Crosby’s Nautical Room

Posted in House Tour by Kendra G.

Crosby’s nautical nursery has evolved into a big boy room over the last two years. We put the finishing touches on his room recently so I am excited to finally share it with you.

I can’t believe I haven’t even shared a picture of his twin boat bed. He moved into the bed about a year ago after sleeping in a toddler bed to help ease the transition from the crib. Greg and I found the bed on Craigslist so long ago and had been storing it until he was ready to use it. It is absolutely perfect for his room and we just couldn’t pass it up at the time. I believe it was originally from Toys R Us. Greg added the rails on the sides of the bed which are real boat rails. The bedding, sheets, and throw pillows are from Land of Nod in the High Seas series. As soon as I saw the life preserver throw pillow I knew this was the perfect bedding for the boat bed.

A while back, we found the life preserver on sale, so we replaced the neutral pictures to add some more color to the room. The most recent addition is the nautical flag banner. The flags are individual so we made two separate banners out of them. There has been something missing in his room and these flags are it. I love how they complete the room and fill in the gap below the tall ceilings.

Another new addition to the room is the personalized oar. We got it at The Boathouse in Disney Springs. Majority of the other decor has been in the room since he was born. It feels so good to have his room complete!

Ahoy, matey!

4Oct2016

Kenley’s Oh So Pink Bathroom

Posted in House Tour, Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

A couple of ~~weeks~~ months ago, we decided it was time to work on Kenley’s bathroom. Of the four bathrooms in the house, we had already completed the pool bathroom (now Crosby’s bathroom) and our guest bathroom upstairs. We kept putting off working on it for one reason or another, but her bathroom had definitely seen better days. At some point, Greg grabbed her towel bar for balance and ended up pulling it off the wall, leaving a big hole that needed to be patched. It was high time to do something to it! I am hesitant to show the before picture, but full disclosure, here it is…

We asked her what paint color she wanted and she chose pink. I had a feeling that would be the answer, so I already had been getting some ideas of what I thought she would like.

Greg did all of the painting, installed crown molding, framed the mirror, installed the new light and all of the new hardware. Most importantly, he not only fixed her toilet, but all of the other toilets in the house, which seems crazy to be excited about such a thing, but they now all flush properly. It’s the little things, you know?

Majority of the supplies Greg needed were from Lowe’s. The paint color is Valspar Oh So Pink, the light is allen + roth Merington, and the hardware is Moen Caldwell (on clearance!). Majority of the finishing touches I picked up were from Target. The floral shower curtain and striped rug are from Pillowfort and shower curtain hooks are from Threshold.

I knew it would look better once we put in some time and effort, but I am amazed with how different it looks now that we are all done! I am so happy with it and now I’m wondering why it took so long to do it.

9Jun2016

Pool Installation – 2015

Posted in House Tour, Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

It’s been one year since we filled up the pool and I have yet to post any pictures of the process. It was leading up to Memorial Day last year that we were so hopeful to have our inaugural swim over the long weekend, but it wasn’t quite ready for us at that point. The following week, we filled up the pool and have been enjoying it ever since.

In February 2015, we had our landscaper come out to clear away the existing trees, bushes, and pavers that were there when we purchased the house. He was going to reuse them on other projects which was better than having someone else simply demolish the backyard and not save anything.

Untitled

The work on the pool officially began in March. The initial progress at first was very deceiving. A lot of different things happened in the first few weeks that led us to believe that the pool was going to be done in a month…which we knew wasn’t true, but it was exciting to see so much progress so quickly. By mid April, progress had slowed down immensely. There were many moving parts and many different entities that had to come out for their respective jobs, such as plumbing, tiling, paving, etc. Towards the end, we would see progress for a few straight days, then nothing would happen for a few more days. Once we got into May, the entire backyard was starting to take shape and we were just excited to be able to envision the end product.

While we’ve been enjoying the pool, we’ve also been making our outdoor space a little bit more cozy. We spend a lot of time out there, so want to keep it nice and functional.

Untitled

Throughout the process, Greg took a picture every time there was progress made on the pool, which you can see in the video clip or you can view the entire album. We also have another miscellaneous album of more detailed pictures of the progress.

We’re ready to jump in to another fun summer!

8Apr2015

Crosby’s Nautical Nursery

Posted in House Tour by Kendra G.

I know I shared our nautical nursery (here and here) before Crosby was born when we didn’t know if this would turn into a girl nursery or a boy nursery, so I wanted to share the room since it’s been Crosby’s room. Since he is already almost 18 months old, I figured I had better do it quickly because before I know it, we’ll be transitioning to a toddler room.

