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{Mildly Extreme} Master Bedroom & Playroom Makeover

Yes, by that headline, you’ve probably figured out what this post is about – The planning for my {Mildly Extreme} Master Bedroom & Playroom Makeover. We’re on a ridiculously tight budget, which is why it will be only mildly extreme, lol. But – There is SO much that you can do to totally transform a space without spending a ton, just by being super creative and resourceful. And creative is one skill that I do actually excel at! {Unlike cooking…. But that’s another story.}

master bedroom in shades of grey

This is an awesome room. This is not my room.

I found this amazing photo on Pinterest, but unfortunately, it doesn’t link up anywhere. {Pinterest tip: PLEASE make sure you pin to original sources when adding content!} So I have no idea who to credit, or how to get any of these materials. But – this is kind of my inspiration for my space – I’ll be painting our walls this color – {any suggestions of paint brands? I hated the last kind I used!} – and painting our trim white. Our room is already in shades of black and grey, but I love, love, love the use of textures and patterns here. Just perfect.

What I’m Workin’ With:

carousel designs baby girl crib bedding

Mommy and Me – Sharing a Room

This is the designer crib bedding set that Abby has right now – It’s from Carousel Designs, and it was so worth the cost. It was the most expensive purchase I made when shopping for baby stuff – but it’s as gorgeous today as it was when I bought it, even after 20 months of washing. Due to our big, crowded household of extended family, Abby and I have been sharing the Master Bedroom, and will be for about another year. {But that’s ok, since we both adore pink and polka dots.} Now that she’s become a toddler, I want to upgrade our space, and make more room for her to play. My office is also in the bedroom until the end of the year, so the big challenge in this makeover is to make separate areas for all of the uses in the room. Also – Speaking of challenges – This Master Bedroom was built without a closet! Whaaaat? There was clearly no woman involved in the planning on this, lol. So we’re building one in.

damask and polka dot bedding

This is what I sleep on – Keep, or Switch?

I chose this bedding set before Abby was born, because it matched so well to hers. The polka dot trim and damask type pattern tie them together really well. But, while I do still totally love it, I feel kind of ready for a change. I’m debating a few different options, and you can see them on my Master Bedroom & Playroom Makeover planning board on Pinterest. I’d LOVE some comments on this board, with your opinions as I add and decide.

The Makeover Plan

Over the next two months, I’ll share pics of our projects and progress, and of course a big reveal at the end! Here are a few of my plans and ideas:

  1. Build a closet. I wanted to go all-out, and build a really awesome customized closet… But, most of what I wanted was out of my price range. So, we’ll be building a smaller, but still cool, closet along one wall.
  2. Convert to a toddler bed. Abby’s crib has a few scratches from moving last year, but is still in really great shape. It’s the type of crib that converts to a toddler bed, and I think it’s about time to make the switch.
  3. Cover the carpet. I’d LOVE to add laminate floors, but that will be a year or two from now. Our carpets wasn’t in great shape when we moved in – and with a toddler and a puppy here, they are a mess. So, we’re going the more affordable route – We’ll be doing a thorough carpet cleaning, and ordered an awesome new rug from Mohawk Home, to cover the damage and really upgrade the room.
  4. Playroom Space. We just got the sling bookshelf from One Step Ahead, which is an adorable way to store and display Abby’s book collection. I also ordered a super cool toy chest, and we just set up the ClosetMaid 9-Cube Organizer, with some cute pink fabric bins, and it’s going to be an AWESOME new option for toy storage!
  5. Office Space. I will be moving my desk and shelves to a corner, with my rolling file cabinet and lamp, to make a great little office area. I need a rug, and will add the ClosetMaid Mini-Organizer to keep all of my smaller accessories neat and easy to access.
  6. Wall Art. We’ll be painting the walls and trim, and I’m in need of some cool wall art too. The room has really high vaulted ceilings, so the walls right now look very bare. I have a TON of cool ideas to choose from on my Creative Wall DIY board on Pinterest – Leave some comments to help me decide. There are so many amazing ideas there to be inspired by!

There’s a boat-load of work to do, but I’m super excited to get started! We had meant to get this rockin’ a month ago – but with my big computer crash, I really got pushed behind on all of my projects! My goal is to have our room ready by the end of May, for my birthday.

