I'm blue! Da-ba-dee....

I'd like to introduce to you a blue toy room. A non-neon-yellow toy room. A kinder, gentler toy room.

I do apologize for my iphone photos in this post. The color seems to shift in every shot! But at least you get an idea of how our lives have changed. What? Color is a dramatic thing! If you think I jest, please scroll down to the entry before this one and see the chaos that we lived with for a year and a half! Decide for yourself if blue is something to be excited about...

With some money from the great-grandparents for Christmas, we chose this sweet and colorful USA canvas for their play room. We have family all over the country and are already trying to teach the little ones where Oregon and Arkansas actually are...

That teeny-tiny closet (smallest bedroom closet in the house) is now the dress-up closet, but I've yet to complete its makeover. I have a low hanging rod, low shelves, jewelry hooks, and new accessory bins in mind... I shall keep you posed. Posted, rather. And above that toy box, I'm planning floating shelves to corral all the favorite stuffed animals. Those shelves should probably have a lip to keep the little critters on, I'm thinking.

I still have lots of plans for this room! The pink chair above is the anchor of the "reading corner." On the walls above it, I'm planning to hang 3 or 4 spice-racks-turned-bookshelves in order to free up some real estate on the cubby shelf unit. Kinda like this:

via Domestic Simplicity

This is a somewhat dark view from the door. But I wanted to show the scale of the new play kitchen that we got the girls for Christmas. There's lots of space on the walls around the kitchen for hanging bins and shelves to help keep our fun kitchen stuff organized!

Oh, and by the way... anyone have any thoughts/preferences/ideas about rugs on top of carpet? I'd love to create "spaces" in the toy room possibly with rugs... good? bad? bleh?

and it was all yellow...

...and horrible. Granted, I've had my fair share of "Oh my word, this looked way better under the store lights!" moments. But by and large, I've been pretty fortunate in the paint color department. (My budget is so relieved.)

But these landlords (bless.) had a seriously hard time. Our master bedroom was pistachio, for goodness' sake! Rule of thumb: not all hues automatically go with whatever white is on your ceiling and trim. Ouch! If it hurts your eyes, don't do it.

The guest bath was another terrible - albeit darker - green which they thankfully covered over in beige before we moved in. The forgotten color tells its sad story, though, in drips on the baseboards and countertop and mirror! (Tape off before you paint, anyone?) I'm really glad our landlords don't follow my blog, BTW! At least I don't think they do! I'll know soon.

Since then, we covered those beige walls with some leftover Urban Mist from covering the pistachio in the Master. I could feel my angst melting away.

But for the last year and a half, I haven't been able to reconcile myself to this sight:

It just hurt. I mean physically. My eyes actually throbbed when I looked at the yellow. Especially wherever it met the white trim in the room! It caused a little vision explosion where the colors touched that just wasn't normal. And to top it off, the room was bossy as all get-out. Lest you think I exaggerate! I shall demonstrate.

There is something to be said for painting swatches of your color choices on the walls, against the trim, in the light, in the shadow, so you can see how it looks in different lighting for a few days before you invest in a couple gallons of mistake! You can never know by looking in the store. NEVER.

And in this last photo you can see the new color going in the corner. Which - combined with the yellow - also hurt.

But I pressed on because I knew the outcome would ROCK. What paint? What else! I uncovered a happy little surprise of a whole gallon of extra Urban Mist and just decided this needed to be done. (Urban Mist is a Behr color, kinda grey-blue...we used their interior semi-gloss, paint and primer in one!) So after a quick trip to Lowe's for a shorty angled cutting brush, a new paint pan, and some frog tape (which I didn't use, what!!), I got right to work. A couple evenings & naptimes later...happiness.

Gotta take some new pics so I can let you see the result! Oh, happy day. I don't cringe when I walk down the hall and glance to the right anymore!

Tell me, do you have any paint color skeletons in your design closet? Any oops color stories? Have you rented a houseful of bad choices (and therefore had to live with them)?? Any favorite never-fail perfect color ideas out there? I know people have favorites and let me tell you, in this house, Urban Mist is on the top of my list!

a double feature

You may be thinking, "Nice work, promising 12 days of Christmas-ness and then only getting out, what?, two or three?" And 2 + 3 isn't even 12. If we were using an addition logic. Which would be crazy.

Well, don't worry. I'm really a pro at playing catch-up. And, besides, we've had Christmas with our little family unit, and we've done Christmas with my husband's side, but my dear parents, brothers, sister-in-law, nephews, and niece are all converging upon our little place for a belated (or rather drawn-out) Christmas celebration mid-January! So, you see, I'm not late. I still have a lot of Christmas-ing left in me! And even though your celebrations are taking on more of a New Year's nature by now, maybe you can still use an idea or two...even if just for next year! Pin it and hide it away til you need it.

My other awesome excuse is that my man and I were working feverishly on a special Christmas project which caused him to hog the computer every evening (read "every blogging opportunity") for the last 2 weeks or so. But it was worth it!

Now that I've explained away my somewhat-broken promise, let's move on, shall we?

Today I discovered that I was double-featured in a friend's blog! She had the fun idea of counting down her top 10 posts of 2011. Well, yours truly just happens to be mentioned in #9 {Christmas Tablescapes}, and the #2 most popular post on her blog for the year {Butterscotch Monkey Bread}.

I am planning to blog on the tablescapes soon, too. But here's a preview photo to wet your whistle.

I call the monkey bread "Sunday Morning Rolls." It's a family recipe that I used for a church event this last fall. Lauren shared my (family's) recipe on her blog and it has seemed to have garnered rave reviews! Or at least a lot of search engine hits.

Thanks, Lauren, for the mentions! Your post was a great idea.

Cupcake Tree Stand

Er...tree cupcake stand. Cupcake stand tree, maybe?

Well whatever we settle on, the fact remains that I'm pretty happy to have found a Christmas-y use for it, too!

As a single-function piece - in the vein of rice cookers, apple slicers, and salad spinners - this cupcake stand really shines!

Especially when it's filled with glittery, sparkly balls.

haul out the holly!

Hey, neighbors and friends! I do apologize for my long absence, but I have decided to blame it on the turkey coma -- even though that's categorically impossible -- and just move on.

I hope you're ready for my own version of 12 days of Christmas! I do plan to blog at least 12 times before December 25th! Of this year. Lest you think I'm creating a loophole for myself.

There is just so much fun stuff to share at this time of year! The crafting, the decorating, the creating, the cooking and baking and partying... My problem of late has been that I've been doing and leaving no time for blogging about it. On my honor, that will change today.

Since we're so far past Thanksgiving, it would be pointless for me to blog anything about the harvest crafts and decor and fun...maybe next year. But I do still have plenty of time until the happiest day of the year to share my fun and beg you to share yours in the comments! I love getting new ideas! So please, do comment if you have a second. 

 

Since our first Christmas in 2006, we've had a tall fake tree with white lights, and breakable red and green ornaments that adorn it. This year (with an almost-3 year old and a 15 month old), we've opted for the shatterproof switch. And what's more fun at Christmas for little girls than glittery pink shatterproof ornaments?? Not. Much. Although they don't care much about the shatterproof part... they would if they knew. But pink and glitter? Yes, please! I grabbed up a string of colorful lights to add to the all-white-lighted tree, as well. (Plus, after 5 years and at least 5 moves, a couple strings on the tree just won't light up anymore.) And more lights is always better, anyway.

Here's my sweetPea with the new lights. I think she's pretty pleased that they come in color! This is what I feel like inside when I see pretty things, too, BabyGirl. And pretty things at Christmastime are the best pretty of all!

I shall reveal our tree tomorrow!

Have you made any decor changes since last year? Did anyone else eat so much at Thanksgiving that they, too, were in a food coma for a month?

mirror, mirror, on the wall...finally!

Remember back when I painted my blue highchair? Well that very same week I decided to use up whatever paint was left in my 2 spray cans...

to transform this big, black oval mirror I'd found on craigslist for 5 big ones:

So I grabbed up all the readily available scrap paper. That day we seemed to have a lot! And I taped it haphazardly down to protect the glass. Lucky for me, it's an older mirror, so I was able to slide paper between the frame and the glass for great coverage.

