8.28

Normally on our anniversary, I post about how much I love my husband.

And how awesome he is.

And how amazing it is that God brought us to each other, and has woven our lives together.

And how he is an incredible husband, a wonderful father, and an example for everyone, especially me & Natalie.

All of those things are true. And I could sing of my husband's praise for a long time.

But this year, I'm doing something different.




I'm showing you a little decorating project I did.

Ha!

I wanted something personal & meaningful in the space above our bed. We don't have a headboard, and I keep changing my mind about what I want to do with that space. I see lots of super awesome ideas on Pinterest, but of course this project is pretty close to the bottom of our "to do" list around the house, so this area gets neglected. Anyway, for something quick & easy, I decided to incorporate our favorite verse - Romans 8:28. If you know us, you know how much this verse means to us. If you don't know us, well...read around on my blog some & you'll see. :-)

Anyway, here is the finished product! Thanks for reading!

Oh, and...happy 8th anniversary, Baron!! :-)

 

Want the scripture art for yourself? Click on the image below to download it for free!

::UPDATED:: the "toy bench": a CSN stores product review

**Please see updated review at the bottom of this post!**

So for all 2 of you who keep up with my blog, you may remember awhile back when I mentioned I'd be doing another CSN Stores product review. Well, I decided to get this Linon Anna storage bench, but we had to save up for it, so that took awhile. :) We got the bench a couple of weeks ago, and I love it! It's the perfect size to store Natalie's smaller toys, a collection of which I am sure will continue to grow. The assembly instructions were a little confusing, but I was able to do most of it by myself when Baron was out of town. I left some of it for him to finish once he got back. :) Anyway, as always, shopping with CSN Stores was a breeze. Ordering was easy, shipping on this particular item was FREE, and I got the bench within less than 2 weeks of ordering it. If you haven't shopped CSN Stores before, check them out for home decor, furniture, luggage, baby stuff, and more!

So, my question for y'all is this:

How should I decorate the bench? Two small rectangle pillows? A long bolster pillow?

I need input!

::UPDATE::

It has been almost a year since I first reviewed this product on 3/28/11, and I need to amend my review. A few months after assembling it & using it, the screws in the hinges started to come loose, and the spring arm that holds the lid opened started to bend. Eventually one of the spring arms completely broke. As in, the metal just broke completely. So, I [eventually, I admit] called CSN to request replacement hardware. [I should note at this point that CSN Stores was in the process of changing over to Wayfair. That is important to remember.] The customer service rep I spoke with basically told me I should have called within the 60-day [or maybe 30-day? I don't remember] time after ordering the product so that it would be covered by warranty. [Really? So your product that cost us almost $200 should only be expected to last a couple of months? Nice, Wayfair. Nice. I digress.] The gentleman then told me he would have to check with the warehouse to see if there were spare parts he could send to me, and he would call me back the very next day. And...that was the last I heard from Wayfair. I do NOT recommend this bench, and I furthermore do NOT recommend this company. If they decide to make this right, I will consider changing my opinion.

On a related note, we also submitted a room in our home for the Worst Workspace Contest. We had started the very slow process of converting our dining room into a home office, and the timing was perfect, as this contest was just getting underway. That was a year and a half ago, and they have JUST NOW contacted us that the voting is open for the contest. Needless to say, we don't have time to wait any longer to proceed with the makeover of the room. It's already been a year & a half in the making, and as we are trying to prepare our house to be home to another child, we cannot wait any longer. The room is almost halfway done at this point, and we just can't slow the process any more. We could most certainly use the winnings to help us financially, which is why I am sorely disappointed in the untimeliness of the contest process.

You should form your own opinion about this company. I am simply sharing my experiences, in hopes that someone at Wayfair will take note, and work to make it a better company.

Thanks for reading! :-)

deck the halls!

Just a few glimpses of our Christmas decor this year...I just love how my house looks at Christmas! Well, except for the mass chaos on the kitchen counters & breakfast room table, as those are my dumping ground for various crafts, gifts, etc...

but the living room is a sanctuary! ;-)

christmas wreath: the simple edition.

Wow. It's been almost a month since I last posted, and that post was also about a wreath. I'm the best blogger EVER. [insert sarcasm here]

Anyway...I was browsing Pinterest for Christmas wreath ideas, and I was totally inspired by this lovely yarn Christmas wreath. However, I have made a few yarn-wrapped wreaths, and I DESPISE the wrapping. It's simple, yes. But very time-consuming. So, I decided to make my own version using fabric.

