Updated Office

Over the years I have always liked color and used it a lot with decorating. Now, I keep changing everything to white because it makes it feel so fresh, clean, and bright.  Here's the latest changes I just made to my home office.  Everyone in my family hates the new desk chair, but I LOVE it so it's staying. ;)

Girl's Room Gallery Wall - Mixing Elements

A few months ago we had the privilege to hear from a leader of our church, Elder Russell M. Nelson, who is an Apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  During his talk he emphasized how children should each have a picture of the Temple in their bedrooms to see daily.  We took his advice to heart and my husband had each child pick out a picture of an LDS Temple of their choice.  Our youngest two girls share a room which you may have seen in an earlier post, so I had to incorporate both pictures in their shared space.  There really was only one wall that would make sense to hang something on; however, it was so huge that two small photos together would be drowned by lots of white wall space.  The only option was to put a gallery together to fill this large area. Their room has a lot of wood and natural elements to it, with a farm country feel based on their love of horses. I wanted to incorporate that with these beautiful temple photos, which I found slightly challenging at first trying to tie together.  In the end I came up with something that both the girls and I liked and kept their personal touches to the space. 

I hope these photos they see daily will have special meaning to them, and something they will treasure for years to come. 

Another fun element we added to their room was a souvenir from a trip we took in December to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  A vendor was selling these awesome hammock chairs on the streets and I thought it would be so fun for them to have it hanging in their room while they visited and hung out with their friends. 

It's already been a hit and a fun addition to their room.

Master Bath Renovation

After living in our home for three years our master bathroom was the last to get updated.  After renovating the main floor and kitchen I had to be a little more conservative on how much I could spend.  I liked the layout of the bathroom, it just needed a little updating.  

the before:

I had someone tear out the bathroom floor tile, as well as the cultured marble surround in the tub/shower.  I replaced with Lowe's tile and stone accents, using a combination of several different patterns.  

I had the cabinet doors replaced; however, kept the drawers the same and had it all painted gray by the same painter I used for my kitchen cabinet makeover.  Marble counter tops, new square sinks, sink faucets, and light fixtures helped to dress up the space.  I painted the entire bathroom white and added molding to the large existing mirror that extends over both sinks. We removed the old framed glass shower door and had a new frame less one installed. 

It feels so clean and fresh now!

the after:

I completed both our master bath and my kid's bath at the same time, totalling about $7K for both.

Shared Girls' Room Makeover

About 10 years ago, my father purchased an 800 acre ranch in southeastern Colorado. Since then my children have grown up riding horses which in return has created a passion and obsession for my youngest two girls with these beautiful creatures. 

These two have shared a room since my youngest grew out of her crib eight years ago.    

So naturally when it came time to redo their shared room they both wanted it to be horse themed.  I was excited to take on a new project, as well as the challenge of finding a happy medium for the three of us.  I wanted to give them a classy horse themed room that they could "grow with".  I mean, what teenager wants a horse themed bedspread? I know first hand that teenagers want a space that fits them, and rightfully so...it's their haven from the stresses of adolescence. 

The girls and I agreed on a very neutral color scheme.  I really had to watch pricing, purchasing two of everything really adds up! Creams, tans, browns and lots of white was what we decided on.

I created a rustic planked wall to offset all the cream, tan, and white bedding; however, decided not to take it all the way to the top of the wall...

I purchased and combined the bedding from several different place, Ikea, Wayfair, Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond. The headboards are from Pottery Barn Teen. 

The dressers are from Ikea, and the end table is from Joss & Main.

My talented neighbor Kaylie painted these two watercolor horse prints for me.  They are gorgeous and I am completely enthralled with them!

You can contact her at:

Kayliek@comcast.net

I originally intended to separate them and put one above each girl's dresser; however, once I had them in the room I couldn't separate them.  They compliment each other so much and the size looks better together.  

