Hudson's Kentucky Themed Nursery Plans

Besides naming and meeting your newborn child, is there anything more fun than planning a nursery?  It's like a blank slate where you get to create whatever you want in the room.  I get it, some of you aren't in to interior decorating.  But this is so far up my alley, I'm completely geeking out over the possibilities.

When Avery was born, I didn't have much of a plan for her nursery, other than the strict no-pink rule I'd laid down.  I was into black and white at the time, so I thought it only natural to just go with the black and white theme that was laid throughout the rest of our house, adding in purple for some femininity.   Look back on pictures, I wish I had done a little more planning on her room to decorate and plan for a future room.  Right now, Avery's poor room is devoid of any and all decorations.  I just can't get a feel for what I'm wanting to do.  I think if I had decorated her room early on, I wouldn't  be having this issue.  Moving on....

I wanted to have a different approach when it came to Mr. Hudson's room.  Before we found out we were having a boy, I was heavily leaning towards a woodland creatures theme.  I know you've seen some of these ideas on Pinterest.

I still love it.  The foxes, the natural woods, still all adorable.  But then I started talking to my sister about nursery themes........

.....and she suggested a Kentucky theme........

......and I died. 

Not really, but I got wayyyyy too excited and immediately started Pinterest-ing ideas.  (We're talking the STATE of Kentucky, not the University.  My husband would have a coronary if I tried decorating his little boy's room in UK stuff).  The more stuff I started finding on Pinterest and Etsy and the more excited I became.  

Reason #1: 

1.  Kentucky is home to bluegrass, basketball, horses, rolling hills, tobacco barns.  Doesn't this just SCREAM a sophisticated nursery??

2.  I love my state.  Kentuckians are notoriously proud of the Bluegrass State and we don't care to tell you.  In my days at UK, there were an abundance of Ohio residents in attendance.  One Ohioian (is that what someone from Ohio is called?  I don't even know.) girl told a class that she had never met people who were prouder of their state than people from Kentucky.  Hell yes.  Also, this survey is important to note.  Kentucky people love Kentucky.  Now imagine a Kentucky person who loves Kentucky decorating a Kentucky themed room.  It gives you the warm fuzzies, doesn't it?

Duh?

3.  When Hudson gets older and decides he's over the theme of his room, all of the decor in there can be incorporated in other areas of my house.  Winner.  

I got so excited pinning and looking on Etsy that I couldn't figure out what direction I was going in with this room, so I decided to make a mood board, which is basically a blank "page" where you put all your ideas together to make sure you're having a cohesive thought. 

Presenting......Hudson's Kentucky Themed Nursery Board!

Details:

Crib, Westwood Park, Target ($499).  I am OBSESSED with this crib.  It's very barn looking to me and just screams Kentucky farm.  If I have to sell all my personal belongings, I must have it.

Fabric, Charley Harper Organic, The Quilted Castle ($11.55/yard).  I am a Kentucky fan.  My husband is a Louisville fan, home of the Cardinals.  I wanted to figure out a classy way to bring in both UK and UofL into this nursery without posting something actual UK or UofL.  I think this fabric is perfect for doing just that.  Plus, the cardinal is Kentucky's state bird, so I can always claim that was my motivation behind it.

Pendant, Allen + Roth, Lowes ($179).  Absolutely no purpose for this light, other than I think it is such an awesome country look to it.  Hudson's room has a ceiling fan in it, which has never been used, but I can't justify spending that much on a light that isn't a necessity.  But I like the feel of it and it goes along with the look I'm trying to create.

Glider, Dorel Living, Wayfair ($306.99).  Neutral, cheap.  I'm in love.

Kentucky Pennant Flag Pillow, Thistlewood Farms Blog.  This is going to happen.  My sister says she has extra pennants in her office from UK themed events.  Now to find someone that can sew......*cough MOM cough*

Kentucky ABCs Print, Kentucky for Kentucky ($30).  Just fun, right?

