sold!

Great news. My hubband's bachelor pad bedroom furniture sold on Craig's List -- for my asking price!

Yesterday the buyer came by to check it out ... and is coming first thing in the morning to pick it up!

Before bed tonight we cleaned out our nightstands and the dresser. He's not sure what he's going to do without a nightstand. He wants me to go and get one tomorrow. And a bed frame. Must have one of those.

You'd think after all this daydreaming about our "new" bedroom that I would know exactly what I want. But that's domestic indecision for ya!

Goodbye red furniture!!!

Oh, and I'm heading out to get my paint samples tomorrow afternoon. {And someone please remind me why I decided to do this the week of Christmas?!}

Christmas Decorations

So, I had big plans this year.

After Christmas each year I get all these ideas and make all these decisions and hopes for the following holidays. And last year was no exception. I wanted a fireplace. {How do I build a fireplace?} I wanted fancy table decor. {Do I need a fancy table for that?} Big plans.

Then there's the baby.

And my new desire to spend all my time with him giggling and watching him throw oatmeal on the floor. And the result of wanting to simplify everything because these moments will never come back and the laundry will always be there, as will the dishes, and the dust bunnies, and the dog hair tumbleweeds. I mean, have you seen this precious face?

Yeah. I knew you'd understand.

But I did decorate. I put up our giant tree, as well as two other three foot trees, a branchy tree, and one that I think was meant for our porch. The nativity is out. Two of them. And I have a new fireplace -- well, without the fire ... or a permanent place. But it's still exciting. And I decorated it. And I made yummy cookies. We had a birthday party for Jesus. And I feel simply celebrated.

In the back of my mind, I keep thinking I'll finish that wreath I started on, I'll find that garland I made last year, and next year will be even better. But then I look at that face again, and hear his cute cute cute little laugh ... and I figure, I've got twelve whole months to prepare!

I'm linking up to

  

project romance :: part two

This is part 2 in my master bedroom revamp. You can see all about my bedroom boredom in this post here, and I'll recap just a little. The room feels happy and warm and welcoming. Those are great, but not exactly what I want in my bedroom.

 

I did a little sprucing earlier this year with the duvet cover and curtains from Ikea. They are cheap and they brightened things up a bit. Before the yellow and white stripes there were chocolate brown silk curtains which looked fancy, but the room just felt really dark. Cave like. Probably the way my hubband preferred it. Oh well. As long as there's a bed and it's cold, he's fine. I took these pillows from another room and rescued the fun vintage lamp from my mother's office.  I got the white quilt with a gift card and  hubband already had all the furniture.

I'm officially renaming this :: project romance. Just FYI.

Things that must stay:

-- fancy mattress

-- white wood blinds

-- carpet {it needs to be replaced, but that is way down low on the list}

Things that must go:

-- all the furniture {I have permission to sell it and get new stuff, if the costs work out right}

-- the wall colors {warm rusty red on the bed wall and a fairly deep tan on the other three}

Things that can go either way:

-- this little shelf {It will need another paint job. I know it looks bright now, but you should have seen it when I found it!}

-- this antique sewing table

-- a simple {but Queen Anne style} standing mirror from my adolescence. It also needs a paint job, but I haven't painted it since I don't know what color yet.

-- white quilt

Things I'm considering:

-- a new furniture orientation

-- new furniture!!

-- what to hang on the walls

-- just how high to hang those curtains...

I'm up for any suggestions you have, so feel free to make some.

Are there any tips you have for a bedroom overhaul on a budget?

Do you have some good places to hunt for inspiration?

about moi

I thought you might like to know a little about me. Maybe you don't. If not, you should stop reading now. You can still look at the pictures if you'd like. They're free for the lookin'.

I made some mistakes when we first started furnishing our home. When we married, my husband lived in this tinytinytiny house where just about everything touched. He had a long plaid sofa he'd inherited and an over sized chair-and-a-half with an ottoman. And a big entertainment center. We quickly pawned that entertainment center off on another family who needed one. We got a temporary solution (that lasted nearly four years!!!) and decided when we moved into our Mr. & Mrs. home that we'd not get temporary stuff.

Well, we went from that supercozy house to our happily ever after home and it.was.empty. That giant plaid stuff just floated in our giant roller rink feeling living room.

My house is just now recovering from the furniture stuffing we began. We knew all our friends' homes looked exactly the same and we didn't want that. But we weren't really sure of either of our tastes either. Hence the reason our home is just now starting to look like us. Ok, well, maybe like me.

