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Hadley, House, Shopping

Hadley’s Room

Before I start to document Hadley’s birth, I wanted to share her room with you. We knew that we would need to convert our guest room into her room and I knew that I wanted to keep it the same color (SW Rainwashed) no matter whether Percy was a boy or a girl. I was envisioning using the blue/green walls and the gray velvet curtains as a starting point. I also knew that we would move the brown rocker that we bought before Charlotte was born into the room. Other than that I wasn’t sure what we’d pull to complete the room.

When we found that Percy was a Hadley I decided that I’d accent the blue/green and gray with pink and yellow. I think that the colors really pop against the wall color. I didn’t end up with as much yellow as I was thinking that I would but I like the pink accents. It’s very girly without being overpowering.

View from the doorway

We used James’ crib in Hadley’s room since we are using the back piece of Charlotte’s crib as James’ headboard. I love the turned spindle rails at the corners of the crib. It’s fancy without being too girly or masculine.

Like I said, the rocker/glider/recliner is from when Charlotte was born. It’s served us well through the years! You’ll see Hadley’s Baby Be Blessed doll sitting in the chair. The table next to the chair was previously in our room but I hadn’t found a place for it in the new house and it’s antiqued metal and glass top are the perfect feminine touch next to the strongly colored brown rocker.

My Mom won these dress paintings at a silent auction a few years ago. They were painted by our former neighbor and I’m so glad that I got to use them in Hadley’s room! They are gorgeous with beautiful texture. I purchased a wooden letter from Hobby Lobby to go above them and mod podged it with tissue paper. I’ve got the steps and tutorial coming up soon. I’m so happy with the way that it turned out!

We again had Kim Wheeler with Small Words Art paint a name painting for Hadley. It’s got a gray chevron background and is beautiful. I need to get a closer picture of it to show you. I also ordered a new crib skirt from Designs By Christy and a Carters minky bumper in soft pink. Hadley has yet to sleep in her crib (or even go in her room!) but it’s a cozy little nest just waiting for her!

We again repurposed and moved the bookshelf from Charlotte’s room into Hadley’s nursery. It’s going to serve as a changing table and so I purchased some pink bins to store our diapers, etc since it doesn’t have drawers. We also rehung the shadow boxes that our Mom’s made for us when Charlotte was born. It’s special that we’ve been able to use those in each nursery that we’ve had.

The bookcase is pretty bare right now but it does have Hadley’s personalized book as well as a copy of Owl Babies which is where Charlotte came up with the “Percy” name before we knew that Hadley was a girl. I love that they recently came out with a board book version of it!

Jason’s shadow box

My shadow box

In going through the room via pictures I found that we “borrowed” a lot of things from Charlotte’s room for Hadley’s! Thankfully Charlotte was ok with all of my redecorating, especially since she got to pick out a new dresser for her room. We took her desk and one of her fancy lamps to add a little more light color to Hadley’s room. And I made some bulletin board frames because Charlotte kept making pictures for Hadley and wanting to put them somewhere in her room!

I have special items displayed in the desk shelves like all of the crocheted booties that KayKay has made for the kids and the blanket that Kay made for Hadley. As well as the blankets that Gramme made for Charlotte and a fun personalized hanger that I got from Zulily for Hadley.

I still have to get pictures printed to put in the frames throughout the room, but since we’re not using the room yet (she’s living out of our room) it hasn’t bothered me. I’m going to work on that this week.

I love the sweet and peaceful feel of Hadley’s room. It’s feminine and girly without being over the top. I look forward to time spent with her in this sweet room that we created with her in mind!

House

Building a Home – Playroom

I realize that we’ve been in our home for over a year, but I never showed you the playroom. And that was because it was a hodge podge of toys and stuff with no real rhyme or reason! But with Hadley’s pending arrival, we had to move the Queen size bed out of her room and decided to organize the playroom into a guest room type area as well as a few other separate areas. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and how much easier it is to keep it looking decent with this setup!

Standing in the doorway looking right

We have this side of the room set up as the “play” side. A couch that we inherited from my brother when he moved gives us a place to sit while we watch the kids play. And my craft area is centered in the room under the window.

Standing in the doorway looking left

The left side of the room is, obviously, the “guest” side. It has the bed that we moved out of Hadley’s room as well as nightstands and lamps. It’s very basic but serves it’s purpose when we have guests (which is not very often).

