Big Impact Nursery "Art"

In Theron's room we have a gallery wall that I absolutely love. 

In fact. we also have a gallery wall in our living room that I love just as much.

I know some people are over them but I can't help but collect cute/funny/inspirational pieces and they've got to be displayed somehow! And if YOU like it, then do it! Who cares what anyone else thinks is cute; it's your home!

However, in the new nursery I wanted to take a different route. Randomly, I found this great affordable tapestry from Society 6 and immediately added it to my cart and never looked back. I ordered the smallest one and it is still huge! 

I'm sure you could just nail it to the wall but I bought a canvas with a 40% off coupon from Michael's and stapled the tapestry to the canvas to make it a look a little more polished. 

We hung it over his dresser that I scored secondhand and I'm pleased as a peach with how it looks. 

The room has a little more to go but it's getting there! I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant and hope this little guy stays put for a good 7 more! 

xoxo

Theron's Big Boy Bed

Theron's three years old and since we have a new baby boy on the way [eek!] we thought it the perfect time to switch him over to a big boy bed. 

He has been in his crib-converterted-toddler bed for awhile now...maybe even over a year. He did so well with that transition and thus far has done great with this latest one, too. 

I was hesitant on buying a bed because they are not cheap. I mean, you can find some cheap ones but I didn't want to waste my money on something that wasn't sturdy or that we would have to replace in his teen years. 

I debated between a couple metal beds from Target and Walmart but finally settled on the one I had always loved from West Elm. It has a classic shape, color, and is solid wood so I hope it will stand the test of time. I still want to get him some new bedding but the current setup seems to be working for now. 

We were worried that Theron would roll or fall out since we decided against purchasing bed rails but so far, so good. He happily went to bed the first night and didn't have an issue one. I hope I'm not jinxing us by writing that!

When we first moved in his room looked like this:

Then we transformed it into this:

And now, here it is with his big boy bed:

It's a simple space, but one that our kiddo seems to love! 

xo

Master Bedroom Updates

We've lived in our second home for nearly two years and while it doesn't feel that long, we've managed to undertake some minor home renos in that time.  For those of you that may have forgotten/never seen, this is what our master bedroom looked like when we first bought our home:

The previous owners had painted it a deep red and I repainted it almost immediately to a light blue-gray by Benjamin Moore.  I think the color was called "Grey Owl."

We had originally, upon move in, replaced their carpet with more carpet. But since our aging dog has seemed to revert to baby tendencies, we made the decision to rip the carpet up and extend the hardwood we laid in the rest of our home into our master and hallway as well. 

Additionally, I decided I wanted a little more architectural detail in this room by adding some wainscoting. I researched DIY tutorials and pinned some good options but ultimately my father-in-law found a company, I think based in Canada, that ships pre-made wood to you that fits together like puzzle pieces. He so sweetly prepared it for us and installed it and David and I caulked and painted it.

I am thrilled with how it turned out and with the flooring now installed I think it definitely makes the space look more custom. It also helps to ground the room since the vaulted ceilings make it seem so large. 

In the above pictures we still hadn't installed our baseboards but that now has been completed. We're waiting on moving everything back in until our new jute rug comes sometime soon. I'm excited to pull the space back together. 

Thanks for checking in! 

xo

DIY: Copycat Ribbon Wreath

Hi, guys! If I was a betting woman I'd wager no one stops around here anymore! I used to be obsessed with blogging, creating content, and reading 100s of blogs but somewhere down the line my priorities shifted or I got lazy--haha! I still pop in to some of my favorites but unfortunately [for me, at least] they've seemed to move on, too. Thank, God, for Instagram because I get to keep up with all my blog buddies from days past.  I feel like coming back to update this little space is almost like a reunion of sorts. 

The whole reason I'm having some time to sit down and get a post cranked out is because I'm on finals week and my students' finals aren't mandatory. It's a nice change of pace to actually be able to sit down at work, have some quiet time, and not be moving 100 mph all day! I had a decent teaching year [my 11th--say what?!?] but I'm looking forward to having the summer off to relax, spend a lot of quality time with my boys and reinvigorate myself for a hopefully better year 12!

Because I'm now obsessed with Instagram [joidan82 if you want to follow along!]--I guess one obsession just moved on to the next--I find myself buying and creating little things here and there that I've discovered via my friends' feeds or the explore option.  

The other evening I came across this beautiful DIY wreath via jenloveskev and knew I had to make a copycat version for my front door!

Jen said she used fabric scraps but for my version I used three spools of black and white striped ribbon from Michael's. 

I used a straw wreath form and kept the plastic on it as I wound the ribon around it. I used hot glue to secure it and the flowers as well. I really like Jen's color palette so I decided to not stray too far from it. I purchased all the flowers at Michael's as well and they had one of their 40% off sales so I scored all of my supplies for about $40. It took me about an hour [including a timeout for majorly burning my finger with the glue gun!] from start to finish. 

I hung it on our front door and I think it is the perfect wreath to welcome sweet summertime! 

