Saturday, December 17, 2016

Zach is one, and his room is done

So, this has been the most difficult year of my life, and our newest addition is the reason why.  This kid doesn't nap, cries and whines most of the day, fights like a boxer for each outfit or diaper change, and just generally is the most difficult baby I've ever met.  Here he is doing his best impression of mama.
But, we made it to one year old, and he's starting to walk now and trying to say some words.  He has 6 teeth, but has been eating absolutely everything including raw veggies and apples since before the teeth.  Once in awhile he sleeps for 10 hours at night, but mostly he wakes up every 5.  When he's happy, he's awesome!
It took me awhile to finish his room because I never get any time to myself, but I'll admit it's been done for months.  I took some photos of the room while it was clean for his birthday party, so here is the final post for you all!  I'm very happy with the space, it is exactly what I wanted.
The wood wall turned out amazing, we literally did nothing but frame out the edges with lattice that I stained and sealed.  Whoever put it up probably had no idea how on-trend this look would be in 30 years!  I cut it extra fancy on top to follow the same lines as the chevron.
The sign above the crib was chosen for it's funnies, since Zach has napped in this crib maybe three times and absolutely does not like naps.  I think he does like me, though.  So, it's half legit.  I liked that the sign has no glass, and is very lightweight for when he decides to pull it on himself.  That will definitely happen.  
This room gets a lot of light, which is great since he doesn't sleep in here during the day, anyway.  Across the hall you can see a glimpse of our FINISHED guest room, too!  Post on that in the works.
I originally bought the gazelle head for the wood wall, and it was hanging there until I got myself so worried about it falling on his head, I moved it to the other side of the room.  It looked better above the crib, but it's much safer where it's at, because it is super heavy.  I got that beauty at fauxwhitetaxidermy.com.  They have so many animals to choose from, and the detail in the faces is stunning!
The little Ikea bookcases that used to hold my rainbow wardrobe in my old dressing room now hold toys.  Sad.
You can see in these photos the blackout paper blinds I have on the windows.  I know I'm fooling myself by thinking a darker room will make him nap in here, they haven't worked for 12 months, but still they stay up JUST IN CASE.
My mom took the Urban Zoology Crocodile fabric I bought, and turned it into the most beautiful crib skirt!  She even lined it with matching green fabric, because it was a little thin.  She is just so good at sewing crafts like this.
The skirt looked even better before we had to lower the crib, but of course, this happened in September:
We joke that he looks like a crib spokesperson in this one.  The wall with the changing area is my favorite.  I got a lot of little doodads to make it more homey and cute for him.
This is the dresser I used to have in our den on Russet Street.  I'm still using Howard products on it, and I still love it so much!  It's a perfect changing area and dresser for a baby.  Tucked off to the right is a rolling cart from World Market, it fits in that space perfectly, and stores extra diapers, unmatched socks (a huge BOO to baby socks!!) and other miscellaneous stuff.  The changing pad cover was made by Etsy seller avaelliot.
The marquee letter hooks are from Anthropologie.  Love that they are mixed metal, and have that industrial look I wanted.
The print of Zach is one of my favorite photos ever.  My brother and future sister in law are huge Disney fans, and buy him all these adorable outfits.  I dressed him up as Dumbo at two months old, and I couldn't imagine anything cuter!
Here is the actual photo, so you can fully appreciate.  I'm so glad I got photos like this when he was little, because there is no way I will ever get him to lay still again.
The shelf is a simple cedar board we had laying around, and the galvanized pipe brackets are from great Etsy seller PipeDreamsDecor.   The galvanized wall hanging basket is from World Market.
On the bookcase wall, the art is very special to me.  The bicycle print used to hang in Ashford's room, and the little animal-riding-things prints on the right are from a talented Etsy seller, AmelieLegault.  There are two more of her prints in the tall white collage frame above the dresser.  They are so whimsical and cute!
Here is a closer look at the alligator riding a trike, along with a tiny but cute giraffe hook from Anthro.  But the star is the beautiful custom birth announcement print made by my favorite blogger, Meryl from Picardy Project!   She surprised me with this, and one for Ashford, shortly after Zach was born.
Look at this hand-cut detail!  It's just beautiful with the colored glittery backgrounds.  Obsessed!
And here is Ashford's, which she also did in his room colors.  LOVE!
I know Meryl was planning an Etsy shop, I sure hope it happens.  These prints are beautiful!  And, here's the messy closet.  The Malm dresser fits well in here, and luckily, because Zach has inherited a huge wardrobe.  
So, that is the finished room.  I'm so happy it's done!  Here is a before, during and after.  I hope you liked seeing all the details!
Now, I can go back to our regularly-scheduled mess.  Clothes are no fun in the drawers, right?  Happy birthday, Zach!  Let's give mom a break in 2017!