This is the only thing of my husband's that we keep out for looks. He doesn't even plug his guitar in. But it's something that reminds me of him -- and maybe allows others to think he gets to have an opinion in our home. Don't get me wrong, I ask him all the time. But he has no opinion. And really, that's fine. I've learned when he does have an opinion, he likes flannel and plaid and leather and flannel and plaid. And white walls. So yeah. I'm ok with his lack of opinion.

These are some new curtains I made recently. Well, I hung them up. I haven't added fringe or decided just how long they should be. Right now there is a huge puddle of fabric on the floor my little son likes to play in. I'll tell you about the window wall in another post.

My grandmother had a few white milk glass bud vases when I was growing up and in college I decided I loved them. Good thing because then my mom and grandmother decided that's what I was getting for my birthdays and Christmas from then on out. I do have a nice collection. I had it all out and wasn't thrilled with it and packed it away. Now I'm working on something for my boudoir and the milk glass is making a big debut.

Again my love of milk glass. And fake greenery that doesn't look terribly fake. And these feather balls that my husband did have an opinion on. I didn't care for it. So I kept the balls and got rid of him. Just kidding. They're both still around.

My friend's mother gave me this tiny "cupcake stand" so that I could take someone special a cupcake. Everyone who's ever eaten one of my cupcakes knows that one is not enough. And if you're special enough to get that kind of presentation, you deserve more than one cupcake, right? Oh, and that darling little blue tealight holder? Yeah, it's from the dollar store. Crazy, right?

I love this shelf. It's maybe my favorite thing. It's a tiny little corner shelf that's been loved a lot. Or it looks like it. I picked it up {and a schoolbusyellow shelf, too!} on a shopping trip for next to nothing. We haggled with "the happy peddler" who was really kind of a weirdo peddler guy, but that's just semantics, right?

I think I showed you a sneak peek of this beauty ... which is still a work in progress around here. Sometimes I'm really motivated to do one million things and other times it takes me a while to really get going. But I'm going to. Because I love love love this and can't wait for it to be spectacular at Christmas time.

This is a little birdcage thingy I saw on someone's blog. She's selling them there for over three times what I actually paid for it. It has a little sister and I think they are going to hang out with the project above.

I love reindeer moss. And cloches/cheese domes/glass domes. And these super sweet tiny birdies. That thing behind it is a Christmas present, so don't tell anyone you saw it.

A few months ago I hung a plate wall. I've got lots of big big big huge long walls in this house. Plates were great to fix one. And so now I'm always looking for good ones. These might make an appearance in my bedroom project or in our bathroom. {Well, if I fix up our bedroom our bathroom will be jealous, don't you think?? Well, I think so. You just don't know our bathroom. There's a big rivalry there.}

the BIG reveal

I am super excited. Really excited. Really really super excited.

{Can you tell that I'm excited?}

I finally get to reveal to you the tragic death of bad bad leroy brown, and introduce to you my fabulous new house. Well, it's not really new. It's the same one. But it definitely looks {and feels} like a whole new place to me. And that's very exciting, in case you were wondering. Very.

Ok, so first I show you the before. {Brace yourself.} Enter Bad Bad Leroy Brown:

And now for a close up:

Eeek. The terror. Moving on. So I've been updating. Well, it took over three years of living here, but then I started updating. This stuff takes time. And moola. And good things come to those who wait. So hang on, and I'll get to the good-er stuff.

First thing to do is get rid of the sad pink brick. The picture looks a little better than it was in real life {shocker}. The brick was this "watercolor" pink and purpley yuckyness. It was awful. Combine that with the butter yellow trim and door, and you've got yourself some kind of sick, twisted, grown - up barbie palace knockoff. You know the kind. Like the ones at the dollar store called Farbie. Well, this Farbie Dreamhouse was more like nightmare to me. So I painted it. And I even gave you a sneak peek of the door and maybe a tiny bit more. Go on. If you want to refresh your memory or cheat, I'll wait. I understand. The pressure is intense.

Oh, good you're back. So I painted it. And it was looking better. See?

Progress. But it still needs more. Let's add some shutters. Fancy black raised panel shutters.

Isn't it fun how fast things go on blogs? And also how different that paint color looks? {Do you like that one sad plant that we saved?}

We're looking much prettier, but now we need to work on function. Our sidewalk is like a lake every time it rains four raindrops. So out with the old...

