifts, decorate and just get everything done. We baked cookies, brownies, ate lots of yummy food, opened lots of presents and I'd say had a pretty great month. We ended 2013 with a small get together here at our home with our closest friends, drank waaay to much alcohol, played lots of games, shot off fireworks and rang in the New Year with laughs and joy.

As for 2014, well we will have to see what happens! We or should I said I have lots of plans this year, to do the outside of the house. I'm going to paint, take down our front screened porch, put up a pergola, change out the poles in our carport, fix some rotted wood, spruce up the landscaping and that's only the outside. Inside, I have plans to paint the main tv wall in my living room in a fun Moroccan pattern, stain our chest/coffee table and mostly, my most exciting task, redecorate Gracie's bedroom. Boy, do I have plans!

1 & 2 Baja & Cozy Cottage by Behr - I'm undecided on the exact color I want to do, but this is the basic idea.

A. Kura by Ikea - Of course, Ikea! This is the bunk bed Gracie has been asking for and the good thing is, the bottom portion is actually right on the floor so when Lily is big enough to be in a big girl bed, she won't get hurt if she were to roll off. Gracie can't wait to be roommates with her, it's cute!

B. Throw pillows from Ikea & Etsy - Gracie's would obviously be a G, not an E. But that's what it will look like and the other pillow is just one of many from Ikea I'm going to be throwing on her bed & reading corner.

C. Shelf, Bins, Wire hanger for Art all from Ikea - Gracie needs a place for toys that's organized and also a place for her art, these things will work perfectly in her room. View a larger image here, in my Pinterest.

D. Ombre dresser - I'll be keeping Gracie's current dresser and painting it just like the one above. Ombre!

E. Color Pop Bed Set by Circo at Target - This is the exact thing I was looking for when I started looking months ago. It's everything Gracie loves! Lots and lots of colors!

F. Tastrup by Ikea - This rug is so Gracie. She's currently obsessed with all things Lalaloopsy, but I wasn't willing to do a themed room for something I know she will be tired of in 6 months. So, this little pop of buttons gives her a taste of the Loopsy button eyes without going all Loopsy wild in her room. She's happy, I'm happy, solved!

G. Colorful frames & art - Obviously there isn't a place for me to link for this picture but you get the idea. Lots of colorful frames & art on her walls. Fun! Colorful! SO Gracie!

So, lots of posts coming soon! Stay tuned! :)

Bedroom flip-a-roo

Two posts in one week? Who am I? haha. This rarely happens anymore. But hey, here I am anyway! Earlier this week I got a fire under my ass and decided to rearrange my bedroom... again. But this time I really dove in head first. It took a whole day to get everything done, which I didn't mind since Gracie was with my parents for the day to go swimming. If you wanna see what the bedroom looked like before the big switch, you can see those here.

I knew right from the beginning that I wanted to move our Ikea PAX closets to a different place in the room. I made several drawn by hand maps of where to put them but nothing was working. Then finally it hit me and I was like a tornado taking everything out of my bedroom. I put everything in the kitchen (mattress, end tables, clothes, dresser, etc) for easy moving in the bedroom.

Of course, Max took it upon himself to sleep on top of the mattress the minute I put it out there.



And now pictures of my bedroom...

During the spring & summer months, my usual black & white fancy comforter is waaay too heavy so I put on our old pink one. The pink & green remind me of a watermelon, which then reminds me of summer. It's a win, win. I have plans on getting a new comforter, a green, white & grey one from Target but yanno, don't have the extra funds at the moment, but in time, we'll get it!



See. I moved the Pax closets to the opposite side of the room. In front of the window. Putting them in front of the window is no big deal since the view out that window is just a fence. No biggie!



My vanity is on the left side of the closets...



Paul's dresser is on the right side, next to his side of the closet.



This is toward my side of the bed.



The TV is actually not in a bad spot. We can still watch tv from where the bed is now.



And this is the view from across the bed. Yes, we neeeeed to have a fan going at night. The mix of the sound & cool air helps us sleep like babies.



Here is another shot of the bed with the lamp lights turned on.



And of the closet area.



Here is a close up of the area above the headboard... my favorite part!



We both love the room so much like this. We actually have what seems like lots more room to walk around, fold clothes, do a little happy dance, whatever. ;)

Have you rearranged a room recently? Did it take you a whole day too? Feel free to share the deets. ;)

kids rooms

This past week I got busy cleaning the kids rooms and did some rearranging. I didn't take before pictures only because it was such an awful mess & no one should have to see that. ha! Anyway, first up... Gracie's room!

Gracie's wall half way up and entire floor is all chalkboard paint. As you can see, she draws everywhere! When I originally cleaned her room, the floor had no chalk on it, but a day went by before I took these pictures and she went crazy with the chalk. My little artist! (I wrote the 'Gracie is 4!' for her birthday back in Nov., it's still there because she likes it so much.) There also used to be a curtain rod on that window. She ripped it down. Little stinker. I gotta buy a new one still.

Gracie's room was originally the master bedroom, but we put her in there and remodeled Jordan's old room and turned it into the master bedroom, removing a wall and adding a bathroom. We figure if we ever have another child, Gracie can share her BIG ROOM with the new baby. If that ever actually happens!

Up next.. Jordan's room!

Jordan's room used to be Gracie's room. As you can see, this room has a door that leads to the backyard. I didn't like that at all, with Gracie being so young. I'm sure when Jordan hits his teenage days, I'll regret giving that room to him. ha!

Don't mind the huge amount of laundry in his closet. These images are real life! No staging going on in this house. ;)

Close up of his wall decal that I got on Etsy. He loves it & honestly, so do I!

Well, that's it. I also added these two rooms to the house tour! I'm such a slacker.