I thought this day would never arive! I'm still not sure it has since there are still a few things I would like to do. A tweak here and tweak there. I can never be truly finished with anything. Just ask me about my laundry...

So remember this room a few months back?




Then this as we started the transformation...




I had no idea what style of bathroom I was going for when we started this, I only knew the colors I was going to use. As we worked on it then things kinda fell into place and I settled on what I would call a vintage beach theme. Check out what we did and let me know what you think. I'm so glad it's now "finished" and I can move on to other things. I do plan on painting the shelf I have in there white at some time, but that will have to wait.












Hover over these images to see the before and after. (sorry they're not centered, couldn't quite get there)





Now on to my boy's rooms....

My younger sister and I have five boys between us. That is whole lot of boy stuff. Now we both like to decorate, but when it comes to boys rooms then it's a little bit out of my league. I have a very good idea of what I want to do in my little boys room, who loves anything cowboy. I am not a western girl and it's been rather hard for me to think up how I can incorporate his love of the west and make it so I can still smile when I walk into his room.
My sister is also trying to think of idea's for her boys room. She is afraid to get into any kind of theme and be stuck with that. I can totally understand her feelings since kids grow fast and you can't change decorating as fast as they change what they are into. I've been looking around and found some adorable ideas for both of us. You take a little from here, a little from there and you get what you're looking for!
So here is a breakdown of the idea's I gathered for her boys room. I just want to grab all these things up and run to her house, but nothings free in life, so we'll see what happens.

Her boys room is a great mossy,grassy hard for me to describe kind of green. It's an attic style room with a great dormer, a huge picture window and lovely slanted ceilings.

I can just picture these curtains on the picture window


Wouldn't they be great paired up with these natural linen ones...


I love layers with lots of texture and these shades would add that extra bit to the whole look.


The bed would be more than inviting with something like this covering it in blue


Or this


I went crazy with accent pillow ideas. Just check some of these...







There are so many directions you could go, but by using some throw pillows like the feedsack ones, or the number 1 then you can keep things more open to change.

These pieces of artwork also allow for a great "boy" look without any themes or getting stuck with a certain "look".

This one would look perfect in a neutral color to be an accent or in a bright color to draw your eye and be a centerpiece..



So once again, sticking with numbers,letters and sayings really keeps your options open and makes it easy for the room to stay appropriate for different ages sharing the same space. These colors would never go with what she has, but the picture is cute and the saying couldn't be more perfect. This seller has many more like this with different sayings so if you like this then check out some more here.


Perhaps a little young for her boys, but oh so cute!


Groupings of photo's or sayings could be cute as well. Trying to find something that works in a kids room might be a challenge, but is very possible. Framing some of your children's art and mixing it in with some meaningful photos would work well and be a great way to showcase their work.



Maps also work well to keep things neutral. A series of maps showcasing some favorite places could make the art meaningful.



The idea's out there are endless, I just wish the pocketbook was! Keeping things simple is the best idea in a kids room since toys, books and forlorn piles of clothes will be dotting the landscape at any given time.

Back in my day then I used to write poetry. Not the ushy-gushy kind, but rather the dark and dreary, from the bottom of your soul kind. I'm pretty sure all this darkness of the soul was born in the winter. I encourage myself and my children to not use the word hate, and since God did create winter then... I really, really dislike winter.
Soooo, it always helps me to write these dark feelings out to be rid of them once and for all! (until next winter that is)

Ode to Winter
winter, dear winter
so dark and gray
with your dark, clawing fingers
must you really stay?
i hear they've been wanting snow in L.A.
why don't you "winter" out there for a day?
i wouldn't miss the frost on my nose
the hair on my legs growing into a fro
the air is so dry, my skin just fell off
i'm afraid my kids will never lose their cough
the green that i see is only from little nosies
and not from the grass or patches of posies
my son asks me daily if it's time to swim
my lips turn blue as i answer him
"no son", I say to his small yearning face
"it's 15 degrees and snow is falling from space"
i can honestly say, everything is much worse
when no flowers are growing, there's no warmth from the earth
i cried when i saw a dead cow in the street
if it were spring then it would just be considered good meat
c.p.s almost hulled me away
i left the wipes in the van for an overnight stay
my poor little boy didn't even make a peep
he also didn't mess his diaper for over a week
winter, dear winter
please go away
your making death seem gloomy and gray
sickness feels like the end of the earth
lets not even start on my feelings about birth
i'm ready for spring, summer and fall
then we could have a season that i have named "sprall"
it's all of the good with none of the bad
it's definitely happy, and absolutely not sad
no ice on the road
no flakes in my hair
(except for the kind that's supposed to be there)
no cold tile floors to jar me awake
no toilet seats to make me shiver and shake
no dead grass and brown bony trees
i just need to see 100 degrees
i'll be happy when i slide onto a leather seat
and fry my thigh from the intense heat
no winter is not my favorite thing
but without it then there wouldn't be spring

This is one of the easiest things I've ever made. You most likely have everything to make it laying around the house except the old wood. I just happened to have an old crate I was getting rid of that I tore this piece of wood from.