Horse Watercolor Print, Etsy ($25).  I love this.  It's more than likely happening.

Louisville Map, Etsy ($19 for 8"x10").  There are so many cool map and city skyline options on Etsy.  Whatever style I decide, I'm going with the city of Frankfort, Kentucky's Capitol.

Jute Wrapped Knob, Hobby Lobby ($2.49/ea).  Not my favorite yet.  I've seen some on Anthropologie's website that I am obsessed with, but they're $15 apiece.  That can't happen.  This is a good compromise.

TARVA dresser, IKEA ($149).  Before baby gets here, I'm planning a massive IKEA trip.  This is the TARVA dresser painted navy.  It's absolutely happening.

And there you have it!  My ideas for sweet little Hudson's Kentucky themed room.  Does this mean this is exactly what it's going to look like?  Absolutely not.  I want the gallery wall to contain more non-photo items hanging up, like license plates and horseshoes and whatever else catches my eye.  Plus, I have a crap ton of bookshelf space to decorate, so knicknacks will be important.  I'd like to find other specific Kentucky items, but I think this is an excellent jumping off point....don't you think???

Awkward TV Wall

This blog used to be a place where I talked about my house.  And things I had done to my house.

I haven't done anything to my house in for-ev-ver.  It doesn't feel right.  I love decorating.  And I can't stand for anything to stay the same for too terribly long.  It's a flaw and it drives Marty crazy, but I can't help myself.

The decor in our house, however, has stayed the same for a long, long time.  I haven't done anything new since we finished the kitchen remodel.  Too long, friends.

So I'm going to focus on this one tiny little area:  the TV wall.

You're snoozing, right?  It's SO boring.  But it's such an awkward layout that I have absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Things that won't stay:  the chairs are temporary, moved only so the drywallers that are working on our basement could get in and out of the basement door while carrying heavy items easier.  They won't stay there.   The clock could stay or go to another wall, I'm not married to the idea of it being there.

Things that will stay:  the TV, obviously.  The cabinet below.  It's one of my favorite things.  You know, besides my husband and child.

It's just such an awkward space.  Three walls, two small walls and you can see part of the hallway when you're in the living room.

So, it's not like I could do a gallery wall around the TV, because I'm planning on doing a gallery wall down the hallway. I just don't know how to even go about attacking this.  Do I ONLY put things on the wall where the TV is and ignore the others?  Do I leave the clock and put things on the TV wall and leave the wall in the middle blank?  This is an area where I'm completely lost and Pinterest isn't helping (what do I type in? "Awkward zig zag wall decor?")

Now taking donations for an interior designer.  Or applications, whichever you feel led to do.

Curtains!

In continuing with my recent home decor themed blog posts, I need your all's opinion.

I've found these curtains from Pier 1.  And I'm in love.

At first glance, they just look like a black and white printed curtain.  Until you actually get up close to them. 

The dots in the pattern are actually elephants!  I realize that this may be completely silly to some people....but to me, they're perfect.  They're so whimsical without being an "in your face" kind of funky.  You really don't even know these are elephants from far away.  I get it.  It's maybe not your thing.  But I'm all about unexpected fun touches in different places around the house to keep your decor fun (hello.  have you seen my cow painting over my faux mantle? elephant curtains make PERFECT sense for my house).

They're originally $29.95 for an 84" panel or $34.95 for a 96" at Pier 1.  But they're on sale right now for $23.95 and $27.95, respectively.  So I'm getting them.

 I'm just running into one little snag.  What height should I purchase?  If I were to get the 84", I would have to put the curtain rod right at the top of my window frame and the curtains wouldn't even reach all the way to the floor.  In fact, it would barely reach over the baseboard.

On the flip side, if I were to get the 96 inch panel, that's not even the length of my floor all the way up to my ceiling.  I could hang the rod almost to the ceiling line (which seems to be the "thing" right now), but then the fabric would puddle.  I don't like puddled curtains.