Directly across from the bed and hidden by the door at the entrance to the room is a very old chest of drawers that we use to store out of season books, games, etc. I added some trinkets, the lamp, and the artwork before Kelly came to visit to give it a more “finished” feel. Surprisingly the color of the chest accents the painting above it even if the chest is, literally, falling apart!

Looking from the head of the bed onto the couch and play area. The door behind the couch leads to one of two walk out attic spaces from the playroom which is where I’m storing all of the “stuff” that I couldn’t find places for in the newly rearranged room. I had big plans to get that attic organized before Hadley arrived too but it didn’t happen. Maybe one day!

The play alcove

I had plans to create a pillow top to go over the bookcases (a la this pin) but didn’t get to it. I didn’t worry about the cushion because, to save money, we used ClosetMaid laminate stackers instead of the Ikea bookshelves originally mentioned. We don’t have an Ikea nearby so this helped save on costs, but we scarified stability because the stackers aren’t super sturdy so I wouldn’t feel comfortable having lots of people sit on them. They work perfectly though for storing all the random toys that we’ve got in the playroom in the ClosetMaid bins.

I did purchase two Ikea spice racks and painted them to hold books on the walls. I would like to add more to the wall but realized that they would be hard to reach for my kids. I’m not sure how to solve that problem but am not worrying about it now!

I love the way that this corner turned out. We hung the name paintings that Kim Wheeler (Small Words Art) did for Charlotte and James when they were born. After Hadley gets her big girl room we’ll move her painting to hang under James’. And I got two wall planters to hold stuffed animals on the wall under the paintings. The planters are not stable at all but they’re really light so it doesn’t matter if they come off the wall when the kids are trying to get an animal out.

My craft area and guest area

I did save some space in the playroom for me. The large white desk is where I do most of my crafts and my sewing and embroidery machines are stored there too for when I need them. I typically have my sewing machine set up on the brown desk but have it stored right now.

When Kelly was coming for my birthday we quickly purchased Bamboo shades for the windows to cut the light a little and provide privacy. We found that these shades that we purchased from Lowe’s were able to be cut into the store to the custom size that we needed and were easy for Jason to install himself. They don’t block a lot of light but they block some and, most importantly, provide privacy.

I am really pleased with the finish of this room. I know that it will shift and change as the kids interests change over the years but, right now, it’s set up perfectly for their ages. They love playing in it and I’m comfortable letting them run around in the big open space and expend some energy!

PS I wasn’t compensated in any way for anything mentioned here. These are the real items that we purchased and used in the room.

Christmas, Holidays, House, Show Us Your Life

Show Us Your Life – Christmas Tour of Homes

I welcome you to our home in all of its Christmas finery. I have had so much fun this year decorating a new home and finding new places to showcase my favorites. I’m so happy with the way the house turned out and hope you enjoy seeing all the details!

We have artificial greenery everywhere to prevent allergies and because I’ve sworn off real trees after our disastrous tree falling incident a number of years ago. But I’m so happy with the pre-lit garland that I found at Trees ‘N Trends this year. I accented with hand-made (and thus very NOT perfect) burlap bows and Charlotte and I used mod podge and lots of glitter to make these paper mache hearts from Hobby Lobby sparkle. The effect at night is gorgeous!

If you turn to the left from the front door you’ll see one of my many nativity scenes (or activity as Charlotte calls them). You’ll also head into the dining room.

I kept a lot of the decorations real neutral and just added pops of color here and there. In the dining room we have a gorgeous 9′ Blue Spruce tree from Balsam Hill. We decorated the dining room tree with all of our nice ornaments — our Christopher Radko’s, our glass balls, our ornaments from trips we’ve taken, etc. It sparkles insanely at night with all the glitter and glass and the color on the tree accents the neutrals on the table very well. You can also see our custom art from Kim Wheeler of Small Words Art hanging on the wall which definitely livens up the room.

If you turn to the right from the foyer you are in the study.

We have the same 9′ Blue Spruce in the study but this one is covered with the kids ornaments and those special to our family — handprints, Christmas card ornaments, childhood ornaments from when we were little, etc. This tree is very bottom heavy because we let the kids do a lot of the decorating but that’s one of the things that I love about it. There are so many memories on this tree, not only for us, but for Charlotte and James too. And I love that you can see both large trees out the windows from the street. There’s lots of sparkle at our house!

