bedroom makeover: nator edition

what shall i say about this young lady?  she is an old soul. lover of purple and blue. her temperament is classical.  her perfect day would be described as curling up with a good book or movie, while crocheting, on a rainy day.  of course, a lap-cat would be involved, too.

today is her birthday.  she looked up to the heavens and thanked god.  surely the rain must be a personal gift to her.  i think so.

she's now twelve.  and while i'm still trying to wrap my thoughts around that, my gracie {10 yrs old} decided to wear makeup to theater today... and had her first "stage" kiss.  if i'm being completely honest, my heart sank.  and other than in my computer, you will find me sobbing myself into a puddle.  at least on the inside.  {it's not a real kiss, hmama.  he's only kissing his thumbs. *repeat to self*}

i digress.

while nator {again, we never call her by that name} is quite easy to please, she has a specific taste.  it's not the obvious-flashy-girlie items on the shelf you'd expect a young lady to gravitate toward.  she repeatedly said that she would love a purple {secret} garden themed room.  i pinned things on pinterest, but my mind was reeling in place. 

gracie likes decor that pops and blings.  nator appreciates a calming purple.  i have to admit... purple has not always been my favorite color, but her new room has me thinking otherwise.

and as with gracie's room, you really can't appreciate the after until you've taken a gander at the before mess.  {she asked if i was going to embarrass her on the world wide web.  no, me?    then said - at least you have after pictures to show. *giggle*}  here goes...



keyboard next to the window. surrounded by stuff.  unmade queen-size bed.  surrounded by stuff.  many times piled high with clothes mom washed.  a free-standing mirror from my childhood.  surrounded by stuff.



bookshelf she once pulled books from as a baby.  surrounded by stuff.  several hand-painted canvases.  random wall art.  dresser from my childhood, housing an old tv - surrounded by... you guessed it, stuff.  noticing a theme here?  all enclosed in a faint lavender purple, topped with a glitter glaze.

since nator's room is 10x11, it housed the larger bed.  she is always the sweet hostess who gives up her room {that had to be cleaned beforehand} when guests from out-of-town sleep over.  but let's face it... that only happens once or twice a year.  it was really unfair to build gracie a loft bed and not nator... as much as she loves to play legos and paper-dolls on the floor.

so... after much deliberation, here is nator's room...

choosing from the olympic brand paints at lowe's, i went with palisade orchid.  the girls' ceilings are painted in blue silk, with white to help create clouds. 

under her loft, i gave my old desk {which was in gracie's room} a facelift, by replacing knobs, giving it a fresh coat of paint & poly, and re-covering the seat in a material adorned with birds and cages.  she loves birds.  

greenery {hobby lobby} to help with the garden theme.
turquoise sheet {wally-world} to create a tent underneath.


deep purple comforter {bed, bath and beyond}.  sheets {wally-world}.  bedside lamp {ikea}.  chandelier {ikea} - still needs shades.



*edit*  forgot to add the words i wrote on nator's wall -
i'll love you forever...
recognize that?  
i'll like you for always.
as long as i'm living my baby you'll be.

something we sing to each other.


she can use the seat at her desk, or turn it around to practice bach.

the shelves {ikea} are a work in progress, but give her plenty of room to add to her needlework, and book collection. plastic shelves {already owned} give her plenty of organization for legos.  she can slide these babies out onto the floor when she's ready to play with them.  have i mentioned my love of organization?  everything having a place?  hahhh...


she has always dreamed of having a library as big as belle's in the story of beauty and the beast - her favorite princess. i'd say we're off to a good start. 