Or.  I could buy the 84 inch curtains, hang the rod to the ceiling, like as if I had 96 inch curtains, and then use heat and bond strips to attach a contrasting fabric strip to the bottom to add visual interest and height.

Help?

Pillows, Please.

If you can't tell from my last couple of posts, I'm obsessed with decorating my house and getting it to that "homey/comfy/I love living here" place that I want it to be.  I've told myself that I have to focus on one area at a time.  I can't get in the mindset to decorate everything at once because then I'll go crazy and be like "BUY ALL THE THINGS!" and then I'll bankrupt us on Pier One curtains and One Kings Lane knick knacks.  So.  One thing at a time.

Right now, since I've solved the entertainment center dilemma and turned the crates into a functional piece that I love, I've moved on......to throw pillows and curtains for my living room.

I showed you all in my post yesterday what I was lacking in each room.  In my living room, it's personality.  It feels to me like we just moved in and I haven't done anything to the room except slap down a rug around our existing furniture. So it's my goal to add some character.  First step, find some throw pillows and curtains.

Throw pillows

Can I just say something that I feel needs to be said first?  WHY ARE PILLOWS AND CURTAINS AND RUGS AND ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH HOME DECOR SO EXPENSIVE??!?!  $25 for a pillow.  Excuse me?  Rugs are $150 or more, or you're getting a piece of crap.  Lovely.  It's like the general market wants us all to have ugly houses or give up our first born if we want to have our houses look put together.  Harrumph.  I'm done now.

I'm a little bit stumped when it comes to throw pillows in my living room.  It's not like I can just pick three or four pillows that go together and slap them on my couch.  You see, I have a very, very patterned area rug.

I could totally pick out a color in the rug, buy two throw pillows in that color and call it a day.  But I don't want to do that.  I want to be able to mix patterns like a boss.  So far, I'm not very good at it.  I'm learning....slowly.

The other issue with this rug is that all the colors, other than the chocolate brown outline of the paisley swirls are all some funky looking colors.

The problem with funky colors, in my opinion, is that I can't just look at that, say "Oh.  That's coral." and go to Google to search "coral throw pillows" that will perfectly match this rug.  This is a problem.  And even if I did know the exact color, when you type "steel blue pillow" into Google, a million different shades of steel blue pops up.  Basically, I have a picture of my rug on my phone and when I see a pillow that I think might be one of these colors, I whip out the picture and hold it up to said pillow to see if they're a match.  Most of the time I'm wrong.

But I did find a few good options at Pier One last night.  Normally I don't even step foot in that store.  Mainly because I want everything in it and I don't have the fundage to support that want.  After striking out on throw pillows in other stores, I thought I might risk it.

While in the store, I played around with different pillow combinations (all while Avery yelled "WHY ARE WE LOOKING AT PILLOWS?!? MY BABY DOLL NEEDS TO PEE!").

So, I did find this pillow.

Pier One, $24.95.  Not bad.  I liked the orangey-rust-coraly color of the pattern.  Plus, it's a pattern, but it's subtle.  I did the "hold my iPhone picture up" test and it passed, I thought.  It was enough of a contrast from the pattern of the rug, but also had similar colors.  Plus, it was really freaking soft.  So I bought it. 

With this, I can go a couple of different directions, I think. 

I can get several pillows that are all in that specific shade of rust/burnt orange/clay

I like this option.  At least I know that all the pillows match.  But it's a little more monochromatic than I was wanting.  I really want to utilize the variety of colors in my rug.  But this is most definitely the "safe" option.  (clay colored solid pillow, $23.96, Pier One)

My favorite color in the rug is the little chartreuse/lime green swirls.  There's not very many of them, but I think they're so bold and colorful.  Ideally, I'd pick that to be one of the colors that I bring out into the pillows.  So the other night (you know, at 12:30 am when my stupid brain wouldn't shut off and let me sleep), I went on Etsy and searched "chartreuse throw pillows."  And this popped up.

