Lorena Canals Rugs + Another Nursery Sneak Peak

Every time I get something new for the nursery, it's my favorite part yet.  The crib.  Then the bedding.  Then this gold shelf.  Then the DIY mobile.  But the most recent addition takes the cake...and might just be hardest to beat, period.

Meet my new Lorena Canals rug.

I have been waiting on pins and needles for this rug to arrive and when I saw the box at our door step last Friday, I nearly squealed with delight!

I knew the moment I saw this rug, I had to have it!  Not only does it fit perfectly within our nursery theme, but it brings the room together and gives it its own special touch the other bedrooms don't have!

And did I mention, it's gorgeous?!  And soft!  And the perfect size.  Seriously, in love with this rug by Lorena Canals!!

Lorena Canals rugs are handmade and eco-friendly, include all natural dyes, and contain no VOCs like most carpeting and rugs.  But perhaps their best feature?  They are all machine-washable and fit into a standard washer and dyer!  Necessary for a family with three boys!! #genius #yesplease

The boys love it, too.  If you follow me on Instagram {stories} you probably saw them running round and round on it Friday night singing the ABCs.  Good thing it's washable.

 Furthermore, with each purchase of a Lorena Canals rug, you are helping to send a child in India to school and provide them an opportunity at a better life.  Gotta love a company that gives back!

 There are plenty of Lorena Canals rugs to choose from--from sophisticated kid rooms to classy adult spaces, as well--so do yourself a favor and go check out their selection today (some rugs are also available at Nordstrom)! 

Thanks to Lorena Canals for this rug that is beyond-perfect and the piece that nearly completes our nursery!  And P.S. Full nursery reveal coming soon!!  (Like, as soon as we announce his name--due to a few personalized nursery items!)

Disclosure: Lorena Canals sent us this rug at no charge in exchange for a little social media promotion.  However, all opinions--and my serious love of this rug--are my own.

Holden's Big Boy Room Inspiration

This past weekend, on a whim, we converted Holden's toddler bed into a full-sized bed.  Craig was on his fourth consecutive day off of work {at home} and sitting still is not in his vocab...hence the beginning of the project at 4pm on Saturday night.  Since we have decided to make our guest bedroom into the nursery (instead of bunking the boys and using our existing nursery), we needed to clear it of it's contents anyway, which meant we had a full-size mattress and box spring up for grabs.  Perfect for Holden's full-sized bed frame.  We also decided the bed would force us to move the glider and changing table out......so essentially we did a whole lot of swapping.

Along with the glider and changing table went all of the baby stuff--wall prints, valance, decor--and since we hadn't planned on doing this so abruptly, we weren't prepared with any "big boy" bedroom items.  The poor kid was left with a cream sheet from the guest bedroom and an Iowa Hawkeye blanket as his comforter.  The rest of his room looks even more pathetic.  Nothing on the walls (except for existing handmade bookshelves), black curtains, and a chest of drawers + night stand.  In fact, I cringe every time I walk into his room.  I may be no home decorator, but his room is just plain pitiful at the moment.

Anyway, I fear it will stay that way for awhile.  After all, planning two new bedrooms is no cheap matter.  So in the meantime, I've been racking my brain and online window shopping (ahem, adding ideas to an Amazon wishlist) for Holden's future big boy room...although hopefully future means sooner than later for this poor middle child's sake!  

Keep in mind, I'm working with a, espresso (black) bed, chest of drawers, and nightstand to match.  Oh how I wish I could change the finish of the wood, but we paid a pretty penny for the set and I'm not about to paint something of that quality so soon.  (I'll save that for ten years down the road.)  For his room, I want something functional, but boyish and trendy at the same time.  I also want to lighten up the room--the black furniture makes it so drab in my opinion!  Here's what I came up with!

Wild-and-Free Wire Wall Decor // Move Mountains Framed Art // Curtains

Trees Plaque with Hooks // Black Bed Frame (already have) // Frontier Comforter Set

Hello Wall Plaque // Arrow
Washed Wood Box Lamp Base // Corduroy Bean Bag Chair // 9-Cube Storage Shelf & Fabric Cubes

Like I said, I'm sure I'll be dreaming about these items for far longer than I'd hope......unless the hubs reads this post and likes my ideas so much, he uses my links to order everything.  I'd be totally okay with that. ;)

Our Backyard Oasis

For once, I remembered to take "before" photos prior to last week's home improvement project - a stamped patio in our backyard.  A patio was something we had wished for since living in our old house.  Since our deck is higher than ground level, we wanted a place to sit while the boys play.  In just four days last week, the ground was leveled, concrete was poured, retaining wall was built, and patio was stained.  I'm not sure we could love the final product any more than we do and we pretty much spent the entire weekend on it.

 Before

After

Before

 After

Before

 After

 Before

 After

Before

 After

Before

 After

And a few eleven more photos because, well, I'm pretty much in love.

