Boys Industrial Workspace

I should have known that buying my 12 year old son a desk for his room would mean that his little brother would also want one. There were two major problems that almost had me saying no. One, I know my 8 year old will not be able to sit in his room alone to do homework. If he happened to see a squirrel outside the window his homework would be completely forgotten. The second problem is his room is super tiny. He already has a full size bed, nightstand and dresser that barely fit. Where could I possibly put a desk? He did have a little space next to his bed, but I didn't think I could find that small of a desk so I mentally scratched the idea. Well, I happened to notice a tiny industrial desk at World Market several weeks later that I knew would fit, and it does!

I also bought a metal chair at World Market to go with it. I love the rubber feet on the bottom so it doesn't scratch his wood floor. I was a little worried it might be uncomfortable, but it doesn't seem to bother him. Ah, youth.


Can you believe I found the sconce at Lowe's for $40? I've always admired this type of light, but the price tag has always been too high. I suppose if you wait around long enough someone will make a knock off version.

I'm a huge fan of pinboards in kids rooms for displaying their favorite artwork. All of my boys look at them regularly, and show off their projects to friends and family.

 

I love the little slot in the desk (just like when I was in school). He's already storing a few school papers in there that he doesn't have room for on his pinboard. Even if it doesn't get much use, it's good storage. He didn't say much about it, but I wasn't surprised since he's always been a boy of few words. I could tell by the half smile/smirk he loved it. I knew he would since he's drawn towards everything rustic and industrial. He might be quiet, but he's got style!

A Cute Nightlight: Boys Bedroom Update

If you remember, all three of my boys' bedrooms are getting makeovers. I've got the youngest two boys' rooms almost finished. The only thing left to do in their rooms is paint the trim and add a few accessories. It's the caulking and painting of the trim that I hate with a passion. Accessorizing is fun, but I've put it off in lieu of other projects that need my attention more. I've still managed to pick up things here and there as I'm out shopping. On a recent Ikea trip, a red lantern caught my eye and I knew it would be perfect for my son's room. The best part is it was only $8! It's fairly large and he didn't have a place to put it so I decided to hang it on the wall.

I used a garden hook I found at Lowe's to hang it. It was just over $3. You can't beat that! Unfortunately, they only had them in black so I had to spray paint it. To make it easier to paint I screwed the hook into a scrap piece of board I had in the garage. This way I was able to paint the entire hook and screws at once. I also use this method when I spray paint drawer pulls and knobs. Any time I paint hardware I use a spray paint with primer in it. I don't like using anchors to hang things since they make big holes in the wall, but it's absolutely necessary for something this heavy. It took me a while to hang this because I wanted to make absolutely sure this is the spot it was going to go before I used those dreaded anchors. I didn't think there was a better spot than next to the bed since it makes the perfect nightlight once you put a candle in it, faux of course.

It doesn't put out a lot of light, but it's just enough to make my son comfortable sleeping alone...most of the time. ;)

 

Neutral Home Office Reveal

Remember that mudroom I was planning on finishing last week? Well, I took one look at the mess in there and shut the door on it. I'm not kidding. I literally shut the door after opening it and thought this can wait. After spending all summer long at home with the kids I wanted to celebrate them going back to school with a much needed shopping trip. ;) I found a large wall clock at ZGallerie last Monday I knew would be perfect in the office and it spurred a week long decorating spree. I've always thought of myself as a slow DIYer. Well, I obviously make up for it in the shopping department!

If you remember, this home office used to be a formal living room. We hired a contractor a couple of years ago to build two walls to enclose it and add a set of French doors, and voila...we have a home office. I bought the main furniture pieces, but I never finished decorating since I had already moved on to other projects. Well, it is now done!

I tried to camouflage the TV by adding a photo gallery of the kids above it and tall accessories on either side. I think it works since my mom never noticed it when she first looked at the room. The downside of having a TV in here is that my husband never wants to leave. He said he just needs a bar set up in the corner somewhere. I think he watches too many soap operas.

I have always loved neutral rooms and thought it would be a good choice in here since my husband and I share this office. I mixed light and dark shades of neutral, a touch of rustic for him, and a bit of feminine for me. I noticed I gravitated towards the darker shades and more rustic pieces while shopping this week, probably because I have fall on the brain!

This is also Mario's favorite room. The chair near the window is his spot to bark at all the neighbors walking by.

He takes his guard dog job very seriously.

 

Unfortunately, he is also the reason there isn't a rug in this room. It's a good thing he's cute.