And I’m so happy with the way the mantle turned out. We’ve loved this mantle ever since it arrived last year and it works beautifully at Christmas time. I’ve got to buy new stockings for next year and I’m sad to have to retire these burlap ones (from The Bobbins Nest) a number of years ago. They are lovely and the contrast with the burlap and our pewter nativity that we got on our honeymoon is so neat to me!

When you continue into our home you reach the kitchen which we accented for the holiday season.

There’s not a lot of Christmas going on in here, but enough to make me smile. The real wreath on the window over the sink is the only real greenery in the house and I love it. I also love the small artificial wreaths that I found at a shop around town. Jason didn’t realize they weren’t real until I told him today! I also made a big print to go over the stove and painted chalkboard paint on a cheap platter from Target to add some glamour. And, as I’m sure you can guess, my favorite area in the kitchen is the collection of handmade items from the kids. It’s amazing to see how quickly they grow. We’ve got plans to make more art this week since school is out!

Across from the kitchen is the den with a little bit more of holiday cheer.

It wouldn’t be a tour of our home at Christmas without seeing Frisbee our elf. Although, to be honest, Frisbee has been pretty lazy this year, using the excuse of fog and rain to stay at our house instead of going back to the North Pole and then relocating a good many nights this year.

Of course we also have other touches of Christmas throughout the house, the kids Christmas trees, a small mini ornament tree in the guest bathroom, and others.

In all the hustle and bustle of the season, we are trying to impress upon our kids that Christmas isn’t about Santa or elves or lights or trees or presents. Christmas is about the gift that God gave to us in his Son, Jesus. We love being able to reflect that in our decorations of our home and are happy to share our home with family and friends and with you over this season.

We wish you and your family many blessings this Christmas and always. Merry Christmas!

Tours of our home during past Christmases: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (2012 we were building and living with my parents)

Charlotte, House

Building a Home – Charlotte’s Room Reveal

I’ve got another room reveal for you. This one is Charlotte’s room and might have been the hardest to get pictures of because it is very rare that it is all cleaned up and put together without babies everywhere. But it is adorable and she loves every square inch of it so that’s what matters!

Let’s start off with a look back at the inspiration board for Charlotte’s room.

There were a few changes made to her room design, but the change of her bed was really the only big one. Since our home is built in the French Eclectic style, it has very steep roof pitches. In order to not have our house look out of proportion as a very tall but skinny house, we chose to stick with 8′ ceilings on the second floor. And with the roof pitch, this meant that a lot of the rooms have walls/ceilings that slant for a foot or so. This really has been no problem, except with the fact that we were planning on getting Charlotte a canopy bed.

When I originally looked at the canopy bed I knew that we had 8′ and less ceilings and so I took that into account and made sure that the bed would fit. It would have been just fine. So I placed the order and the bed was backordered which was fine since I had allowed my self extra time. And then the electrician’s started hanging light fixtures and I realized that because the ceilings were lower, the ceiling fan would hit the canopy bed! I managed to find an upholstered bed on Joss and Main at a fraction of the cost of the Pottery Barn bed and got Charlotte to compromise on not having a canopy by doing a crown and sheers above her bed. It’s a little different look than what I was anticipating — more grown up — but it is still lovely and she loves it.

Without further ado, here’s Charlotte’s room.

Wall Color: Sherwin Williams 6548 Grape Mist
Ceiling Color: Sherwin Williams 7641 Collonade Gray at 50%
Trim color: Sherwin Williams First Star SW7646
Ceiling Fan: Craftmade MI52AGVM 2 Light 52in. Mia Unipack Premium Ceiling Fan
Bed: Joss and Main, like Corbel Headboard only with upholstered rails also
Bedspread: Pottery Barn Teen Rufflicious Rainbow Quilt (no longer available)
Floral upholstery fabric: Premier Prints Emma Twill Wisteria
Check upholstery fabric: Premier Prints Anderson Check Slub Yellow
Solid upholstery fabric: Purple Burlap
Wooden Monogram: Mint Julep Monograms – Classic Viney

*Some affiliate links are used. All links fall under my link/review disclosures. All opinions are my own and I wasn’t compensated in any way for these opinions or given any of these items.

House

Top 10 Things That I Love About Our New House

Building a house is a lot of work. We put lots of thought into the special touches that would make our house a home. Thankfully, we built in the age of Pinterest so that I could scope out the latest and greatest ideas before we finished building. I ended up finding a lot of ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of. In case you’re building (or thinking about building or remodeling) here are my nine favorite things that I love about our new home.