My Gallery Wall

It only took five weeks for me to make some decisions about our walls.  I wasn't crazy about just translating our old decor to our new walls.  I wanted something new, something fresh, and something that fit the style of this house.  I had seen (and loved) the idea of a gallery wall on Pinterest, but I wasn't sure if I'd like it long term...or if it was just a fad.  After searching a bit more on Pinterest, I decided to go for it!

After all, I always thought Uggs were a fad, too, but mine still make frequent appearances in the winter months.

Anyway, I picked up a few new things, but also tried to use what I already had to keep the price at a minimum.  Shockingly, Walmart had some pretty cute and inexpensive frames--exactly the look I was going for--and I found/purchased some pops of turquoise at Hobby Lobby.  My gallery wall went from a mere vision to on-the-wall in five days.

And I love it!  In fact, I couldn't love it more!  I love the mix of photos and prints, and black and brown, and gold and white.  I love the turquoise, love the rectangular array, and love the non-frame pieces I found.  I love that it represents our family in so many ways and I love that I can change out photos and prints when I get sick of what's up there.  Every time I look at this part of our house (which is every time I come down the stairs), it just makes me happy.

And now for the details:

1 | Frame from Walmart (for $4, I might add!).  Print by yours truly!  I needed one final print and couldn't find anything I liked {for free} on Pinterest.  Craig suggested a crown in honor of the Royals.  A Google Image search resulted in this.  Only it was pink.  I used my mad Word skills to turn it into a pale gray.  I love it.  Craig says it looks like the Budweiser crown, but hey, we enjoy beer as much as we do the Royals.  So it works either way! :)

2 | Frame from Walmart (another $4 gem!). 

3 | Clipboard thingy with burlap is from Walmart. I feel like this, along with #8, really helped tie together the black frames that I already had with the new brown frames.

4 | Reused an old frame. 

5 | Gold and white frame from Walmart.  Kansas print from Kyla Mary Shop on Etsy.  This is the only print I paid for, I might add! 

6 | Reused an old frame.

7 | Gold frame with print included from Hobby Lobby.

8 | Frame from Walmart.

9 | Turquoise mirror from Hobby Lobby.

10 | Frame from Walmart. (Same as #2)

11 | Turquoise metal design from Hobby Lobby.

12 | Mirror from Hobby Lobby.

13 | Reused an old frame.

14 | Frame from Walmart.  (Same as #1)  FREE Choose Happy print found here.

15 | Frame from Walmart.  It was actually a diploma/certificate holder (for $4 again!), which was perfect for an 8.5x11 print.  FREE feather print found here.

16 | Reused an old frame.  FREE turquoise chevron print found here.  

17 | This was something that hung in our old house and I loved it!  But I hadn't found a place for it here.  It was perfect for the gallery wall!

18 | Frame from Walmart.  (Same as #15)  I used Word to make the print.  It includes the dates of our first date, engagement, wedding, Brantley's birth, and Holden's birth.  I couldn't love this one any more!

19 | Reused an old frame.

The letters and ampersands were all purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I painted the C & S with turquoise spray paint.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've had a few questions about the organization of the entire wall and some comments about how I planned the placement of each piece so perfectly.  Here are the steps I took and what worked for me!

| 1 |

Arrange and rearrange the pieces on the floor.  After my initial arrangement, I decided to add four more frames.  Then, I spent a significant amount of time arranging again to my liking. 

| 2 |

Take pictures from above and look at the arrangement both in real life and in the photos.  Sometimes, you get a different perspective in a photo.  Again, I rearranged about a million times before I was finally happy.

| 3 |

Trace each piece on packing/tissue paper and cut out.  Lay on top of original pieces on floor to ensure you've traced everything.  Then number each piece of paper (left to right and top to bottom, as if you're reading a book) or write a general description of each piece on the paper.  I did both because I'm that anal.  I also noted whether the frame was oriented horizontally or vertically.  Not that I wouldn't know based on the direction of my writing, but I wanted to be certain.  (Told you I was anal!)  Take a picture of your final arrangement on the floor, if you didn't already!!

| 4 |

Measure the height and width of the arrangement and the height and width of the area on the wall.  Calculate how much space you need on each side and on the top and bottom in order to space the frames/arrangement to your liking.  Then use painter's tape to tape each piece of paper on the wall.  It should be easy based on your numbers and/or descriptions.  Use the picture you took, too!  Once all of the papers are on the wall, you can readjust/space to your liking.

| 5 |

Finally, remove each piece of paper one by one and replace it with the actual frame.  If you're lucky like me, you'll have a cooperative significant other to help with this part.  Even though he informed me it was "the worst project of his life".  And I'm not going to lie, we have about 1.5 times the number of nail holes as frames.  Unless you're perfect, you will likely make mistakes and things will need moved a quarter of an inch here and there.  You're already going to have a million nail holes in your wall anyway, so what's another few??