What do you think?

I’d love some comments on my Pinterest boards, to help me make some decisions. {I got some great feedback on Facebook from ya’all, with helping me to choose a rug!} And if you have cool DIY idea posts that can help inspire me, be sure to leave the link in a comment below! You guys rock.

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Smart & Stylish Kitchen Storage Solutions

Showroom Dispay traditional kitchen

Smart DIY Solutions

I am so in love with this new site that I found today – and I think you guys will love it too. It’s called Houzz.come, and it’s all about home remodels and cool DIY projects. You can browse by room, and find some totally amazing ideas. I’m cooking up some plans for a kitchen makeover –  {a remodel isn’t in the budget, but a reorganization and spruce up is!} –  and I got a ton of amazing ideas.

Oak Park Kitchen III traditional kitchen

How awesome would this pantry cupboard be?

I have a big blended household, as I’ve mentioned before, and it can be hard to keep things organized with such a big family. I have a pantry cupboard that’s just empty shelves, really deep – I’m wondering if we could convert them to cool storage doors like these above? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Divine Kitchens LLC contemporary kitchen

What an awesome use of drawer space!

Love this – I hate counter-clutter. But there are so many things in the kitchen that you need easy access to. This is a very cool solution, and totally do-able in my house. I started meal-planning, two weeks at a time, to help keep dinnertime chaos to a minimum, and now it’s time to get the whole kitchen better organized so that I can make those meals without digging through jumbled up drawers and cupboards.

Painted kitchen with walnut contemporary kitchen

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home – Make it Rock!

For more cool home ideas, follow me on Pinterest! {Love these ideas? Pin ’em to your own boards too!}

 

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The 2012 Reader Remodel Contest

Reader Remodel Contest

The 2012 Reader Remodel Contest

If you have an amazing space in your home – You have got to check this out! The 2012 Reader Remodel Contest from This Old House has a ton of categories to enter – From Kitchen and Bath, to Yard and Curb Appeal, to every room in between. And the prizes are crazy-cool:

Enter your remodel NOW for a chance to win a new GMC truck! Five runners-up will win cash, and all our favorites will be featured in July’s 100% Reader-Created Issue.

Awesomesauce-a-roni, right?

Now remember, this MUST be a space of your home that you have remodeled, since Before & After photos are required. You can enter to win here –

2012 This Old House Reader Remodel Contest

Don’t worry about whether your photos are “good enough” or not – even if you don’t win the grand prize, it’d still be super cool to have your photos featured in their Reader-Created Issue this July, right? And come over and share your favorite remodeling Before & After photos on my Facebook page too. I LOVE that kind of thing :) And if you enter, Good Luck!

{Love winning stuff? Check out my fun giveaway widget over in the sidebar – and enter to win a great prize from me, too!}

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How did I miss this?? Check out Craftsy Today!

Crafting + Deals + Classes = Craftsy!

I don’t know how I missed this until now…. Have you heard of Craftsy? It launched in May of this year, and is the fastest growing online community for Crafters – with over 500,000 monthly unique visitors already! Obviously, I’m late in learning about this, and have been totally missing out. Maybe you’ve missed it too?

Here are a couple of the rad features:

  • Terrific online classes from amazing instructors for beginning, intermediate and advanced quilters, knitters, crocheters, sewists, jewelry makers, and other crafters. A little something for everyone!
  • Astonishingly good deals on crafting supplies: organic yarn, lovely fabrics and fat quarters from top designers, high quality needles, pretty beads and sparkly things – always high quality, always beautiful, always amazingly priced.

Sounds good, right?

Check out Craftsy today – and let me know what you think!

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Frugal DIY Fun: Toddler Exploring Set

Craft Supplies

“Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn’t music.” – William Stafford

I’m a crafty girl – I love glitter and rhinestones, Mod Podge and Tacky Glue, pretty papers and ribbons…. and I have so much fun sharing my love of all things creative with the kiddo’s in my life. And, crafting with kids has helped me see new things – kids are so fascinated with new textures, shapes, sounds, and colors. That led to the creation of our Toddler Exploring Set – a super easy DIY idea, made from totally inexpensive materials. Even if you’re not usually much of a DIY’er, you can do this. So… Let’s get started! {You might remember me mentioning these Exploring Sets earlier this year in 65 Fun Fall Ideas for Kids – we love making new sets!}