These are the rest of the things you'll need. A paint brush to paint the wood with, some white paint, something to mix the paint and some water in, a pencil and a fine paintbrush.


Mix up some whitewash to brush over your wood till you are happy with the color.


You can either stencil the letters on or draw them. I chose to draw them because I didn't have any type of stencil that would work. I then painted over the pencil with white acrylic paint a few times till it showed up nicely.

I just thought that I was going to finish my bathroom this week. Alas, a dog, a pile of laundry and a grouchy, teething child has kept me away from it. For those of you who are sitting on your teeth waiting for the final product, then I have a few pictures of things I'm doing in there to keep you going till the work is complete.

I had envisioned these wonderful chippy towel hooks to hang in the bathroom, but I hadn't been able to find them. I also hate spending more than a few dollars on a tiny little hook. In comes Hobby Lobby! I found these adorable white hooks for half off.


Now all I needed was the "chippy", so I grabbed a file and went to work on them. Here is the finished product.


I had seen this old "beach" sign on Etsy and loved it, but didn't want to spend the money on something I could do myself. Here's what I came up with. I am pretty happy with it except for the "e", I kinda messed that up. I'll post again on how I did it.


So now you have a hint of what is to come! Just a few more days...

After reading my last post then a friend of mine sent me some more great storage ideas from Better Homes and Gardens. So many of these are perfect for those with a very small house. My friend and I actually used to be roommates in a 800 square foot house or so. She thought of some great ways to make use of the smallest spaces.

Something like this would work great in a kitchen with less than ample room. I actually saw those mugs at Home Goods a few months ago.


I love this little Vegetable Bin that they have re purposed for a bedside table with lots of storage.


This is so practical for our home since my boys and husband love to park their shoes by the front door. My husband wears size 13 though, not sure they would fit in these cute little spots.


Not so much storage as just a pretty thing to see when you walk in to this room.


This kind of storage is great for those things that you need fast but don't want to see, like keys, cell phones, mail and flashlights. It is also perfect for CD or DVD storage


Another beautiful way to showcase your favorite photos and other small items.


I really need something like this to store all of the artsy stuff I have acquired.

I have been wanting to go back to Ikea for weeks now to purchase some storage solutions for my sons closet. I had, what I thought was the perfect solution in mind. Ikea sells these large recycling bins with lids that are stackable but because of how they are shaped you can still access them when stacked.


Ikea

As I stood in my sons room today, looking at his closet that was vomiting into the room, I started thinking a little more. What I actually need is something like the above picture, but also some shelves to go along with it. So I pulled up one my favorite stores, The Land of Nod. I have yet to actually buy anything from them because of the *$$$* of everything, but they have some great ideas. This is what I found.


The Land Of Nod

Unfortunately this outfit would cost around $300 and that would hurt worse than looking at the mess. So I was thinking, keep the ikea bins and add some kind of shelving above it for the same great storage, but about a 1/4 of the price.

What I am learning is to really think about how you want each space to function and what needs to go there before you rush out to buy your storage items. A Rubbermaid container is not always the best solution. It may be that you spend just a little more time and money to get it right, but... you get it right, and that is priceless.

So I find myself often between "dreaming" and coveting. For instance, this room is just a dream for me.


















Isn't amazing? I love how you get just a peek of that awesome bedroom through the door as well. I can only imagine how beautiful it must be. The shelving in this bathroom is so simple and great. So, from this picture I learn that I might be able to take aspects of this room and use them, but for me this bathroom is a dream. After all, you can't fit that into this:


















This is an idea I can really covet! I even tried to replicate it, but alas, the lack of funds and lack of lighting discouraged me a little.


So my point is, I love to dream, but I try to keep my dreams from making me discontent with what I have already been blessed with because then I beleive I have started to covet and not to dream. Ahhh, but the dreaming is great especially with pictures like this out there to make them come alive!