1. Our utensil pullout in our kitchen. Inspired by a picture on Pinterest, our cabinet makers made this with three stainless canisters for all of our (many!) utensils. This way they’re not cluttering up a drawer and making it hard to open and everything is easy to find. The only downside is when I’ll come and find three spatulas on the floor that James has been using as a teether.

2. Our front porch. This is the view from it and I love sitting here during naptime or with Jason after the kids go to bed and enjoying the view and the weather. We might not get as much use out of it during the winter as we have this summer, but it’s been our favorite hang out this summer!

3. Our mudroom. Right next to the garage door, our mudroom area gets utilized A LOT. The cubbies for each kid are great and the shoe drawers at the bottom are priceless. I love the hooks in them and the shelf above the open area to hang bags and purses. The small shelf allows the kids to sit on it to put on their shoes which is incredibly nice. And the closed cabinets on the end provide lots of storage without having it visible to everyone!

4. The built in banquette. I fell in love with these during the design phase of our house and Marc was kind enough to include one in our house. I sketched out the measurements and our wonderful trim guy made it. It’s a little tricky for adults to get in and out of it without moving the table a lot but it’s perfect for kids. James can sit on it without a booster already and it provides lots of space for lots of kiddo’s when the kids have friends over!

5. My vanity area with a space for my hair dyer and curling iron. Such an unnecessary thing but one that I am so thankful for! Being able to sit down while drying my hair is amazing and having metal containers to stick my hot hair dryer and curling iron in is awesome. And since I sit here at least once every day I’m glad that I enjoy the look and feel of it so much!

6. Our Scotsman ice machine. If these items were in order this one would probably be #1. We love our ice machine that makes “Sonic” ice and it’s a huge hit with everyone who comes to our house. We don’t even have the ice machine in the freezer turned on which gives us more space in there. It’s so nice to have the “good kind” of ice in all of our drinks every day!

7. The kid’s study. While it’s not getting used a ton right now, I know eventually it will be utilized daily. This area makes me happy every time I look at it (even though I don’t have a bulletin board made for the back of it yet!). Created with the idea that the kids and their friends could do homework and work on projects here it’s set up with internet hookups and lots of plugs. It kind of makes me wish that I still had homework so I could do it up here!

8. My office is my sanctuary and the beautiful shelving on one side of it just makes it more special. It gives me space to display “my” things and helps me see the things that I love every day.

9. Luca’s dog room. It deserves a post in it’s own right but so far I haven’t gotten around to it. With tiled walls and plenty of room for his bed, his bowls, and there still be room for him to lay on the cold tile, we think it’s perfect. The fact that Luca doesn’t mind it and goes in voluntarily is also a huge plus! He only complains when he’s in there and it’s storming outside.

So, what’s your favorite thing that you’ve seen from our new house? Did I mention it or did you see something in the posts about the house that you liked more? What do you love the most about your house? I’d love to hear from you!

House

Building a Home – Kitchen Reveal

Finally, the very long awaited kitchen reveal! For those who have followed along with our journey building over the past year, I apologize that it’s taken me almost six months after move in to show you our favorite room in the house. But, hopefully, the loads of pictures that I’m about to give you will make up for it! First, more “big picture” views of the room.

Now, on to the details!

We get lots of questions about the backsplash behind the range. It’s a gorgeous tile that our tile guys simply laid and then put a tile trim piece surrounding it to frame. It is gorgeous and we love it. And it makes a huge statement with white subway tiles everywhere else.

We went with White Carrera marble and I’m so happy with it. We have sealed it with mineral oil once and try to wipe things off of it immediately but, so far, it hasn’t been a problem to maintain. There are a few spots on it that you can see if you look at it at just the right light but you have to look hard for them. I love how cool it always feels and (when I keep the counters clean) how relaxing and inviting it makes everything look!

And for even more details….here are some pictures showing you what is where!

Kitchen Web1 with Details

Kitchen Hidden Plugs

We used LED strip lighting under the cabinets and inside the upper cabinets and are very happy with it. The LED lights pull almost no electricity and don’t get hot so we don’t worry about them being on for long periods of time. The only problem that we’ve had with them is that the adhesive on them doesn’t stick very well over long spaces so we’ve had to reinforce ours with some Command hooks to keep them in place.

