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. ;)

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.

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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?? 

 

August 8, 2009

Earlier this summer, Craig and I celebrated four years of marriage.  Well, today marks a special day in our lives, as well!  It was five years ago today that we got engaged!  In one sense, it seems like just yesterday.  In another--like when you count the 11 months of wedding planning and 18 more of pregnancy--five years seems pretty accurate. :)

Since I didn't blog back then, I thought I'd be fun to reminisce about our engagement before time passes and I forget what few details I remember five years later. :)

First, a little back story.  After dating for ten months, we closed on our house in April of 2009.  (Technically it was Craig's house, as my name wasn't on the mortgage.  We weren't yet engaged and didn't want to get too far ahead of ourselves.)  Anywho, after closing in April, we worked our booties off day and night to update the appearance of our home.  It was built in 1989, so think orange, wood everything, nasty carpet, and horrible wall colors.  We painted nearly every square inch of the place--trim, doors, walls, kitchen backsplash.  You name it, we painted it!  At the time, it was kind of fun...what else did we have to do?  Oh, who am I kidding?  It was awful.  Never again will we buy a house that needs so much cosmetic work.  But I will say, we made quite the difference and were ready to show it off!

 

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August 8, 2009

After working hard on our new home for four straight months, it was finally time for a housewarming party!  The party had been planned for two months and we literally worked on projects up until midnight the night before the party.  In fact, I think the window guy was working to replace a window mere hours before people were to start arriving.  Talk about being stressed!  Prior to this day, we had talked about marriage and had even gone ring shopping, but an engagement was honestly the last thing on my mind that day.

We had an awesome turn out at the party - friends, neighbors, and co-workers.  Between the keg and a huge pitcher of mojito, I was feeling pretty good and enjoyed showing off all of our hard work.  Next thing I knew, a friend was rounding up everyone inside and out and told them to make way to our deck.  When Craig started talking to the crowd, I was confused as to what he was doing.  After all, we didn't plan for a speech or a toast...it was just a housewarming party!  I asked a friend what was going on and she just smiled and shhhhed me.  (She was one of only three that knew what was coming.)

I don't remember much of what Craig said that night, but I do remember something to the effect of...when he moved to Kansas City he hoped he would find great friends...and he obviously had due to our amazing turnout.  He also said he hoped he would find that "special someone"...and he had...and he wanted to ask me a question.  The next thing I knew he was down on one knee and all I could do was stare with my mouth wide open and nod my head yes!  He slipped the ring on my finger and just like that, we were engaged!  Oh, and apparently, instead of responding yes, I asked "How big is [the ring]?!"  Hey, it was larger than what we had looked at and I was surprisingly shocked!  That's when I knew I had a keeper.  Haha just kidding. :)

I slipped away to call my mom.  She was well aware on an impending proposal and it was her first response when I said "Guess what just happened!?!"

The rest of the night consisted of lots of hugs, congratulatory wishes, and showing off my new bling!  I just couldn't stop staring at it, not to mention, I couldn't believe we were engaged!  Our housewarming turned engagement party was an amazing end to my summer and the perfect proposal for us.

Luckily, my friend, Julie, had her camera and captured the moment.  It's crazy to me that should something like this happen today, every partygoer would likely capture the proposal on a smartphone camera.  And those cameras are probably higher quality than the digital camera from just five years ago!  Nonetheless, I'm so glad we have photos of the proposal!

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And that's the story of our engagement.  Cameras aren't the only things that have changed in those five years.  A super fun wedding, lots of vacations, even more home improvement projects, and two kids later, life is better than ever!  I'm already looking forward to our 5-year wedding anniversary next summer (think kid-free vacation), but more importantly, the next fifty-five years.

Thanks, Honey, for proposing five years ago tonight and making me the happiest I've ever been.  Lots of love!!

Brantley's Big Boy Room Revealed

Though Brantley has been sleeping in his new, big boy room for over a month now, we hung the finishing touches over the weekend.  And now that they are on the wall, I'm excited to share the details!  I love, love, love how it turned out!  And unlike the nursery, I love that there is room to play.  He seems to be loving his new room and has adjusted to it very well!

So without further ado, here is Brantley's sports-themed, big boy room!

 

 

A huge thank you to my art-teacher friend, Erica, for the initials!  They are even better than I had envisioned and I couldn't love them any more!  And it sure beat paying $14 per letter on Etsy!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

DIYers

Baseball Bat Hat Rack (inspiration) | Initials (from Erica; inspiration)
Wall Prints w/ frames from Hobby Lobby (inspiration)

Items We Purchased

Valance | Lamp | Hamper

9-Cube Organizer | Fabric Drawers
Night Light | Toy Chest | Bean Bag Chair

Plush Balls / Convertible Crib/Toddler Bed

 

Be Our Guest

A growing family can only mean one thing.  A shrinking home!  Or so it seems.

When we closed on our house in 2009, we had three bedrooms to play with.  The master, of course, a second that we made into the guest bedroom, and a third that became the office.  Fast forward two {and a half} years and we started planning the nursery.  Which meant the office had to go--to the basement.  No big deal.  We rearranged a few things, and though our basement seemed a bit crammed, it worked.  A few months later, we decided to add a wall in the basement (and hence, increase the number of bedrooms in our house by one).  The wall turned out beautifully and our fourth bedroom, once again, because a true office.  The basement was even more crammed, as this forced us to move our shuffleboard table into the "living" space, but again, it worked.

Well, now, two years later, we're planning for a second child.  Which means a second kids' room.  Which means the guest bedroom got the boot--to the basement.  Into our fourth bedroom that, less than a year ago, became the office.  The office has now been moved into to the "living" space area of the basement. 

Whew!  Did you follow all of that?  And I thought the basement was crammed before...

Here are some pictures of our newly rearranged basement and "new" guest bedroom. 

My favorite little corner.  It called for a new chair from Target.  Merry Christmas to us!

The nice thing about the guest bedroom in the basement is the bathroom connected to it.  But unfortunately, it's only a half bath and guests have to climb two stories of stairs to take a shower.

Here is the new "office" / Craig's workout space.

And the living space...more packed than ever.

As for my scrapbooking stuff, it's now in one-half of the guest bedroom closet.  The hubs added a rod to the other half so guests could hang clothes.  We lost a little storage, but it works!

Now, who wants to be our first guest in our "new" guest bedroom??