Then I started spraying and the cans were sputtering. It wasn't the best job of painting, mind you. It was just desperate. "Oh, please squirt out just a little more!" I begged as I turned it every which way and kept shaking it every few seconds.

When I was done (rather, when the paint ran out), I was left with a pretty well-covered frame! I just decided that I would choose which way to hang it based on how much black I could kinda see through the blue...and I also just decided I wasn't going to care, cause I'd rather have it up now than have it perfect. What a crazy I am.

Because then it proceeded to wait by my dresser, leaning against the wall for WEEKS, I tell you! before I got around to picking up these hanging wire and eye hook things. : )

Ah, "picture hanging set." That's what it is. Well, new materials always make me excited to start, so I dug in right away!

First, I determined where I wanted the cable to begin and end and how much slack I needed. No science, here, I just eyeballed it and decided it looked good. I played with the length of the wire to make sure it wouldn't peek above the mirror when the weight of the mirror hung from it. Make sense?

Then I screwed in the little eye hooks by hand. Ouch! I grabbed some needle-nosed pliers to help me with the final tight turns.

I just threaded the wire through with plenty of extra to twist around and around like a twist tie.

before

after

A small transformation, but a wonderful one! It just makes so much sense to have a mirror over my jewelry box so I can watch where I stick my earrings...

And the mirror is on the wall opposite the window wall, so it really lights up the room by reflecting all the natural light! I love it. This corner is just about perfect, now. I love the balance the round mirror brings to everything else that's so square. And oh, how I love fresh flowers!

And then the three frames (and the silk peonies) were moved to the other wall for the time being.

This was my secret: make sure you have an adorable "helper" to make the job go faster. : ) Well, slower, really.

And from my previous master plan post, here is the updated to-do list for this room. As you can see, I still have a ways to go, but crossing off two items in one post sure feels good!

• faux wood blinds
• curtains & curtain rods
• something green on the window wall - palm tree? (got one! wait til you see it!)
• new bedding, bedskirt included
• make or buy nightstands
• table lamps
• replace ivory corner chair
• move trio of frames
• round-ish mirror for above dresser
• tv cable removed / hidden
• hardwood floors! (dream list, probably not actual list)

Do you have a dark-ish wall or corner that a mirror would do wonders for? Do it! Bonus points (I don't know where the points come from or what you could use them for...) But bonus points to anyone who can tell me they see any black through the blue paint! Don't look too hard.  

our 2nd 1st birthday party

Our 1st 1st birthday party was for our first daughter and was described (milkshake recipe included!) in this post of yore. So that makes this our 2nd 1st. See?

As promised, i'm here to give the "big reveal" of the blue highchair and a breakdown of some of the DIY (do-it-yourself) birthday party fun for my brand new one-year-old.

She was absolutely adorable in that highchair! Of her own accord, she stuck her leg through the spindles for balance, I guess. You may remember that I had removed and never replaced the old brown belt in the makeover, so I'm sure the chair could be a bit slippery for an un-belted, tutu-clad birthday girl.


DIY project #1: Invitations

Well, everyone knows you can't have a party without invitations! Well, you can. But what's the fun in that? Invitations set the tone for the whole affair and often provide the color/design/decor inspiration for the whole party!

I chose these invitations from this Etsy seller. She also offered matching cupcake toppers, a banner, and even thank you notes for afterward, but I decided to just go with the invite this time. All I had to do was pick my favorite design and email a photo to the Etsy shop along with the wording and details to be included. (Obviously the invitation sample above is missing some of the details that the world doesn't need to see...)

The designer emailed me a proof for confirmation and I was able to ask her to tweak a few things (1, there was a distracting element over Arlyn's shoulder in the photo, so I asked her to zoom in more. And 2, I added Arlyn's middle name to give her name and the whole design more balance and presence.)

I purchased the file for this invitation which means I own it and can print it from my printer, the local grocery store photo printer, a professional photo lab, etc. I ran out of time to print and send these via "real mail", though, so they were emailed instead. (And sadly, ended up in a couple of our guests' spam folders, though I have no idea why! I shall do a better follow-up next time.) I shall print at least one for her baby book, though. Soon-ish.


