Some Bedroom Inspiration

I have been pretty focused on making our bedroom look more cohesive lately. Jon hung up the pictures I got him for Christmas and the room already feels more pulled together. The headboard shipped out today so I am excited to get that set up! I also decided on a completely different set of sheets than I originally posted. I have not bought a bed skirt yet, but am hoping to do so soon so the linens are completely done. I decided to get these Egyptian cotton 600TC sheets from Kohl's because they were 50% off and I used a promo code to get an additional $20 off. I can't resist a good deal, especially when the product sounds pretty good!

I really hope they are a good set of sheets because I couldn't find any reviews on them. Image from Kohls.com.

Here's some inspiration:

I really like that little enclave in the upper left corner.

I'm digging those footstools at the end of the bed.

I like this bed skirt. Anyone know where I can find one like it?

I like the nightstand between these beds. I thought I would want some dark wood ones, but I have been attracted to white ones instead.

All images from House Beautiful.

Bedding Options

My husband owned our current bed before we were married since he is tall and can only sleep in a California King. I love this arrangement. However, the only sheets we currently own are black ones that he previously used and white ones that have gotten dingy. So, we are in desperate need of some new sheets, preferably chocolate brown. And a bed skirt, possibly in a neutral color. Here are some options:

 Chris Madden 600TC Wrinkle-Free Sheets (most expensive)

Cindy Crawford 400TC Sheets

Thomas O'Brien Rich Neutral Sheet Set (I am adding this because the size I need is only $26.24 for the entire set - however these sheets did get mixed reviews)

Home Expressions Pleated Bedskirt in Linen (which is that little box)

 

All images from JCPenney.com  and Target.com

Our duvet cover looks like the green sheet in this set to give an idea of what I am matching with. (Image from Target.com)

And our new headboard is this:

Any thoughts or suggestions?

New Year Decorating Inspiration

Amazon had a great sale on magazines right around Black Friday and I decided to subscribe to House Beautiful for $5. I checked out their website tonight and found a few images that I want to try to incorporate into our home after the New Year when the Christmas decorations have been taken down. I am limited though since we are currently living in an apartment. I can't wait to have our own house and do what we want with it!

I have talked before about how I love walls of bookshelves. Obviously I cannot do that right now, but I do want to get some magazine holders and/or boxes to organize all of my cooking magazines. I started tearing out the recipe indexes of each of them tonight. I plan to hold those in a binder to easily look for a recipe and keep the magazines in holders. That way I don't have to flip through an entire magazine when I am searching for something new to make.

The next image is one of a bedroom that I love. I am working on making our bedroom green and chocolate brown. This nightstand is great and makes the bedroom look really crisp. The ones we have now are hand-me-downs and not really my style. I also would like to incorporate some throw pillows like the ones pictured too.

*I will have some pictures of our bedroom up in the next month since I ordered a new headboard and got Jon some frames with Notre Dame pictures in them. They are mostly scenery pictures though so I think they will fit in well with the bedroom I have in mind!*

This bathroom is about 4 times bigger than the one we currently have, but I like the idea of that tray in between the sinks. We don't have a space that big, but a small tray may work. I currently have a brown basket to hold things that don't fit in the cabinets so it doesn't look so cluttered.

Lastly is a picture of some kitchen inspiration. I can't really do much with our current kitchen so this picture will just serve as something that we can do in the future. I really like the open cabinets. Of course, my kitchen colors are red, black & white but I think I can steal some of the basics from this picture eventually!

All images from House Beautiful

After-Christmas sales

My mom and I went to Target for their 50% after-Christmas sales to stock up for next year. I ended up getting 2 rolls of wrapping paper (1 of which can be used for any occasion), lots of ribbon, a lighted garland, a silver decorative tree and some gift tags. We also went to Kohl's where I got a new candle holder and 2 candles that were marked down significantly due to being seasonal. Since we are hosting New Year's Eve this year we wanted to keep our holiday decor displayed to keep things festive. So I added some of my new items to our decor now because I didn't want to wait until next year. I do intend to keep the candle holder and candle out after the holidays since our living room colors are red and black.

The new set-up on top of our media cabinet.

A close-up of my new purchases.

 

Stay tuned to see how I will arrange things after the holidays!

Holiday Decor

I love decorating for Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year and fortunately, I have a husband who loves Christmas as much as I do. We got our Christmas tree from a tree farm this past weekend and decorated our apartment for the holidays as well. Here are just some snapshots.

We had quite the process to get our wreath up and going. We bought a wreath at Target that ended up not working so then we went and got one at Home Depot instead. It has lights on it, but you really can't tell in this picture. We bought some berry sprigs to tuck in around the wreath.

This little guy hangs out on the front door handle. You'll notice I decorate a lot with snowmen since they can stay up through the winter!

I'm a big fan of resting signs/artwork against the wall on top of stands/bookcases. I do this with regular artwork throughout the year, especially if I don't have wall space for some of it. Do you notice the California raisin & mouse in a leaf next to the candle? Those are some ornaments that Jon had growing up that lost their strings/hooks so instead of keeping them in the box, I just set them out on top of our DVD cabinet as something that is reminiscent for him.

When I lived on my own, I used lime green, teal, blue and silver as my colors. Instead of forgetting about these non-traditional colors, I decided to use them in the bathroom instead. Jon hates it, but I like it. I used a green platter from the kitchen and placed a glittery silver candle on it with 2 tea light candle holders on each side that hold small ornaments. I used fake crystal vase filler across the tray.