We have added a few new touches to his room over the past year and a half. One of the first things I did was order a couple masculine crib sheets. I made his first sheet (grey and white sea stars), but I was in no position to be making any additional crib sheets seeing how I had a newborn and a newly two year old running around. I went with an anchor sheet and a whale sheet from Pottery Barn Kids and was more than happy with the two of them. I also had my eye on a new changing table cover and got the blue whale changing pad cover from Land of Nod. I have to say I love this pad. I really wish I would have gotten one with Kenley. They are thick, comfy, and really great quality.

One of the projects we knew we were going to tackle was painting the oars that we received as a baby shower gift. Greg had sanded them down before he put them on the wall, knowing that we would eventually paint them to match the room. We painted close to the designs of the oars from Pottery Barn Kids and I am so happy with how they turned out.

Greg made three different shelves for the wall from the scrap wood we had from our kitchen island. They are great for decor, as well as our camera for the monitor. The jar of shells were collected from Crosby’s first trip to the ocean, so they are sentimental and we, of course, made him DIY crayon letter “C” to add some more color to the room.

nautical nursery

His bookshelf is now full of books about trucks, airplanes, and cars; and we also added a nautical looking laundry hamper. At first I was overwhelmed by the fact that the dresser was really small and the closet, while big, was not helpful. I ended up finding a hanging sweater organizer folded up in another closet that I had used at our old house (similar to this) and I put it in his closet. You would have thought I hit the lottery. It has worked so well for storing shoes, sheets, towels, the next size up clothes, etc. I also added a nautical looking lamp I found online from Target. I love that the Edison bulb doesn’t put off much light, so it’s perfect for reading book at night. I can’t forget to mention our favorite sound machine either.

This room quickly turned from a gender neutral nursery to Crosby’s nursery and I love the little touches we added to make it his. I am definitely sticking with a nautical theme when we transition to a toddler room and will probably add more red and navy to the grey. I have some ideas, which I’m sure I’ll be sharing with you in no time.

9Apr2014

A Place to Play

Posted in House Tour by Kendra G.

You know when I said that I would share more “next week”,
that really meant in two weeks, right?
Thanks for being patient.

One of the things we love about the layout of our hours is the upstairs,
which consists of a loft, the guest bathroom, and our guest bedroom.
This makes for a perfect place for our guests to retreat,
as well as a good hiding spot for all of the toys we’ve accumulated over the past two+ years.

It took us a long time to decide on what we wanted to do to this room.
By the time we got around to actually working on this room,
I wanted to wait until we found out if baby G2 was going to be a girl or a boy,
because that would play a factor into the color scheme.
Since we were going with a gender neutral color scheme, we then needed to find
a color that went well with grey (see below). We finally landed on yellow.
The color is Hazy Dawn by Valspar from Lowe’s.

Almost all of the big items in the room were either birthday or Christmas gifts,
which was intentional on our part and helped immensely when furnishing the room.

Art Display – DIGNITET curtain wire and RIKTIG curtain hooks
Easel – Melissa & Doug

Table – Carolina Grow With You Craft Table
Chairs – Carolina Kids Chairs
TV Stand / Toy Storage – EXPEDIT (now discontinued *tear*) and DRÖNA boxes

Shelves – RIBBA Picture Ledge (45 1/2″)

The letter wall was the longest project in the room.
I had seen several variations on Pinterest and loved the idea for the playroom.
I started collecting letters here and there on sale and with coupons
from TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics.
The “I” is a ruler and the “O” is a clock.
Some of them are unfinished wood that I covered in washi tape, paint, or scrap book paper.
The wall totally makes the room and I am so happy how it turned out.

Down the small “hallway” is a closet that holds games and linens, the bathroom and the bedroom.
Obviously, our main living area is downstairs,
and I assure you that the playroom is never this clean.
At some point I’ll show you how it looks on an everyday basis.

The grey paint color continues up the stairs from our downstairs living area,
and it is the same grey from Crosby’s room which is Granite Dust by Valspar.
We love the contrast with the yellow and grey.

Kitchen, High Chair, and Doll Cradle – KidKraft [Espresso]
Shopping cart – Step2

US Map Canvas – Hobby Lobby
Futon – Target (here and here)

I paid far less for this futon last year and it looks like there are more color options now.
The color listed for ours was grey, but depending on the day, it could be purple too.
Either way, I love it and it provides an additional sleeping option if we need it.

There are a few more things I would like to do up here,
but there is really no rush at this point.
I would like to do two cornices covered in a fun fabric over the windows
and get another piece of art, or something fun, for the landing
so you can see it as you come up the stairs.

Greg would like to eventually put crown molding up too,
at least in the areas of the room he can get to the ceiling.
The wall over the stairs makes me very nervous.

Overall, it’s a fun room to hang out in while the kids play,
and it will be fun to see how it evolves over the years.