This room is heavy on accessories. I noticed it helps distract your eye when the room is cluttered with work-related messes. I think I will have to try this approach in the great room. That room gets messy fast!

 

As with all of my rooms, this one was also done on a budget. Here are the details of where I got most everything.

Pottery Barn Desk-Found secondhand online
Credenzas and Baskets-Ikea
Desk Chair-World Market (with a coupon of course)
Desk Lamp-Ikea
Credenza Lamp-TJ Maxx
Wall Clock-ZGallerie
Shelves-Target
Mirrored Map Picture-Homegoods
Key on Wall-Garden Ridge
Burlap Pinboard-Homegoods
Orange Tray-Target
Side Chair-Target
Plaid Throw-Ikea
Throw Pillow-Pottery Barn
Drapes-Ikea
All Picture Frames-Target
Horse-ZGallerie (years ago)
Glass Vase on Desk, and Hourglass and Iron Globe on Wall Shelf-World Market
Globe on Credenza-Homegoods
Box on Credenza-Bought last year at Homegoods
Gray Candle on Credenza-Ikea
Letter Tray on Desk-Target
Copper Candleholders-Bought last year at Target
Basket on Desk with Accessories, "C" on Desk, Stack of Books on Desk, "&" on back Credenza-Hobby Lobby

 

 



 



 

Savvy Southern Style

A Beautiful Birmingham Home

Have you seen Jersey Belle on Bravo? I happened to catch a few minutes here and there while I was putting away laundry last night. I laughed a little when they talked about southern women putting monograms on everything. So true! What really caught my attention is the home of cast member, Danielle. Birmingham magazine was there to shoot her home for a photo spread in the episode. I can see why! It's absolutely beautiful. I found pictures from the photo shoot, but I have to say you don't get the full effect you do on TV. I might have to tune into the show just to see more of this house.

The homeowners, Danielle and Bart. I would be smiling too if I had a kitchen like this!

I believe this might be the guest bedroom.

Mmmm....marble....

Unique sink and vanity

The other bedroom is pretty, but this one is amazing. I'm guessing it's the master.

Do you recognize the mirror in the foyer? It's the same one or very similar to the one I bought at Home Depot for my bedroom and dining room. Somehow I don't see these people buying their home décor where you can also pick up a toilet flapper, but you never know!

 

Love the floors!

This is one of those homes that makes me want to redecorate my own. I love the neutral colors and mix of styles. It's elegant, rustic, old world, and contemporary all in one. You can see more pictures here. What do you think?

 

Tips to Get Back to School Ready

I know many of you are getting ready to send your kids back to school in less than two weeks. We still have four weeks of summer left, but I decided to get an early start this year after realizing the store shelves were wiped out two weeks before school started. And, I might be a little bored now that I'm not working part-time any longer. Instead of throwing together things at the last minute I'm putting an insane amount of energy and thought into my kids wardrobe and school papers. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But, if you want to jump on my crazy train of organization then this is the post for you.


Clothes Shopping-Fill in wardrobe gaps instead of starting from scratch. $$$ saver too!

I start by making sure all of the clothes are washed so I know what I'm working with and weed out the ones with holes or stains. Then, I start to pair outfits. I was surprised at how many of my boys' items did not have anything that matched it and the disproportionate number of tops and bottoms. You can make a list, but it's best to take a picture of the clothing with your phone to have available when you go shopping. It might be a bit more time consuming, but it is a money saver. I would have never realized my youngest son only needed two pair of shorts this way, or the exact shade of blue shirt my older son needed to match his ridiculously expensive Nike Elite socks if I didn't have a picture.

Clothes Organization-No morning arguments, No wearing the wrong shirt on spirit day, No mismatched clothes, No messy drawers, and laundry is put away fast!

Yes, it's that awesome! I have shared this tip before, but it has worked so well that I have to mention it again. Each of my kids have a closet organizer with individual cubbies. Each cubby gets a complete outfit-top, bottoms, underwear and socks. Most of the organizers have five or six cubbies so you only have to pair outfits together once a week. I have my kids participate so we don't get into the "I don't want to wear this" argument. They can grab an outfit and dress themselves on their own while I make breakfast. Laundry is faster because the clothes are folded instead of hung up on hangers. They stay folded too since they aren't stacked in drawers for kids (or husbands) to rifle through. You also don't have to forget what color shirt your child needs to wear during teacher appreciation week or if their spirit shirt is clean since you organize it all before the week begins. Don't be intimidated by this high level of organization, haha. It's easy and it really works!