I found some glittery felt fabric at Hobby Lobby, cut it into strips, and wrapped my 18" wreath form. Then I wrapped some red yarn around for a simple stripe, cut my holly leaves from green felt, and stuck some shimmery poms on for holly berries. Voila! My easy Christmas wreath! I may add a cute painted "G" later, just for kicks. We'll see. Also, it's a shame you can't see the glitter in the fabric in this picture, but I assure you, it makes for a happy moment when standing at my front door. :-)

simple fall-ish wreath

For the fall, I wanted a good transitional wreath. Something for September-November, and possibly even for Christmas with a few added touches. I found this on Pinterest courtesy of Our Celebrated Life, and I LOVE it. So, here it is, my simple fall-ish wreath:

{wrapped with upholstery webbing, which I got from Hobby Lobby}

{felt flowers same as my houndstooth wreath; tutorial courtesy of Little Things Bring Smiles}

Thanks for stopping by!

cute & easy roll tide wreath

My sister-&-brother-in-law are moving soon from Tennessee to Arizona, and we went to visit them this weekend. I wanted to give them something to represent The South over in the desert, and they are big Bama fans, so I decided to make this super easy Roll Tide wreath! I got the idea from Jamie at Two Plus Jilly, just doing a random Google search. I made the felt flowers using a tutorial from Katie at Little Things Bring Smiles, also found through a Google search. I realize everyone's been making these flowers forever, but I'm always late to jump on the bandwagon. :) I also decided to print a little Roll Tide banner and string it across with yarn. I love how it turned out, and it was so quick & easy to make!

living room semi-redo

I've always had a thing for rearranging furniture. I'm pretty sure I get it from my mom. We would come home from school on frequent occasions to find the den completely rearranged. I always thought it was fun - it kind of freshens up a room, ya know?


When we built our current house, part of the draw to the floor plan was the openness. The living room is open to the kitchen & breakfast room. We love the high ceilings & the airy feel. The one drawback is that an open floor plan limits furniture placement. Especially when you own an 8' couch that may or may not have been purchased solely for the fact that the 6'4" husband can stretch out on it. So, by default, we've had our couch on the same wall since we moved in: the one wall that wasn't (a) 6' long (too short) or (b) consumed by 2 windows & a fireplace.


I recently got the itch to move that crazy couch. I considered "floating" it in the open space, with the back of it to the opening of the breakfast room/kitchen. Well, that got the buzzer when I measured out how far it would stick out, almost completely blocking the entrance to the room. The only other option was to put it in front of the fireplace, which is just weird. Right? Is it weird? At first the consideration was just a joke, but then I started thinking, we don't ever use the fireplace anyway. We've lived here for 5 years & haven't once used it. It's a gas fireplace, but we don't have gas logs in it. We bought gas logs but then found out we'd have to have someone cap the gas line in order to get the existing grate out, yadda yadda yadda...pretty sure all that will never happen. {Side note: anyone want to buy some gas logs?? Never used!}


Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I did it. I put the couch in front of the fireplace. I don't like that it's blocking the fireplace, of course, because that just seems weird. But I do LOVE the placement of it in the room. It's actually facing the TV now instead of to the side of it, and it makes the open room seem more cozy. {Do any of you have an open floor plan & sometimes feel like it's TOO open??} We've still got to work on the wall that the couch used to be on; I plan to get another accent chair to go with the one we have, and put a small table between the two. But for now, it works.


Here are some pics of the new placement:

view from the hallway

{yes I still have my summer mantel up! I'll work on it.}

view from the entry

view from the breakfast room

Natalie approves :)

How do you feel about blocking the fireplace?

Do you have furniture placement in your house that is "against the rules"?

the tale of a dining room who longs to become a study

It's been a long time a-comin'.

We started converting our dining room into a home office months ago, when we gave away our dining room table & chairs. Since then, we've moved the computer desk into the new home office...and that's about it. Why? Because we have no money. :) However, eventually, the 3rd bedroom, which used to be the study, will hopefully be another nursery {PLEASE note that I said EVENTUALLY :)}. So we want to get the ball rolling to have that room empty before we actually NEED to have it empty. Make sense?

We have a bit of a decorating dilemma. This is the room that will be the study:

{See that wall there? Yeah that's the only full wall we have in this room.}

{that door goes into the kitchen. thus the fridge. :) perhaps a curtain would make for a good divider...}

{this is the view of the room from the kitchen}

The room is located to your left as you walk in the front door, so it kinda needs to look presentable. Which is not the case currently, obviously. I work from home, so the computer + desk is functional, but it's not a feasible long-term set-up, because my husband will need to also have a work space in this room eventually. {Check out his hobby here!} Also, one "wall" is actually an opening to the room from the entry, one wall has a double window taking up most of it, and a 3rd wall has the doorway to the kitchen. We have one complete wall for furniture placement, and two slivers of a wall on either side of the kitchen doorway. Fun.

