Big Girl Room {Moodboard}

It's been awhile since I've shared a moodboard of a space I'd like to design, so I thought I'd share a little glimpse of what I'd like to do for our baby girl in a few years. You know, since she's not even born yet (10 weeks left!) and will at first need a crib and changing table.

I'd like to start with soft gray walls and use a mix-and-match set of antique-ish furniture I refinished years ago and is usually our guest room furniture. It includes a double bed that will get a pin tucked up-grade, a vanity and tall dresser.

Next, I'd like to layer in the pink or something equally girly. I think I've shared before that if I had had a baby girl first I wouldn't do much pink. But since I've had three boys first, PINK it up! Of course there needs to be a girly, pretty light fixture too!

I like the chevron rug in contrast with the pink frilly bedding. White accessories go great with the white dresser and vanity. Both pieces have dark wood tops, and the bed frame is natural wood as well. An old trunk or hope chest would be a great place for treasures, or just extra bedding.

Isn't the dollhouse/book case cute? I'd love to find an old doll house and fix it up, or have Gary make one for our little girl.

A few weeks ago I shared my Baby Girl Nursery Moodboard. I didn't use all the same pieces, but my intention is to have much of the same art, dresser and rug be the same. Who else is loving pink and gray and white?

It's so fun to dream, even if it's still a couple years off!

Kitchen Makeover on the Cheap

I hesitate to do this, but I went down a rabbit hole.

We rent. Sometimes I get tired of it. Sometimes I'd like to knock down a wall, remodel the kitchen, or at least paint.

Sometimes I like looking a real estate listings in random towns. Towns where I know no one and have no plans of ever living. Yesterday I was looking at a tiny little town in Kansas. Please don't ask why. I'll sound like an idiot trying to give you a reason when I don't really have one.

But I found a cute little place. Something my family could actually afford and it would hold us and our stuff nicely. It's a regular 1960s ranch, the type I gravitate toward.

I was looking through the pictures (there were over 40! Good job, listing agent!) and fell hard for this kitchen.

Again, I hesitate to say that, because compared to some of the amazing kitchens we've all drooled over on other blogs and in Better Homes and Gardens and on Pinterest, normal kitchens are so dark and dated and small... At least in houses I live in, and in those I can afford.

But there was this!

Not high end, not white, not granite or anything fancy. Just.... normal. But better. The wood is pretty, not orangey-oak. And so much work space!

I started daydreaming of what I would do with that kitchen. I though immediately of Thrifty Decor Chick's wood cabinets with a white beadboard backsplash.

Adding beadboard or beadboard wallpaper would help brighten up the kitchen, as would painting all of those brown walls a pretty gray, like Benjamin Moore's Wickham Gray.

Next I would address the one big blank wall where there is now some art. I'd love to add some shelves and a rolling cart that could double as an island. I would keep baking supplies here, then roll my cart over to where I wanted to work on making bread or cookies. I could leave it in the middle of the kitchen as an island, or tuck it out of the way under the shelves. I think only one would fit in this particular kitchen, though I love what they did at Cozy Cottage Cute! The carts and the shelves are from IKEA.

I might prefer the look of wood and white shelves like this cute display at Rooms For Rent. I would use two instead of three so the cart could fit underneath.

It's hard to tell from the picture how wide the eat-in kitchen space is. I would love to have a farm style table built for me, and I like the idea of benches that tuck under it. I would like to have two contrasting chairs at the ends, either tolix metal chairs, or something upholstered. This beautiful table is from Hometalk but based off of Ana White's plans.

To give the dining area more interest, I'd like to continue the beadboard around behind the table, capped with a shelf like this one. (I found this image on Pinterest which linked it to this post at The Frugal Homemaker from 2011! But it's a link to the House of Smiths where Shelly linked it to something Layla from The Lettered Cottage was working on, but I don't think it was in Keven & Layla's home, so I didn't chase that rabbit any longer.) I would put my chalkboard menu, artwork by the kids, seasonal banners and things on the shelf and enjoy the white with gray above instead of the dark brown wall. Can you picture it?

To add more color to my kitchen, I would use my blue Ball jars. I have a set I use for drinking glasses, and I'd keep an eye out for more ways to add some turquoise, like these adorable cafe curtains!

Or a soap dispenser!

I also like the look of this rug to add more color, either a small one in front of the sink, or a large on under the table, though with little kids I like to be able to sweep.

So no, it's not the perfect kitchen, but I think I could be perfectly happy with it. What about you? What do you look for in a normal kitchen? How would you add color and personality to this space?

Moodboards {Day 25}

Did you know that two years ago when I participated in this 31-Days challenge I created a new moodboard every day? It was so much fun!

I've included a few of my favorites here, but you can see them all by clicking on the search word "moodboards" over on the right side bar, or search "moodboards" or "interior design" or even "31 Days".

Enjoy!

Fall Display {DIY Art}

I'm kind of hate that we don't have a crib in the house any more. I'm not quite ready to admit that we're out of the baby stage, though I do love sleeping through the night!

We do, however, still have crib springs. It's another kind of architectural art, or unusual things to hang on the wall, or junk or salvage or whatever you wanna call it! I like how it takes up quite a bit of room on the wall but it's not dark or heavy or over-powering.