The only problem is that left the other dresser bare.  Big bummer.  Kaylie is so talented she inspired me to give it a whirl and try my hand at painting another for the other side of the room.  It came out alright, definitely nothing compared to hers...but it works in the space! You can't tell from the pictures, but I put hers on the side you immediately see upon entering the room. ;)

The room is L shaped with a smaller area and large window.  My oldest kept begging me to build a window seat that she could curl up and read a book on.  I thought it was a brilliant idea and found some darling horse fabric at Fabric.com to create pillows for it...

I found the crates at Walmart and stained them a dark walnut color.  I added felt bottoms so they could slide them in and out for their books.  I found this pendant light at Ikea for $30 and thought it looked kind of "barney".  I sprayed it an oil rub bronze and cut off the plug in part to hardwire it into the ceiling box. 

 One of the last touches I added to the wall was a large collage of my girl's riding and fond memories of them over the years at the ranch.  Underneath the collage I hung my grandmother's horse whip that I treasured as a young girl.

My girls love how it turned out, which is good...because it isn't changing any time soon. ;)

New DIY Weathered Wood & Molding Headboard

My oldest daughter is fifteen and recently decided her bedroom was too "babyish". She wanted to update it with an older more sophisticated look and who am I to argue when I have the opportunity to do a new project! 

We started by making her a new headboard - 

I purchased a large sheet of plywood and cut it to fit a queen size bed.  I layered different molding to create the look I wanted on the top and the sides, then filled in the middle with 1x4 's from Home Depot -

Next I followed a tutorial from Ashley at Cherished Bliss, on how to weather wood.  It's a great tutorial and a super easy process, I was really excited with how it turned out!

We are well on our way to adulthood!

Family Room Makeover - before & after

Family Room makeover -

When we purchased this house two years ago I longed for rich woods, gray walls, and white trim.  

Prior to moving in, I started by encasing the windows with a simple trim, and adding a wide top trim piece with crown.  We also painted the walls Sherwin Williams Repose Gray, and replaced the carpet with a darker carpet.  

The renovations did not stop there, after we moved in I removed the blinds, added privacy lined bamboo roman shades, and switched out the white ceiling fan for a drum shade pendant fixture. The fireplace tile was torn out, and a carrara marble herringbone pattern put in.  

A couple months ago the floor tile was removed and hard wood floors were laid.  It's taken two years to complete all the changes but it is finally how I envisioned it.

before:

(photos from listing)

after:

It's home.

  

 

Kitchen Before, During, & After Reveal

I am so excited to share with you guys my kitchen makeover today!  It has been quite a long few weeks, months actually if you count us starting by changing out the floors in January.  Here is a quick look at the before & after:

kitchen before:

 

kitchen after:

before:

after:

I started the remodel by tearing out the tile and replacing it with an engineered oak wood floor (not laminate), Heirloom from Provena.  (See sources below for more information.)

Here are some more before photos with all the tile still intact:

After the flooring was in, we put in new counter tops.  I chose White Ice Granite.  It has lots of white, gray, and black in it.  Here is a close-up of the stone:

After the counter tops were in, my cabinet guy came and in and got to work.  I designed a plan that used some of my old upper boxes, with new mixed in, staggered, and with large crown and a step below the crown.  I also wanted dark open shelves to contrast with the white. I kept all the base cabinets the same, but opted to switch out all the doors and drawers with a new style. 

During:

I hired a company to come in and spray with a lacquered white, and kept the original oil bronze hardware I had before.  New pendant and sconce light fixtures, new kitchen faucet, and a beveled white subway tile back splash dressed up the space.

Here are all the afters! -

After

Sources: (if you are local and are interested in these local companies, contact me and I will provide you with their specific info)

Wood Flooring: Heirloom by Provena (If you are local, contact Gary Walker at Wholesale Flooring in Lindon for this product)

Counter tops: White Ice granite.  I purchased mine at Arizona Tile, and used Creative Granite & Design as the fabricator

Custom cabinets & shelving: Ideal Cabinets, Clay McNeel 801-633-4112
Cabinet painting: All Woods Finishing

Beveled white subway tile: Home Depot

Concorde Dawn Beveled 3 in. x 6 in. x 8 mm Ceramic Wall Tile

Light fixtures:  Pottery Barn Classic Pendant and Sconce with flared glass

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