going green

As parents sometimes we tend to rule the home on how it's decorated, what colors we choose, to keep it clean, etc.

I tend to love neutrals with some black mixed in and I'm not huge on incorporating color into our home. The most colorful I've added is navy, which we know...it's not much of a departure in the color department.

In January of this year I purchased a raw pine bunk bed from Ikea for my boys to share a room and WANT to sleep in their bed. Its embarrassing really how often they end up in our room. We should have stuck with our queen size bed...no kids can fit in with us.

My oldest is 4.5 but he'd tell you he's 4.67 years old has opinions and good ones at that on color and how things should be. I decided that I was going to paint the bed, FINALLY. We went to our local cute boutique shop that sells Annie Sloan Chalk paint and picked up a can Antibes Green. Seriously, the sample looked gorgeous and I held out a yellow, navy, green, and ivory for my boys to choose. They both chose green. It's a bit of a departure for me, but I grabbed some clear wax and called it good.

I started painting and realized I didn't have a before picture, so here it is with some green on the bottom leg

My oldest working on his bed. He LOVED helping and he knows he worked hard on it too.

I only did one layer of green, a layer of clear wax, some dark wax rubbed on and I thought I was done. I HATED the bed. I was sick to my stomach because I swore I ruined the bed. Later I did some research that you're supposed to add another clear coat of wax and it helps blend and rub off the majority of the dark wax. Thank goodness! My fingers are sore, but it's so worth it. I actually really like the bed now!

Now all I need to do is buff out the wax to give it a nice shine. I'm excited for it to be all done and the boys could not be more thrilled to have a green bed. Happy kids, Happy Mom!

 It's pretty, right? The more I see it, the more I love it. What you don't see is that we painted the slats on the top bunk so my younger one could look up and see green.

What would you do for your kids in the decorating department? What would you NOT do?


Sources:
Bed: Ikea
Paint: Annie Sloan in Antibes Green, clear wax and dark wax
Bedding: Star sheets are from PB and the Pirate ones from Target.
Comforters: Ikea
Quilts: Handmade from my mother (each grandchild get's one)
Rug: Ikea
Wall Lamps: Ikea

desk shuffle

Since I was able to purchase a new eat in kitchen table and the lights were switched, the desk that my husband was using in the dining room needed to find a new home. Well...not literally a new home, it was my Grandmothers writing desk and I feel closer to her when I use it. It's not only sentimental, it's beautiful. So I wracked my brain trying to figure out how I was going to magically make more space in my office with my Pottery Barn X desk or place the desk elsewhere in the home, but my husband needs a good working space as well and I finally decided the office is where it was going to go.

I placed the desks back to back and they are just about the same height and same width so it worked out perfectly. AND I don't have a glare on my screen when I edit photos now (my computer now faces the wall)

The Cords have been shoved under the solid desk, so they're less visible. Yes this pictures were taken at night so it isn't the best lighting.

My husband is taller and this desk has more clearance than the wood one so it's much more comfortable for him. He's happy, I'm happy.

I'm thinking I can take the fan off my desk now that it's getting cooler. This room is at the front of our home and it just get's blasted by the sun and the room just bakes.

Sources:
Lamp: Homegoods
Fan: Target
Wood Desk: My Grandmothers writing desk
Glass Top X Desk: Pottery Barn
Chairs: Overstock.com

buh bye brass

Brass is one of those things that we find in ALL homes that haven't been renovated recently, because let's be honest; no ONE actually chooses brass to finish their home.

Lucky for me, chalk paint was invented and also super double lucky for me, brass is everywhere. People are selling it for cheap...or practically giving it away.

       

Here it is in all it's original shiny brass glory

I have dearly missed doing projects and the only way that I was able to completely update my last house was through my photography business. The extra money from shoots and dog sitting allowed for a lot of projects and decorating. Things have been super slow going here, because let's get one thing straight. If it's between your kids preschool tuition and groceries or drapes...the ANSWER will always be tuition and food. I have picked up my camera and started doing photography and in fact I'm even flying to California this month to photograph a wedding. How fancy is that? Super fancy.

I was able to do two shoots and it paid for a new round pedestal table and so we could move our long rectangle table into our dining room. The capiz chandelier is also rectangle and needed to be moved. My husband's FAVORITE thing to do in his down time is move chandeliers... Yah right. I think he'd rather be poked in the eye.

Tables, moved, chandeliers switched and then I was stuck with ugly brass over my round table. Now this is the cool part. I once saw a DIY that Dear Lillie did on her brass chandelier and I loved it and decided to do the EXACT.SAME.THING. So that's what I did, I love it. It looks french country which is what I'm trying to transition to feel of my home too. It just takes time.

Take a look at what was done!

During the painting process.

All finished! (sources at the bottom)

 I found the same chandelier that Dear Lillie did on Craigslist and decided to paint that one as well. At the moment it's for sale, but who knows, maybe I'll find a fantastic place to put it in my home.

Round Table is the Blanca Pedestal Table from Cost Plus World Market. This is before the Capiz Chandelier was moved above the other table. 

The Capiz Chandelier is now finally over the other table in the dining room, which until recently was my husbands office. So nothing is decorated and I don't have chairs, well I do actually....they're folding chairs. Not fancy at all, but they function for now. 

Sources:

Chandelier over table came with the house
Chandelier for sale was from Craigslist
Paint: Annie Sloan in Paris Gray with Dark Wax rubbed on (may add some clear wax to smooth it out, but I like it as of right now)
Capiz Chandelier: West Elm

Round and Rectangle Tables: Cost Plus World Market