Monday, February 2, 2015

My Brother's Bedroom


Happy times together at our parents' house over Christmas

My brother, Taylor, recently bought a new house in the amazing city he is so lucky to call home, Charleston, South Carolina.  Fortunately for me, he has allowed me to continue in my endearing role of the meddlesome older sister who likes to give her two cents on his endeavors. When he casually asked if I could give him some ideas for a duvet for his bed, I of course said "sure!" I then promptly whipped up a board complete with countless things my bachelor (you hear that, single ladies?) brother may not feel are super high on his priority list, but hey, I couldn't resist the opportunity :)

Here is a picture of his room.



The wall color and rug were already in place, so I tried to work with them in making my suggestions.  I'm not sure what color is on his wall, but I chose Manchester Tan for this board, as it appeared to be a close representation.



He has two-inch white wood blinds on his windows, but was hoping to add something to try and block the remaining light that was still coming through the blinds.  Going with a true black-out drape would have been the obvious (and more expensive) route.  Instead, I suggested these dark velvet Ikea drapes thinking that what they lacked in actual black-out lining, they may make up for in their dark color and heavy weight.  The jury is still out, so we will have to see if they work for his purposes.  At $40/pair, they are at least worth a try!


I suggested a classic ticking stripe for his duvet.  It's hard to go wrong with this simple masculine look, and I thought it paired nicely with all the pattern in his rug.  (To clarify, the rug in the mock-up below is one I found for the purposes of this board.  It's the best I could find that comes the closest to matching his rug) I also thought it would keep the room from feeling too dark by adding a white coverlet to the bed as well.



The light flax colored headboard brings in some more texture to the room, and the lamps add a fun midcentury vibe.  I love the open design of the bedside tables.  They feel kind of unexpected and fresh to me.





The fabric on the toss pillows almost mimics the design on the side tables, and they help make the red in the rug feel intentional.



I tied it all together with a more modern piece of art above the bed.  It pulls all the colors in the room together and the loose, organic feel is a nice counterpoint to the traditional rug and the straight lines on the tables and pillows.



Here is everything together.  Totally bachelor-friendly, yet still stylish right? :)


Taylor's Bedroom

Sunday, January 25, 2015

New Bunk Beds!


We made a big change to Wade and Holland's bedroom over the weekend…we finally installed their new bunk beds!

of course little sister had to get in on the fun!

If you recall, their room used to look like this.



Switching out their separate twin beds for bunks was motivated primarily by the need for more space.  Their room is tiny.  Our house is quite small.  And we've got an increasing number of legos taking up residence on all of the surfaces in it.  So, operation bunk bed was the first step in creating some space in the room for the legos to hopefully find a consolidated home!



The kids were so excited about their new bunks!  Holland especially was just giddy as we were putting them together, bless her little heart.

Y'all, do you see my children cuddling together?! It was completely unprompted!  My heart!!!


The bunk bed is by Ikea and is about as budget-friendly as they come.  And I have to tell you--aside from having a true custom bunk room, this is my favorite of any retail option I've seen.

I painted ours Duxbury Gray by Benjamin Moore (and yes, it took forever. Our back yard has been covered in the pieces of wood for weeks, while I used the incremental bits of time I have for this sort of thing to go out and put one coat on, wait till it dries, sand it, paint the other coat.  Flip and repeat.)  The walls are Horizon, also by Benjamin Moore, and I liked how the Duxbury worked with the Horizon in here.

For now, I stuck a Persian rug I already owned on the floor, but I think I'd like to get something a little more fun, and ideally a little larger.  Aside from their shams, there's not a whole lot of other pattern in the room right now.  Well, except for their little art wall I made.







Ahem…someone likes to remove the bows from their handy little holding place!
I'm inclined to go with a striped rug because 1) I just really like striped rugs in a kid space and 2) I feel like it would work well the trellis pattern on the shams + the check on the lampshade.


Here are my top picks to spice up their floor, all from my favorite place for rugs, Overstock.com.

Striped Rugs for Kids Rooms

Thursday, December 4, 2014

'Tis the Season

Popping my head above the waters of chaos to share a couple Christmasy things that have me excited and that I thought you might like as well.



How cute are these antler pillows from Winder & Main?!



They are obviously a great way to bring some Christmas flair to your living room, but how great would they be in a boys' bedroom year round?  Or if you are lucky enough to have a separate den in your home?  So cozy, I just love 'em!

