2013 House Goals

I really enjoy setting house goals for the year.  It's kind of sick how much I enjoy it and think about what I want to do to our little nest.  In fact, I've gotten so into it, I have already thought some about a few goals for 2014.  Crazy, I know.

So, without further ado, this year's goals:

1.  Give some love to the master bedroom (!)

Not everything in the master bedroom needs attention.  Our furniture is really quite lovely.  And the curtains are pretty new.  But we have totally neglected this space while focusing on other parts of the house.  Now it is time to create an oasis.  We need...

• new bedding
• artwork on walls
• a monogram over the bed
• a bookshelf
• a reading corner (upholstered chair and ottoman or chaise)

I'd also really love to paint the room a darker color, but I don't know if it will happen.  Jim said he would love to add crown moulding, but that isn't officially on the list.

2.  Change and improve the master bath

Our master bath is such a pain.  We knew it would be when we chose the floor plan for this house.  We tried to figure out ways to remove square footage from our huge bedroom and add them to the bathroom, but there was just no good way to do it.  So, we are always banging into each other and locking each other out when using the facilities.

We would like to...

• add a pocket door to the toilet area
• change the light fixtures and fans accordingly
• paint
• add artwork

3.  Get new lamps / lampshades for the family room

These lamps and shades are super dated and the brass ones are a bit stuffy.  It's time for a change!

4.  Finally redo Brennan's curtains

So, Brennan's curtains have been too short since we moved into this house.  I bought another pair from someone who was selling some last year, but they are too short also.  I plan to piece them together somehow to get the right look and length but just haven't done it yet.

5.  Hang a new family photo in the family room

I've never been really happy with this sign under the shelf.  I want to replace it with one of my favorite photos from our recent photo shoot.

6.  Make barn wood artwork to go over the living room sofa

I loved the artwork I made for my in-laws so much I am planning to make one for our house, as well. I'm still trying to figure out what it will say.

7.  Fix up Cora's curtains and window seat

Last year we were able to score a new bookshelf from Ikea to put under the window in Cora's room.  Now I want to:

• upholster a cushion
• make/buy throw pillows
• either shorten the existing curtains or get new ones & move the rod to better frame the space

8.  Make the craft room a functional, organized space 

I am so grateful to have a craft room.  With a door.  However, the space doesn't really work for me.  I end up with piles of paper all over the floor, I have to do all of my painting, assembling, and glueing at the kitchen counter because there is no workable table space, and I am using valuable space to store items I will realistically never use.  I need to:

• purge old inventory and scrapbooking supplies
• get more closed door storage
• get more workable table space
• purchase some paper sorters so I can quickly grab all of the papers I use for my orders
• contain my fabric stash in a more compact, useable manner
• add/improve lighting

These goals are probably lofty (as usual,) but I'll do my best.  Now that I have three kiddos and a small business that's taking off, I don't have as much time as I used to.  I hope to at least make a good dent.  Here's to a beautiful 2013!  :-)

Back in the Game!

Guess what?!  After spending the whole summer without one, I have a new computer!!!  

Gosh, I feel like I haven't had the freedom to blog in forever, and it feels so good to sit down at my computer and have everything at my fingertips!  However, having to survive without a computer all day, every day for months really taught me a lot.  I have learned to focus more on my kids and stop wasting time.  I have gotten a lot done around the house and made the little time I could spend on Jim's computer really count.

While I have been absent from the world of blogging, our family has kept busy with more traditional pastimes, like...

Coloring:

Sleeping:

Grocery Shopping:

Roller Skating:

Learning to Curl Hair (Thanks to Hair-Savvy Teenage Friends):

Rolling Over:

And Sewing:

This is the first outfit I have ever made for Cora! :-)

Also, I mentioned in my last post that we started redoing the kids' bathroom a few weeks ago.  Well, it's done, and it is exactly what I envisioned!  I love it when a plan comes together!!

Jim took this photo, and I commented on the towel being askew and the toilet paper being nearly empty. I think he wanted to have me committed for noticing every. little. thing.  :-)

Check out the before and after pictures!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I may do another post with the bathroom details if you're interested in knowing more (let me know in the comments if you have questions you want answered).  In the mean time, I'll leave you with one more picture of my little girl before church this past Sunday:

Have a great day! :-)

Finishing Cora's Room

A few weeks ago I finally got around to tackling a house project.  It felt SO good to be back in the game!

One of my house goals was to paint a few pieces of furniture this year, but I had to wait until sweet baby boy was out of my tummy.  Here is furniture piece number one, Cora's nightstand, before I got my hands paintbrush on it.:

And here it is after:

I chose a shade of white that matched the existing furniture (which is not true white or ivory), and I bought a pink drawer pull at Hobby Lobby.  I'd love to tell you this was super cheap, but the project cost a little more than I had hoped because I had to buy special primer, some new rollers, and a few other things.  At least now I will have those things to tackle my next two paint projects.

Before Seth was born, I managed to paint a piece of artwork for Cora's room.  It isn't totally done because I want to go back and clean up the stripes at the bottom of the painting, but in case that never happens, I should probably go ahead and post some pictures of it in its current state:

Here are a few other views of the room:

Other than touching up the canvas, this room is done!  At some point I'd love to add seating under the window that connects the two bookshelves (and shorten the curtains to the necessary height), but I have other things in the house I need to do more.  I also know the bookshelves will fill up on their own as Cora grows, so I'm not in a huge hurry to accessorize them.