 

piecing her lamp together {wally-world}, i decided to gift her the bird she swooned over in my bedroom.  it matched perfectly.  

as did the magnetic board {hobby lobby}, housing three little bird magnets.  the cutest!  dad built her a shelf to display her american girl dolls, as well.  her desk is the perfect hiding spot for all of her doll clothes, accessories, and smash book supplies.



her walls are adorned with a wonderful certificate from her first year participating in the music guild.  we plan to add to that.  

butterflies {from the garden section at hobby lobby} and framed book covers {printed at home}. {frames from tar-jet}



the opposite wall houses her dresser - another piece of mine when little.  it was given new knobs, fresh paint, & poly.



the wall is embellished with a small, whimsical tree, hand-painted in a darker shade.  vinyl birds {already owned} in turquoise, tying in the sheet hanging on the bed. 

there's an updated tv nator likes to watch, while playing legos and paper dolls. flowers, compliments of hobby lobby's half-off sale.

this afternoon, nator enjoyed lounging in her bed, listening to the rain, while watching a movie. this + theater = a perfect birthday, in her words.  there's no school on birthdays.  one of the many perks of homeschool.



as we continue to make our way around the room, we have a much more organized closet, our {already owned} room darkening curtain {bed, bath and beyond}, and bean bag.

oh, and a little sister... who enjoys waltzing in big sister's room at her leisure.  that's free.

the new rule: if you get something new, you have to get rid of something fairly equal in size.  "but does easter, birthday, and christmas count??"  and so it begins... ;)

hope you enjoyed the tour!  if you missed gracie's room, you can see it here.  if you are able to use any ideas from our rooms, be sure to let us know. we'd love to see your room reveals.

have a great weekend!

bedroom makeover: gracie edition

really, you can't appreciate the after till you've experienced the before.

i'm still in awe of the amount of bags {trash and donation} that came out of this 10x10 room.  or maybe it's shock.



my childhood desk, completely cluttered.
a tarjet dresser with very shallow drawers. a waste of $. 
most clothes, stored in plastic drawers in the closet.
stuffed animals, blankets, and lord only knows... 
crammed between the bed and wall.
as high as the bed.

bags, toys, scarves, and did i mention bags?
all piled high next to the bed.
we always shuffled our feet, pushing away the bags, to tuck her in at night.

sometimes, you purposely ignore the mess, for the love of your child.  who wants to give the 'born in a barn' lecture right before your littles drift off to la-la land?  we love our girls.  and they love us. those conversations were usually reserved for daytime.

when the room is this out of control, honestly... they don't even know where to begin.



posters, painted canvas, bulletin board, and random strings of yarn covering the light pink walls.
american girl furniture made from cardboard boxes.
the girls were always equally excited to see brown boxes by the front door.  for different reasons.

it took me nearly three days to move 'stuff' out of both girls' rooms.  good. heavens.  we said good-by to her free pink thriftstore headboard. *sniff*sniff*

room makeovers have been on the agenda for quite some time, so i've picked up things here and there, as they were on sale.

gracie's room now that i found the carpet...

cherry pink paint.  took nearly 3 coats.  we love that olympic is low voc.

the ceiling is painted a light shade of blue.  it's embellished with white clouds, using an old t-shirt, dipped in white paint (adding a little water).

i wrote, "... we'd still choose you." next to her bed, to remind her of something we tell her nearly every night.   

"if we lined up aaaaall the gracie's in the whole wide world, we'd still choose you.  and if we lined up aaaaaall the {insert current age} year olds, we'd still choose you.  you're a beautiful princess, and we love you very much."

the bedding came from tarjet - included hot pink sheets.

a dresser {with 3 deep drawers}, built for us when nator was born, once used as a changing table, now painted white. {it also weighs a ton = quality} drawer pulls spray painted from brass to silver.  the tall side is the perfect size for housing toys.

chandelier {ikea}. zebra shades {hobby lobby}.  shadow box {hobby lobby} housing gracie's pins and ribbons from dance competitions.

a green sheet {walmart}, hung on a tension rod to create a 'tent' under her loft bed.

daddy did an awesome job building the loft bed from scratch, using ideas found here.  really, we needed more floor space.

