Make room for the King

Remember my painted wallpaper in my master bedroom?

I still luuuve it btw.

Well, we needed a new mattress...

too many monkeys jumping on the bed:
and I talked my hubby into a King since we've wanted one for years...

And there's The King... on the floor.

But not for long. I can't wait!!

Temporary Playroom

We miss the playhouse we built in our old Kentucky home.

Remember how we found some extra space behind our wall and turned it into a kids dream...

BEFORE :

(literally a hole in the wall)

AFTER:

I've thought about banging holes in the walls here in search of another secret space but I'm trying to control those urges.

Instead we have named a room upstairs "the playroom".

I have 4 young kids and want that room to be magical for them but I'm still not exactly sure how I am going to do that so I decided to decorate the playroom "temporarily" in a vintage feel.

I made these fabric covered ikea magnet strips the same way my friend Traci did here.

They are perfect for displaying the kids artwork.

(I did one strip for each child)

These curtains were my first attempt at using grommets. LOVE them.

Seriously, I could not believe how easy it was and I love how they turned out... so clean looking! (I just followed the instructions that came with the grommets- which I bought at Joanns)

Got to have a mirror for admiring themselves in their dress-ups...

Nothing fancy but it works.Do you have a room that is temporary... waiting for inspiration... or maybe the money to make your dreams a reality? That always helps too. ;)
Do YOU have a playroom you love or any ideas for me?

I'd love to hear them!!!

Creating a picture wall

It all started with this picture...

Our first good family picture in Y-E-A-R-S.

It deserved a special place in our home.

I thought this was the perfect wall for it...

But, while our family was visiting us for Thanksgiving we used the "perfect" wall for this...


And I loved it so much that I decided to keep that wall clear for lots of future movie nights!

So, this was the next "perfect" wall choice...
This wall is seen right when you walk in the front door and goes down the staircase.


BEFORE I started hanging pictures I spent months looking for things I LOVE to hang around our family picture.

I've made the mistake toooo many times of buying things just to fill a space. I would get sick of those "things" within weeks and go looking for other "things" to replace them.

A interior designer friend of mines best advice, "If you only buy things you L-O-V-E you will LOVE your space." I agree!!
This time I was determined to make this wall meaningful and ALL about our family.


Once I found every piece I laid them all on the floor and moved things around until I loved it then I grabbed a measuring tape and jotted down how close every piece was to the things around it.

Finally, I centered our family picture on the wall...

I really wanted the picture to {POP} so I framed it in a very simple frame and then added this fancy open frame around it...

On the left side...

On the right side I put the picture of the temple (where my hubby and I were married) a little higher because I knew I wanted to add our family motto to the top and I wanted it to look balanced...


I got this little gem for Christmas...


which I used to make the last component of our picture wall...

I still can't believe I can cut my own vinyl now!!!!

Finally all together...

I LOVE it!
I'm SO glad I was patient and gathered each piece with a purpose.
I also love the texture of it all with the shiny and the rusty metal and the wood and everything!!

It's so hard to say good-bye

Feeling a little melancholy today...

It's time to put away the Christmas decor

and it makes me a little sad.

Especially when I take down these smiling faces...

so hard to say good bye.