Our Rental Living Room {Before and After}

We sold our ranch house and have chosen to live in a cute little rental for now. Nationwide, it seems to be a great time to sell, but not to buy. Our ranch house was too big! And had too many issues that we didn't want to put money into. It felt right and it sold fairly quickly and painlessly.

So here we are with the living room BEFORE:

We bought a new smaller sofa from Ashley Furniture here in town after we sold our sectional. We already had the TV stand, TV and clock. The floors are loud and uncomfortable so I searched online until I found the perfect rug and pillows.


And here is the living room AFTER:

I still would like to find some nice artwork for that wall. For now I just threw up a family picture.
I found the pillows at Gordman's and Pottery Barn, the blanket is old from a Pottery Barn outlet, the pots and faux plants and books I already had. Overall I think it turned out great, especially since I had never seen the rug in person, just took a chance on Home Depot online and we ended up loving it!

Well I'm off to try and enjoy the last few weeks of summer before the kids go back to school!
~Rebecca

Current Mood {Living Room Mood Board}

We sold our sectional as it was just too big for our new space and bought a new sofa. I thought it would be fun to gather a few pictures of things I'm currently loving to see how they all look together and get a feel or mood for the room. Here is what I came up with: three different pillows in neutrals and stripes (my favorite! The first pillow does have a blue stripe for a touch of color), a great rug with more blue to tie the colors together, and a pouf/ottoman that I have been eyeing for a long time. I've been wanting to add a little more blue and little more streamlined/modern look but still keep it comfortable and working with our sometimes country/farmhouse style that we like too. I'm really liking the idea of these things for the living room, what do you think?

Have a great Summer week! ~ Rebecca

My New Headboard and Master Bedroom Reveal! {DIY Project - Before and After}

We have been without a headboard since our last one broke when I tried to move it myself several years ago. The old one was a great Ikea wood bed frame that honestly lasted much longer than expected considering how many times it had been moved, taken apart, and put back together.

When my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday back in January, I showed him the plans for the King farmhouse headboard online and he totally came through, as he always does! Of course it took a few more months and some teamwork to actually get it finished, but all the best projects do:)

He got all the materials at our hardware store. Here is a picture of all the wood cut and laid together on my birthday:

I couldn't decide whether to paint or stain it. Or what color. After we put it together and I sanded it, we put it in the bedroom to see how it would look and think about what finish we wanted to give it.

So here is the BEFORE of our bedroom: 

And here is the AFTER!

We LOVE how it turned out. I ended up painting it white and spray painting the lamps black.

At first I was thinking of painting it black because I love contrast and it would look great against the white bedding but he didn't want to hide all of the beautiful wood.
Then I was thinking of staining it but there's nothing that would look good with my wood nighstands or hope chest. And I love my nightstands and hope chest even if they are a little dated. The nightstands are very high quality and solid wood Ethan Allens that belonged to my parents. The hope chest is a Lane cedar chest that I got from my parents for my high school graduation. Yes, even as a youth I wanted furniture for gifts, haha! Interior decor and design has always been my passion from a young age!
I love how our bedroom is full of meaningful pieces that bring me joy. Even the bedding that has been put together over the years and not bought in a bed-in-a-bag type set, makes me happy :) The quilt was a wedding gift from my husbands grandmother and he will never let me replace it, even though I have tried just because I've had to sew a few rips and tears! The king and standard pillows have pillowcases from my favorite super soft and affordable Target Threshold sheet sets. The throw pillows are my favorite color and I love my homemade Pottery Barn napkin accent pillow.
All together it has the perfect look and feel I was going for and is so "us!"

I'm so glad to be finished with this project, and on to the next!

MASTER BEDROOM SOURCE LIST:
(Click on the links below to be directed to the product page)
Ana White Farmhouse King Headboard
Headboard paint color Sherwin Williams Alabaster
White quilt is Laura Ashley from 15 years ago
Threshold Organic Cotton Solid Sheet Set in White
Threshold Printed Flannel Sheet Set in Gray Stripe
H&M Home similar Canvas Pillow Cover and Insert
Pottery Barn Block Print Blue Floral Napkin (can buy in store individually) and Napkin Pillow Cover Tutorial
Threshold Yarn Dye Stripe Ringspun Cotton Blanket Metallic Blue (not pictured)
Vintage Ethan Allen nightstands
Ikea Barometer Lamp (spray painted black)
Hobby Lobby Gray Diamond Patterned Cement Pot
Plants, similiar
Magnolia Art Print Set from here (no longer sold)
Majgull Blackout Curtains
Vintage Lane Cedar Chest

Hippity Hoppity... Easter’s on its way!

