Boys Room a Little Makeover

In the last few years I have had to really rethink my decorating.  We have a really nice house, but the furniture choices are not my own.  The owners did a fine job, it’s just not my personal taste. 

One room in particular that I have struggled with is the boys room.  The furniture is very large and it only fits in there the way it is currently.  {If Miller’s bed was not there the tall dresser could come out of the closet and go back in that nook.}  There is not an inch to spare.

When we decided to put both boys in there we knew it would make it tighter, but we love having them in the room together.

Jackson’s side is mostly the same.  See how the curtain is?  Because there isn’t space beside the bedside table.  It is tight!

Jackson likes to sleep ON his quilt and had worn out some of the patches on it.  I spent a morning making new patches from some fabric from my Pink Dogwood days and it turned out really cute.

When we leave and he has to go back to a twin bed, he will be pretty sad!

On the shelves, we have added a few more trophies…

I recently hung Jackson’s art from the art show.  The colors look great in here.  Below is the  art from last year’s art show.  I just painted the frame navy blue, and it looks so much better.

We finally got around to hanging this giant school map.  We have had it for a while, but figuring out a safe way to hang it was holding us up.  Our walls are cement and drilling into cement was too much damage to patch up when we leave….

I really wanted to put it over Miller’s bed in the nook, but Allen {probably rightly so} thought Miller might pull it down on his head.  Safety Dad aka  Allen hung it in a really safe way.  The boys love it.

Here is Miller’s nook.  We have twin beds in storage, so I didn’t want to buy a headboard, but not having  a headboard was really bugging me.  So I figured out that I could mount a tension rod at the top and put up one of the curtains from Jackson's old room.

It covers up the unevenly mounted power and cable outlets.  It makes it cozy too!

We fixed up an little side table with a lamp for him.  He was over the moon to have his art work and calendar from My Deep Blue View for him to look at.

It has been so good for me to have these lovely limitations.  I know that if I was living in our own home, things would be different, but making this house work for us and just letting go of the things I do not like has been such a good experience.

Since I’ve lived here, I have always said, “It is what it is and it ain’t what it ain’t.”  The other day I saw a sign and I’m going to have to make my own version very soon… it said “It is what it is, but it will be what you make of it.”  Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Inspired by the Islands-The results

After being inspired by the islands in my paintings, I  decided to use my found shells, and glass as house décor.  Most of this has been going on for quite some time, but I recently decided to tidy them up a bit.

Let’s start on the front porch.  This is the  coral plant I am growing.  The plants I put in this planter kept dying.  So I started putting these corals in there.  Works for me!

I’m in love with this conch with the top broken off.  There may be a painting soon!

In the powder room this little vignette came together with coral, aqua sea glass and a candle holder.

This is my collection of heart shaped rocks. Or as Allen would say my rock collection.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?   Maybe I’ll find more before we leave??

My prized conchs in a basket.  One day I’ll tell you where I got them…

These are really unusual conch.  Some call it a trident and others call it a corkscrew.  I call it pretty.

Sea Glass in glass.  With a little brain coral too.

Even the guest room gets a few beachy touches. Actually this is where to boys are least often, so I put my most fragile shell in here. With a pile of sticks.  But it works if you group them right!

I have lots of sea fans that I placed in my old bike basket.  I do believe I need to edit a bit more!

The sea Urchins found a home in this big jar.  Plenty of room for more…

This one is called a Sputnik urchin.  I love the green on it.

They sit on this high shelf with the sea biscuits.

We got that crystal bowl for a wedding present, and it has been used for everything from a goldfish bowl to a salad bowl.  Now it holds these treasures.  I promise to never serve salad from that bowl if you come over.

Who knows what I am going to come home with next.  I am always looking…

Inspired by the Islands

When we moved here, some of our stuff came with us and the rest went to storage.  It was a busy hectic time and for some reason, I didn’t pack anything to hang on the walls or decorate the house with. 

I’m not sure what I was thinking.  Maybe I thought that a hurricane would come and all would be lost or maybe I just thought of it as stuff and we were only bringing essentials.  Who knows.

It turns out to be one of the best things I’ve done.