under the loft bed, a toy chest my step-dad built for us when gracie was born was painted white, padded with a cushion, trimmed in hot pink, now doubles as a seat for her new desk area.  there's room for her bean bag and a shelf to house her american girl dolls.

mirror peace-sign wall decals and frames {hobby lobby}.

on the other side of the room, we have a basket for her stuffed animals, the same polka-dotted curtain that we already had {hallelujah}, an ikea shelf, and drawer container to organize legos. the drawer container in her closet now houses shoes, hats, scarves...

i drew a whimsical eiffel tower, from ceiling to floor. decorating is my favorite part!  dad updated televisions - found on sale.  not a need, but a fun addition to watch dvds - no cable, of course.



organization makes me happy. 
knickknacks have been condensed to one shelf.
zebra bins {tarjet} house smash book supplies, etc.
and there's even room for more books! 



one of the biggest hits, was the green ikea lamp by her bed.  now they can read themselves sleepy - without fumbling with a book light.



zebra prints in $3 wally-world frames.  'peace'/zebra boxes {kirklands} found on clearance.  vinyl chandelier {hobby lobby}. mirror hung on the inside of the closet door.



wow... that was a lot.  still with me??

holding my breath, but now that everything has a place... everything finds it's place again!  

worth every callous on my hands. 

when you're surrounded by beauty, you tend to want to keep it clean... that's the theory we'll be testing. ;)


revealing nator's room soon...

little hands, big dunes

we've been exploring creation with swimming creatures this year.  i have to confess...  *deep breath*  when the mama homeschool day is feeling the exhaustion  of a dense schedule, science is easy to put on the back-burner.  i'm learning that it's okay.  if need be, we've even gone at least 2 months off of history before *gasp* to explore other things.



i confess my shortcomings to make you feel better about your day.  you know... as a friend would leave her house messy before a visit - to make you feel better about your lil' mess.  ummm... yeah.  i like a lil' notice. ;)

{please don't tell me that you are always on par with schedule and your house would pass a white glove test.  i might just crack under the pressure.  i kid.  maybe.}



where was i going with this?  oh, yes.  sea turtles.  this homeschool field trip was an excuse to take a road-trip to the beach about rebuilding the dunes for sea turtles to lay their eggs.  this area is still rebuilding from a previous storm.  it's come a long way! 

it was quite complex.  dig. pour compost. place plant. cover root.  rocket science.  

the challenge was doing said rocket science in the down. pour. ing. rain.  cats and dogs - on and off.  every time the moms took out their cameras - it began to pour.  so much so, that i began to call my camera the rain-maker.   oh, how we could have used that over the summer in our texas drought.  thankfully, it was not freezing.  so, we sucked it up... for the turtles.



in this stretch of beach, the only thing cleaned is man-made trash.  gotta love a natural setting.  most of the rain cleared.  the children played.  we were already drenched, so a splash in the water did no harm.  matter-o-fact, it was good for the soul.

just before leaving, gracie found a plastic bag in the water and quickly snatched it up to throw away.  "mom, this could hurt a sea turtle!"  yes, gracie, great job.  so proud of my girlies.

thankfully, it is not my nature to leave my littles in the sand dunes.  you know - like mama turtles.  i wrapped my wet fish in towels and made the road-trip back home.  ignoring their pleas to drive all the way home, find swimsuits, and trail back to the sand.  because i'm a good mother {repeat to self}.

we did manage to squeeze in a lil' math, too. ;)

an {un}eventful day

 

do you really think i'm joking when i tell you that my house is a mess?

i spared you pictures of my laundry piles.

do you really think i was concerned about it?

after these past weeks, with hubs not home to relieve some of the pressure, i'm learning to embrace life's messes.  {i may need to repeat that last part for my own sanity.}

today, we did very little.

we had a lazy morning of crochet {nator}, building crafty things {gracie}, and growing roots on the sofa {raising hand}.

of course we did school.

what kind of mother do you think i am?  