Shaker Bottles

“Having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don’t have the top for.” – Jerry Seinfeld

You probably already have most of the supplies you’ll need – But one thing that you will need to get in advance is a set of empty water bottles. We used the mini ones – they’re easiest for tiny toddler hands. You’ll also need a good glue {I used Quick Dry Tacky Glue}, so that you can glue each bottle closed. You also might want to get a small shoe box, or cute basket, for your little one to carry their new Exploring Set around in – they love that. Now – the fun part! Read through the list and find some fun ideas to try. All of the bottles are really simple to make, and will totally delight your little one. Enjoy!

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.” – Walt Streightiff

  • Sound Bottles: In the Red bottle above, I used white beans mixed with some fun red glitter – these are nice and noisy when you shake ’em! You can also use things like rice, popcorn kernels, or jingle bells. Kids love discovering the different sounds.
  • Bubble Bottles: Fill half full of water, add a little bit of dish soap, and a squirt or two of food coloring. Your little one will love seeing a plain bottle of water turn into a bubble party when they shake it up!
  • Discovery Bottle: Fill a bottle half way with sand or rice, and add a few tiny toys too. Kids will learn that the toys are there even when they can’t see them – and will love learning how to find them again!
  • Glow Bottle: Fill a bottle with glow in the dark stickers or glow sticks. Show your kiddo how different it looks when they crawl underneath their blanket – what a surprise!
  • Silly Bottle: One of our favorites is to fill a bottle up with little Glitter Pom Poms – these are the cutest thing, and Abby loves them! They look super cute in the bottles, and have such bright and vibrant colors!
  • Snow Globe Bottles: Fill bottles with a mixture of water and glycerin, add food coloring if desired, throw in a pinch {or more, you can never have too much!} of glitter, and add some fun little toys or trees. So much fun!
  • Slow-Down Bottle: Fill a bottle 2/3 full of clear corn syrup, then add sequins, or tiny toys. As they tilt the bottle, they can relax and slow down while they watch the toys sloooowly slide to the side.
  • Nature Bottle: These ones are more temporary – grab a tiny branch off of an evergreen tree, some fall leaves, dandelion flowers, acorns – whatever is in season. Your little one will delight in getting to really look at these things up close – you’ll delight in knowing that they won’t EAT them while they have them up close!

Big Kid Options

  • Magnet Bottle: Fill a bottle with rice or sand, and add a few metallic items, like pennies, old game pieces, etc. Then – let them use a big magnet against the outside of the bottle to ‘magically’ pull those hidden items into view!
  • Guessing Bottle: Fill a bottle up with tiny pebbles – or something fun like Jelly Beans! – and have your kids guess how many are inside. Don’t glue the top on this one, since you’ll then want to dump it out, count it together, and see how close they were. Our boys love to challenge each other.

 

Do you have any fun ideas to add?

There are so many different variations you can use – and I’d love to hear your creative ideas! We love to make new bottles all the time, and sometimes it’s hard to keep coming up with great ideas – so I look forward to what you guys come up with. Keep it crafty!

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{Photo Week!} 35 FREE Photo Card Templates!

Free Cards Templates

Amazing Collection of Free Photo Card Templates!!

Visit a super fun site, Too Much Time on My Hands, and check out all of the great free photo card templates that she has found and put together! Thirty-five different choices you can use to create the perfect set of Christmas or Holiday cards for your family. I love it! Make sure to leave her lots of comments with big THANK YOU’s for putting together such a super-helpful resource!

MyGofer

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Fresh Ideas DIY Panel Accepting New Members!!

The Fresh Ideas Panel is Accepting New Members Again!

Ugh – I actually really want to be a part of this one – but again, I wasn’t approved :( I’m not sure if it’s the part of the country I live in, or what…. But maybe some of you guys can get accepted!!

“Become a member of our Fresh Ideas Panel! Please share your thoughts with us on our product ideas and offerings. By sharing your opinions with us you are eligible for monthly giveaways! Click Here to get started.”

From what I hear, this is a panel about DIY type stuff – and it’s super cool. If any of you who are members want to leave some feedback about it, I’d love to hear more about what I’m missing. {Lol} – And if YOU get accepted, let me know! Good luck!

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