Tag Archives: interior design

Bedroom Makeover: The After

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Over the summer I mentioned that we were making some changes to the master bedroom, but I never posted pictures of the completed room. I think I was waiting until I thought the room was completed and now, 5 months later, I think it’s probably as complete as it’s going to get. We hit a point were it was vastly improved, and then just sort of stopped. There is no art on the walls, but otherwise we accomplished nearly everything we set out to do.  Eventually we’ll focus on it again and add some final touches. For now, I love the room, and we have plenty of space for an ever-changing display of children’s artwork taped to the walls.

Here’s what our bedroom looked like at the start of the summer:

After painting, adding hardwood floors and rearranging the furniture, here’s what our room looks like today:

Mini Home Makeover: The Entryway

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I pin a lot of amazing home decor spaces to my pinboards, most of which I can never achieve in my Texas house in the suburbs. But when I saw this minty green dresser, I immediately thought, ‘I have that!’ Well, not exactly that, but something very close. I inherited a quirky green dresser from the previous owner of my apartment in Brooklyn many years ago, and I’ve kept it over 15 years and through 5 moves even though it doesn’t go with anything else I own. I’ve always loved it, but didn’t know quite what to do with it. Last weekend, we pulled it out of the guest bedroom and moved it front and center into our entryway. I would have taken a before shot of the bookshelves we removed, but I think my husband and I were so eager to get rid of them that we didn’t think to stop and take a picture.

And then there’s the painting. I love that painting in the inspiration photo, but there is no attribution on the interior designer’s portfolio site and what are the chances I could actually afford it? Slim. So, I painted my own simpler and not quite as beautiful version. I’m pretty happy with the outcome, and now our entryway is so much brighter and cheerier.

Chalkboard Table DIY

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Earlier this year I wrote about a blank space in our living room – the sometimes Christmas tree, sometimes play area space that we have yet to decorate. My plan was to buy a new chair and side table, but once again, playing has won out over decorating.

It started after Jenna’s birthday party, when we moved this table from the playroom to the backyard to serve as the main tea party table. After the party, we moved the table inside and, temporarily, placed it in the living room. I think carrying it upstairs seemed like too much work at the time. Since then it’s become the main space for playing and drawing, and I realized that I liked having a large table in the living room. This week I decided to convert the table into a chalkboard surface, which was surprisingly easy.

I started by cleaning the table and taping the edges of the table with painter’s tape.

I used Rust-oleum chalkboard paint and a small roller brush to cover the surface. The paint goes on very smoothly and dries to the touch in about 30 minutes. It’s also recommended that you wait 3 days before using chalk on the surface.

But, of course, that untouched surface didn’t remain for long. J+J covered nearly the entire surface in chalk as soon as I let them start drawing.

Home Project: Living Room

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Every year when we take down the Christmas tree, I’m left with the above view of our living room: an empty wall of windows. The space eventually becomes a play space for the kids, housing either a treehouse fort, a play kitchen or a small table and chair set overflowing with Legos. I’ve convinced myself that this is a great way to share the living room with the kids, but, in reality, we just don’t really have anything better to put there … and the kids have an entire playroom overlooking this room. Do we really need two playrooms?

Maybe not right away, but sometime this year I plan to tackle this space. I’ll consider it a New Year’s Resolution of sorts. One I’m (somewhat) confident I can accomplish.

I’m thinking this space needs a chair/table set, maybe something along these lines:

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Jenna 2.0

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My baby girl will be turning two in a couple of months, and I’ve been thinking about changing her room to better suit the little girl she’s becoming. The biggest change will be the introduction of a toddler bed, a P’kolino hand-me-down from her brother. But knowing me, I’ll probably make a few decorative changes as well. So I’ve started collecting images and bookmarking sites to capture ideas for the design.

Here’s my inspiration so far:

Designing Jenna's Little Girl Room

Designing Jenna's Little Girl Room