It's also super easy to change the display! For fall, I made a little burlap banner with, well, burlap... and twine and hot glue. Super simple, super quick! I stuck a few leaves in my grapevine wreath and used mini clothespins to hang pictures of my boys looking cute this fall. We've had a really pretty fall and the boys love romping in the leaves and posing themselves with pumpkins (true story!).

For the last couple of months, I've used the crib springs and wreath as a birthday display. Gary's birthday is in September, mine is in October, so I hung a birthday banner, stuck some little pinwheels in the wreath and displayed our birthday cards with mini clothes pins.

We went to an orchard a couple weeks ago and had such a nice day with some new friends! Lincoln has been very good to us in the friend department! We bought a few pounds of apples and since our little dining nook is crowded is petite, our table is pushed up against the wall. I used that side of the table that no one can reach to display our Sabbath candles (from our wedding) and our Jonathans and Yellow Delicious apples from the orchard. And some leaves from the backyard.

The moral of the story is that if you have something big and interesting, hang it on a wall! I mean, use what you have to create a unique fall display.

Who needs a mantle when you can use a wall in your kitchen and the kitchen table?

And boy, did those Jonathans ever make good apple crisp!

This is a somewhat belated Day 25 of my 31-Day series! October may be over, but I'm determined to make good on my 31-Day promise!

Architechtural Art {DIY Art}

I'm a big fan of architectural art. I especially love found objects, and if they have some sort of meaning behind them, even better!

What I'm referring to specifically here is this old window. It's from our barn on our property in Iowa. (Here's a post from a couple years ago where I showed off this faux mantel!) When we lived there, I proudly displayed it on top of a bookcase in the kitchen where I stored extra dishes and cookbooks.

During our brief stay in Ohio, the mantel became home to our old barn window.

Here in Nebraska, the window is on a wall in the entry that you can see from the living room. Each time it is grouped with other similar found objects, such as the watering can (also from our barn), or things that look old and rustic (like the G monogram sign painted on barnboard, or the star made from sticks).

If you love how something looks or have something that is meaningful to you because of the place you found/bought it, why not display it? It adds so much character to your space. Take a look in your basement or garage, your shed in the backyard, or in a catch-all closet in the house. You might be surprised what you find and how cool it looks on display!

Today is day 24! If you've missed any, browse through my October post titles on the sidebar. You might just be inspired!

Our Bathroom {Tour}

It feels kinda weird sharing pictures of my bathroom with the world. But it's a cute little space even if it's not fancy and even if it needs painted--walls, ceiling, vanity, everything! It is what it is, and I've been able to make it cute without spending any money, and I hope you can get a few ideas for your home.

I like to pick a color for a space and go for it. And while matchy-matchy can be overdone, sometimes it can really simplify and unite a small space.

For instance, when we needed a shower curtain for our house in Ohio, we found this pretty paisley one at Walmart. We got coordinating bath and hand towels as well as the rug. It makes the bathroom look less crowded and more put-together.

Every bathroom needs a clock. This is a cheap one we've had for years, but the wood tone was bugging me. I painted the clock white and hung it from a blue ribbon. Much better!

I also made this sign to fit in a blank space. It didn't end up being centered right, but that's ok. 

To add more blue to the space, I used these little kebobs--how come I can never remember what they're called! I also have a couple jars of pretty glass the boys and I collected in our garden in Iowa (there's another one on the back of the toilet). Not shown, we use a new blue Ball jar for toothbrushes too.

I used one of my large frames and hung a wreath on it to fill a large blank space. I like that it adds texture yet the contrast with the wall isn't huge so it feels really neutral.

So there you go! Have you shared your bathroom with the world at large lately?

Gallery Wall V {DIY Art}

While some may prefer gallery walls with little structure and lots of room for growth, others prefer a more planned-and-organized approach.

Such is the case in my in-law's living room. When my mother-in-law, Helen, asked me to create a gallery wall for her to hang portraits of her grandchildren, we sat down with my computer and looked at Pinterest. I'm glad I took that step with her, because I learned immediately that she preferred the measured, evenly spaced gallery walls over the more organic ones.

This took some planning! I laid everything out on the floor and arranged and rearranged for quite some time! Then of course, in the next few days of painting frames to match and finding a couple more frames at the store, the layout changed before I got it on the wall. 

We had the freedom in this space to have the display be as big as it needed to be. We were working with that heating/cooling vent, however, and aiming to ground the middle of the room with our collected art display. I think everyone was pretty pleased how it all turned out!

We liked it even more after we rearranged the furniture. The gallery wall really frames the couch! The only picture I had of the new arrangement was with my cell phone.

If you're considering hanging a collection of art, especially if putting them together would create a bigger impact on your walls or work to center your room or play off a large piece of furniture, I highly recommend spending a few minutes online to see what style you like. Take the time to plan a more structured look, or start with a large piece and work out. Don't forget to have fun! Holes in the wall can be fixed!

This is day 16 of my 31-Day series of DIY Art for your home! We're at the end of the gallery wall section, but there's still half of the series left! 

See you tomorrow!