Thursday, October 20, 2016

The play room/bonus room

I know, it's been awhile.  While I try to put together a post on what's up in our lives, here's a slightly easier one to get out to the world...Ashford's play room!  One of the big selling features for us when considering this house was the extra bedroom in the lower level.  It was ugly as hell and smelly, but it had two nice windows, a large closet, and was a good size (15x13).  We just knew we'd have to incorporate some kind of clothes storage since I am a hoarder and lost a walk in closet that I've had for the last 8 years.  Here's the awful before!
 Oh my.  That carpet stunk so bad!
All of this was ripped out pretty soon after we closed.  We think the previous owners possibly smoked down here, there was a very smoky odor and staining.  All of the drywall under the paneling was destroyed, so it was replaced, along with the boards on top of the ledges.
We love that this room has good light, it allowed us to use a more 'fun' color on the walls.  Here it is now, with new carpet to match the family room, fresh white on the ceiling and half the walls, and Behr 'Voyage' on the rest of the walls.  This is the same color we've used in Ashford's closet in this house, and in Minnesota.  Bonus for not needing to buy another gallon!
One problem in here was no overhead lighting.  Because we didn't have to remove the ceiling in here, we opted to live without overhead lights until a later date.  To avoid having lamps in here, I chose to use Ikea pendant lights with paper shades to brighten it up.
The one in the back has a switch on the cord.  The one in front of the wardrobes is plugged into an outlet that is wired to the room switch.  I purchased two Brimnes wardrobes from Ikea, they were cheap at $150 each, they hold a lot, and look pretty nice in here.  Of course, I have the tops all full of stuff, but I'm hoping to go through that stuff sometime...maybe.
Here's the other end of the room.
I really need to paint out those closet doors, trim, and other doors down here.  They put the glossiest finish I've ever seen on them!  Luckily, they are solid wood.  Here's a close up of the adorable switch plate cover my brother bought for Ashford.  
It matches so well!  Some other features of this room are the Ikea Trofast storage system.  It has not been used as a stepladder....yet.  It holds a ton of little stuff like cars, trains, puzzles.  We love it, just wish they had a better selection of colors for the drawers.  For now, we are rocking the lime stripe.  
The Ikea Dignitet wire system to display Ashford's artwork:
And this little area on the other side of the wardrobes is a cute place for a reading nook.  I just have this ottoman I already had in there as a placeholder, but I'd love a bench with cushion that takes up the entire space.  I do have two book ledges to install above, so that will be nice.  Someday.  
I bought two yards of this Robert Allen 'Zoo Pals' fabric to make little window treatments for this room, but I certainly don't have time to even finish the edges with hemming tape, so for now...the windows are naked.  I liked how this fabric goes well with the blue, and also brings in the lime from the storage.
The area by the door currently looks like this:
There is a couple feet here, not sure what we can do with it, but that chalkboard might go up on the wall.  Someday.  One of the best things I did in here, was put our old coat rack under the window to hold all of the capes and costumes we've accumulated.  Ash loves this little corner!
Obviously, we still need to install baseboards.  Say it with me, "Someday!"