i popped in dvds... drive thru america, and for the people to give an overview of our government.  from my sofa i managed to answer questions like...
what is an abolitionist, monarchy, democracy, diplomat...? 

even a lil' science for good measure.
what would happen to packaging peanuts, if you put them in water?
they dissolve, in case you were wondering. ;)

it twas a lovely day, with little to no sibling rivalry.

we only got out of the house for piano lesson.

of course, jazzy came with us.

we are kinda kennel-less right now, anyway.

and, frankly, i don't trust my harry houdini dog in them like i used to... 

after yesterday's episode.
mama needs a solution soon.
it's still too hot to leave her in the car during errands.
*sigh*

i did manage to uproot myself from the sofa to visit with some sweet friends.  they read our lil' bloggy and made jasmine cards.  is that not the sweetest thing?!  ever?  they even remembered to put a bandage on jazzy's foot... and include a pic of her getting puppy foam.  clever kiddos.  love it.

after dinner, the girls gave us moms an american girl fashion show.
{it was muy posh.  right, brenda?} ;)



okay... mama is off to lala land herself now.
i'm plum worn-out from all of the activity today.



at least one of us is.

sounds like life to me

you've heard it said, or sung...
mama said they'll be days like this.
somehow, knowing that doesn't really prepare one for the feelings that ensue when those days co-exist in the mirage of perfection.



sometimes, the laundry feels never-ending.
pictures turn out below par.  sorry.
the dust settles against my disapproval.
the gas tank empties.
termites make an unwelcome appearance. 
groceries need to be bought.
tempers flare.

and children.
well, regardless of what we teach in our homes,
we know they will make decisions that leave us scratching our heads.
but, sometimes, those decisions will break our hearts.

i had a dose of that today.
and thought...
may i please have the middle-of-the-night-feedings-insomnia-back?



truly, they are their own individuals.
and not an extension of ourselves.

or am i the only one who felt that way, upon leaving the hospital with baby bundles?

cute, lil', sweet baby bundles.

it's been a day around here.
if you follow me on twitter, you may have heard a hint of it.
i'm certain the events of today will have me buying my next box of hair dye
sooner than expected.
i know. you thought i somehow managed to bypass the gray-hair-fairy?
no such luck.
at least i buy close to my natural color.
*ahem*

it's all good, you know.
because when mom is upset about something...
she usually cleans.
today, this meant the kiddos get to help mom sand and prime table and chairs.

physical labor develops character, right?
or at least makes the kiddos thankful for the little things.
like air conditioning.
we were a sweatin'.
workout.  check.

we ended the day with a shower.
little house on the prairie, game night, and beauty and the beast.
we're looking forward to daddy coming back home tomorrow.



someone should tell disney that happily ever after doesn't always look like this.

the bad feels worse.
but the good is so much gooder. ;)

bedroom makeover {revealed}

it recently dawned on me that i had completed a project...
and completely forgotten to fill you in.

that's a bloggy sin somewhere, i'm sure.

my master bedroom.  my poor-poor master bedroom.
it's the room that fell victim to piles of paperwork... and laundry waiting to be folded.
it's the room that we collapsed in each night.
the exhaustion was the only thing that kept me from becoming a complete basket case from having to look at said piles each evening.
that... and the hope that it would one day be as i envisioned it in my head.

it's supposed to be the most relaxing room, right?

*insert uncontrollable laughter*

for years i've wanted new bedroom furniture.
why, you ask?

feast your eyes on this...

i should warn you.
it's brutal.

and the mess?
i forgot to take a good 'before' shot, so this is a 'middle' shot.

middle is always worse, right?



you feel my pain now?

i should also tell you that i'm fighting back every urge to run these two pictures through photoshop to edit them black and white... you know, so they would look... ummmm... less messy?  and brassy brown?
i fight the urge for your viewing pleasure.

we needed something budget friendly, so buying all new furniture has not really been an option.  the used furniture i searched through was too expensive for the quality.  so i sanded, painted, and placed polycrylic on my own.  updating the hardware was a must.  oi.