***

Speaking of IKEA, I shared five of our IKEA hacks over on Orlando Moms Blog today!

3Oct2013

A Nursery for G2 // Photo Tour

Posted in Baby G, House Tour by Kendra G.

A more detailed post on projects & sources to come!

12Sep2013

orange ice

Posted in House Tour by Kendra G.

We’re not talking about italian ice today, but the color of our guest bathroom downstairs.
We call this the “pool bath” since there is an exterior door that goes right out to the back patio.
Unfortunately, there is no pool out there on the patio, but that’s what it’s called nonetheless.
I think baby G2 will claim this as his or her bathroom since it’s right by the second nursery,
and since Kenley has her own bathroom in her room. However, it’s the only bathroom downstairs that
is available for guests to use… got it? Good.

Much like the rest of the house, the bathroom was pretty boring when we moved in.
White and basic with the standard builder grade mirror, light fixture, and towel racks.

Several weeks ago, Greg found a light fixture on Craigslist for $35!
Since he was in the process of changing out the light, we thought it only made sense
to paint the bathroom since the light was already off the wall.
And you know we couldn’t stop there…
Over the course of the entire weekend, Greg painted the bathroom,
put up bead board (one piece we already had leftover),
installed crown molding (again, we already had a piece leftover),
and framed out the mirror.

Greg confidently said that this would be the last crown molding project he’ll complete.
For some reason, it was much worse than the family room project.
But, it looks great!

I contributed by adding the last few accessories we needed to match the bathroom set
we got for Christmas last year. I believe it’s being (or has already been) discontinued,
but it’s the Kate Spade Candy Shop line from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

I’m pretty sure this shower has only been used twice since we’ve moved in,
but I foresee us using it soon for some baby baths.
This is also where we have our cloth diaper sprayer, so the bathroom itself
gets used every day, even if it’s not by guests.

Overall, I am so happy with how it turned out. The color is definitely bright,
but I like to think ahead several years down the road when little feet are
trampling back and forth from the pool to the bathroom that it’ll be the perfect color.

Have you done any bathroom updates lately?

6Aug2013

Office / Craft Room Combo

Posted in House Tour by Kendra G.

When we were house hunting, our wish list included an office space,
whether that came in the form of an actual office (no closet) or a fifth bedroom (closet).
We were fortunate to have found our house which had an office/study
closed off by french doors (which I love!). We already had our IKEA
table we scored from the As-Is section when we redid our office last time around,
but judging by the size of the room, we knew we needed a few more pieces.

Over the course of the last six months and countless trips to IKEA,
we now have a designated office space and an area for sewing and crafting.
We have also quickly learned that color makes the world of difference in a house.
Since we started painting, we are constantly noticing now boring the unpainted rooms are.
This color is Minty Fresh by Valspar and I love it! It’s perfect for this space.

Since there is no closet, storage was an issue. We opted for the EXPEDIT
for a number of reasons. One, because I love them and this is now the third
one we have in our house. Two, because there are different configurations
for storage, which allows me to change it up down the road if I get bored with this one.
I found some inspiration on Pinterest here and here which also helped make the decision.

KNIPSA Basket

wall shelf, frame & print, circle cork boards, bar & hanging containers, ribbon storage
storage containers, picture frames

washi tape bunting inspiration & clothes pin inspiration

There are still a few more things I would like to do to this room, but they are not a huge priority right now:

– Instagram prints for more wall decor
– Curtains for the window
– Paint the trunk
– Hardwood floors

I have been meaning to share this space with you for a while now, but I not only have been neglecting
this room, but also the blog a bit. I am hoping to get some good use out of this room for several
different sewing projects before this baby comes and I have lots of blog posts that I’m looking forward to sharing!

23May2013

Where the laundry gets done…

Posted in House Tour, Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

Finally! Our laundry room is done!
I know that I am probably going to go into way more detail than you would like to know
about our laundry room, but this room is important to us. Between our cloth diaper laundry
and laundry for two adults and one little person, we use our laundry room a lot!
With that being said, I was very specific about what I wanted.
It needed to be 100% functional, and of course, cute too.

Moving into the house, this is what the laundry room looked like.
If you would have seen the before-before pictures of the house, you would have
seen a washer and dryer in there… somehow in the process of the bank fixing up the house,
those did not make it. We think someone just took them… along with the fridge,
which we were way more bummed about, but I digress.
We were so excited that there was already a sink and cabinet in there, which saved us some moolah.

Things that needed updating in the original laundry room:

1. Open wire shelf. From our last laundry room, I already knew that I wasn’t a fan,
so when my mom and I painted the room over Christmas break, I didn’t let them put the shelf back up.
I thought this would force us to actually do something with the room, but here we are 5 months later…
We had to replace it with something and tossed around the idea of getting cabinets, but opted for
a shelving unit we found in the As Is section at IKEA for a whopping $25!

2. The fluorescent light. No further explanation needed.

3. Our $10 stand up, folding drying rack that I have had since college. It sat right in the
narrow laundry room, making it hard to open and close the front loading machines.
It was a royal pain in my arse and I swear I hear angels singing the day we installed our new drying racks.

4. Color! Fun fact: this was the first can of paint we bought for the house.
The laundry room… I told you I was excited about it.

5. Paint the cabinets. I originally wanted to do them in white, but I didn’t want to buy the
entire kit for two little cabinets, so I was going to settle with the Espresso that we had purchased already.
But, then it dawned on my to ask Sally to borrow some of her extra grey from when she painted her kitchen cabinets.
It worked out perfectly, and I love the grey!

6. Decor. We really liked the decal we had in our old laundry room so we decided to get another one.
We actually purchased it before we were officially house hunting, due to an expiring Groupon,
but the decal works perfect in the space. I also looked on Pinterest for some fun artwork,
and found the awesome laundry cheat sheet that I printed for free.

7. Store the detergent in style. We already had one large glass jar that served as a gin bucket,
so I got a matching one so we have one jar for diaper detergent and one for laundry detergent.
I made the chalkboard labels from our leftover chalkboard contact paper on the pantry door.

What we still need to do:

1. Get a matching washer to the dryer. Here’s the story.
Somehow during the moving process, the dryer was damaged beyond repair.
After a costly service call, we had to get a new one. It’s sad that the washer and dryer
do not match at this point, but I don’t care enough to go buy a new washer.
We opted not to go with the front loaders this time around, which was kind of a
spur of the moment decision, but we aren’t in love with our washer now,
so I am still very happy with that decision. I would love to get the new washer soon,
but we will use this one until it dies…and that may not be too far away.

2. We would love to eventually paint the counter top too.
I have no idea what color, but something other than what it is now.
It works for now, but I certainly don’t love it.
Updated: Project complete!

Source List:

Paint – Valspar Araucana Teal
GRUNDTAL Drying Racks
PRESSA Drying Rack
Shelf Unit – HEMNES Wall/bridging shelf (AS IS section for $25!)
Storage Baskets – Threshold Global Small Milk Crate
Detergent Jars – Target
Laundry Cheat Sheet – Print / Frame
The Laundry Room decal – Dali Decal (purchased with Groupon)
Pendant light – MINUT pendant downlight
Cabinet Paint – Rustoleum Cabinet Restoration Kit in Winter Fog
Cabinet Hardware – Handles / Knobs

14May2013

Impromptu Guest Bath Update

Posted in House Tour, Projects Around the House by Kendra G.

I knew that somewhere down the road we wanted to paint the cabinets in our bathrooms,
but I really had no timetable on that project, so I added it our (3 page) running to-do list.
Much to my surprise, Home Depot was running a special online for the small
Rustoleum Cabinet Restoration Kit in Espresso – half off!! The whole kit was only $40 and free shipping.

Once it arrived, it sat in our bathroom for a good month before we even opened it.
It got neglected much like several other house projects over the last few months, which is fine.
Randomly, a couple weeks ago, we decided to get moving on the guest (and only) bathroom upstairs.
It’s a full bath, but the vanity is small, so we knew it’d be perfect to use these cabinets as a test.
Of course, we decided to do this just 5 days before we had visitors coming into town,
I guess that’s just what we needed. We must work well under pressure.

This is what the boring bathroom looked like when we moved in.
We threw up the shower curtain from our old guest bathroom for the time being
since we had family in town very soon after we moved in.
Randomly, over Christmas break, we were shopping at Homegoods for some other items,
and walked out with a shower curtain, bath mats, decor, and the other bathroom essentials.

Even with those items, the bathroom needed more. In comes fixing up the vanity!

I cannot begin to explain how easy the cabinet transformation kit was to work with.
The cabinets ended up taking about 4 days because we were working on them after work.
We stopped after the first two steps because we didn’t feel it needed the protective or shiny coats.

The kit really does transform the cabinets. I am obsessed with how good they look!
To add to it, we decided to frame out the mirror, because you know how we love to frame mirrors.
We used two 1x4s and stained them with the kit so they would match the cabinets perfectly.
The fact that the picture frames matched is just an added bonus.

Since we were so close to being done with the bathroom,
the final piece was to get rid of the builder grade vanity light, since I despise them.
We purchased a brushed nickel 3-light bath light on Amazon
because we couldn’t decide on anything Lowe’s had to offer, and we couldn’t beat the price on Amazon.