New House: Wood Burning Fireplace

One of the features we've been excited about, but haven't been able to utilize until recently, is the wood burning fireplace! In our last house we had two fireplaces, but they were coal burning and had been capped off years ago. So while pretty, they weren't functional.

This house has a painted wood paneled room with a large hearth and built-in's galore! It's pretty much my dream cozy family room. It still needs some work and tile is definitely not my first choice for a family room, but we'll get there over time.

As the weather has finally started to cool off we've been enjoying the fireplace nearly every night. (If you are local and need a firewood man, let me know, we have a good one!)

Not a a fire pic, but look at this cuteness!

Bryan lighting the first fire! 

If you are wondering about the garland, it's our November thankful garland. For the last few years we've written down one thing we are thankful for throughout the whole month. This year we are hanging our thankful leaves over the mantle, because why not? Is it high style? No. But it's a sweet reminder of all that we have as we gather together as a family. 

I'm looking forward to decorating for Christmas next week! (Seriously, can you believe it?!) 

Life Lately: Picture Post

It's been a minute since I've done a life 

lately picture post, so here goes:

Charlie on the trampoline. I'm so glad I convinced Bryan to let us hang on to it a little longer. 

Charlie and I did a six week music class at church. My mom was able to attend most of them and they had the best time. 

We don't often dress C up like this, but when we do I take a picture!

One benefit of all those mis-cuts: new play toy!

Charlie and my brother, whom he calls Bubba. 

Charlie prefers the cat over the dog. FYI.

A rare opportunity to hang out with some of my cousins and family. 

Bryan and Charlie planted my fig tree last Saturday! So happy to finally get it in the ground. I've had this tree three years now. 

Family selfie! 

Master Bedroom One Room Challenge Reveal!

It's here! It's time! Can you even believe it? 

The last few days I've been running around dancing thinking "it's done! It's done! It's done!" Anyone else? 

You ready? Here she is:

Wait! Remember it before? 

Ugh! Periwinkle! 

I'm totally head-over-heels in love with the new color, Clary Sage by Sherwin Williams. Sometimes at night I lay in bed and just gaze at the walls and trim lovingly. Bryan is a little bit jealous. 

As you can see we kept all the furniture, although we did switch around the chest of drawers and cedar piece. 

On this wall we added some art. 

The Mississippi River engineer print turned out pretty well. I had a hard time finding a frame for it as it printed a weird size. As you can see it's a little odd, but I'm happy with it for now. And you can't beat the price! 

These are the sweetest pieces between the closet and hallway doors. The top piece I had custom made by a local artist. It features maps of three important places to Bryan and I (where we met, our first apartment and our first home). The bottom piece is an old sketch of the new house I found in one of the closets. I had it matted and framed on the cheap. There isn't a date on it and the landscaping and treescape are vastly different than it is now. I wish I knew how old it is! 

These are the pieces we switched around. When we installed the curtains the chest of drawers seemed to fit better on the wall next to the curtains. 

My mom hemmed the curtains from our old house (and previously at my grandmother's assisted living apartment). They are hung much wider than our window, but it gives that wall more dimension and presence. I like it. 

Our budget was pretty much zero, but I didn't have to buy much. Here's the rundown:

Paint: $100

Baskets over cedar piece: $30

Mississippi River art and frame: $27

House sketch framing: $44

Total: $201!

Not bad! This room really feels like ours now. Despite Bryan's being slightly hesitant on the remodel and dragging his feet on the crown molding, he appreciates the difference. We are both eager for our next project. The guest bedroom or the master bath? 

Thanks for following along and stopping by. Be sure to check out the other participants! 

To recap: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5. 

ORC Master Bedroom Week 5 - Almost There!

Welcome back to the fifth week of One Room Challenge hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. I'm so excited to be able to participate this year. If you are just joining me I'm working on our new master bedroom. My family moved into this 1970 home at the beginning of the summer and we are just now starting to make it our own.  Catch up here on Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4. 

Hard to believe we are in the final home stretch of this challenge. Thank the Lord is all I have to say about it at this point.

This past week has been challenging. I've grown frustrated at how long some projects are taking and just ready to be done already! Anyone else feel the same way?

I ordered new pillow shams for the bed. I really loved the fabric I had before but it clashes with the drapery fabric(the same as the smaller middle pillow) so it had to go. I moved them to the guest room for the time being and they look beautiful in there.

I bought a frame for my river print but haven't framed it or hung it yet. I guess I'll save it for a last minute project.

On Saturday we prepared ourselves for crown molding day! Bryan called his parents over to watch Charlie in the morning so that we could knock it out. Hahahahahahahaha

It looks good up, but the corners are wrong. 

We watched all the YouTube videos and read up a bunch on making the cuts for crown molding. It took about 20 times longer than we expected, but by Sunday evening we had it up.

I've been spending all the subsequent naptimes caulking and painting. It's exhausting to squeeze DIY in between parenting, but the results are worth it. The last few nights I've laid in bed staring at my crown molding instead of reading. And if you know me, that's really saying something.

Can't wait to see everyone else's progress and next week to see all the final rooms!

Halloween 2016

I am not a Halloween person. The idea of choose and dressing up in a costume does not bring me joy. But alas, kids. Charlie is still an age where he does not understand, so I took the lazy way out this year. I let him wear the same costume as last year! Still the best $2 spent ever.

We were not going to take him trick or treating this year until some friends asked us over. Of course we couldn't say no.

We had a great time with our friends and then still had time to come home and hit up a few close neighbors and hand out a bit.

Maybe Halloween isn't so bad after all!