My dear friend, Shannon, sent me the sweetest little canvas as an early Christmas gift.



She has different sizes and options for sale, wouldn't they be great Christmas gifts?  Perfect for the new and seasoned mama alike :) Let me know if you need help getting in touch with her!



Stockings!  When it came time to get stockings for Wade and Holland, I really wanted something that would last, stockings to serve them throughout their childhood.  I was excited when I found some I loved a couple years ago at an embroidery shop in Richmond.



I love a needlepoint stocking, and I think these are just the perfect blend of classic and whimsy.  Exactly my favorite type of design for kids.  They are made by Kelly Rightsell.  For some reason, it looks like her site is not selling them this year, but leave it to Amazon to stock them! (I believe Atlantic Embroidery Works may have a few left this year from last year's stock if you happen to be local in Richmond and in need of a fun stocking!)  There are so many adorable designs.   This will be Mary Graham's first Christmas, so it was fun to pick one out for her this year.



I also came across these cute stockings at TJMaxx.  And only $12/pop!



We just started an Advent book that I am loving.  After seeing it on a friend's Facebook post, I ordered it right away, and we were able to start it just one day late.  (Amazon Prime really is amazing--I ordered it on Sunday and it came on Monday!  And I did not pay extra shipping! All of that to say, if you are like me, and you are always lagging behind, it's never too late to start celebrating Advent.)  We've done the devotionals from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift the past couple of nights, and it's been great.  The language is simple enough that I think (I hope!) my children are able to grasp bits of it, and yet it's also so thoughtfully written that it is just as meaningful to me and Philip.



I have not done a ton of Christmas decorating (I'm blaming it on this incredibly exhausting season of life in which I find myself), but we did get our tree up and decorated (well, the top half…we have a baby who is intent on investigating any and all items within her grasp, so the bottom half of our tree is naked).  I brought out a few other bits of Christmas cheer, like this little pillow from last year's dollar section at Target.



Also, Kevin, our elf…..he's back (and apparently, hungry!).



Thursday, November 13, 2014

Bamboo Blinds

Hello there.  It has been more than two months since I have been here.  I have thought to myself many times since then how I would like to find a moment to post about this or that, and yet life has just felt so full and crazy.  Lest there be anybody out there thinking I'm tackling some fun house projects in my spare time these days, let me just set the record straight--it's much more along the lines of "struggling to stay afloat!" or "this ship is sinking" kind of thing!


These two (not sure why it's so blurry?) + this one…



I sure do love them, but my, I never knew how exhausting motherhood would be, in so many ways...  I realize I'm not alone in this--many, if not all, mamas of young families probably feel this way, but it's still important to me that when you come to my blog, you get a sense of my real life!


Many days, I feel just like this little love who wasn't too thrilled about waking up from her nap. (Except this look is not nearly so cute on me!)

Now, moving on to bamboo blinds... (made even more lovely by this precious girl!)



I've had several friends ask me about the bamboo blinds I've used in my home.  Truth is, I have them throughout my house, on just about every window come to think of it.

Find this style HERE

I used them on a couple windows in our home in Richmond (I happened to find these at Target.com marked way down on Clearance!).




Bamboo blinds are great for lots of reasons--they bring warmth to a room, they are a great source of texture, and they are easily found at very affordable price points.


My favorite source is Overstock.com.  The shade in the nursery (above) is THIS style.  (Note:  The two shades I have linked at Overstock are available in three different lengths and in any width.)


I like bamboo blinds all by themselves.

via

via

source unknown


Or layered with drapes.

via

via

via


On their own, they filter the light, so if you want something for complete privacy, you may want to consider having yours black-out lined.


The shade in Wade and Holland's room (above) is from Lowes.  They have a number of different colors, and they will cut yours to fit your measurements in the store.  I still favor the tones in the ones from Overstock myself, but depending on the look you are after, Lowes is a great option too.  (Plus, you can't beat the instant gratification of walking in the store and getting what you need right away!) Also! Check out Little Green Notebook's recent post on some great shade options at Lowes currently on major sale!


Here's a close up of the Lowes shade.  I lined this one with blackout lining fabric I purchased at Jo Ann's.  It's fairly simple to do this; a quick search on Pinterest or Google will turn up a handful of tutorials.