I'd like to do this room with an industrial feel. I think that is a good way to combine my husband's taste with mine. First of all, a desk unit like this would be perfect along that window wall:

Then, we'll need some storage, and I'm diggin' on the idea of some old school lockers. We'll actually need a whole lot more storage than this, since we're losing a closet that's currently holding a bunch-o-stuff, but we'll figure that out later. :)

And the hubs has a lot of sports figures in his own personal collection that he likes to display, which I tend to oppose, but it would make him happy. So I'm considering something like this, up high on the one long wall we have:

For the color scheme, I'm thinking of yellow/gray/blue. Think old globe/school map. {Is this room turning into an old classroom??}

So there ya have it. My ideas for our hopefully-soon-to-be study. If you're on Pinterest {or even if you're not}, check out my inspiration board {and my sources for the above photos} here:

Thoughts? Suggestions? Do tell!

free instant art

So I tend to tell people that I'm a "blogger"...but if you look at how (in)frequently I write, I'm not so sure I can label myself as such. :) I need to work on that! That's my disclaimer: I realize I haven't blogged in forever, and here I am, and I'll try better, yadda yadda yadda.

Anyway, I wanted to change the wall above our bed in the master bedroom, but alas, I have no money for decorating right now. There are lots of cheap-o options out there, but I needed something FREE, not just cheap. So I decided to just hang some quick prints, and this is what I came up with... {sorry for the poor quality photos. camera phone + bad lighting.}

{PLEASE ignore the hideous bedside lamps. I painted them white to get rid of the Kirkland's-esque feel, and haven't replaced the shades yet. White drumshades, please?}

{Also ignore the bedside tables that are in disarray. Another soon-to-be project, hopefully...I digress...}

I got most of the prints from The Graphics Fairy, and I hate to admit this, but 1 or 2 of the prints came from elsewhere on the web & I failed to save the source. My bad. Anyway, this was a super quick, free way to change up the space. I hope to one day do a board & batten project in that space between the windows, much like this:

I'd love to do this, but with the top a little lower so I can use it as a ledge for frames, cutesy knick-knacks, and what not. {Knick-knacks & what not? Is that redundant?} Jenny at Evolution of Style has a complete tutorial. Gorgeous.

So that's about the extent of the decorating I've done around here lately. No money + summer vacation + 15-month-old = tiny changes here & there. :)

Have a good week!

I spy...

A few goodies I've been spying online lately...

definitely over the glass-top dining table, with a 1-year-old. and this one comes with a leaf! think: old mismatched dining chairs and a wooden bench, all painted white to contrast the gray-brown table. ahhhh. from ikea.

simple elegance for our entryway. from ikea.

I work from home, and my work space is super inefficient. this antique white desk would help me get organized, while looking cute at the same time. from CSN stores.

this indoor/outdoor rug would definitely brighten up our deck! from World Market.

this white quilt would definitely simplify the bed-making in the mornings...and it's machine washable. yes please. from Target.

DIY yarn + pinwheel wreath

I was inspired by Kimba of A Soft Place to Land to do a yarn-wrapped wreath for spring. Since doing my daughter's pinwheel-themed birthday party a couple of weeks ago, I've been kind of obsessed with pinwheels, so I wanted to include pinwheels on mine...I mean, who doesn't love pinwheels, right?

So here's how I did it:

I bought a wreath form {for some reason Hobby Lobby only had these straw ones, and none of the styrofoam kind, but whatever...it was 50% off of $3.99, and I was ready to get started instead of shopping around}, a skein of this fun green & turquoise yarn {ok I bought two, just in case, but I only used one}, and 3 pinwheel picks {also 50% off right now at HobLob}. Total cost: under $7! Holla.

Tape the end of the yarn to the wreath, and start wrapping the yarn around the wreath. Recruite help from an adorable 1-year-old if you can.

You will begin to think it will take all day to finish, but it won't, I promise. Keep wrapping. Distract 1-year-old with puffs if necessary.

Whew! Finally finished.

I wanted my pinwheels to still turn once I attached them, so I cut off the sticks but left the pinwheels intact. I then glued them to floral pins so I could stick them into the wreath. {Sorry I didn't include the floral pins in the "ingredients" pic above...they were an afterthought. :)}

Attach the pinwheels to the wreath and hang. I decided to use regular ole twine instead of cute ribbon, just to keep it simple. Voila!

It makes me smile as I walk up to the door! Especially when Natalie starts "blowing" the pinwheels. :)