Christmas is coming...

Here is just the beginning of some Christmas decor I put out this week. I haven't even gotten the boxes of decorations down yet! And of course we need to find a tree. But something's definitely starting.....

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours~

DIY Pottery Barn Napkin Pillow

Did you know Pottery Barn napkins are perfect for making throw pillows? They are 20"x20" and already hemmed, AND they're cheap compared to the cost of a Pottery Barn pillow. A few weeks ago I got to browse around the Pottery Barn store and I found this blue Block Print napkin. Individually, they're $5.95 a piece. I loved the colors and pattern and thought it would make the perfect pillow.

I washed and ironed the napkin and grabbed an old standard pillow we're not using anymore. Standard pillows are 20" wide so I just needed to cut one side off, keep all the filling to make the pillow more full, then stitch up that side.

I hand stitched the napkin around the edges to the front/sides of the pillow following the hem stitch that was already on the napkin. It blended easily.

You can see where I got the napkin here. There's lots of cute Summer prints right now, and lots of other patterns that could work year round like the classic solids and ticking stripes. I love how my pillow turned out!

A New Chalkboard Story.

At the beginning of this Summer, I was strolling through Hobby Lobby and saw and fell in love with this chalkboard. It was on clearance for $40, 50% off the original $80 price tag. I walked away thinking I would love to have that chalkboard, but $40 was more than I wanted to spend. I kept thinking about it and seriously considered it. Then life got busy and I kind of forgot about it. Then one day on instagram I saw someone post about this same chalkboard and how they had just bought it for about $20. My heart started racing and I knew I had to go to Hobby Lobby first thing in the morning in hopes that they still had them. Not only did they still have them, but my store had them marked down to $16! I was so excited and rushed it to the front counter so fast, the ladies who worked there were laughing with me. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get my new treasure home and hang it up where my old homemade-beaten down-falling off the wall- one was.
Why do I love my chalkboard so much, you may ask? A chalkboard is like the magazine version of books. I don't have much extra time to sit and read an entire book, but I can find a few minutes here and there to scan a magazine or read one short article at a time. Likewise, I love to art and craft, but I don't often have time to create a masterpiece or do big projects. Although I would love to pull out all my sketching and watercolor supplies more often, it just doesn't happen right now. But I do have a few minutes here and there to try my hand at some old fashioned hand writing or art on the chalkboard. And it's fun to change with the seasons and becomes part of the decor.
So there you have it. The story behind my new chalkboard and the reason why I love it so much. It's probably not a big deal to most people. But it's a little thing that brings me joy :)
~Rebecca

Christmas Home Tour 2015

I think this is the most complete tour I've done of this house on the blog. I do it mostly so I can remember, but I hope you enjoy too. Lots of pictures!!!

The weather outside is frightful! We've had more snow since this picture was taken and are supposed to get even more this week and through Christmas. Even though I honestly don't love the snow, I am so grateful that for the most part this winter we have still had sunshine. Even though when we woke up today it was zero degrees!

EXTERIOR

DIY boxwood wreath with red gingham fabric ribbon

LIVING ROOM

DIY coffee filter wreath.

Silent/Holy Night Pillow Covers.  Green Canvas Pillow Covers. Black Buffalo Check Pillow Covers. SureFit slipcovers from Target. Plaid Blanket from Ebay.

DIY antlers.

We have a toddler who likes to break ornaments. Maybe someday I will get to put them on the bottom half of the tree again *sigh*. We bought a lovely real tree this year. Tree skirt from Pottery Barn.

DINING ROOM

Metal Letter from Hobby Lobby.

Our grandparents' vintage ornaments look extra special hanging on the chandelier.

Plaid tablecloth Better Homes & Gardens from Walmart.

KITCHEN

HALL

LITTLE KIDS ROOM

MASTER BEDROOM

BIG GIRLS ROOM

GUEST ROOM

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas Home Tour. You can see more details for each room by searching this blog. Thanks for stopping by during this most wonderful time of the year!

~Rebecca

linking to: 

Evolution of Style