Marshall's New Room

It's been a while since we've had a room makeover to reveal! I am excited to finally share Marshall's new bedroom. This project started brewing in my mind almost as soon as we found out we were pregnant with our second baby boy, and I could not wait to start working on it. Except, I had to be extremely patient because there was a looooong list of other projects that needed to happen first, before this one could. Patience is not one of my finer virtues! 

This room has seen many arrangements over the last 10 years that we've lived here, but most recently it was my beloved home office. I was quite spoiled to have an entire room with a large dedicated work station, craft supplies, a comfy reading corner and a TV. It also doubled as a guest room when needed. Here's a look at the before. You can read more about my home office and the awesome desk we built. 

We always knew that if we needed it, it would become our third bedroom (as it was intended). There's no one I would rather have enjoy this space than our soon-to-be big brother, Marshall. At 2.5 years old, he is so fun and sweet and high energy (with a side of crazy). I wanted to make his room fun and functional with some of his favorite things. 

We left the paint color the same, a tan/taupe with a hint of gray, which was the perfect neutral for my simple color theme of navy blue, red and gray. I started with the bedding and found a navy blue comforter with a reversible gray side. I knew I wanted to keep the red chandelier (minus the beads and baubles), as well as the beautiful hand-made red alphabet quilt that my friend Nicole made. Marshall likes firetrucks so I thought they would be perfect for bed sheets.

Finding the right bed frame was one of my favorite parts. I picked up this maple frame from our local charity garage sale for $8. $8 people! I couldn't wait to paint it. What I really mean is, I couldn't wait for my darling, patient, helpful husband to paint it. He did the most beautiful job! Here's a look at it before (with some light sanding). It wasn't in bad shape at all but it had some wear and tear. I really wanted it to make a pop of color in the mostly tan and wood room.

I just love it!

I kept the shelves that were already on the wall and styled them with a few fun things I already had. The little red lantern matches the bigger red lantern on the night stand - I love when coincidences like that happen! I purchased these adorable vehicle prints from a shop on ETSY. Marshall was so excited about them. I wanted to tie in a few touches of firetrucks to match the bed sheets. So cute. 

I switched out the curtains in our living room so Marshall could have these gray and white  ones to add visual interest and pattern.

I found the perfect spot to hang this sweet "I love you more" sign that was gifted to me by my friend Heather, from Reclaimed Palette. It goes so well with the wood accent wall in the room! 

I wanted Marshall to have a desk that he could grow into, and this is the one from my bedroom growing up. It's also the very first furniture project I did that launched my blog 8 years ago! We moved it from the kitchen and switched it with another piece. I made a cork board and a magnet board with large frames that I already had. We also had a bookcase that fit nicely in the corner. 

Of course, Marshall's tee-pee had to have a spot in his room. He still loves running in and out of that thing, which was a gift on his first birthday. Along with his basketball hoop. 

I searched for quite a while for the right dresser and found this one on Craigslist. It was probably the most expensive piece in the whole room (at $50). I like how the light wood compliments the wood accent wall. There is a mix and match of furniture in here, but I know it will be well-loved and I'm not worried about it getting "beat up". 

I'm so happy with how everyting turned out and came together. More importantly, Marshall is enjoying his new "big boy" room. It makes me so happy (and sad at the same time), to see him growing up, but I love each new stage and watching him learn and grow. I hope you love your new room, Marshall, because it was made with love just for you! 

Kitchen Mini Makeover

While our ceilings were under construction, I seized the opportunity to make a few cosmetic updates in our kitchen. Gotta strike while the paint brush is hot, right? I'm always amazed at the difference a new paint color makes.

I had always wanted a red kitchen and loved the red for over 8 years. Now, I was ready for a change! We went with the same gray that the rest of our downstairs is. Everything has a nice continuous flow throughout our first floor now. 

Here's a look at the red before. It was a warm color and served us well. But, I love the gray and white now! It's so much lighter and open feeling. Hooray for gray! 

I picked out a new light fixture which makes a world of difference. There was a heavy 6-light chandelier before that overpowered the modest eat-in kitchen. 

I thought this clear glass cake-dish looking pendant was more fitting. It reminds me of a trifle dish! 

The color beneath the chair rail used to be beige. Now, it's crisp clean white. I added a little shelf with hooks (that was sitting in our basement) by the front door, with a message board above. I just love this little entry spot now. Especially with Marshall's little jackets hanging there. 

Another area of our kitchen that needed a major update was the *mirror* back splash. Yes, you read that right. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Literally. It was under the cabinets and behind the stove. Strange. I just couldn't look at it anymore. We considered doing tile or some other type of wall treatment, but the added expense and the thought of dealing with removing (breaking) mirrors, was too much for us with everything else going on. Enter: fancy contact paper. My friend Hilary did something similar in her kitchen and it inspired me to give it a try. I found a pattern on ETSY that I liked for under $20 and one roll was all I needed. It was fairly easy to measure, cut and apply. Done! I love that I can just wipe it clean and it was such an inexpensive quick fix!