DIY project #2: Cupcake Toppers

After the invitations were chosen, it was time to focus on some of the decorating details that would make her party extra special. I'd seen a photo or two of some cupcake toppers and decided to give it a whirl. Here's what I did!

Grab the following materials:

• lollipop sticks (in the candy-making section of any craft store)
• colored and textured cardstock that matches your party
• thin ribbon
• paper punches (or really steady hands and a good pair of scissors!) : )
• a glue stick
• scotch tape

I printed out a couple coupons for the craft store I was going to. I mean, who wants to pay full price for punches? Not me. I'm cheap like that.

On my first craft store run I found the sticks, papers, ribbons, and the 1 1/2" scallop punch. I was hoping to find a 2" circle punch, too, but all I could find were the highly complex-looking circle cutters with all their special attachments... Yay-hay no way! (yes, too much Neverland Pirates for me.)


So I figured I could trace a pretty great circle and just cut them out by hand. Only 12, so no big deal, right?


Well, I don't know about you, but hand-cut circles are obviously not my forte. I'm pretty sure I had better cutting skills in grade school with safety scissors. And my crazy "circles" did not complement the pretty and uniform scalloped circles I was working with.


Plan B (or just a Plan A amendment), here I come! Print out one more coupon and run out to one more craft store late at night... Whew! I found it! And at an extra 40% off, too. That was a successful night.


So as we sat in front of a GOP debate on the computer one evening, I punched away! It was fun to match up the circles with the scallops in different color combos. When I finally settled on what looked best, I glued the small scallops to the larger circles and set them aside for a minute.


Then I grabbed a dark pink Sharpie and wrote the number "1" on each one. I had hoped to find a "1" punch at the craft store, but writing "1" proved to be much easier and more satisfying than cutting out circles by hand. So it worked! I tried to make them as uniform as possible.

Next came taping each circle creation to a lollipop stick. Easy-peasy. And then tie the ribbons around and you're done!



DIY project #3: Festive Banner 

I just love banners for birthdays! I love them so much, that this one is still hanging on our mantle. What? It's still "birthday month," right? I love them so much that I hope to sew a more permanent use-it-every-year one someday!

This banner was really simple. I found an 8-piece package of coordinating 12"x12" scrapbook papers at Tar-jay for $.99! (Why isn't there a "cents" sign on my keyboard, by the way??)

I worked with the paper and a pencil and figured out how to get 3 triangles cut from each piece. My three-hole puncher spanned the little flags just perfectly to punch the two holes I needed at the top of each triangle. And then I just strung them onto some twine I already had! I actually had enough triangles to make 2 banners, but not enough twine, so I substituted curling ribbon and used banner #2 on the gift table. (word to the wise: Invest in the spools of curling ribbon in your most-used colors. It always comes in handy!)

This project just cost me 99 pennies! (Way less, actually, since I didn't use all the paper in the package.) I will never buy a cheesy ready-made pennant banner, again.


DIY project #4: Giant Confetti

I must confess: I had so much fun using my new punches that I just kept punching all the pretty paper until I had a ziploc full of "giant confetti!" Super easy. If you have punches, that is. And it just seemed perfect for use on the white tablecloths and so fitting to have more chunky decorations for a baby's party. The birthday girl LOVED playing with the confetti. And eating the confetti. Oops.

DIY project #5: Party Favors

We had 4 little boys and 2 other little girls (besides our 2) coming to our party and I wanted to make it fun for them, too! I mean, there's nothing like happily going to a party only to be constantly told, "sit down!", "don't open her present!", "get out of the way!", "don't blow those out!" I've just seen that happen over and over. The little guests often end up in a meltdowns because it's not their party and they can't do anything!

Well we hoped to alleviate some of that by giving our guests gifts that they could play with as soon as they arrived! The little boys got a bag full of a shovel or rake, a bouncy ball, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk. The little girls received bubbles and sidewalk chalk, too, but a bracelet and necklace in place of the tools and balls. But of course.