I hope all of you are doing fabulous and maybe I'll be back here and there this summer! We do have some small updates taking place in our home and some more exciting ones as well! 

Thanks for checking in! 

xo

Master Bedroom Progress

It's funny how I was SO borderline obsessed with all things DIY and/or home decor related for years and then I just stopped updating things or buying home stuff. We have quite a few updates to make in the kitchen plus home improvement issues on the exterior that have had us saving up for major renovations rather than buying lots of decorative things. 

But, we have made super small updates to the master bedroom recently.  

After our recent trip to IKEA, I decided to put the two prints we bought above our bed.  I'm not convinced they'll stay there forever but I like how they fill the space. And, yes, I'm still relying on my iPhone for blog pictures. The DSLR seems like a lot of work nowadays. Lazy I suppose. 

To the left of this space is our closet and an area that needed something. I had thought about putting a tall dresser there but then remembered I had the World Market desk and that it would be perfect in the space. It gives me a nice work space and looks like it was meant to be here. 

The styling is nothing to write home about but it works for real life. It's kinda my motto right now. 

I got lucky at the Goodwill [surprise, surprise!] with this little cane chair for a steal!

The next project in here is to actually settle on a rug-not just a place holder, possible install hardwoods, and install board and batten on the walls.  

It's all coming together slowly but surely! 

And now, I'm off to watch more beauty guru YouTube videos--my newest obsession! 

xoxo

DIY Dining Table [Round 2]

When we sold our house last summer the buyers negotiated to keep a lot of our furniture. I didn't even know that was a "thing" but they did it! It's a sore spot for David and me, but we're getting over it--if slowly. They wanted nearly every single piece of furniture we had in our home-it was so odd.  We negotiated back and forth, and I put my foot down to keep our sofa [that we had just purchased!], our arc lamp, and Theron's dresser.  They had the nerve to ask for Theron's dresser.  I mean, really? It was in my son's room holding my son's personal items. Low, I tell you.  

But I digress, I'm getting over it, remember? Haha! In the end, they got to keep a lot, including our dining room table that my sweet father-in-law custom built for us. I was rather emotional about the whole thing but he reassured us that he would build us a better table anyway! If the buyers wanted the table--let them have the table.  "Less to move" he said. He was right. 

For the last 9 or so months we lived with a $100 table and chairs set that I found off of craigslist.  

I liked them well enough but when Theron's birthday came rolling around Dan hopped to building us a new and improved table. I've shared many a time that he can build anything. It's unbelievable. He measured the space, asked me what I wanted, and about two weeks later I had a table to stain.  

With our first table I stained it a dark deep walnut color, almost the color of our floors. But more recently I have been drawn to a more gray washed & lighter/imperfect stain shades.  

I ending up searching awhile on Pinterest after a trip to Lowe's for stain turned out to be unsuccessful.  I came across this post about a custom stain made from two ready-made minwax colors [special walnut & weathered oak] and I was sold.  

There are so many tutorials on staining furniture and I basically followed them all. My father-in-law sanded the table perfectly so all I had to do was apply a pre-stain wood conditioner and then followed that with the special walnut stain.  Then I applied, I think, 4 coats of the weathered oak stain over a handful of days.  I finished it off with the water-based polycrylic top coat and brought it in for T's party. 

I think this pic was after the first two coats of walnut and weathered oak. 

Another up close shot somewhere in the process. [I think my DIY blogger card is being revoked as I type-whoops!]

The table takes up a much more substantial space in our dining room and of course has special meaning to us since it was custom built by our family for our little family. 

I think I could've gone even lighter with the stain but I love it even so!

I kept the chairs from the craigslist table and like them so much that I'm in no hurry to replace them.  I have plans to add upholstered captain's chairs on either end but I'm in no hurry to do that as well.

Those flowers were originally purchased for outside but they look pretty happy on our table indoors. 

So that's how our new and improved table is hanging. We love it and hope you guys do, too!

xoxo

Guest Bathroom Progress

I don't think I've shared one "after" pic of our guest bathroom since moving in months ago!  It was actually one of the very first rooms I tackled since I knew I would only being making small & inexpensive updates to it.  Add to the fact that it would be the most used room in the house guest-wise and the quick updates were a no-brainer.   

Here's what the room looked like upon move in:

As you can tell, pretty much every last detail was basic builder grade. The main things I knew I HAD to do was paint the room + vanity, add hardware to the vanity, remove that behind-the-toilet storage piece, replace the shower curtain, update the mirror, change out the lighting fixture, and replace the faucet. It seems like a lot writing it out, but really it was done super fast and on the cheap.  

I just put off sharing it because there are no windows and I don't have a tripod to get a decent shot. I have become that person who uses her iPhone for all pictures and I'm really not too mad at myself for that--haha! Laziness prevails!

Here's the room as of today:

The pictures aren't the best, but you can at least get a feel for how it looks now.  I chose a basic black high gloss paint from Lowe's and handles from Home Depot for the vanity & used Benjamin Moore bathroom paint in Newburg Green. I can't recall if the faucet came from Lowe's or Home Depot but I know it was about $100 or so. You can't see the light but it is this one from Amazon, I think.  

