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!

Homework Problems and Solutions

This is the first year that both the boys have homework.  Jackson has full on spelling sentences, putting words in ABC order and math pages as well as reading every night.  Miller is shorter with reading and one 10 minute activity.  It’s manageable though.

However it quickly became apparent that with two boys working on different activities in the same space that some organization was in order.  I turned to Pintrest and there were tons of great ideas for homework stations. 

It’s just that none of them work for us since homework is done in the Dining Room and has to be cleaned up before dinner.

So, what is a girl to do?

That’s right I made a plan!   I opened up the cabinet that we have in our Dining Room and turned it into a homework station.

During Homework time I pull this little basket out.  It contains all the essentials!

Scissors, glue sticks, erasers, a pencil sharpener and a few other tiny things are contained in the red pencil box.  The blue box holds crayons.

The basket also holds Miller’s flash cards , a jar of pencils, rulers, a notebook and a few stickers.

I have a separate basket for school supplies that are not needed yet.  School supplies are so hard to find here {and expensive too}, so I stock up when we go to the U.S.

This cabinet is now a one stop shop for all our learning.  I am keeping markers, notebooks, dry erase pens and boards, extra folders, coloring books and puzzle magazines in here now too.

Of course I had to put the stuff that was in here somewhere.  Another project for another day!

Silhouettes

I’ve always loved silhouettes.  It is such a charming art form that captures the essence of the child and some details that may be missed in the blur of day to day life.

When the boys were two {ish}  I had their silhouette portraits made.  I found the silhouette artist on Etsy and was pleased to find out that she was from my hometown of Greenville, SC.  It is so important to find a skilled artist.  I know because Patti Rishforth was not our first silhouette artist.

When I found out that she was moving to another state and that she was just a skip, hop and jump away from my mom’s house, I decided to make an appointment.

They capture the sweet aspects of the boys at this age.  They are more spicy than sweet most of the time, so it is special to see this facet of them.

Thanks Patti!

Don’t you love it

Don’t you love it when you figure something out?  I may pay for my blonde locks, but in this case I feel like I am a true blonde!

When we moved here we bought a Costco set of Vanity Fair paper napkins and over the almost 3 years we have been here, we still have a few packs left.  Paper products on this island are crazy expensive.  A 4 pack of toilet paper runs about $6.  We were wisely counseled to pack as much paper products as we could with our household goods.

At the beginning of the year I decided to try moving the paper towel holder under the sink and seeing how few paper towels we could use.  We were already good at using rags for spills etc, but I wanted to see what we could do.  We cut paper towel use down to about a roll a month.  Not too shabby.  So could we drastically cut out already minimal paper napkin usage?

For as long as I can remember I have preferred using cloth napkins.  They just feel special.  This was way before it was cool to be green.  My hubby even came into the marriage with some cloth napkins.  {Before you try to take away his “man card”, his family uses mostly cloth napkins and his brother worked at Williams-Sonoma}.  We just like them.  When I do use paper napkins they need to be the good ones.  It’s just yucky to wipe your fingers on a disintegrating piece of paper.

There have been times where it is not practical to use cloth napkins, {when the boys were very young and I just could not bear to wash one more thing comes to mind!}  but we always come back to cloth napkins.  It’s just that paper napkins can be awfully  convenient.  It is the siren’s call of easy and disposable.  That call is a tempting call. Like a Hot Now sign.  Almost.

I’ve tried keeping my everyday cloth napkins in a few different spots, but I couldn’t figure out a spot that was as easy as the basket that held paper napkins.  That basket of paper napkins being out is just so convenient.  My cloth napkins were too long to fit into the basket.

The other day we were out of paper napkins and I was headed upstairs to get another pack, when I got sidetracked by a load of laundry that needed to be folded.  That load had dish towels and cloth napkins.  It was then and there that inspiration struck.  could I fold my cloth napkins in such a way that they would fit in the disposable napkin basket?

Why yes, yes they could!

I present to you the one thing that has made me happier than a bird with a french fry!

Now that we have to go upstairs to get a paper napkin, I bet we will still have a few napkins left when we leave this island.  Either that or we will start using more paper towels!

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- In progress

So back here I was telling you how I decided to sort all my treasures.  If you have lots of little things it begins to look like a mess really quickly.  However if you take time to sort them and group them together, your collection really stands out.

If you know me, you know I love a good sorting, so this was fun!

My sea urchin collection is smaller now thanks to this project, but I still have lots more than I thought!

Big conch

Little conchs

Sand Dollars

Corals

I’ve got to figure out how to shine these shells up, they are lovely!

I grouped them all together in various places and assorted vessels throughout the house and I am waiting to see if I like how they are grouped. 

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this.

There’s more inspiration around the corner.  It’s coming!

Boys Room

With both boys at school all day, I find myself with time to do things that I’ve never been able to do before.  Maybe I had time to do them, but didn’t really want to do them. 
We generally keep it well picked up, but the dressers end up being in a pile quite a bit.Today I decided to spend a few minutes clearing the flat surfaces in their room. 
After I finished I realized that their room is  so nice during the day.  The light pours in.  I wanted to to document what their room is like at this stage of their lives.

The large bed and dressers came with our house.  It would not be the furniture I would choose, but it works.  I do miss having my own furniture, though.
The room was even painted perfectly for boys.
Last winter we moved Miller from a toddler bed to a twin bed.  He loves it.
We also added the rug last winter.  The floor was beginning to show a good bit of wear.
Miller’s bed sits in this little alcove between the two closets.  I’ve tried centering it, but it keeps moving over to the right corner.  I think he likes it there.

I bought a large map to go over Miller’s bed.  Of course those oddly placed outlets drive. me. insane.  However, “Safety Dad” has vetoed my plan for now.  {I say he’d only pull it down on himself ONCE!}

Just because it has one of those long heavy metal tubes that it hangs from, Allen feels like it might get pulled down.  psssh.

Some of the bedding is from Jackson’s old room in MD, the large quilt is from Overstocks.com and Miller’s is a hand me down Pottery Barn Kids from a friend.  It’s all bright and colorful and works well together. 
A little vignette at the top of their built in shelf.  {I made the robots hold hands.}

This small shelf holds tons of stuff.  I bought the baskets from Pottery Barn Outlet a few years ago.  So useful.  I can never have enough storage containers!

We still use the rocker.  When Allen and I check on the boys on our way to bed, Miller is sleeping in the rocker about half of the time.

When my sister and I were young we shared a room.  It was tough, but it also taught me a lot about negotiation and sharing. 
When we moved to this house with really large furniture, Miller was still in a crib, so we put him in with Jackson since the other room was a bit smaller and much more crowded. Poor Miller still calls it “Jackson's room” and does not yet recognize that it is his room too.  Maybe Jackson is doing some weird chanting while Miller sleeps? “My room, my room!”
Even though Miller could easily go to the other room now, I like having them together.  There is something so sweet about my sweet babies breathing the same air as they sleep.  At night they usually go right to sleep.  I’ve asked them both and they both claim to want to be in the same room for now.
Honestly, they wake each other up in the mornings, but they do remarkably well.    In a year or two we may have to re-evaluate the situation, but for now, it really works!