We held the soiree at a park, so they could color on the sidewalks, blow the bubbles, dig in the dirt, throw the balls, and even stay busy on the playground equipment! It was definitely better than cooping them up in a house!


DIY project #5: the FOOD

I made cupcakes (cuz I made the toppers, obviously!) for the kiddos and cake balls for the adults. The cupcakes need no explanation, methinks. But the cake balls do!

Thank you, Bakerella, for the Red Velvet Cake Balls recipe! Her site has awesome recipes, detailed directions, and helpful tips, but the general idea is as follows:

1. bake a red velvet cake in a 9x13 according to box directions. let sit overnight.
2. the next day, crumble the cooled cake into a large mixing bowl. (remove your rings! this is only the start of the messy operation!)
3. mix one can of cream cheese frosting into the crumbled cake.
4. form into 1" balls and chill
5. melt your chocolate and dip the chilled balls!

We also served a special kid-friendly dinner for our 6 junior party guests and their parentals - peanut butter & jelly! The kids ate theirs plain, but the adults got to enjoy their pb&j's gourmet style! A la the gourmet pb&j food cart I ate at once in Portland.

I used their menu as my guide, but the names may have been changed or ignored to protect the innocent.

We served up one with strawberry jam, peanut butter, sliced bananas, and cream cheese. Yum!

Another was nutella, raspberry jam, and peanut butter. Delightful.

The third I called "the craving:" peanut butter, swiss cheese, and bread & butter pickles. Exciting!

We found a small sandwich press and grilled these lovely creations to perfection. So if you've never tried gourmet pb&j... you should.

There were parts of this party that didn't go as I'd originally planned. I had a whole streamer & lights canopy in mind, but had to chuck the plan when we ran out of set-up time! I had helium balloons in my plan, but that didn't work out, either. We opted, instead, to blow up a few balloons and hang them down from the rafters of the pavilion. It worked nicely.

In summary, we had a wonderful party and mommy and daddy were exhausted for three days after! The most important part of our day, of course, was the celebration of our 1-year-old beauty. She loved the attention and love and present-opening! She loved the cards and calls them "pee-boos" for peek-a-boo. And I know she loved the special touches, too. At least the confetti. And the balloons. The rest will be remembered through photos and stories when we tell her about her special 1st ever birthday party. She didn't have any idea of the plans that "fell through" or what we had to be flexible with. Remember, the details make a party memorable, but the people make it wonderful. Have fun, but don't stress. When in doubt, choose the party girl over the decorations. Just a little life lesson for ya, there.

So, tell me! Have you ever tried gourmet grilled pb&j?

my pinterest-inspired blue highchair

I scored this 30+ year old beauty at a recent garage sale! I knew the second I saw it that it was for me. You see, I found this picture on Pinterest... (that's how most of my stories will probably start from now on.)

From blog.drewbphotography.com

And I was smitten. I had to find a highchair like this for my daughter's upcoming 1st birthday! Not only would it be a great photo prop, but it would also be the perfect setting in which she could demolish her first cake! Miracle of miracles, there it was at my friend's sale. I knew I could fix it up!

I prepped it by removing the belts. (No plans to replace them, because we're not really planning to use it as an honest-to-goodness-safety-first type of daily highchair.) Just some pliers and a screwdriver were all that were needed.

These staples holding in the belts were vicious, though. I scratched my arm once. Not really sure how. But it made me grateful I'd just had a tetanus shot! 


(Yeah, for stepping on a rusty nail in the woods on the side of the road as I was on my way to deliver a baby wipe to my hubby who was helping my daughter go potty behind a tree during our evening family walk. It was awesome.)

At first I thought I'd just tape off the hardware so it wouldn't get painted, but it was pretty corroded with 30+ year old food. It wasn't pretty. So it had to come off.

I threw away the rusty screws cuz I knew I wouldn't be reusing them! But now what to do with the hardware? I'll keep thinking about it. I've got a high chair to paint blue, by golly!

I'd read about a miracle called liquid deglosser for roughing up a surface, taking off the finish, and preparing to paint WITHOUT SANDING. That was the kicker. It was like goo-gone on steroids. I knew I couldn't get into all the crevices on the spindles with sandpaper, so I was so glad I found this!

