Bathtime, Part V

It looks like this will be the last in the series of the "bathroom" posts, as seen from the kids' perspective. 

Despite the addition of our baby gates, we had an accident.  Clay fell down the stairs carrying Emerson a couple of weeks ago.  He had her on his hip and when he fell, he landed flat on his back pinning her right leg between his back and the steps, which resulted in a break of that right leg bone.  She's in a cast for the next four weeks and that means sponge baths until the cast is off.  Em is doing surprisingly well, it's Clay who has been suffering the most.  In addition to a very sore and bruised back, he's been beating himself up pretty bad over how he should of landed or what he could of done to have avoided this all together.  My poor guy and my poor baby girl.

If you're interested in seeing the other posts in this short-lived series,

Part I can be seen here.

Part II can be seen here.

Part III can be seen here.

Part IV can be seen here.

Fingerprint Artwork, Displayed

Now that the last of the wallpaper is removed from the hallway and living room of our home, I've been thinking about paint choices and decor ideas.  For the hallway, I love the idea of displaying my children's artwork. I knew we'd need a method of showcasing pictures that could be easily changed because Narls creates A LOT of drawings in his early preschool class. 

Pottery Barn's cable and clip system is perfect!  I'm not exactly loving the $39 a piece price tag though, especially since I figure we'd need at least two for our hallway.  $80 is more than I want to spend on decorating our hallway.

via Pottery Barn



A few other homes have used something similar to this to display their children's art in their home and wow, I  love each one of them. I'm definitely sold on this idea.

via Urban Cottage Living

In this home, Tahni used a curtain rod and curtain rings.

via Bungalow Insanity

via ohdeedoh

The bottom two pictures use a 3-piece curtain suspension kit from Ikea which at $30, is only slightly less than Pottery Barn's cable kit.  I have a diy idea that I think may work and if it does, it'll only cost less than a third of that.

The Last of the Wallpaper- GONE!

My girlfriend Sarah was over one afternoon and she convinced me that now is as good of time as any to get the last of the remaining wallpaper pulled from the walls.  There wasn't a lot, just a hallway and a wall in the living room, but I've been dreading it and putting it.

We mixed a bit of dishsoap with warm water in one of those containers that are typically used to spray weeds (we bought ours brand new for this occassion; I don't recommend using one that has held weed killer before) and literally soaked the wallpaper-covered walls.  The wallpaper pealed right off! It was so easy!  We even had Narls and Sarah's daughter Abby helping.

All it took was some motivation from a good friend and a lazy afternoon.

Wall Help Needed

When you first walk down the steps into our family room, you are greeted with this:



Lovely isn't it? I absolutely adore the birds and the family pictures we chose to fill the frames. Unfortunately this next wall isn't as lovely.

Then we have my darling teal wall. The mirror and sconces are here only because we had them on hand and I wanted to fill the wall. This is not where these items are going to live forever.

I have a lot of things in my mind that I feel like could work in either spot but I'm been thinking about this for so long that I feel like I've over-thought everything and am now unable to make a decision. I'd love your input.

All along I thought I would buy a tree decal for the tan wall. 

 via Single Stone Studios

via Contemporary-Interior

I think that is so striking!  However, I'm wondering if it's too much decal-action in one room.  Another option is to buy more prints by Alan Buckle which match the set I already have (and love so much!), but again that little nagging voice in my head is saying this would be too matchy-matchy.

via art.com

There's always the option of putting a large mirror on the tan wall.  It'd reflect the sunshine coming in from the window on the opposite wall and it would make the width of the room feel bigger. I really like this one from Pier 1.

via Pier 1

And lastly, there is also the option of installing some floating ledges and decorating them with frames and organic-y trinkets, similar to this:

via Pottery Barn

Many options, two walls. I can't decide.  Do any of these options seem to work best to you?  And if so, where?  Do you know of something I missed that would better work for this room? I’d appreciate any advice.

Bathroom Haul

I was at TJ Maxx last night when I found the softest butter-yellow chenille rug.  I figured it was meant to be mine since I just decided that gray and yellow would be the color combination for our main bathroom.  I picked up the rug, two yellow glass canisters with removal lids (perfect for q-tips and cotton balls) and a large yellow vase all for less than $50.

I admit, the yellow looks a little strange with our bathroom’s current wall color, a very loud and in-your-face salmon, but I think it’ll be perfect with the steely gray color I have in mind for the walls.

Now to convince my brother to come over and paint. 

Gray and Yellow Inspiration

I really love the gray & yellow color combination and after seeing these two rooms, I’m completely sold on this palette for our main bathroom.    

Via DecorPad

Via SouthernLiving

Snow Day

We had a bunch of snow fall last night and awoke this morning to a winter wonderland.  Schools were canceled and quite a few businesses were closed and the morning had that quiet stillness that can only really be found in the heart of the winter season.

 Unfortunately Clay had to work, but I was able to stay home from my job and spend this cozy snowday with my babies.  We played and did a couple crafts in the morning but then Narls and I spent a good hour outside while Emerson napped. 

We had a great time making snow angles and building a snowman – our first in our new home!  I suppose I could of shoveled the snow off of our driveway and walkway, but I do believe this time was better spent making memories with my children. 

Gating the Babies In

Good thing we have pretty pink Valentine's decorations up because I’m going to need something to distract me from the ugly baby gates we installed. Emerson is crawling and cruising like a mad woman so they’re a necessary evil, especially considering we have two sets of stairs (three if you count the stairway going into the basement but that has a door).  Thankfully the staircases are short ones with only seven steps and they’re carpeted but the less babies and toddlers we have falling down them the better.

A Red Welcome

I love Valentine's Day. Ok, truth be told, I love all holidays but Valentine's Day is very near and dear to me. I think it's all the pink and hearts and lovey dovey.  So I decorated a bit this past weekend and put up some heart-shaped lights and set out a candy dish.  And there's a big red shiny heart hanging from our front door, gotta love that.