$49.98, Etsy.  I want it.  I need it.  It's chartreuse.  It's whimsical.  It's Mary Poppins inspired.  I WANT it.  But it's $50.  That's a little too pricey in my book for a throw pillow.  Especially a cream colored throw pillow that little Avery hands will be all over.  But gosh, do I ever want it.

So, just for pretend, like I'm actually going to buy the pillow, let's see what we could do with it.

I LOVE times a million this combination of pillows.  It's so feminine.  I love the colors and the patterns and the way they all kind of flow from one to the other.  But this combination does not match my rug at. all.  *sniff* (grey, coral and chartreuse patterned pillow cover, $45, Etsy)

I think, to pull of this look with my rug, I need a solid color pillow to anchor the two patterns,  but how do I find a solid color that will compliment the clay color in the pillow on the left and the chartreuse and teal in the pillow on the right?  I can't.

It just doesn't work all together.  Goodbye, fun, beautiful pillow.  Maybe one day.

Here's an option that I'm kind of digging.  It's got the chocolate brown solid color, the patterned pillow I already bought and then a zigzag pattern that seems to have a lot of the colors I'm looking for:  chocolate brown, clay, cream, chartreuse.  The blue isn't the right blue, but I'm not really hung up on that I don't think.  This is definitely going in the "strong possibilities" category (chocolate brown pillow, $23.96, Pier One; zigzag pillow cover, $20, Etsy).

Or, I could mix the options together, just picking out two of the colors in the rug:  chocolate brown and clay/burnt orange (someone find a name for this color so I can stop calling it clay/burnt orange).

I'm kind of digging this too.  (Plaid pillow, $17, One Kings Lane)

Well.  I went into this blog post with the intention of talking about throw pillows AND curtains.  Now that I've bored you to death with every throw pillow out there, I think I'll stop now.

Until I find an actual combination I'm happy with, I guess the cheese stands alone:

Home Tour....sort of.

A request I get often is to see pictures of my home.  I'm not sure why....it's not like I'm a guest host on Property Brothers or anything.  My house is not something you'd see in HGTV Magazine, but I'm working on it.

This past weekend, I completely rearranged my entire living space.  I probably moved my club chairs 15 times, trying to find the exact place that I felt like I'd be happy with them.  I did the same with the area under our wall mounted TV.  I kid you not, I tried every single table option I had in my home before I finally decided on a piece of furniture that made me happy.  Before my rearranging party, I liked my living room....but it wasn't wowing me.  It wasn't anything that I'd look around and say "I love this room."  Now, I can say that about a couple of areas....but I still have a loooong way to go.

One of the biggest things I've had to learn as a homeowner is that my house isn't going to be exactly how I want it overnight.  I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating.  When Marty and I had our first house in Bardstown, I felt the need to have my house completely decorated all at once.  We registered for it all--clocks, tables, pillows, curtains.  Everything I thought I "needed" in a house, I registered for it.  As a result, I ended up with a lot of stuff.  Stuff that didn't necessarily fit my design style.  Instead of waiting until I found a piece I loved, I felt like I had to get it all RIGHT NOW.  Marty and I have now been married for 5 years and I can probably count on one hand the number of items around my house that I've kept from those early days of marriage.  If you're interested in decorating your house and making it into something that you're really happy with, figure out your style first.  For me, I love mixed patterns, pops of color mixed with neutral bases, antiques mixed with classic and clean styles.  I'm pretty eclectic.  I love an old suitcase, but I also love the clean lines and designs of everything from the Target Threshold brand.  And that's what I want my house to be.  Classic pieces, while inserting my character through fun statues and antiques.  I want it to be a combination of things that all look like they go together.  Once you figure out your style, then start in one room.  Find one piece that you really love and use that as inspiration to build the rest of your room around.  In my bedroom, my inspiration is this fabric bench.  In my living room, it's my rug.  When you have your inspiration piece, slowly build your room around it.  Get a couch that goes with the rug.  Then get pillows that pull out the colors in the rug.  Or buy the painting that you're obsessed with.  Then find pieces that compliment your painting and bring out the style and character of it.  Even if it takes you 5 years to fully decorate a room, the end result will be something that you are completely comfortable with.  It'll be 100% your home  (note: unless you have wayyy more money than me--which is a total possibility--and you can afford to completely decorate your room all at once.  if so, we should be friends.  want to go shopping, new friend??).