And in with a lovely new sidewalk with a gentle curve. Oh and one super cute baby. Then, it's time for my favoritestest part. The part I've been waiting for since the day we moved into the house. Are you ready? I'm excited to reveal to you ...

My fancy almost-new house!!!

So it's not completely finished. It needs a little rock in front of the sidewalk to look even. And I clearly need more photos of how amazing it is. And the grass needs to grow over the long trench we had to dig for drainage, but it's a great big amazing change for me. Now I smile every time I pull into the driveway. And now I won't be embarrassed to invite people over in the daytime. 'Cause I'm not sad that they have to see the outside of my house. Need one more visual? Ok, twist my arm.

Before:

After:

Yay!!! Oh, and since Bad Bad Leroy Brown is gone, she needs a fun and sassy spunky new name. Please feel free to make some suggestions! I'm linking up to every single party I can find because this is so very exciting!!!

bad bad leroy brown

Here is my before picture. I'm almost embarrassed to show you this. But I will. Because we're friends. And because you know I didn't pick it out this way, but rather purchased it this way, because that's the way it was. And also because you know there is an after coming -- and that it is good. Real good. And also, so I can link up to parties. Because who doesn't like a good party?

So brace yourself. Here it comes.

Bad bad bad before:

Wow. It's hard to believe I lived in that for as long as I did. Ick.

Ok, so I realize it's not terrible. But it's not really lovely or the sort of place you dream about coming home to either. {Surely you can admit that.}

If you want a sneak peek of the transformation, there is a teaser here, here, and here. Ok, so really those are all linked to the same post. It's just that I am really that excited about the after. It is finally finished today. I can hardly believe how giddy I am about the results. And how much I love my hubband for going along with my ideas even though he thought it was fine the way it was.

Make Your List :: Check it Twice!

Halloween is the eight week mark to Christmas.

I'll wait. I know you need to catch your breath.

It's a super busy time of year. Let me tell you a story about my friend. She is married. She has a full time job, goes to school part time, has a four year old, is seven months pregnant, is in a wedding this weekend, is buying and building a house, and is all around spectacular and amazing in an every sort of way kind of gal. I love her. On top of all that, Christmas is coming. Right before she has a beautiful baby girl in January, and right after the amazing shower we are hosting for her in November. {More on that soon!}

Most of us lead lives like this. We hike from one end of town to the other, dropping off children, picking up dry cleaning, grocery shopping, soccer practicing, cooking, cleaning, hosting, driving, occasionally sleeping.

This first item in our Help for the Holidays series is really important:

Make a List

{then check it twice ... and twice again}

Start with your holiday shopping. Make a list of everyone you're going to buy for. Even if that list consists of yourself and your mom, make that list. Keep it handy, because I'm almost willing to bet money that you'll forget someone. You know, your brother's latest girlfriend ... or that lady that grampa takes to bingo every Thursday ... or that "female gift" you must take to the office party for White Elephant ... or your lovely and talented blogging friend who is helping you with your holidays.

I actually make more than one list. I do the shopping for my little nuclear family {from me and the hubs} as well as the grandparent shopping {everything to everyone from the matriarch and patriarch of my mother's family}. It's daunting to shop for the same people with different budgets multiple times from different people -- while trying to please everyone and keep my sanity. {But I love it.} So I use both sides of one piece of paper. {I also use bright paper so I can find it December 18 when it's crumpled and erased and hiding in the bottom of my bag.}

Then make you some columns. Mine are ideas, purchase info, and misc. When I have ideas for my little cousin (like a family fun pack) I write enough detail in the idea section, where to purchase in that section, and then any other misc info like if something needs personalized or to be picked up later, shipping confirmation, etc. Once it's wrapped, I cross it off. Don't black it out, just simply cross it off. Or draw boxes if that's your thing. Here, just let me show you.

Don't forget to put everybody on your list. People you work for, you work with, the guy who carries your ozarka bottle up those three flights of stairs every two days, your hair dresser, kids' bus driver, etc. You know, if you want to do a little something special for them. {Don't panic. We're not buying things for all those people. That's another post. Just add them to your list.}

Important things to remember about your list:

1. Do not stress about the number of people on your list.

2. Do not stress about forgetting someone. We'll take care of that.

3. Do not stress about your list looking super cute. It just needs to be functional.

4. Dear Rebecca, this one's for you.