Monday, April 11, 2016
New Website
I’ve been working super hard behind the scenes to switch this blog baby of mine over to a new, upgraded website! While I was at it, I gave my entire site a makeover! Wahoo for digital decorating! Please click over and check out the new digs at Littlebitsofhome.com and be sure to check out the giveaway and free printable!
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Baby Bottles to Battleships: Nursery to Big Boy Room Makeover {Before}
Hey, Friends! I'm so excited to share that we are embarking on our second One Room Challenge this month! The One Room Challenge is put on by Calling it Home every April and October and is so fun! The challenge is to take one room in your house and give it an overhaul in just 6 weeks, posting and sharing your progress every week! Remember last fall when we redid our entire bathroom?
Guess what we're up to this time? Little Man's room! He has been slowly outgrowing his nursery the last couple of years and as much as I try, I just can't seem to slow down time and keep him little forever. So, forward we go! This month, we're taking his room from nursery to big kid!
I realized I have never actually shown you his nursery on the blog before, so enjoy this little trip down memory lane! While we were eagerly awaiting Little Man's arrival, we got to work on his room. Jeremy assembled furniture...
...while I grew our tiny human. Here I am a day before giving birth.
Just kidding, I was only 5 or 6 months pregnant here. I have the shortest.torso.ever. When I'm pregnant, I look really pregnant. Go big or go home, right? Here's the last belly picture (36 weeks maybe?) before Little Man was born... basketball belly, mom haircut, swollen face and ankles, oh yeah!
So, back to the nursery. Jeremy's one request was that we paint it blue. I couldn't pick a paint color for the life of me and ended up crying at the paint store because I couldn't decide on a color. Pregnancy hormones don't play, folks. Ha!
We ended up with a pretty blue that we both loved! It was from Sherwin-Williams, but they have discontinued the exact shade. I should mention, these pictures are from before my blogging days, so excuse the quality. :)
I have never been a huge fan of overly themed rooms, so we went with a simple striped crib bumper and solid green textiles. This was, of course, before I knew that curtains need to touch the ground. Live and learn. And take your curtains down to the floor. ;)
We did bring in some turtle accents, though, which we both loved! The turtle lamp was from my Grandma and aunt and I still love it. The ceramic turtle was an art project Jeremy did in high school! We also had the cutest turtle mobile ever, but I can't find a picture of it. Sad times. The truck was from Jeremy's childhood and his parents collected fun construction vehicles for Little Man to display on it.
Our old house had some cool sloped ceilings, which made for a fun little reading nook in the nursery. That was my favorite spot in the room!
When Little Man was one, we moved into our current house. To try to keep things calm and familiar, we painted his new room the exact same color and decorated it pretty much the exact same way. I did learn to get longer curtains, though!
When we were pregnant with Little Girlie, we transitioned Little Man into a big boy bed. At that point, we weren't ready to redo his entire room, so we made a few changes and tried to work with the existing paint and curtains. Check out some of the projects we have done to help his room grow with him:
Here's how his room is looking now. I left the table out just how he left it this morning so you could see how little floor space he has left when he's using his table.
That extra closet shelving we added is still waiting for paint. Clearly, we just purged. This closet is usually a mess because the storage bins are not all within reach for Little Man.
It's starting to look cluttered and hodge podged. He is in desperate need of more floorspace to play and storage solutions that he can actually reach and that work for his specific toys. *cough* Legos *cough*
Little Man is growing fast and it's time we get his room functioning for a big kid instead of a baby! He is really into Star Wars, so I know he will flip out if I include some Star Wars in the plans. Again, I don't care for overly themed rooms, so expect some Star Wars accents, but not Star Wars covered everything. ;)
Ready to see where we're headed with the room?
Images via Pottery Barn, Rugs USA, I Love Print, I Heart Organizing, Apartment Therapy, Sherwin-Williams, and Renovation Tracker.
Here's what's on our agenda for the next 6 weeks:
-Paint the room.
-Purchase new curtains.
-Purchase new rug.
-Rearrange the furniture
-Add Star Wars art and accessories.
-Build window seat with storage.
-Add storage solution for art supplies.
-Paint closet shelves.
-Get rid of dresser and add closet clothing storage.
We plan to keep the light, his bed, nightstand, and bedding which definitely helps out the budget!
We decided to keep our room design plans a secret from Little Man and are going to try to pull off surprising him. It's like our own little version of HGTV over here. Ha! I can't wait to see his face when he sees his room and realizes we encorporated Star Wars!
I hope you follow along as we overhaul Little Man's room! Be sure to check out all the other awesome room makeovers going on this month, too! There's some serious talent going on over at Calling it Home!
Friday, April 1, 2016
Shop with Me: Kirkland's Edition
Hey, Friends! Sometimes, I wish we could all just pile in the car and take a shopping trip together, don't you?! But, since geography seems to be a bit of a problem for that plan, I decided to do the next best thing-- snap pictures while I shop! Come along with me on my recent trip to Kirkland's!
Now, two disclaimers for you...
First, this is not sponsored! I just wanted to share my great decor finds! Kirkland's has no idea who I am. I wish! Hey, is this mic on? Kirkland's? Kirkland's, can you hear me? I love you! ;)
Second, I was pushing a stroller with a very grabby ninja 2 year old in it while simultaneously corralling my 5 year old and repeating "look don't touch" every two seconds AND trying to snap pictures with my phone. All because I love you. So, excuse the sub par pictures and just focus on the cute decor, ok? :)
First up, this bottle table runner is my absolute favorite! I asked for it for my birthday. Crossing my fingers that I get it! I know, I know, I could just DIY one, but sometimes it's nice to get something already assembled, you know? And check out the table it's on! Swoon!
Kirkland's has some great accent furniture! That cabinet on the bottom left reminds me of my teal cabinet. It'd be the perfect stylish small space storage solution for a dining room! And that table on the bottom right would look amazing in an entry way!
The lamps were all unique and very reasonably priced!
I swooned over the large wall decor! The arched mirror would be amazing on a fireplace mantle, wouldn't it? The wood art on the bottom right catches my eye every time I go into Kirkland's!
Their mirrors are always super well priced. If you are doing a bathroom remodel, check Kirkland's for your mirror first! They're big, have great frames, and are a fraction of the price of the hardware store mirrors!
There were lots of cute accessories, too! I loved this set of sweet tea cups and they were on sale for only $8! It took all of my willpower (and remembering I have an overflowing cup cabinet) to not buy them!
This was actually my second trip to Kirkland's lately. Last week, my bestie Amy and I were supposed to be working out at the gym but somehow ended up at Kirkland's. I have no idea how that happened... ;) We both loved the wood signs! They're the same style as my DIY wood sign, so you you could totally make them yourself using my tutorial! Amy went home with that adorable measuring units sign. My picture of that stinks, but you can see it better here. It's SO cute!
Ok, ready to see what I bought? Both things were on clearance and I stacked a coupon on top from Kirkland's Spin it to Win it app!
I thought this sign was perfect for my dining room! I love the saying and how the text picks up the teal in my teal cabinet.
The sign I showed you above had me at hello! It's in our bathroom for now, but I'm thinking it'll be perfect in Jeremy's office!
Did you enjoy this little shopping trip? What store would you like to see next?