We've lived in our house for about 9 months. The house was a
pre-
foreclosure and the first projects were the necessary ones like patching holes in the wall and painting the exterior (which I should probably post pictures of). Decorating projects were put on the back burner. For a long time I haven't felt like any of the rooms in our house were really "done." It has made it hard to really feel settled. Plus, I've never decorated a home before. I don't have a lot of confidence in my decorating skills. I second guess my choices. I want to find the right item at the right price. I watch
HGTV and they do a room in a day or a week, but for me it takes months and a lot of window shopping for a room to take shape in my mind.
Maybe it is the nesting instinct but we have recently really gotten a move on and have finally finished a few projects. I finally feel like a few rooms are "done."
Baby Brother's Room
Before:
After:
The room was an interesting shade of purple/brown with a peach-y ceiling. The color we chose is a Benjamin Moore color called
woodlawn blue. I was kind of opposed to doing a blue baby boy nursery, but we found this color when we were doing samples for our bathroom (pictures below) and it just seemed perfect. It is kind of a grey blue with a bit of green. I think it will transition well into an office or an older kid's bedroom or whatever this room ends up being used for, so I am happy with it.
I'm also very proud of how inexpensively we put this room together. Two items I have to brag about are the crib and changing table. A friend gave us this crib and then I found a matching changing table on
craigslist.org for $15. They both needed to be refinished, which ended up costing us less than $20. So for less than $35 (and some luck and elbow grease) we got a matching crib/changing table set.
The turtle quilt on the wall was a gift from the mother of my friend who put on a baby shower for me. I've never met this woman and she made me a beautiful baby quilt. I was amazed. We are planning to get a glider/rocker for this corner, so I guess the room isn't 100% "done". Also, I might add a window valance or curtains or something. I haven't decided yet.
Downstairs Bathroom (or the "Powder Room")
Before:
In the process (choosing paint samples):
After:
I might add something on the wall over the toilet, like maybe a metal tea light holder?
In this bathroom we used a Benjamin Moore color called
buxton blue, suggested by my fabulous sister-in-law.
Master Bedroom
Before:
After:
The biggest challenge in this room was the mattress. We actually had the new bed frame and the new comforter set months before the new mattress. We bought our old mattress for dirt cheap when we first got married. It was like sleeping on a rock and we both were sick of it. We shopped for months for just the right mattress at just the right price. We got close a few times to buying something but never could quite do it. Then this mattress came on sale at Costco. It was a mattress we had looked at before and had liked and the extra discount made it the perfect mattress for us. It has been so comfortable, especially in these last few months of pregnancy. And I love that our bedroom finally feels like a grown-up sanctuary (even when there are toys and books on the floor). We will probably replace the nightstands one day, and maybe I should add some accent pillows or something, but for now I am quite happy.
We have a few other projects that are still in the process.
The entryway:
The entryway is currently a kind of sad gray/lavender color. We are looking for just the right shade of yellow/beige. This one might take a while. But at least we now have a place to sit and take off your shoes when you walk in.
Kayla's Room:
The room started an unique shade of brown/orange with a sports wallpaper border along the top. This is the current state of the room. Just trying to find the right color.
We also redid the closet. I wish we had a good before picture of this closet. It was the most
dysfunctional closet set up I had seen. Finally we have some decent
usable space in there. Plus, it is one of those customizable closet kits, so as Kayla grows (and her clothes get bigger) we can adjust the shelves around to whatever fits her clothes best.
I love that our house is finally starting to take shape. It has been a process but now that a few rooms have come together I'm really starting to enjoy it!
Grant in his white blessing outfit.
I just love the little bow tie!
Grandma and Grandpa, we are so happy you came to visit. We had a great time!
In the NICU
Grant with all his monitors
First Family Photo
Daddy holding Grant, attached to several wires
Grant with Grandma
Kayla holding "Baby Brudder"
the nurses made this for our door
Getting oxygen tubes removed
Less wires, out of the incubator, a step closer to going home
First Bath
In the car seat to go home
home at last
After:
The room was an interesting shade of purple/brown with a peach-y ceiling. The color we chose is a Benjamin Moore color called woodlawn blue. I was kind of opposed to doing a blue baby boy nursery, but we found this color when we were doing samples for our bathroom (pictures below) and it just seemed perfect. It is kind of a grey blue with a bit of green. I think it will transition well into an office or an older kid's bedroom or whatever this room ends up being used for, so I am happy with it.
In the process (choosing paint samples):
After:
After:
The biggest challenge in this room was the mattress. We actually had the new bed frame and the new comforter set months before the new mattress. We bought our old mattress for dirt cheap when we first got married. It was like sleeping on a rock and we both were sick of it. We shopped for months for just the right mattress at just the right price. We got close a few times to buying something but never could quite do it. Then this mattress came on sale at Costco. It was a mattress we had looked at before and had liked and the extra discount made it the perfect mattress for us. It has been so comfortable, especially in these last few months of pregnancy. And I love that our bedroom finally feels like a grown-up sanctuary (even when there are toys and books on the floor). We will probably replace the nightstands one day, and maybe I should add some accent pillows or something, but for now I am quite happy.
The entryway is currently a kind of sad gray/lavender color. We are looking for just the right shade of yellow/beige. This one might take a while. But at least we now have a place to sit and take off your shoes when you walk in.
The room started an unique shade of brown/orange with a sports wallpaper border along the top. This is the current state of the room. Just trying to find the right color.
We also redid the closet. I wish we had a good before picture of this closet. It was the most dysfunctional closet set up I had seen. Finally we have some decent usable space in there. Plus, it is one of those customizable closet kits, so as Kayla grows (and her clothes get bigger) we can adjust the shelves around to whatever fits her clothes best.
I love that our house is finally starting to take shape. It has been a process but now that a few rooms have come together I'm really starting to enjoy it!
We have a store here called Central Market. We enjoy going there once in a while because not only do they have all the regular groceries, but they also have fun things like Asian import items that Seth remembers from his mission in Taiwan. Kayla's favorite thing about the store is the large fish tanks full of live crabs. As soon as we get near the store she says "cabs! cabs!" She loves to watch them climb over each other and reach their claws out of the tank trying to escape. 
A few posts ago I shared how I was enjoying more of my time in the kitchen by trying new recipes. The crab certainly fell into that category. Here are a few other recent dinners and treats that I am quite proud of:
