bedroom inspiration

so this photo is the the inspiration the future of our bedroom. who knows if or when. i just love to dream :)

i'd love to switch out the bedding to something some subtle, maybe a white with some texture, or some sort of neutral. (truth is, white scares me thinking about the little nosies and toesies in my bed!)

see the yellow in that frame in the previous photo? i'm thinking that yellow alll over the nightstand(s) below, and alllll over a vintage bureau my parents have that is the same shape. with glass knobs?! ugh, i'm getting anxious even thinking about how good it'll look.

this is an ikea bed frame...that's $99. it might as well be free! love it.

and this bad boy at the end of that fabulous bed?

what do you think??

bedroom befores

i love before and afters. i have a lot of before and after drafts up my sleeve, but more often than not, projects aren't quite finished around here, and i don't really want to post almost-after pictures. that's way lame. but if i don't, i'll never have anything to show you because nearly every room is at work in progress somehow. so i guess i'll have to be a little lame :)
these are the before pictures of our bedroom. this room i hated more than i could ever explain for a few reasons:a) the paint colors, though not terrible, clashed with our bedroom set. BADLY.b) whoever painted it was likely blind. what a mess. AWFUL.c) someone was trying to get creative with the two-tone, but didn't finish the trim work and so it mostly looked ric-rac. ugh.d) the wallpaper on the ceiling (which is the only unfinished part now) really had to come down. it was so ugly and elias enjoyed peeling it off while he'd lay with us in bed. awesome.e) the list goes on. and on.
i'll post the after pictures of the bedroom in the following post and soon i'll reveal the plans we have for it in the months to come. if you're lucky, maybe i'll give you a hint...



























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bedroom afters

the bedroom: after

i have to admit i'm quite pleased with how this room turned out. then again, anything is an upgrade from the hot mess it was.

this first photo is of one of my favorite little details. it's actually a hook for a jacket, but i'm using it as a tie-back. i bought it at michaels (a craft store) for 70% off thinking i'd use it for the foyer, but when i realized there's no place in there i want random things hanging, i decided to use it to sweep my too long curtains to the side.

the paint is a custom mix very close to behr's "english channel" (ul230-2). i adore it. the trim is a creme color called bare (oc-98) by benjamin moore. i'm going to switch the window shutters for the white ones i had put in the bathroom since now there is no more brown trim. hallelujah!

this will eventually go on the slanted wall where we took off the old wallpaper. as soon as i'm not to nervous that i'm going to screw it up royally. eek. wallpaper scares me.

ta-da!

tomorrow's post will be a sneak peek of what i have in store for the bedroom :)

l-o-v-e in the uk

can you even STAND it?!
even MORE fabulous items in target?
is it possible?!
march 14, liberty of london is headed to target to make it even more impossible for me to not shop.

i might need an intervention. someone will have to literally lock me in my house and steal my amex. the pillows and lamps and cannisters and note cards and dresses...and...and...

oh gosh. it's hard for me to breath with all this fabulousness.

anyone?!

my crayon box

Okay, let's talk paint some more, since I love paint :)

In the past, I've never been a bold color girl. Maybe in handbags or shoes, but never on say, walls. But this house is different. We live in a 1847 Cape, and traditionally people stick with airy, beachy, soft Cape colors in a house such as ours. But I found this amazing green when we were re-doing the foyer that threw me straight over the edge into bold and saturated and fabulous...

My predicament with the main floor, however, is this: It's currently running the risk of becoming a Crayola crayon box. I'll elaborate...

Here is the foyer- deep rich mossy pukey green. My very favorite paint choice ever (Benjamin Moore's avocado):

That armoire, by the way, was $20 on Craigslist. I just painted it :) Oh yeah, deals on wheels...

A quick family pic :)

Off the foyer is a bright red bathroom, which was red when we moved in and I actually like:

When you walk through the foyer, and into the kitchen, you are greeted by Benjamin Moore's "ol' blue eyes" which is really bright and fabulous, and works because there isn't much wall space at all in the kitchen.