As an example, I'm going to show you pictures of my main living space as part of a little home tour (see??  ask and you shall receive.  i'm a giver.).  With each room, I'll give you a list of all the things I still have to/want to do or change in the room.  No room is perfect.  As soon as you build your room to the way you want it, your style may change and then it's time to start changing out pieces to reflect your new interests.  It's why I love interior design.  I blame/thank my mother.

Enough talking.  Pictures!

Dining Room

An old pair of shutters that used to frame my TV.  I plan to use this as a "command center" to hang reminders (Trash day is Wednesday....we forget almost every week) and pictures.

The top half of a hutch/dresser combo from Avery's room is now a table in the dining room.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way this room is looking.  List of things to change:  paint table legs, stencil the top of the table and bench, find new chairs--mixing wood and fabric printed chairs, change out chandelier, do something with the clock wall (gallery wall? add more clocks?)

Living Room

The TV table finally ended up being the dresser from Avery's bedroom.  Even though you can see the cable box and DVD player, I don't mind it so much when it's sitting on top of my red antique suitcase.

Now.  This living room still needs a lotttttt of work.  I see glimpses of good things:  my rug, the dresser, the chairs.  But it still feels too unfinished, too sparse to feel homey just yet.  I feel like I have the bones of a good room, it just needs more character.  List of things to do in this room:  find throw pillows for the couch, find side table for the couch, move the black cabinet out, get cute accessories for the table tops and dresser, do something to the awkward corner where the fake tree is now, possible frame the TV with a gallery wall of pictures, ADD CHARACTER.

Awkward mantle space

I love my cows.  Love them.  If it was socially acceptable, I'd buy more.  I think Marty would have a cow if I brought another cow print home.  But I'm a big fan.

I love the simplicity of my mantle.  Cow print and a few accessories.  What I'm not loving?  The blank space around the mantle.   Specifically, all the navy blue wall space.  And the gigantic amount of room in between the dining and living rooms.....

I'm not a fan of "white space."  It a flaw of mine when I paint...I always go one step too far in adding a background or a color.  So this blank space is kind of driving me insane.  It feels incomplete to me.  But what can you add without making the room feel insanely crowded with too many pieces of furniture or too much going on in one room?  Because, technically, even though I've defined it as two separate spaces, this is one big room.  List of things to do in this room:  make it look more complete (I'm stumped).

Front door

Awhile back, I posted about the different options I was considering for an entertainment center.  I thought I'd decided on the option that was a unit made entirely out of crates.  Through the weeks, I'd accumulated a good amount of crates for my project.  Then, I assembled the crates together underneath my TV....and I hated it.  It wasn't big enough to make a statement on the wall.  Hence, why you see the dresser under the TV.  But I still loved the idea of the crate bookshelf.  So I moved it over into this awkward little corner between our front door and our new kitchen bar.  I freaking love it here.  It's probably my most favorite thing in the entire room, no joke.  List of things to do here:  stain the crates a dark wood color, finish putting up the black frames around the wall hanger on the opposite wall, paint the front door (shhhh, Marty.  it will be okay.), finish arranging/decorating the items in the crates.

The Kitchen

I realized while writing this post, that I never showed you guys the actual 100% finished pictures of my kitchen.  Oops.  If you're wondering, here's the last update I gave you.  Here's the new pictures: 

Since I made an agreement with my husband that I wouldn't paint the cabinets (still pouting....), I did convince him to paint above the cabinets in the color that I'd picked for my lower cabinets.  I looooove it.  Love it so much.

Whew.  I didn't realize how cluttered my counters appear until looking at these pictures.  Beside the point.....since this is the room that we've spent the most money on, obviously, I'm not in any hurry to do any major things to this room.  I do have a few things I want to do in here though.  List of things:  get a fun pendant lap to replace the existing one, find bar stools, paint or replace the current pantry doors (they're very hard to close....if I do keep the doors, I want to replace the knobs and either paint it the same color as the wall above my cabinets or a chalkboard paint), and bring color into the room with a fun patterned rug and tea towels and valence curtain.  Maybe even paint a quote in the small space above the pantry, not sure yet.

And there you have it, people.  The big open room in my house, separated into multiple living areas.  Am I happy with it?  Mostly.  Am I willing to leave it this way?  Absolutely not.  

Do you have any suggestions for my house?  Bring 'em on!  It's always nice to have a second (and third...and fourth) set of eyes looking at something.  

I totally get that my home may not be your style.  You may be cringing with every single picture I posted (except the cow painting....how can you hate that??).  But I hope you're inspired enough to go find your own style and decorate your house the way you want! 

Master Bedroom Inspiration

I realized this past weekend, something very important.

Not a single room is my house is decorated.  Here's my thing.  I know exactly what I like.  I can look at a magazine or watch an HGTV show and tell you exactly what features are "my style."  I can even go into someone else's home and mentally rearrange the furniture and picture other things hanging on the wall that I think would coordinate really well.  I can pick out paint colors and plan a room for someone else.  It's when I start thinking about my own house and how to decorate it, that I come up completely blank.   Maybe it's because it actually requires buying things and money for a room to look put together.  *sigh*

Yes, I have furniture.  I have things hung on the walls.  I have a rug in the living room that I love.  But not a single room in my house feels "put together" decorated.  Not one.

The closest thing I have to being fully decorated is probably our dining room area.  And that's going to be changing soon (more on that in another post)...

In my living room, I like the rug, the houndstooth chairs, the couch and the railroad crate side table.  Everything else is an afterthought.  I want a new entertainment center, art on the walls, a gallery wall.  I have big plans.  But more on that in another post too....

Because this post is about my Master Bedroom.  If there is one room in your house that you should feel is a retreat that is decorated exactly the way you want it, I really think it should be your bedroom.  Ours......not so much.  I would show you "before" pictures of my room...but I'm not sure you and I are that close yet.  It can only be described as a complete and total disaster right now.  Close your eyes and picture this:  a mismatched oversized chair in the corner.  Random things hung on the wall because I wasn't sure what to do with them.  Large pieces of dark wood furniture.  A very large dark wood four poster bed.  Clean clothes stacked in piles that need to be put away.  Dirty laundry in baskets throughout the room.  A large pile of art supplies that needs to be carried to my basement.  Got a mental picture?  Okay, let's just go with that....

I originally thought I wanted to go with a grey, yellow and mint color combination.  But the more I started trying to find decor to go in our room, the more uninspired I was feeling.  The combination almost felt nursery-ish.  Not something I wanted for my bedroom.  So, I'd decided to completely start over with our bedroom.  If that meant getting rid of the yellow and white bedspread I love so much, then so be it.  So I started looking around online for grey master bedrooms.  I found a lot of stuff that I really liked.

Like this coral, turquoise, mint and grey combination.

{via}

But nothing else was really inspiring me.   I just knew that I wanted colors and to be able to mix patterns really well (NOT one of my strong suits), where different pieces were all in the same room, but all looked like it went together.  I've been looking for things to help me decorate my bedroom and every time, I was coming up empty handed.

Then, I went shopping.  And I found this: 

It's dark grey, light grey, mint, yellow, cream, black, light blues, dark blues....and I'm in LOVE.