 

I had fun designing and assembling a gallery wall where our wooden shelves used to be. Most items were things that I had. The wooden arrow is from my talented friend, Heather. I re-painted the "Welcome" sign and I added new things to the other frames. I found the "With God all things are possible" sign at Tuesday Morning, before the store closed in our area. The touches of gold, wood and white tie everything together. 

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite part was installing a new kitchen sink and faucet! Our old cast iron sink had many scratches (the kind that can't be cleaned, no mater how hard you scrub) and a few small chips from years of use. The two-handle faucet was leaking for a while and was difficult to clean. 

There also used to be a little wooden shelf coming out from the window sill that I needed gone. I convinced Jesse to rip it out for me, even if it left gaping hole. We took care of it. Ha! 

I really like our new single handle faucet with removable spray feature. It's so pretty, too! I was giddy about having this sink installed. It was my early Christmas present. It wasn't an easy job though. This was actually the THIRD sink I ordered. We originally wanted another cream colored sink to match the counter top, but that proved to be a bigger challenge than I imagined. One sink arrived cracked. Finally I ordered a black one, since the price was right, it was available in the style I wanted and it matches all of our appliances. Done. I gotta give Jesse extra thanks for the pain it was to remove the old sink and get this beauty in place. 

One final finishing touch, a new simple white window valance. Which was surprisingly difficult to find (from JCPenney. Thanks for the tip, Jess!). 

That's how we got a "new" kitchen on a tight budget with a few cosmetic updates. I couldn't be happier with the results! Our kitchen could really use a total overall, but that's not a project that we will be doing any time soon. For now, I'm so happy with these updates!

 

Master Bedroom Makeover

In May, I started a "mini" makeover of our master bedroom. I was ready to say goodbye to the overall brown and blue color scheme, and say hello to pops of color and a more modern feel. My goal was to keep expenses low (it usually is), to make use of what I already had and to incorporate some new must-haves (like window treatments). 

First, lets take a look at the BEFORE. (Sorry, these photos aren't the greatest and the lighting is poor, but it adds to the "before" feeling, right?) The walls are light blue and chocolate brown, even though they appear to be different colors.

At the time, I really liked the brown and blue combination. It was cozy but the dark brown actually made the room feel smaller. I am officially over accent walls. Our comforter set had a flourish pattern which I temporarily covered with a pale blue duvet. I wanted something more versatile and neutral. 

Now let's look at the AFTER! 

Isn't it pretty now? So much lighter, brighter and airy feeling. We used the same light blue paint (Sherwin-Williams "Rain") to cover the brown walls and re-paint the wall with the branch mural on one side of the room (so 3 out of the 4 walls were painted). That made the biggest difference right away. 

Here are some of the details:
My painted coral nightstands have a home! They really add that pop of color and incorporate the coral color palette for the whole room. 

The grey reversible down-alternative comforter from JCPenny is one of my favorite purchases because it's so comfortable, versatile and it kept going on sale so I got it for a great price. I purchased 3 smaller accent pillows/pillow covers and I made simple envelope covers for the euro pillows I already had with $7 worth of fabric.

The Umbra Urna Double Curain Rod was also a purchase from JCPenny.com that was well worth it. It has two rods so you can hang sheers and panels with out having to mess with two separate rods. Installation was by far the easiest I've ever experienced. It's sturdy and elegant. 

The window curtains are actually 2 shower curtains that I found at Target and added large rings to. More to come on that project. I seem to gravitate to Ikat pattern and the dark blue is so pretty against the light blue walls. I guess I don't like to use typical curtains - like the time I made our shower curtain out of a table cloth. I'm a believer in customizing things to fit your needs - and saving money while doing it! 

The white dresser was a thrift store find for $20! Jackpot! I like it in our room, but I may  move it to the baby's room to use as the changing table. I just love saying "baby's room".

I found the small gold sunburst mirror at Pier 1 and was able to use a gift card I'd been holding onto. It's a metal "real" version of the large sunburst mirror I made for our living room.  

The botanical prints and wall art collage are a combination of re-purposed frames, simple artwork I printed or made and creative arrangements of things I had around the house. The rope mirror and small initials are from Hobby Lobby (with coupons, of course). 

The charming pair of vintage lamps were a gift from my Aunt Evelyn that I'd been holding onto for years. They just needed new shades. Aren't they adorable? They used to sit on her and my Uncle Pete's bedroom dresser and I commented one time during a visit that I liked them, and she gave them to me a few years before she passed away. They're even more special to me now. 

Our biggest splurge was a new mattress and new sheets. They're so comfortable! It's definitely worth the investment if you've been neglecting your bedroom. I find that people don't usually put as much effort into their bedroom because "no one sees it." Except, the truth is, you see it everyday and it should be an inviting and restful environment where you can be refreshed and enjoy spending time in. 

Pinterest definitely played a role in helping me narrow down the style I wanted and collecting inspiration and ideas that I wanted to incorporate. My bedroom pin board was especially helpful when I was shopping because it kept me on track while I was looking for the right elements and sticking to a color palette.

That's a look at our "new" master bedroom. I just love how it turned out! It took some time, careful shopping and creativity but it was well worth it.