We picked up the shower curtains [yes, curtains--I like how a fuller curtain looks] from Target and the mirror is one we have had forever.   

Most recently I finally hung up two prints I bought from Urban Outfitters months ago and just used some simple Target Threshold binder clips to hang them on the walls.  I think I want to frame the print above the toilet but it's an odd size so I've kinda stalled on that. 

The gold towel ring is also from Urban Outfitters. If you don't shop at Urban for home decor you're missing out. Their selection is always fresh and gets updated what seems like weekly.  It's one of the first places I search when I'm on the hunt!

And in true Joi fashion, I worked a little animal print into the room with a rug from Rugs USA. 

I still would like to replace the vanity, toilet, & vinyl flooring but I'm in absolutely no hurry to do so. I'd also like a better mirror, something like this, but again the one we have now is doing just fine.  

We just keep moving right along in this little house of ours and I'm digging it! 

xoxo

Master Bedroom Changes

::Still hitting home runs with my blog post titles. Haha.:: 

In our first home our bedroom went through so many changes--I say that like the rest of the house was decorated once and done.  Cue the laughter; that's funny, right?!? A decor obsessed gal's home is never finished!

When we moved in to this home I really had no plans for our bedroom. It's so much bigger than any other bedroom I've ever had so that's a new challenge for me. We placed all of our old bedroom furniture in here plus Theron's glider and it stayed like that for months.

And while I really like that vibe and look you see in the picture, I was just kinda over it. I wanted to feel refreshed and inspired and it just wasn't evoking those emotions. Maybe I overanalyze how I should feel about my bedroom. You guys do it, too, right? Or am I totally alone?

I shared with you guys that I recently scored some sweet new floral pillows, and they totally changed the game.

They are not as calming as the last color palette but that's ok. They're so "me" and well David, he could sleep in a polka dot and striped neon room. The guy couldn't care less as long as there's a bed - I sure got lucky! ;-)

So here's our very in-progress shot as it looks today:

I got rid of the Ikat throw at the end of the bed but had to have a similar replacement for it.  I love that a quilt stays cool to the touch so that was a non-issue for me. I picked up a mustard yellow one at Target and I have plans to tone it down with this throw. It's kinda pricey for a blanket so I haven't bit the bullet yet.

I also added the circle mirrors that were in the hallway of our last home onto our nightstands. I'm not convinced I love them there but it's ok for now. I also need some new lamps because I moved the original lamps into the living room.

I want to move the pin tuck duvet into the guest bedroom and get this one from West Elm as seen in Orlando Soria's bedroom via Emily Henderson's blog. 

The striped rug is from Theron's old playroom and I really just moved it in there to see how I felt layering a rug on carpet.

Just out of view, to the left of the bed, is now a desk area and I'm on the lookout for a new [to me] chair and I'll have to snap some pics so you can see how that area's shaping up, too.  And, while a fan is a must have in our bedroom, I'm really jonesing for a pretty chandelier.  Do those vintage looking fans put off a nice amount of air? Anyone have one?

So basically, anything is fair game in this room and like always, you guys are along for the ride.

Happy St. Patty's day, too!

xoxo

This and That

I will forever struggle at making blog titles. When it's just a simple post [which all of mine have been of late--real life] I get stumped. How many times can I say "House Update!"? Haha!

Anyhoo, this is just a small house update--of course--and I can really say I'm starting to love how it's coming along. The house is getting in its groove. Cheesy but true.

The entryway is coming along and I am totally digging it! The bench we got the other day really sealed the deal. I added some pillows I got from Ikea and H&M and it's even better!  I'm a fan of layering in home decor and it's looking good to my eye finally. The only thing I need to do is paint that doorbell box. I always say I'll do it and then I get distracted. I feel like I'm super scattered because I gotta make the most out of nap time. Ya dig, mommas?

We also added a little greenery [which I'll no doubt kill] and it instantly perks things up as well! 

And on a side note, randomly, on Sunday,  I was bad-mouthing the midwest and their lack of fiddle leaf figs for YEARS to the workers at Home Depot.  The nursery employees didn't even know what they were -- decor bloggers they were not. Haha!! So, same old story, I came home with two random house plants like always.  Later that night I was at Walmart and saw a whole slew of fiddle leaf figs just hanging out on the shelf.  Never in my many years of looking for them had I ever found them.  But here they were taunting me, in my own city.  Those clever little stinkers! I, of course, bought one and am headed back for another asap.  I'm sure their fate is not the best with me.  Whoops. Sorry in advance, little buddy.

I placed it in the living room for now but I really need to read up on their care and take serious steps to get this baby to grow.

And, while we're at it, I also added this H&M pillow to the green chair.  If you haven't checked out the H&M line you really should. It's good stuff!

That's it for now. Happy Tuesday! We're celebrating here with close to 80 degree temps! Peace out, polar vortex.

xoxo