At first, I looked at it, looked at the price tag and it was a little more than what I wanted to spend.  I probably stood there, staring at this bench for a good 5 minutes and then decided to walk away.  As I was walking around the rest of the store, I kept thinking about that bench.  Even though I don't love chevron anymore (Chevron. Is. EVERYWHERE.  Over it.), the mix of the patterns between the chair and the bench gave me hope that I can actually mix patterns and make it look good.  So I wandered over to the throw pillow section.  And found two pillows on clearance and brought them back to the bench.

As soon as I laid the two pillows on top of the bench, I decided that I had to have it.  I was going to make it happen, one way or the other.  So I pulled out my lovely smartphone, got on my Retail Me Not app, prayed to the Heavens that there would be a coupon for the store I was in.....and there it was.  25% off one single, regular priced item.  Needless to say, I ran and got a cart and promptly brought the entire combination--pillows and all--home with me.

I'll be honest, I was little nervous that the bench wasn't going to work with anything in my existing room, other that the paint on the walls.  I was prepared to start completely over for the sake of having a room I loved, but having things that I could use and not have to buy new would be awesome.  

When I got home, and I found a ton of things in my existing room that already work with this bench.  Including my bedspread!

Black and white chair--TJ Maxx, bought FOREVER ago.  Like 5 years, old
Silver 1 & 2 boxes--Room Service, new
Bench--Gordman's, new
Tray--Gordman's, new
Letters--Kirklands, old
Bedspread--TJ Maxx, old
Frame--from our wedding, old
Window panes---random yard sales, old

I have so many things that are already in my room that work within this color scheme.  Not only that, I think the mix of the greens and blues and whites are extremely calming.  I can work black and white in too.  This is a win-win-win-win situation.

I need to find a rug and curtains and decide what's going on the walls and paint the existing furniture black.  I want to give the bed back to my parents and find something a little more unique and not so gigantic in our room (not a fan of four poster beds....too obstructive for my tastes).  Shew.  I've got a lot of work to do.  Any volunteers?

Entertaining ideas.

Since my kitchen remodel, I'm finally starting to fall in love with my house. I feel like I've finally put my very own stamp on a section of the house to make it feel like "my home."

Now I'm ready to do that to the rest of the house. Problem? I'm not the most patient person in the world. And we all know that it takes a lot of time and effort and finding that "right" item that fits to make your home feel homey and decorated and effortless. At least, that's what I'm going for anyway. But I want it done now. I want to be able to snap my fingers and have my house look exactly the way I want it to in my head (someone hook me up with the Property Brothers!!). 

Anyway. Instead of having the entire house decorated instantly, I've decided to focus on one item at a time. If my attention is focused on one thing, I do that one task, then move on to a new one. 

Right now, my focus is completely on finding a new entertainment center. This little beauty is hanging out in my living room right now. 

This is the entertainment center that Marty and I picked out when we were engaged.  Not because we were in love with the style....but because it was cheap and we were broke. It's not a bad little entertainment center. It's more than served it's purpose for 5 years now. And I would love it to go to another home soon. For my house, I want something that's more "me."

I've fallen in love with pieces like these:

(Kirklands, $499)

(Wayfair, $321.99. I'm OBSESSED.)

Because I don't have $300+ to drop on an entertainment center (and even if I did, I think I'd feel horribly guilty for spending that much), I'm looking for a homemade or cheaper route.

Here's where I'm leaning:

Pallet entertainment center on casters. I adore the creativity and unique-ness of this. Is it too...cheap looking though? 

The storage! The country feel! The place for all the DVDs so I can get rid of the stupid DVD bookshelf that's also in the living room (another newlywed registry item). But is it a little too much? Too cluttered? And to do that many crates, that could cost a pretty penny. I might be better off just buying a ready-made piece of furniture. 

I like the idea of repurposing a dresser for a TV table. But Lordy. Thinking about painting a whole dresser for an entertainment center makes me cringe. 