Well, half a bottle of deglosser and several rags later, the high chair was sticky-ish and clean. And begging for a new coat of color. The tray had a crack in it and so the previous owners had covered it with contact paper. That came off pre-photos, but the adhesive residue didn't go quite as easily. I scrubbed on it with serious elbow grease and about a cup of my new best friend liquid deglosser. It only took a couple episodes of something. Whatever I was catching up on on Netflix during naptime, I guess.

I was skeptical as to what color options of spray paint I might find at Lowe's. I hoped it would be more than just black, white, and all the neons. Well, what do you know? Valspar makes spray paint in all kinds of "designer" colors. I chose a Mediterranean blue.

Here's what she looked like after one coat. Thin and even is the key to avoiding drips and globs, my friends. The blue wasn't everything I'd wanted, but I was hopeful it would improve with more coats.

I actually started with the underside of the tray (below) to hone my non-existent spraying skills.

After a few coats of paint and even an upside-down adventure to get the undersides of everything, I ran out of my one can of blue that I was now convinced I loved! So on my next trip to Lowe's to buy another, I also picked up some of this:

...cuz now I was sure what I wanted to do with these dirty, rusty, and corroded pieces of hardware:

That's right! Cover those suckers up! That metallic spray paint was something else. (My mind is now flooded with ideas of how else to use the rest of this can of awesomeness.)

I gave one side of each piece a good coating, waited about 30 minutes, turned them over, and sprayed some more. The beauty of the can that I bought was that it could spray at any angle, so I could really get good coverage in all the nooks and crannies of these little guys.

While I was there, I found the wood screws section and had to eyeball the right size since I forgot to bring one of the pieces along as a guide. Luck (and phenomenal spacial skills! but mostly luck) was on my side!

Okay, so the metal screws could probably have used a quick coat of silver awesomeness to completely match the rest of the hardware, but who's really gonna be checking out the way the tray attaches to the seat?? 

And now this is a much as you will see until I unveil actual photos of the chair in actual use by my actual daughter at her 1st birthday party!

What would you do with a blue highchair? Do you have any old furniture that's just dying to be repainted?

Master Plan

Okay, the first room I'm revealing on this blog is actually our bedroom. Probably because we're closer to done with it than with other rooms in the house... You might be wondering why anyone would post photos of their master bedroom (any room, for that matter!) before it's ready to be seen?

Well, good point. However. If I start blogging about it, I'll keep working on it. Cuz you all keep me motivated and accountable that way.

Let us not forget that we rent; we don't own. Therefore the huge things that we'd like to do, we really can't. Like tear up all the old builder-white carpet and lay hardwood. Or replace all the brass doorknobs with sleek brushed nickel ones. We have to work within the rental parameters and that's not always 100% satisfying. It's a bit of a trick to improve the home and decorate it when we really only have control over what we own...what we bring into the room. Not what the room is made of.

Thankfully, our landlords have okayed a few paint jobs. They're pretty easy-going as far as landlords are concerned, which is so nice! Up until last month, we weren't sure if we would extend our rental for another year, but now that we know we are here for a while longer, my house to-do list has grown!

We've even considered a proposal to the home owners that would allow home improvements (on the actual home: flooring, fixtures, etc.) to be made with some of the monthly rent and some out of our pockets. I wonder if an arrangement like that would work?

Back to the master.

First, the new beautiful art above the headboard: (drumroll, please!)

We both love the feel it gives to the whole room! It really is a fun piece.

Now for the work-in-progress shots... Here's the not-so-grand tour. It's good, just small.

When you stand at the door looking in the room, the wall to the left (we'll go clockwise) has 2 tall windows looking out at the front of the house. Except that we never pull up the blinds to look out because of the heat and the lack of privacy from the rest of the cul-de-sac. We desperately need the right window treatments in here. I'm thinking white faux wood blinds and floor-to-almost-ceiling sheer white curtains. Or possibly a tasteful print that isn't sheer. Orange chevrons, perhaps? We're going for more serene paradise than colorful circus, though, so any print would have to be subtle. I think.