You also see in this picture that we moved all of our plugs and switches to under the cabinets instead of breaking up the backsplash. I loved the look of doing that when I saw it on Pinterest and found that it was basically no more effort to install that way!

The coffee bar is another thing that I saw on Pinterest that we implemented. We aren’t making great use of it right now but we plan to…eventually. 🙂 We wanted the doors to open and fold back all the way (which they do, until they reach the handles). We also didn’t want there to be a cabinet piece on the bottom of the cabinets so that everything would sit straight on the marble. This allows Jason to slide the coffee maker out and in when he makes coffee.

I love our Blanco siligranite sink. I wasn’t sure about it since it’s a fairly new material and I didn’t want to detract from anything in the kitchen, but I’ve found that I love the white sink and love it even more that with a little Bar Keeper’s Friend I can get any stain (including rust) off with just a little elbow grease! The one quarter/three quarter’s setup works well for us also and I love that the middle bar isn’t full height so that if you have a pan or something in the small side its handle can go over on the other side. The only downside to our sink setup is that, since we’ve got a window above it, we needed to center our faucet on the window and sink which doesn’t provide fantastic coverage of the small side, but that’s a small problem!

Our wonderful cabinet company recommended that we make the panels above the range real so that they could be opened for storage. Not only does this make it easier to repair if something ever goes wrong with the range, but it gives us great storage for glass vases and things that we don’t use often.

Another Pinterest find was the divided area for cookie sheets. It’s so nice to not have to lift them all to find the one on the bottom!

Our cabinet makers made us a spice rack also which is nice. The middle shelf is adjustable in height also in case we want to change it. I need to get it more organized but it works how it is too!

Our utensil pullout is one of my favorite’s that we implemented in the kitchen. I saw a picture of something similar on Pinterest and our cabinet makers made this one. It’s got three metal containers which fill all of my (many!) utensils. And the small shelf on the bottom is perfect for pot holders and miscellaneous items.

I feel like this whole post is turning in to “things I saw on Pinterest” but I am so thankful for all of the ideas that I found on there. I saw a picture with a drawer for baking items (flour, etc) and so had some deep drawers built into our island for that purpose. I was never able to find the containers shown in the post so I just have my flour, sugar, brown sugar, etc in regular containers in the drawer instead. It’s so nice to have all of the typical baking ingredients right next to where I typically bake!

The mixer lift is incredibly nice and I feel like I’m using my mixer more now due to it. I found the idea to hang the paddles using Command hooks from…where else…Pinterest and I love how it frees up the bottom of the cabinet. I also am so glad that we got our electrician to put a plug inside of the mixer lift cabinet. I put a surge protector on it and can leave my mixer plugged up all the time instead of having to maneuver down there and plug it in every time I use it.

Lots of people think that this is a warming drawer and, I think, it could be used as one, but it’s actually a microwave drawer. It’s nice to have it on the back of the island so you don’t see if when you come in to the kitchen and the buttons to open and close the door make it super easy. We’ve heard that microwave drawers can be a pain to clean so we’ve tried to make sure and wipe up spills immediately and cover items that we cook so that it doesn’t splatter and so far it hasn’t been a problem.

Resources:

Wall Color: SW 7641 Collonade Gray
Trim Color: SW 7646 First Star
Ceiling Color: SW 7641 Collonade Gray at 50%

Perimeter Cabinet Color: SW 7632 Modern Gray
Island Cabinet Color: SW 6205 Comfort Gray

Cabinets: Custom built by Huntsville American Cabinets (more of my opinions on custom Cabinetry)

Floor: 3 1/4″ White Oak floors with Walnut stain

Countertops: White Carrera Marble

Backsplash Subway: Adex Hamptom 3×6″ Beveled in White, Adex Hampton Chair Molding in White

Backsplash Accent: Walker Zanger Ashbury Vibe in Suede

Pendant Lighting over Island and Sink: Murray Feiss P1261 Urban Renewal 1 Light Pendant, Oil Rubbed Bronze

Lighting over Kitchen Table: Elk Lighting 63023-4 47 by 51-Inch Parameters 4-Light Clear Pendant with Glass Shade, Bronze Finish

Kitchen Sink: Blanco 441125 16-Inch Précis 1-3/4 Bowl Sink, White

Kitchen Faucets: Pfister 026-4YPY Ashfield Single-Handle Kitchen Faucet, Tuscan Bronze