It's That Time of Year Again

Our favorite time of the year. 

Halloween!

Rummage Sale Love and Bits of Leopard

Found these two mirrors at a rummage sale. Couldn't pass them up, obviously. Leopard. Sun burst. Love! And only $20 for both??? Yes, please.

I'm planning on hanging the sun burst mirror in our living room above the couch, but I'm going to wait until the kiddos get their school pictures taken so I can re-do that whole wall.

And the leopard mirror is going in our master bedroom, where other bits of leopard reside.

I've already have it hung, in fact.

Before:

And after. 

I love the texture and the mixing of prints, but I'm not sold on the size or the location of this mirror. 

A work in progress, I guess. Much like this whole room.

A Finished Living Room

It brings me great pleasure to say our living room is officially "finished".

We finally replaced our tiny, outdated television and the new one fills in the space between the bookcases perfectly.

A little before and after:

Much better.

DIY Curtains

So I've been pretty busy in the bedroom this past month. Well, truthfully, it's always busy in the Church bedroom, but this past month I've been busy with things that are appropriate to share on the internet ;)

Take my new curtains. Aren't they purty? I made them last weekend!

Making curtains is seriously the easiest sewing project ever.  Not only are they easy to make, but it's cheaper to make your own than buying premade panels, and - the best part! - they're perfectly custom to your style and your space.

My house came with wood blinds that perfectly fit in every window, but they're just plain, white, and ordinary (Cupcake, anyone? One of my kids' favorite books lol), so we don't actually need curtains.  But trust me, you do need curtains.  They really dress up your space and they add texture and interest.  They make your room feel done.

If you don't want to buy some, or you have a fabric that you love, then definitely think about making your own.  This is actually my fourth curtain project to date, if that's any indication of how uncomplicated this project is. 

I made the curtains in my son's room:

...the panels in my daughter's nursery:

...and the window treatment in our upstairs bathroom:

And it's so EASY.

And so worth it.

 

If you're curious, here is a before - with the original panels from when we bought our house - and after, with the curtains I just made.

Dining in Style

Clean eating is still going strong for us, but I gotta say, it can be frustrating to put the time and effort into shopping for healthy ingredients and then come home and put in the hours to make the meal, only to have my kids eat a couple bites and be done. 

I stick with it though.  A month ago the four of us were grossed out by asparagus. Today, it's one of our most favorite vegetables.  It's working and we're getting there, but it's definitely challenging.

One of my personal challenges was our dishes.  I've never bought new dishes.  For the past 13 years, since I've been living on my own, I've been using these old-fashioned country blue & pink daisy set that was handed down to me.  They did the job but they weren't cute. At all. 

So for the past month, I've been buying pieces here and there to create a dinnerware set that was more our style.  I bought an ecletic mix from TJ Maxx, Anthropologie, and Pier 1, and now I completely look forward to setting our dining table. Who knew something as simple as the right dish pattern could spice up dinner?

DIY Tufted Headboard

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure this is my most amazing DIY project yet (and definitely the most cost efficient one).  

I have been coveting this tufted headboard from West Elm forever.  At least a year. But for our king-sized bed, its $500 price tag - for just a headboard! - has kept me from buying it. 

SO I MADE ONE. And it's seriously so awesome. I LOVE IT. Love, love, love it.

And I made it for a fraction of the price.  Just over $100 in fact. And it's custom - right down to the fabric, the color, the number of buttons, the height, the length, everything.

Bedroom Bedding

I bought bedding for the master bedroom. Some ridiculously luxurious sheets, a new duvet, and a throw pillow.  I have an entire vision for this room now, in fact.  I knew once I started some projects in here, the inspiration would start flowing.

Warm gold, soft gray, and deep purple make up the color palette. 

I have gorgeous Anthropologie curtains and an amazing West Elm headboard picked out, but they're way over my budget. Sadface.  So I've been working on a way to do both myself.  I'm pretty sure I can.  I'm very excited to try.

 

New Year Organizing & Decorating

We've only been home from Vegas for a few days and I've already got a bunch of stuff checked off my to-do list.  I'm a little antsy from being behind on my new year's resolutions because seriously, I live for new years - brand new starts, brand new goals, out with the old, in with the new - it makes my over-achieving heart sing with joy.  In my defense, there wasn't any way I was eating healthy or working out while in Sin City though. No way, no how.  So my new year officially started when we got home.

First up? My & Clay's bedroom.  We've lived in our house for over two years now and the master bedroom is almost exactly the same as it was when we moved in. We haven't changed the paint or the curtains or the closet, nothing.  We haven't put anything on the walls or bought new bedding, mainly because we still don't have a clear idea on how we want this room to be decorated and I hate to invest the time & planning only to change it when we decide it's time to officially tackle this room.

BUT I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.

So I started with the closet.

This is a picture taken the day we first viewed this house, before we even put an offer on it.  Up until a few days ago, the closet looked exactly the same only with, you know, our clothes hanging. 

The first thing I did was make two smaller shelves on the very top as opposed to one bigger one (where I used to store all my purses). Now I have two rows for my shoes, which previously were sitting on a basic shoe shelf and most of them had to be laid sideways because the heels made them bigger than the shelf space and this drove my OCD insane. Absolutely insane.

Next, Clay & I transformed the left side of the closet with only one hanging bar to match the right side that has two hanging bars.  This move alone gives us a whole nother (not a word, I know, don't care) 25% more closet space. 

Then we rearranged the middle shelving to make storage for a few of my regularly used purses, my jeans, his jeans, his sweatshirts and then his hats.

SO MUCH BETTER.

After the closet was done, I went to work getting the bedroom walls decorated.  I've been thrifting for mirrors and interesting frames for a while now, with the intention of creating a wall gallery in our bedroom. 

I built up a nice collection. 

I got them all cleaned and spray painted gold, and now they're hanging pretty above our bed.

I found this cute decorative bird cage and thought it would make the perfect earring holder.  Up until now I've had all my jewelry in a standing jewelry box that I've had forever.  Since I was 16 or something.  And I've always loved it (it was a gift from my mom) but it's not very... pretty.  All the pretty pieces are hidden inside of it.

But not anymore. In addition to displaying my earrings, I also hung some assorted knobs and hooks on the bedroom wall to hang my necklaces from.

And I have a lovely dessert stand on my dresser that now houses my bracelets.

It's amazing how much better this room feels with just these small changes.  In the next couple months, I'd like to buy new bedding, new curtains, find or make a headboard, and paint my dresser a vibrant gold color. 

I'm still on the fence about the wall color but after two years the lavender has grown on me.  I would like to paint an accent wall a rich eggplant purple to give it some eclectic flair, and then I think this room will be officially done.