Master Bedroom Progress and Plans

I hesitate to put pictures of our bedroom in its current state on here, but I wanted to show you all our new shams I mentioned the other week.  And also, for me at least, much of the joy of decorating is the creative process, figuring out the pieces of the puzzle if you will--and so it only seems fitting to share the journey, including the early stages.

I'm noticing that these pictures make the wall color look darker than it does in person...

As plain and boring as it may look right now, my new shams do make me quite happy!  I got them on major sale at Lands End (here is a link to them--they are no longer on sale and have since improved the fabric, according to the description.), and here is what I will say about them:  They are soft, the embroidery and monogramming are both done well, and I really like the style.  Here are my two critical observations, for those who may be considering them.  They wrinkle very easily (I know this because my five year old likes to build a fort with them and wrestle on them and do all sorts of things that I might imagine would honestly wrinkle even the most wrinkle-resistant items!) and the fabric is so soft that the edges don't stand up quite as much as I'd like.  It makes the rope detailing around the edges a little less pronounced.  But for less than $50 total, I'm calling it a day on my shams.

• Here are my plans (as they stand today…always subject to change of course!) for the rest of the room:

• Add a big bolster pillow in front of the shams to bring in some pattern/color.  I'm planning to get a couple samples from the new Tilton and Fenwick line for Duralee to try.  Right now I'm leaning towards soft blues/greens.  
• Get a headboard.  Saving up for this…I have a few possibilities in mind.  
• Paint bedside chests to match.  I'll probably keep the same color that's on the one on the right, but it needs a fresh coat in a bad way.
• Add matching bedside lamps
• Hang set of bird prints (already own) above bed
• Bring in 8x10 rug (bedrooms need rugs!  It's no fun stepping out of bed onto a cold, hard floor :(
• Drapes for the window.  I don't really have a plan right now…

I already own these two bolster inserts, so I figure I'll try and rig them up to be one long bolster to avoid buying a pricey feather-filled long one!

I was recently introduced to the site Polyvore.  Have you heard of it?  I'd seen their fashion boards before, but you can create Home boards too.  Really quite fun for those of us who do not have Photoshop but would like to see our ideas together in one place (you can even add your Pins from Pinterest if you want to see what they will look like in a room mock-up.)

Some of the things on my board aren't the actual pieces I own, but I tried to give the overall feel of what I hope to achieve.

Master Bedroom Plans by anneworthington featuring a pottery barn bedding

Table lamp
overstock.com

West Elm rug
westelm.com

Duvet cover
landsend.com

Pottery barn bedding
potterybarn.com

Surya wall art
purehome.com

Bed frame
westelm.com

OKA white wood dresser
$1,355 - okadirect.com

Fabric Sale Alert

One of my favorite online spots for fabric, Lewis & Sheron, is having a sale right now, and I wanted to pass along the good news to any who may not be on their email list.  Apparently, they are snowed in over in Atlanta (where their store is based), and are offering 20% off your online purchase today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday) with the code "SNOWSALE".  One thing I love about a sale is it tends to force me to pull the trigger on things I've been hemming and hawing over.  Anybody with me?

Their email was actually quite timely as I had just received an order of sample swatches in the mail from them.  I'm slowly but surely making plans to decorate Mary Graham's nursery.  I'm not sure yet how I'll use these fabrics, but aren't they just the sweetest?!  My two older kids used the same gender-neutral nursery, so I knew I was going to have to go full-on girly and pink for Mary Graham :) I can't wait!

Lewis & Sheron rarely do sales, so I for one am pretty excited to take advantage of the discount!  Happy Shopping!!

Kitchen Lighting {Our House}

I've got to make a decision about pendant lights in our kitchen!  But first, some backstory on the process...

The original kitchen had one center ceiling fixture and a light under the soffit above the sink.  By knocking out the wall that adjoined the living room to the kitchen, we knew we'd be gaining more light, but we still felt the kitchen would benefit from additional light sources.

You can't actually see the light sources in this photo, but it's the best I've got.

We opted to add five can lights and two pendants (you can see one possible pendant style up for consideration).  Two of the can lights light the "hallway" leading past the pantry/fridge into the dining room, two are centered in the middle of the kitchen, and one is directly over the sink.

Since we removed the soffit over the sink, I would have loved  to have done something like Edie from Life in Grace did in the space over the window:

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or this:

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However, knowing we will be selling our house in less than four years means I need to choose wisely what things I spend money on that I can't take with me!   Since I've yet to get that money tree growing in the backyard, I decided to save the money on those fixtures and just go with the solitary can light.  I'd like to eventually have a pretty roman shade mounted high over the window there…

kitchen by Urban Grace Interiors via Decorating Cents

So, this leaves me with needing to settle on pendants for above the peninsula.  You can see we have one option currently hanging and in need of a mate!  (My husband loves it when I have him hang things just to "try" them out :) )The lights will have to hang a little closer together than I would have liked due to where the electrician needed to wire them.