It's a beautiful day... I think I may have to get the paintbrush out again in another room!!  :-)

Baby Three's Room

It's done!!  Well... it's nearly done.  There are a few small details to take care of, but for the most part, the baby's room is ready for him to move in.  

You may remember when his room looked like this just several weeks ago:

Well, a little over a week ago I took Cora to a birthday party, and when I came home, I was surprised/delighted to find Jim and our friend John painting the nursery.  (Thanks again for pushing Jim, John!)

After that, it was just a matter of putting everything up, including the awesome paper lanterns I found for a steal online.

The black and white toile glider has been in each of my kids' nurseries since Brennan was born.  It was a gift from my in-laws, and I absolutely love it, but it was a challenge to incorporate in a brand-new way without feeling like I was repeating the other kids' rooms.  I had considered an orange and blue nursery, but I knew I couldn't pull it off with the black and white chair, so I went to another favorite combo: yellow and gray.

The bedding is the Harper elephant collection from Pottery Barn Kids.  I sold some things on Craigslist to buy the bumper and sheet, and my sister surprised me with a second sheet and the crib skirt as a baby gift.  It was the first time I haven't made my own baby bedding for the crib, and I was a little sad at first, but I simply didn't have time, and in the end it was very freeing.

Even though I didn't make the bedding, I did break out the sewing machine for a few projects.  I made the throw pillow for the chair and the curtain panels (lined with blackout fabric so the room is a perfect cave when the baby needs to sleep).  When he is awake or resting in my arms, this is what I see from his window (keep in mind it is dreary and raining today):

There is a stunning view of the sunset over the trees and hills every night.  It's the best view in the house.

Across the room from the chair, I have this fun wall to look at:

I just put different swatches of fabric into embroidery hoops and mixed in an inexpensive Target clock because I always like to know how long I've been nursing or sleeping in the chair.  ;-)  I still want to get yellow baskets or storage containers for board books to go on the bottom shelf of the bench, but yellow ones are hard to come by.  I'm hoping to make a trip to the Container Store soon, because I'm pretty sure they have exactly what I need.

This is the view from the hallway into the room.  It's what you see when you get to the top of the stairs.

The art that Hope gave me is a perfect fit above that table, don't you think?!  And the table will definitely look better with a picture of the baby in the frame.  :-)

This corner of the room still needs a little help:

The dresser needs a few pops of yellow, I think.  I also need a new lampshade for the floor lamp, as the one that was on there was black and pink to go with Cora's nursery.  Finally, I need to write something cute on the chalkboard elephant my friend Jen gave me.  (There are itty bitty, super subtle elephants on the crib sheet, making the elephant a perfect addition to the room.)

I am still thinking about adding a wall decal someplace that says, "You are my sunshine... You make me happy when skies are gray."  I had planned to do that before I saw the decal in Pottery Barn Kids simply because my mom used to sing that song to me as a child.  When I saw it in their catalog, I nearly wet my pants! (I should start working for PB!)

I had thought about putting those words in the frames above the bed, but now I'm second-guessing that decision.  I'm still a little up in the air about the frames, but I went ahead and put some fabric in there to keep from looking at the ugly brown background inside the frames.  (Now I need to straighten them out because the imperfection is driving me nuts.)  Maybe I'll do the decal above and below the frames?

So, the baby now has a room, and we have a vehicle in which to bring him home from the hospital.  He also has a ton of diapers and wipes to get started, thanks to the friends at my shower last weekend.

I feel SO much calmer, and now I can start focusing on all of the little things.  It's time to start organizing random closets, washing bottles and pacifiers, and totally driving my family nuts.  Bring on the nesting!

A New Year and a New Room for Cora

Cora has been through a lot of changes and transitions recently.  On Thanksgiving she gave up her pacifiers (well, we made her give them up, but it went really well).  The week before Christmas she decided she wanted to be potty trained (it was completely her idea), and our most recent change and transition occurred a few nights ago: Cora got a big girl room!!

The inspiration for the room came from her wall.  I didn't want to repaint it, so I tried to choose things that would match it.  I found the bedding at Pottery Barn Kids, and when I went in to buy it, I managed to snag a set of sheets and the quilt that had been on a display bed, so they were steeply discounted and marked final sale.  My mom had sent money to use for Cora's Christmas gift, so between her money and ours, we were able to buy sheets, pillow cases, and a quilt for a great price.

(The nightstand will eventually get painted white, but for the moment it gets the job done.)

In my dream world, I would have built-ins and a bench built around the window in Cora's room, but with everything we have going on (new baby, seminary, etc.), that is not realistic any time soon.  So, I got two Billy bookcases from Ikea to achieve the same effect.  I still plan to get a "bench" to go under the window.

I chose the Hemnes dresser from Ikea in white for Cora's room, and Jim's parents gave it to her for Christmas.  I love that dresser.  It is nice and big, has tons of great storage, and looks beautiful in person.  I couldn't be happier with it.  My sister bought Cora the two new lamps.  (Decorating this room on a budget was a family effort!)

We still need lots of stuff for the bookshelves and art for the walls, but the room still makes me super happy.  I smile every time I go in there!

Cora likes it a little too.

I can't believe how much Cora has matured and changed in just a little over a month.  I don't really feel ready to stop calling her my baby, but I guess a true infant will take over that title in three more months.  I can't wait to start on his room.  It's giving me an anxiety attack that it currently looks like this:

I've got my work cut out for me.  But when I get overwhelmed, I'll just go in Cora's room and relax.  :-)