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Our family room

I kept putting off this post because I wanted to get more done on this space, but it's clear this is the way it's going to be for quite awhile.  So, here is our lower level family room!
Whoa nelly, this has come a loooooong way.  Here is the listing photo:
And here is what it looked like when we took possession:
You guys may remember previous posts about all the work we did removing the paneling, the drop ceiling, the stanky carpet, and installing the awesome can lights where there was no lighting.  If not, here's a quick rundown of how it progressed:
This was the biggest renovation we've dealt with since our Russet Street kitchen.  I'm so glad the bones of the room are done, because it was so stressful!  Shaun removed all the paneling, the ceiling, the carpet, and trim around the windows and floor.  We hired out the drywall/plywood, the electric, and a family friend installed brand new carpet over the floor tile.  We were so grateful we didn't have to rip it up.  The new carpet is from Home Depot and it is so soft and beautiful!
Shaun really did a great job with the board and batten, we used 3/4" thick MDF boards because I wanted a chunkier look, but also wanted to keep costs down.  The baseboard is 1x4, the battens are 1x2, and the top board under the ledge is 1x3.  The top ledges are all pine.  Our amazing drywall guy installed quarter inch luann plywood to the lower walls for us to cover the glue and muck left from the paneling.  Let me tell you, it was a real treat to prime and paint all this crap!  In this next pic, you see that I have a slight dilemma over how to hide our TV cords.  I'm not giving it much thought until we get a bigger television, though.  Obviously, this one is way too small for this room!  (That is Shaun's 'obviously,' not mine.)
When I decorated this room, I felt I needed to branch out from using the same curtains and décor that I already had.  None of the curtains I had would've worked with the warm grays on the walls and floor.  I also just wanted something different that still complemented the rest of our style throughout the house.  I saw these curtains online at West Elm and fell in love, we all know I'm obsessed with all things aqua and teal!  What sealed the deal was that a similar shade of gray to our wall color (SW Popular Gray) was also on the curtain panels. 
I chose to mount the rods (these Allen and Roth ones from Lowes) on the ceiling like I did in our basement family room in Minnesota.  I did this because the ledge on the wall with one window pictured above is 6 inches deep and the curtains would not hang straight if I used the bracket on the wall.  I could've gotten a bit more height mounting on the wall, but I think the ceiling mount is cool and different, and I was able to make sure the curtains hung nicely in front of the deep ledge. 
There in the corner, you can see my vintage buggy where I take the baby's monthly photos.  It is the perfect spot, I can roll it in front of that window and take the photos without any major prep.  I love easy.  Here's the most recent one, he's about that age where he doesn't stay where I put him.  He's also cutting his first tooth, and eating absolutely everything...yay for baby-led weaning!
Our monster sectional fits nicely down here, this is honestly Shaun's favorite spot in the house. 
I found some clearance pillows and a throw in the 'Horseradish' color, and a teal hounds tooth throw at West Elm to complement the curtains and pillows I already had. 
It's always a little cold down here because our HVAC system isn't set up great, so throws are very necessary!  I also think it just adds so much to have some pops of color on the couch.
The shelves on either side of the couch are from CB2 and we love how they tie in the wood from the vintage dresser on the opposite wall.  Our original plan to do built ins on this wall didn't pan out when we started crunching the numbers and realized we didn't have enough width to make it work.  This is a nice compromise.  They were super easy to assemble and attach, and the shelves were just $200 each. 
The view from the far wall shows the huge Pottery Barn Studio wall easel (no longer available) my sweet brother bought for us last Christmas.   
It was a serious pain to install, and the frames (which are also Pottery Barn, btw) don't really fit well in the brackets and sit a little crooked all the time.  Even still, it's a cool piece and the wall above the piano was the perfect spot to showcase my favorite images. 
You can see here how the frames just sort of toss about in the breeze on the down rods.  Maybe that is why it's no longer being made!
This area under the stairs and the nook/ledge with all the random crap on it is still a mystery to me.  I envisioned having some kind of shelving on the wall and then a larger bench with storage where the trunk currently sits.  We can't really fit a true mudroom near the door to the garage, but a bench with some hooks will hopefully work nicely. 
That door to the garage still needs to be painted, along with the trim around it.  I'm throwing around painting the doors down here a gray instead of white.  Still unsure about that!  For fun, here is the before shot of the door to the garage I shared a few months ago. 
Ew!  Let me cleanse your eyeballs with this cute pic of Zachary.  He might look happy, but he really really hates being on his belly and can't figure out crawling yet.  He also is deeply offended whenever I put him down and try to do something other than lovingly stare at him.
This parquet area is where the area rugs I don't know where to put are living.  They don't really match anything, but it's fine for now. 
And a wide view.
I can't wait to get some photos and art on the walls, the rest of the trim, doors, and stairs painted, and my nooks and crannies finished.  Until then, the before and after is making us very happy!
I'll share the playroom soon, it needs a little bit of clean up before I can show it off.  I hope this room was worth the really long wait, sorry it took so long!