so after a lot of good ol' fashioned elbow grease...
enter our new {shabby-chic} relaxing room.



these are sooc {straight out of camera}, so please excuse the poor lighting.
mama is a lil' busy this week.
ah!
but i think i adjusted the wb {white balance} in camera enough to display an accurate color.



as you may remember, hubs and i made the headboard with used cabinet pieces bought from habitat for humanity and painted them, along with the remaining lumber that was needed.  there are several websites which give instruction on how to make headboards out of doors or cabinets.



ummm... excuse the dust.  it shows up better on dark furniture? ;)

the vinyl was bought on clearance at tarjet.  i cut some of it to come from behind a picture over our bed.



excuse the doggy bone.  jazzy hasn't learned to pick up her things, despite my best efforts.

silver platters found at the salvation army.

i had several frames that were not being used, so i spray painted them white, and put a coat of polycrylic, as well.



my sweet little bird came from hobby lobby.
in their clearance aisle.
i love that aisle.

keeping the glass in two of our white frames, hubs and i can write messages to each other.
using dry erase markers.



yfa.
yours for always.
it's part of a song we sang to each other at our wedding.
this acronym has followed us ever since.

i splurged on curtains and a duvet, buying them a little at a time
@ bed, bath and beyond.
don't you just love the smell in there?

my curtains smell yummy.
i sniff them every now and again.
clearly, i have issues.

i bought a yummy smelly thingy there, too.
technical term, i'm sure.
my room smells like the store now.
hahhhhh...
relaxing, indeed.



my bedding was pieced together.
marshalls, kirklands, and target.

i made the bedskirt.
that's why it's extra long.
don't laugh.
i was going for the 'draped' look on purpose. ;)

this off-white frame was given to us at our wedding...
18 years ago.
gracie made those signs when she was practicing for dance competition.
"if you fall, get back up."
it's a good rule to live by, yes?



plates were an overflow from our kitchen.
personalized in permanent ink from a 9 and 11 year old.
"yfa" frames came from hobby lobby half off.
i love half off.
and accents of zebra.

if nothing else, jasmine is clearly impressed.
even her bed matches the room...
but sometimes the floor looks relaxing, too.
when you're a dog.

it's now my favorite room.

curiosity... got her in {trouble}

Gracie anticipated the jump before it happened, and was quick to sweep her off of our freshly primed dresser.  Can you see the swoop marks?  I envisioned primer getting all over Gracie's favorite 'Justice' clothes.  So, I grappled her away from Gracie... and ran 3 steps into the bathroom.

I am going to bed with primer on my arms and hands.

Between the sound of running water, and me applying it to her declawed paws, she cried out similar to a 2 year old having a temper tantrum.  She handles bathes better than this and wanted nothing to do with it. 

Her cries nearly sound like a small child.  It's made my heart skip a beat a time or two before, thinking it was one of the girls.

Everyone gathered for the show in my small bathroom.  Including Jasmine.

Between the girls' loud laughter, an excited Jasmine, the overcrowding, and Bella's pleas to stop the torture... I saw a Bella bite in my near future.  I did what any loving mother would do... and loudly proclaimed that everyone was banished from the bathroom.  Immediately!

I didn't have much luck.  Primer dries quickly.  She, too, will be going to bed with evidence on her paws.

I give her a little face-time on the ol' blog, and this is how I'm treated?

She won't look me in the eye.

After she gave herself a quick bath, due to the water I put all over her paws, she watched me finish the primer on the dresser.  Then followed me downstairs, after tucking in the girls.

I think she's trying to get back into good graces with Mama.  A few catnaps on my lap, and we'll call it even. 

That's what I love about a cat, you know.  The cuddles.

They're especially welcome when hubs is out of town for the week.  *sigh*

Cuddles, blogging, and dark chocolate {with raw almonds}. 

It's how I roll.