the nursery

this is a tad overdue. better late than never?

the truth is, the nursery isn't complete yet. i've put off posting pictures because i was hoping to have all of the final touches done first, but i recently realized that if i keep putting it off it will never get done! so even though it's an almost finished work in progress, here is what we have thus far. (don't you just love that word? THUS.)

we live in a four bedroom two-story home, and the two smallest bedrooms in the house are the boys' rooms. there are two things we love in our home: simple and cozy, and the boy's rooms are the perfect cozy size. and truth be told, they are probably two of my very favorite rooms in the entire house.

for b's nursery i was drawn to sort of an adventurer themed room. we are an outdoorsy family who love adventures, so it seemed very fitting. and truthfully the nursery turned out to be such a peaceful place. in that first month it was beck and i's solitude from the chaos. when he was just days old we would lay that sweet newborn babe on his changing table and he would instantly become so calm and studious, staring at the walls and studying the room over with his tiny eyes. the aura in the nursery is so very soothing.

without further ado: cruddy iphone pictures! if you'd rather see it in person, feel free to stop by anytime. ;)

oh and here's the deets, if you're interested:

> the three wall prints we designed ourselves, then printed and framed them. (live life, be brave, explore)
> for curtains we used an old blanket from mexico. one, because it looks awesome and really fits into the room's theme, and two, because it keeps the room dark for naptimes.
> the pine tree wall decals are from this etsy shop.
> i made the pinecone garland, instructions here.
> large world atlas map from amazon. (to be framed)
> the bug wall light is from ikea.
> the glider is a family hand-me-down.
> diaper genie.
> crib and changing table we bought online for jace and i can't for the life of me remember the site we bought them from! doh.
> the damask toy box turned temporary hamper is from hobby lobby.
> the vintage alphabet cards i printed from this site. i'm currently working on replacing them with some adorable woodland animal/camping vintage alphabet cards, to better tie into the theme.
> dan sewed that rhino pillow himself! i'm also going to add these pillows and this one to the collection.
> crib sheets from target.
> black and white damask crib bumpers set also old, purchased online.
> skate or cry trucker hat found here (ours was a gift!)

soon to be additions:

this nightlight.
these campfire seats.
some black hooks to hang the hundreds of hats he inherited from his big brother.

Wine Bottle Lamps

I've been looking for some decorations to go above our cabinets since we bought our home. I've also been wanting to make some wine bottle lamps since I started pinterest. So when husband gave the genius idea to use the lamps for our above-the-cabinets decor, I was thrilled!

Fun right?

Now I just need to decide if we should add anything in between the wine bottle lamps, or leave it as is? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Decorating on a budget

Let's just say this has not always been my expertise. In fact, only recently have I realized the awesome-ness (yes, that is a word now) of saving money on a purchase. Back when I was single, I never knew buyers remorse. But here I am now, not even willing to purchase something if it's overly priced and not on sale! **pat myself on the back**

1. Red pillow covers, Lowes. $8. (Comparable to these pillows from Pottery Barn, $25) Red/Orange/Blue Damask pillows, Pier One, $8. (clearance)

2. Red floral curtains, Lowes. $12/panel. On sale. (Comparable to these curtains from Pottery Barn, $109/panel)

3. DIY. Old vase filled with curvy willow branches. Easy.

4. Hobby Lobby. If it's not on sale, you can print online coupons. So you can always get at least 40% off. I got these hanging flower holders for 50% off (regularly $30) and the berries to fill them with, buy one get one free.

5. Canvas sign for entryway, TJ Maxx, $20. TJ Maxx always has super cute decor for super great deals!

6. Local craft boutique (Sugar & Spice), $12. The lesson for this deal is to BE PATIENT. I saw this beauty when they were selling it for $60. Didn't buy it, saw it 6 months later at a huge sale and walked away with it for 12 buckaroos. Soooo worth the wait.

Part One

I have had a lot of requests for pictures of the inside of our new home. The truth to why I've been draggin my feet on this is that we still have so much to do! But if I wait until it's all done and ready for pictures, we'll be talkin years away. So I decided to buck it up and just do it!

Part one is the main floor of the house. The thing that Dan and I fell in love with first when we walked into this house was how open the layout is.

Welcome to our living room! *disclaimer: husband is waiting until the new Sony 60" flat screen tv comes in December, so for now we are using an old school big butt tube tv. It's been fun.*

The wall behind the red rug will soon be the family picture wall. We are going to paint the wall red and install white beadboard 1/3 of the way up. We already have all the white shadowbox frames from ikea. But I have to wait until Dan gets the tv, because he's putting a sound system in and we'll have speakers in that wall somewhere. When it comes, I'm excited for that project!

Next to the living room is the dining room. In the future my dining room and kitchen will be yellow, grey and white.










That fig tree in the corner is the happiest it has ever been. With all of our big windows and the sun always shining in, it is growing like crazy! Our happy little fig tree.

Then comes the kitchen...

That fridge rocks my world, by the way. I love having the french doors and the pull out freezer, plus a filtered water dispenser on the inside?! Amazing.

To the left is a door that leads you into the laundry room and pantry...

It's hard to get a picture of it because of the door, but this pantry is huge! Lucky mama! And yes, it really needs to be stocked.

Then there is a half bath...

And last, there is the messy and totally unfinished office. We are still looking for an office desk. We have searched high and low, but I have a very picky husband. We are also looking for a leather loveseat for the office. Of course, until these are found and the office is arranged we can't even hang any pictures on the wall! So they just sit on the floor, along with some boxes and our filing. One day, it will look good! One day...

And that, my friends, is the main floor of our new home! We still need blinds in the windows. It's a work in progress!

Stay tuned for Part Two-the upstairs! This features the gathering room, our master bedroom & bathroom, a guest bedroom, Jace's nursery, Jace's bathroom, and the bachelor pad/game room!

{inspired}

As of late Dan and I have spent a lot of free time shopping around for a house to buy. This is fun, exciting, and even exhausting sometimes. There have been quite a few that we really like, but we haven't fallen in love just yet.

Even so, I've already spent a lot of time dreaming about new color schemes and looking at decorations for our new home. I'm digging the modern decorations lately.

I fell in love with some couches:







And some awesome modern coffee tables to match:






Along with some-a this and some-a that:










I love coming up with new decorating ideas!

Since we got married Dan and I have been working really hard on paying off credit cards and getting out of debt. I'm awful at budgeting, I always have been. Dan, on the other hand, is amazing at handling the finances. He has been budgeting and working hard at paying things off. He even recently sold his full suspension mountain bike and his canoe, two things that he loved and were very hard to part with.

So knowing this, on top of knowing that I haven't been bringing in any paychecks for the past couple months, I was browsing "just for fun" around town the other day. That's when I happened upon these:




I have to have these for my living room!!! I just added some yellow into the red and brown living room, and these would look just fabulous on the wall. Two reds with a yellow in the middle. Perfect right? I know, that's what I said.

Well there aren't many things I hate more then falling in love with something I want to buy when I can't buy it. So I'm trying to figure out how to earn a little money on the side to buy myself these metal wall hangings. Initially I considered working the streets, but I realized that I could just do something more boring like giving plasma. Three times of giving plasma and I could have these hanging in my living room above our lovely leather couch! I think I'm going to do it. {And I think putting extra side effort into earning money slowly to buy something I want but don't need is a small step towards growing up. Go me!}

Sooooo really, getting the house is just the beginning, shopping for the house is going to break the bank! Dan reminded me that I'm going to have to make a list and slowly buy things one by one, it will be a work in progress. Of course I know that...but I can still dream right??

I'm going to have me one loooonnggg wish list...