Here's a close-up shot of the bowl with ornaments in it. You can see more of the fake crystal filler here too.

This tray used to belong to my grandma. It's resting on the top of the bookshelf in our bedroom.

And lastly, here is our tree!

The Evolution of Our Dining Table

Jon and I bought a new dining table from World Market this summer when we moved into our new apartment. Our old table was one that I got from Value City when I first moved out on my own and it was a small round table with 2 chairs. Our new table is square and has 4 chairs. It expands to seat 6 by pulling the table apart and flipping the extender over. Then we just use our 2 chairs from our old table! Anyways, here are some pictures of how the decor has changed since we have gotten it.

When we first got our table in the summer, we just had a glass bowl filled with brown wicker balls in the center of the table.

When fall arrived, we added some leaf placements with brown napkins wrapped with various leaf napkin rings. I eventually replaced the glass bowl with a metal pumpkin that had a tea light candle holder in the middle. However, I never took a picture of that!

This is our current set-up. We bought some gray snowflake place mats with white napkins wrapped with metal snowflake napkin holders. In the center is a glass hurricane fitted with a red sparkly candle with fake cranberry filler. I debated whether to add a red tablecloth with white snowflakes on the corners that I have, but I think it might be too much.

Stay tuned for more holiday decorating!

Bookcases

Someday I want a house with a wall of bookshelves. Here's some inspiration...

I love that ladder with this one!

Donations galore.

I haven't updated in a month...however, I don't think many people even read this blog so I guess there are less people to disappoint!

Jon and I move into our new apartment this week! We get our keys tomorrow and plan to move most of our stuff over throughout the week, then load up all of the big furniture and other items in a Uhaul on Saturday. We have gone through our bedroom closets, the basement, and part of the office so far to figure out what to keep, throw away, give away or donate. We donated 8 bags of clothes/bedding/old towels and 2 bags of miscellaneous items to Goodwill yesterday. It felt so good to get rid of things! We also have a bunch of stuff we are giving away to friends if they want it...then donating whatever doesn't get taken.

We window shopped at a few furniture stores yesterday to find a new coffeetable and some end tables. I fell in love with this coffee table (it also has matching end tables) that is above our price range at the moment:

I love that is has a lot of storage space, especially because our new apartment's living room is actually smaller than our current one. This set would work well in our price range, but I'm not sure if I like the legs on the tables (they feel a little too "country" for me) but I do like the tops of the tables:

We need to decide within the next week. I looked online last night at a million sites and everything I liked was above our price range, of course! We are also buying a washer & dryer since the new apartment does not supply them for us. We found a couple of options last night as well. I'm sure we will have it all figured out by Saturday!

Green feels serene.

I decided to check out a couple thrift stores in town to see what I could find to decorate my home. It seems like the cool thing to do these days. Things are kinda scattered around our apartment and I want to make everything a little more cohesive & pretty at the same time. Here are the items I came home with:

Tall, clear glass vase: $1

Short, footed green glass bowl: $1

I also went to Wal-Mart and picked up some potpourri to fill the green glass bowl, which only cost $1. The bag should last a few fill-ups as well.


I know the green glass is really old (and some would say an outdated form of decorating), but I like it because it goes with the green, brown, & white theme we have going on in our bathroom. Here's the glass bowl filled with potpourri and then a shot of where it eventually made its home in the bathroom.

New decoration for just $2 total!

This shelving unit needs a lot of work. I am planning on putting a white basket next to the CD player (as mentioned in a previous post) to hold the CD's that are currently just stacked there. I know a CD player is not the most eye-catching item in a bathroom, but it is important to have tunes while we're getting ready! I am also not sure if I should just leave the books/magazines stacked like that, or figure out a different way to display them. Oh, and there is an eyeglasses case that should not be there. It got set there earlier today and I never put it away. Oops!

As for the clear vase, I cleaned that up too and it will soon hold flowers for the center of the kitchen table. We have a friend coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks so I plan to get some fresh flowers on the day he gets here.

A new spin on things.

So obviously working on my goals hasn't been working out. I've accepted that fact and moved on. However, I still want to accomplish many things on my list. I will just work on them a little more slowly than what I've laid out for myself.

I read a book over the weekend and it was wonderful to just sit & not have technology staring me in the face. In fact, Jon and I have decided to cancel our cable for the summer and I'm thankful for that. Hopefully I will see people more, get productive things accomplished, and work on this list of mine! This is the book I read:

I've had this book for awhile now - I think I picked it up at Goodwill or the library book sale a few years ago. I really enjoyed it. Of course I've always loved Judy Blume books and this is the first adult book that I've read of hers. It gives great insight into the ups and downs of relationships. It definitely makes me appreciate the ones I have, and miss the ones I've let slip away.

I have really been into reading decorating & organizing blogs lately. I have a bunch of DIY projects that I want to do. I just want a more "clean" feeling in my home without all of the clutter. (or at least conceal the color in pretty little boxes!) We are currently looking for a new place to live, but the things I want to work on will be ones we can take with us. Here is an example of something I want to do:

I have a basket that is similar to this (but smaller and not so Easter-basketish) and in a purplish tone. I want to spray paint it white and put in the bathroom to hold our CD's since right now they are just stacked next to the CD player. I think the basket will make them look a little neater!

**I decided to upload a picture of my basket. So here is my basket - and I intend to spray paint it white as pictured above**

The handle detail