I'm struggling. Which one? Or none of the above? 

More Raving about Hobby Lobby.

This is my confession.

I have ZERO self control when I walk into a Hobby Lobby.  For some people, it's Target.  I can control myself, for the most part in there.  For other people, it's a clothing store.  I have a super low self esteem about my body image right now, so I have NO problem turning down the idea of trying on and buying new clothes.

But Hobby Lobby?  It gets me.  It's probably a very good thing that the nearest one is 45 minutes away.

On Tuesday, my addiction paid off.  I literally walked in to check and see if they had one item in stock.  They didn't.  I still walked out with a much lighter wallet.  How do they do it?

With things like these:

This clock.  It's GIGANTIC.  And heavy.  Like heavier than my kid, heavy.  Not entirely sure how it's going to hang on the wall.  Good thing stuff like that is Marty's job.  :)

I got this hugantic clock for.......$40.  It was originally $200!!  In fact, my sister and I saw one just like it on the regular shelf for $199.99.  The difference is, mine is missing a piece at the top that would resemble the wind on a pocket watch.  Win for me!

I really want to hang it on my dining room wall, which currently looks like this:

We've been in our house for almost a year now and I'm just over the window wall.  I think the giant clock would be an awesome focal piece for a gallery wall.  Problem is, I'm scared of gallery walls.  I love the look of eclectic gallery walls where homeowners have put a mix of pictures and items together to look cohesive.  I don't think I'm that decoratingly gifted to be able to pull something like that off.  At the same time, I don't want it to look too perfect either.  You know, like clock in the middle, three pictures on one side, three pictures on the other.  That's not my thing.  So, for awhile, the clock may be the only thing I hang until I can figure out what kind of "look" I'm going for and can accomplish.  

Next Hobby Lobby find.....

I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm absolutely drooling over this one.  I've been wanting and looking for a piece of art to go over my mantle for a loooooong time now.  Everything I find isn't exactly right for my decor or it's INSANELY expensive.  I love art, but I'm not paying $100 for something to hang on the wall.  Call me crazy.

So, when I found this for $30, I knew it was made for my house.  The picture doesn't do it justice at. all. because it's got flecks of gold on the flowers and navy in the stems that I think pop out when I put it up against my navy accent wall.  I'm so in love.

*sigh*  How do I love thee, Hobby Lobby?  Let me count the (numerous) ways......

Homage to our Old Home

I love our new house.  It's got a ton of room, it's better suited for our family and it's finally back in Etown, with our families.

But I miss my old house.  It was new.  It was small and homey.  It was adorable.  It felt like home.

This house doesn't really feel just like home yet.  We bought this house from my aunt and I worried for a long time that it would just feel like I was pretending to live in my Aunt Denise's house.  That I would never feel like it was my house.  Well, I don't feel like it's my aunt's house anymore....but I still don't feel like it's mine yet either.

So I've been feeling a little nostalgic and missing my adorable little Bardstown house.  And I've been wanting to somehow display a tribute to it.

I'm loving what my sister has done in her house:

The numbers on the wall are all the different addresses she's lived at during her lifetime.  Adorable. 

But I was thinking more of a picture and the numbers of our first house.  But I didn't love the idea of just doing a regular picture and hanging it up.  I wanted something more........artsy?  I scoured Pinterest and didn't really find any ideas that I loved.  And then the Heavens parted and I found....

Waterlogue.

It's an app you can download to your phone.  Once downloaded, you pull up your photo in the app.  For me, it was the picture of our old house.

When you upload the photo into the app, it automatically makes your photo..........into a watercolor photo.

This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but I'm totally geeking out.  This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.  

In fact, I got so excited, I changed another photo over for Avery's new big girl/subtly themed Disney room:

I am so ridiculously excited about this to the point that it's a little sad.  I've sent these babies off to be printed up so I can hang them up.  I can't wait for you to see the actual photos!!