Faux wood blinds would be the most economical and stylish way to go, especially since they probably won't be coming with us when we move again. We want to invest in the house, but not quite as if we owned it. The faux wood blinds would block more sun in the morning when we need it to stay cool. Then we could crack them for a little natural light later in the day. The curtains will be hung high and wide to give the appearance of even larger windows.

The next wall to the right is the headboard wall. We love our huge mirror in the corner and it really makes the room look larger than it is. Mirrors are so awesome that way for bouncing light and really filling up a space.

The bicycle print is definitely one of the inspiration pieces for our room. It oh-so-tastefully introduces a pop of orange and aqua to an otherwise ivory and brown palette. Like the new throw pillow! A sweet gift from my mom.

This is one of the rooms we painted. (Behr's Urban Mist) When we moved in last summer, it was a pistachio green color...and at 8 1/2 months preggo, it just wasn't doing it for me. Even though some green-yellows are just amazing, it's an easy color to mess up. It clashed with the carpet and it was atrocious with the brass doorknobs. (But most everything is more atrocious with brass doorknobs, yes?)

We built our reclaimed wood headboard last year, thanks to an incredible free DIY building tutorial from Ana White. Find the tutorial here. It pretty closely resembles this headboard from PB, but we made it for a fraction of the cost! We currently have a whole list of pieces to make using Ana White's plans...

Which possibly includes nightstands. We desperately need them! For now we're using these plant stands/end tables that I found on clearance at Target years ago. But we'd love matching nightstands with drawers. And once we find/build the nightstands, we can start looking for lamps! But who am I kidding? I've already got my eye on some great glass-bottomed lamps...

But besides the headboard, the whole bed needs a makeover. I'm perusing the internet for just the right duvet cover, shams, etc. I even want a bed skirt so we can't see what's under the bed. This bedding from West Elm is currently on my radar.

These double tall skinny latte doors lead to the master closets and bath. It's a strange T-shaped set up back there that isn't quite ready for a reveal. Maybe never. The doors used to be held closed by a little spring-and-ball system between them and the door frame. They apparently couldn't work out their differences. If we owned this house, the bathroom would get a makeover and those doors would just come off. But, alas. If we take doors off here, I just have a feeling they'd get warped or otherwise ruined in the attic and the owners may want them again. So we're stuck with them for now!

The ivory (not as yellow as it looks) parson's chair in the corner is a placeholder of sorts for a future chunky dark leather chair. That was the plan originally, but suddenly I'm realizing just how much dark espresso is in that size of room. It may need to be a printed chair, instead. But no less comfy. (Because the clothes we toss to the side deserve a comfy place to rest, right??) 

The personal photos on the wall are a little sparse, but at least they're up! The three on the right will migrate left to join the single one in some type of gallery as soon as I find the perfect round-ish mirror for above the Ikea dresser. My jewelry is on that dresser, so a mirror there would be just right. With all the natural light that would be bouncing around the room from the huge windows and two mirrors, that dresser just may be my new favorite place to put on make-up, too!

Here is the entrance door wall. BLANK. Except for an irritating cable which was apparently fed under the carpet from behind the door and popped out right where the owners had a TV. Yes, that did create a speed bump right at the threshold of the room. I'm not sure if it's a fix we can really tackle. It may leave more damage in its wake. Unless our wood flooring dreams come true and the landlords are willing to put some of the rent back into improving their house! That would be great.

The wall is a blank canvas just begging for art of some kind. Maybe that's where a photo gallery should go? I've tried a low-profile sofa table there, but there just isn't room to walk if any furniture is against that wall.

So here's the to-do list for the master bedroom:

• faux wood blinds
• curtains & curtain rods
• something green on that wall - palm tree?
• new bedding
• bedskirt included
• make or buy nightstands
• table lamps
• replace ivory corner chair
• move trio of frames
• round-ish mirror for above dresser (something with a soft shape is needed to balance all the square in there!)
• tv cable removed / hidden
• hardwood floors! (dream list, probably not actual list)

Do you rent and have to deal with issues like cables popping out in unexpected places? Have you ever made a home improvement agreement with your landlords? Have you built your own furniture? Or do you have plans to, now that you've visited Ana White's site?