And off the kitchen is the dining room, which as you know, I've felt tempted to paint again, given its school bus yellow-orange condition. Still undecided on the paint here, and still not convinced I want to go pumpkin, though I likely will just to steer away from the "crayon box" syndrome.

I mean, this yellow, Valspar's "morning sunrise"...is electric, boogie oogie.

Off the kitchen is the kids toy room/my office, and it's yet to be painted because the windows need to be replaced (we'd really like to blow the whole thing off and make a bigger addition to expand the kitchen and give us a little bit of basement that's not dirt, but that's not in the cards for now). This room is a pale pale blue grey, and I'm thinking of painting it a warm darker tan. Any thoughts?

Lastly is the living room. As you can see, we tore the ceiling down (a while ago now) to see if the beams underneath were nice enough to expose...but not so much, unfortunately. Eventually, rough pine board will replace the non-ceiling and that sad excuse for a built in will get ripped down, too. My original thought for this room was to paint it red. But now I'm shying away from red and moving towards the blue in the pillows below. A steely blue. Again, thoughts?

The curtains:

i thought that I had found the same paint that was on the walls when I did some patch work. Apparentlyyy not.

So c'mon, all my design/paint/interior decorating girls (you know who you are)...I need some feedback so I can get to work!

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expectations

hello blog readers. thank you for tuning in again to my station. all stratton, all the time. it's really a pleasure that i am not the only one enjoying my blog. my thanks to you all for your kind words.

this christmas, i'm noticing that it feels slightly impossible for me to get myself into the holiday spirit. into it into it. not just luke warm into it. i want to be so badly! but christmas is sneaking up on me, and we haven't even finished decorating the tree yet. (leelee made a good point that last year my parents didn't put theirs up until christmas eve, but still...). we tried to decorate it two nights in a row. the first night, we only got the lights on the tree and some garland on the mantle and the stairs. elias was chucking ornaments (what, mum? it was a patriots one- in the shape of a BALL. what did you expect me to do with it?) and it was more work to keep the ornaments safe than anything else. i envisioned eggnog and snuggling, tree-trimming and laughter, snow falling and movie-watching.

and i got ornament chucking.

yes. i was literally taking his picture as he was throwing ornaments. classic.

the second night the football game was on instead of rudolph, and elias thought it was fun to hang the ornaments on the tree and then take them off again. then put them back on. then take them off. you know. he's such a boy. he can be gentle, but when they are all shiny and they look like balls, what can you do? he thought they were for playing sports. that's my boy...

okay, so my expectations are out of television commercials and my son is TWO, so i'm not sure what needs to give, here. my best guess would be those expectations i had. don't you find that it can be so hard to enjoy certain times when they just aren't as you hoped or expected? just picture me chasing elias with the camera trying to capture some moments of our family tree-trimming. meanwhile he's pitching ornaments like papelbon. ha!

i'm learning to just enjoy the moment. and if it's not on video, it's okay. instead of running around like a crazy person, as a mom, it's important to remember the point of christmas. dave's aunt shared this with me and i'd like to share it with you all:

1 CORINTHIANS 13 CHRISTMAS VERSION
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at meal time, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

i know i'm not worried about linens and gourmet meals myself, but i do like to share special christmas times and traditions. i'm now adjusting to what it means to do them with infants and toddlers. expectations can be killers in so many aspects of our lives. when i was younger i used to always say "blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed." attributed to ben franklin, i believe. and he's right...in a sad, depressing way. now i would say to expect less, not to expect nothing.

...or should i say expect great things?! (that's what an optimist would say)

problem is, i'm a realist (aka, a pessimist in waiting), so i probably wouldn't say that. i'll have to work up to it :)

so to all of you who have expectations for their holidays (...or husbands, or family, or friends, or whatever), just ENJOY the moments as they come. and i'm going to do the same.

remember: when life throws your ornaments, just duck!