Sorry, I know this isn't the prettiest picture. I do have more than one outfit per cubby since I was going through my son's summer clothes when I took it.

Morning Hygiene Checks-No more sniff tests

It's ridiculous that I even have to do this, but it's absolutely necessary in my house. I know I'm not alone either!

Put toothpaste on your kids' toothbrushes first thing in the morning so you can see who actually brushed their teeth. My kids find it funny to blow in my face during a sniff test knowing full well they didn't brush their teeth. I'd rather just take a quick look at their toothbrushes. I also put my older son's deodorant out on the bathroom counter as a reminder to use it. Underwear and sock checks are a must here, too. Pray for me.


Paper Organization-All you need is a pinboard, white board calendar, wall file and a personal organizer/phone calendar

There are times I could tell by my sons' weighted down shoulders I didn't even want to open their backpacks...ever. But, you need to get to it before they do. If you don't, it will be strewn all over the house and you will find the notice about the important event under the sofa the day after it happened. It's like mail. Stand by the trash can and immediately throw out what you don't need. Put any important dates in your phone calendar or whatever organizer you use. I use my phone because paper doesn't give me auditory reminders. If I choose to ignore the reminder I make sure to re-remind myself at a different time. Take the important papers to one organization center. I need three things-a whiteboard calendar, a pinboard, and a wall file organizer. Important papers get pinned. Papers to keep get filed in the child's folder on the wall. Important dates not only get logged into my phone, but also on the whiteboard calendar so everyone in the family is aware. I go through the files at the end of the year to throw out what I don't need and keep what I do in the office drawer. For example, I only keep the last report card since the previous report cards are listed on it. Artwork gets pinned to each child's pinboard in their room and then gets put into a bin in their closet when the board is full. It really is easy and I'm not sure why it took me so many years to figure this out. I suppose I didn't realize how paper and the amount of events can become consuming, especially the more children you have and extracurriculars they are involved in. It's like managing a business!

This is from last year since I'm in the process of moving everything to the new mudroom. I like Pottery Barn's systems, too.





Lunches-Save yourself the headache and prepare beforehand.

This usually goes well for the first couple of weeks and then I fall off the wagon. It's like exercising. You've just got to make yourself do it because it will be worth it in the end. Prepare lunches the night before, but also prepare what you can the week before. Use a vegetable drawer or a bin to separate what will be used for lunches in the fridge and the pantry. It's important so kids don't eat or drink what is reserved for lunches. How many times have you run to the store for juice boxes at 9pm? We have so many times. If you know you will give your kids carrots twice that week then go ahead and separate them out into Ziploc bags so you can just grab them when making lunches. I try to keep them from dipping into the lunch bins by having a snack ready for them when they get off the bus. I usually always have the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies and monkey bread on hand. They will never turn those down, but I also have crackers, cheese and fruit available some days. If they are prepared in a nice way my boys won't turn those down either. It sounds crazy, but even kids notice presentation!

This is a week of lunches not including sandwiches since those would get gross made more than a day in advance.

Last year's first day of school photo

 

I can't believe how much these guys have changed in one year! I'm going to miss them during the day, but I do need to pick up where I left off with projects around the house and I can only do that while they are at school. We're going to try and finish the mudroom before school starts next month since it will be getting heavy use then.  Thankfully, there's not much left to do so I think it will happen!

Exterior Updates

I’m finally crossing some things off my to do list and it feels kind of nice! I had two “must do” big projects left in the house and now I have only one. When I say big that means $$$$. I had to decide between the roof and a master bathroom remodel. As much as I wanted to remodel the bathroom I knew that the roof is more important. We had gotten a great quote a couple of years ago, but put it on the back burner once we decided to get a pool. The roof was so stained and brittle that it made the house look uncared for despite not having any major damage. Once I started referring to it as the crack house I knew it was time to replace it. A crack house trumps a 90s master bathroom any day on a remodeling list. I don’t have a before picture, but just trust me that it was not pretty. Here is the after!



Ignore my big car in the driveway. The best part of this update is there was no DIY involved on my part. My contractor picked the color and shingles, which is what almost everyone uses around here. That made it easy. The only decision I had to make was to go with regular or architectural shingles. I decided on architectural since it didn’t cost much more. Now if only writing the check were that easy!

We also finally finished a DIY project in the backyard. Once we put in the pool we had decided to box in the beams that holds up the covered porch. They sat half done for over a year, but we finally got going on it once we planned a Fourth of July party. There’s nothing like having a bunch of people come over that highlights every flaw/unfinished project in your home.