Here are some examples of different styles of pendant fixtures I love in some gorgeous spaces.

another gorgeous kitchen by Urban Grace

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I love Brooke's pendants.  I hope she isn't cringing that I'm posting a picture of her kitchen before it was "done"!

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Erika's {old} kitchen

So, here's what I'm thinking for our kitchen (and here's where I'd love your input!):

I could keep the existing brushed nickel pendant (and of course add a second next to it).  I like that the style is reminiscent of the much nicer ones featured in many of the kitchens I posted above.  At around $100/pop, I feel like it could be a good way to go.

My one concern is whether using this fixture just brings in too much brushed nickel.  My range hood, appliances, hardware, and stools are all a similar finish.  I love the idea of doing something with brass to add in a different finish in a warmer tone.  The problem is I haven't been able to find much in the way of attractive, inexpensive brass pendants.  Then again, it's not a large room by any means, so maybe sticking with the brushed nickel and keeping things consistent isn't such a bad idea.

I also can't decide if I think the scale of the current pendant is right.  Does it need to hang lower?  There are only a couple set options for length.

Here are a few other options I've been considering:

clockwise from top left: A, B, C, D

or I could just stick with what's up there right now.

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This fixture struck me, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to try it.

What do you think?  I would love to hear your ideas.  And if anyone has any sources for other inexpensive options, I'd love to hear!

A Few Happy {House} Things

Now that Mary Graham is here and our house doesn't feel as chaotic, I'm starting to feel like myself again.  We've been working to make our home feel more like us--Philip was even able to get some small things done during his paternity leave.  I've been thinking about different things I'd like to do, projects I'd like to eventually tackle.

Here are a few things that are making my sleep-deprived state a little more bearable…

1. We ordered this table to serve as an entry table of sorts in our living room.

The lighting is terrible in the photo, and the space needs lots of help (lamps, a pair of ottomans underneath, window treatments just to name a few things :), but I'm excited about the potential!  I rarely order things straight retail, so this was a treat, and I think it's going to be just right for the space.  I was originally inspired to go this route when I saw this picture in the December/January issue of House Beautiful.

I'll be sure to snap some better photos once things are looking a little more finished.  If anyone has any good sources for reasonably priced storage ottomans I'm all ears!  I'm hoping to scope out HomeGoods this weekend.

2.  I snagged some new Euro shams for our bed on major clearance.  I found them at Lands End of all places.  I've actually been really impressed with a lot of their home items.  I spent a good two days deliberating between two different styles, finally decided on one, then of course that one was sold out.  Go figure.  Hoping I love the second runner up I ended up going with!

This was my first choice:

And this was the style I ordered.  Can't beat $9.99 per sham!

3.  A new storage piece!

This guy was a Craigslist steal and while he's no antique, I thought the shape was interesting and I like his lines.  I think a paint job will go a long way.   I can't tell you how exciting it is to have a new place to house some of the junk stuff that's been in our garage.  Living in a small house is a fun challenge for me design-wise, but it definitely requires a certain level of planning and thoughtfulness with regards to how you use the space.  The room we use as a dining room is actually relatively large, so we've been trying to figure out how to maximize the space we have and make it work for us.  I'm looking forward to storing some of the kids' toys in here as well as some desk/office type items.

A Family of Five!

On Sunday, December 29th at 5:45 pm, we welcomed another sweet little girl into this world!  Mary Graham Worthington (we are calling her "Mary Graham") weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz, and was 21" long.  We are all smitten with her and already find it a little hard to remember life without her.

I plan to share her birth story soon, but for now I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from the past ten days or so at home.

I love this picture, blurriness and all.  I feel like it would make for a great painting of my three together...

People have been asking how Wade and Holland are doing with Mary Graham.  The good news is they love her, are very interested in her, and don't seem to be experiencing any jealousy.  The not so great news is they appear to have no clue about the need to be gentle with her.  I will admit I didn't foresee telling my almost five-year old, "You may not put your shoe on the baby's head!"  They are a bit like predators, really.  Friendly predators, I suppose you could say.  Hopefully the learning curve will not prove to be too steep!

Mimi was here for the first couple days…this girl was very sad when she had to leave :(

We celebrated both the New Year and our new little girl with pink champagne!

One of the benefits of the military is the two weeks paternity leave that Philip has been able to take.  The time has truly been such a gift.  Combined with the fact that our church has graciously set up a meal calendar for us, I have been rather spoiled!  

Family movie night with everybody :)

Tutus are a big part of this girl's life these days.

I caught a sleep smile! 

First bath!

She did this and told us she was Mary now :)  (Jesus' mother that is, not her little sister)

Mary Graham's great-grandmother made her sweet little bonnet :)

Big sister wanted to share her love of tutus with little sister…who was clearly not so enamored with them.

Looking a little nervous, but I had to include because she's wearing my dress!

Real men paint their little sisters' toes :)

Making cinnamon buns is a favorite activity around here.  Interestingly,  many of the store-bought kinds are chock full of artificial ingredients so they are actually quite allergy-friendly!  

I love this view.