After living with bare walls for a few months I decided that I must get something on them.  I went to a store and bought two canvases and a couple of colors of paint.

  These were the result.

They are fine, but not really all that inspiring.

At the same time I was quickly filling up lots and lots of containers of treasures from my walks on the beaches.  Sea glass, sea biscuits, sea urchins, sea fans, shells, limpets and even driftwood.  If it caught my eye, chances are, it was coming home {much to Allen’s chagrin}.

Where before I might have had something I picked up from TJ Maxx, now I have these lovely reminders of our time in the islands.  It is much more meaningful to have what I consider treasures than something that was bought in a store.

Since college I had not painted consistently, but had really wanted to get back to it.  I just thought I was too busy.  So once I was undeniably NOT busy I had no excuse!

I’m still not at a point where I feel comfortable with my technique, but I am getting the feeling of it more.  I have my next painting planned out, but I am nervous to start.  I am pretty sure it will not turn out like I see it in my mind.

Last week I saw this post by another island blogger and it got me inspired to drag all of my treasures out and do some re-arranging.

My dining room table was a glorious mess for a while.

Stay tuned.  I have to show you the results. 

Just as soon as my house is clean.  And the sun is shining.  And there are no boys to photobomb my shots.  And when I have nothing better to do … Should be any day now, right?

Something Different

Usually I try to keep it all about the Bug and the Butterbean here, but today I wanted to do something different.

As our move approaches faster and faster I feel like there are a few things here I want to record.  One of the most whimsical things that we have done in this house is install these chalkboards in the kitchen. 

I made them and Allen hung them.  He wasn't sure he wanted the boys to think it was OK to draw on the walls.  Generally it has been fine, but there have been a few little instances of someone  (Miller) drawing on something he wasn't supposed to!

Lately the sign has read, "Share your things!" 

It's not working

p.s. the movers come in 10 days.  GULP!

Nuttin' New Here

We are in the midst of a frigid winter with nothing new but a fresh round of colds. I thought Allen was being excessive when we bought Kleenex at Costco. Turns out that, as usual, he was right.
After the Christmas decorations came down it felt a little, empty. So I did what any sane person would do.
I traipsed back up into the attic, that was approximately 25 degrees, and pulled out some of the Winterish decorations. It didn't look quite pulled together, so I made a little garland to hang from the mantle and even sewed some little mittens to cutesify it.






It's still winter, it's still beyond cold and we still all have colds, but at least we have some decorations to get us throught until Spring.

Big Boy Bedding

Jackson is almost ready to move into a twin bed. We however are not ready. We are not ready for him to roam all over as he pleases. He is fine in the crib because he is contained and a contained Jackson is a good thing!

We have been generally looking around at options for twin beds. Since we intend that they will share a room at some point in the not too distant future, we think bunk beds will be in order considering our space. But before I get ahead of myself and have them already in elementary school, let me show you what I got. This is really exciting for me.

You know I love a theme. But I am picky too! A theme for a little boys room in my opinion should be very basic and not something they will grow tired of or something that passes on a whim. It is harder than you think. So back in the summer I saw bedding in Pottery Barn Kids that was perfect it was quilts with bright primary colors and dogs in silhouette. I loved it. However the price, not so much.

Fast forward a couple of months to last Friday. I went to the Pottery Barn Kids store in Bethesda to get a hook thingy for Jackson's room. Well lo and behold the bedding that I adored was 50 % off. And because it was Columbus day weekend they were taking off an additional 15%. Woo Hoo! One thing I love even more than a theme is a bargain. My wonderful husband was willing to part with some cash for his beloved boys--and he knew it was a steal!

We are now the proud owners of 2 quilts, 2 sheet sets, 2 lampshades and 2 dog shaped pillows. Oh, and don't forget the night light--had to have that! Yesterday I was in Target and picked up a curtain panel that is pretty good match. Looking for another one at the other Target tomorrow.

So we don't have a bed, and we don't even want to move him to a big boy bed, but when we do the lovely bedding will make it a little more bearable--I hope!

So, now we will begin earnestly looking for a bed for when the time comes. I hope not too soon. After all he is still just a baby, right?