Before we had wimpy gray beams that had seen better days.



Now, we have big beefy white beams that fit right in with the style of the house.









This is such an easy update and makes a big impact. We used four boards per post and nailed them together once we lined them up flush with each other. We did the same with top and bottom boards once they were trimmed to size. If you can use a power saw and nail gun, you got this!

What I am most excited about might not seem like the most interesting update, but if the summer heat and mosquitos are making it impossible for you to sit outside then you will love this.



This fan is amazing! It’s a commercial fan from Air King that I bought on Amazon after seeing them at a restaurant with outdoor seating. It can turn 360 degrees, and points up or down. I love it so much that I ordered a second one. It’s the only reason we can sit outside in this weather without melting. Even more importantly it keeps the mosquitos away. When you live in Texas that’s a big deal! I can’t say I will be doing any more updates outside now that we’re in the middle of July. The only time you will catch me outside now is when I’m in the pool or with my face in front of that Air King fan!

And I Thought Summer Would Be Boring...

I don't think I've ever experienced a summer this busy. I suppose that's what happens when your kids grow up. Last summer, was all about lazy days at the pool and scouring the internet for things to do with young kids. Not anymore! My kids are so busy with activities and friends. I'm just trying to keep it all straight! Add in a pool being built in the backyard, a part-time job, and a blog...it's just busy. My good intentions of organizing my house and working on some DIY projects aren't going so well.

I think feeding three boys eight times a day is the biggest challenge. I decided they were going to eat healthy this summer, so I made a huge fruit platter to last three to four days. I was hoping they could go into the fridge and munch on this when they were hungry so I wasn't in the kitchen all day. Then, they ate every single piece of fruit you see here in a couple of hours. It may not look big in this picture, but that's a whole pineapple, a pint of blueberries, a ton of grapes, a pint of strawberries, and some light vanilla yogurt for dipping. Do you see what I'm up against?




We're also trying to make final decisions about the pool. I'm looking at pictures constantly on our local real estate website, har.com, for ideas. The latest decision has been about the flagstone coping that goes around the edge of the pool. I thought I wanted a light gray with enough tan/brown to go with the brown rocks of the waterfall. Once I looked at pictures, I realized the pallet of stone I picked was all wrong.

Here's what the light stone looks like.






And the dark stone...






You probably don't notice much of a difference, but I really prefer the darker stone in the last two pictures. I wish I would have figured that out before we visited the stone yard. I finally just told the pool contractor I want brown stone and to get what he thinks looks good. I'm sure he has a better idea about these things since he does it every day for a living.

The next major decisions are on the pool decking and the color of the inside of the pool. The decking is going to be a stamped concrete. We have to choose a pattern or texture, and a color. I have a feeling the hardest part is going to be the pool color. The samples do not look like the actual pool color. We might be traveling around to previous customer's pools to get an idea of color. I'm just not sure how we're going to fit that in our schedule.

Since we're planning on hosting a party the minute we can jump in the water, I decided to get a move on the patio furniture. Um...Have you see how much patio furniture costs? It's insane! My frugal self was horrified, but I went ahead and bought a dining set from World Market. It wasn't even on sale, but I did have a 10% off coupon. :)




I've got the matching lounge chairs in my cart online, but I'm still in sticker shock over the table and chairs. I'll buy them. I just need a few days.

I do have one project I'm determined to get done this summer. It's my kids' bathroom. I'm still in the planning stages right now. It's not going to be a major makeover since it's a bathroom to my three boys that will just destroy it. There are some rooms you want to make beautiful and others that you just strive to be clean, functional, and not embarrassing when someone outside your immediate family sees it. I'm going for the latter on this one, lol. I'll have more updates soon!

Summer in the Kitchen

I love the blue and white willow dishes I normally display in my kitchen, but I wanted to change it up a bit for summer. These patterned dishes from Pier 1 fit right in with the lighter blue and green color scheme I had in mind.




My mom found a new tray for the island that goes great with the dishes.




You might remember the touch of blue on the breakfast table from an earlier post. These palm fronds are still just as fresh now as they were in this picture. Crazy! I might be decorating with palm fronds more often.




It's amazing that just a few new items and moving a vase from the family room can make such a difference.



Are you making any changes to your home for summer? I used to never decorate seasonally, but I'm finding it's fun as long as they are very small changes. Now, if I could just apply this philosophy to Christmas!