The evolution of a house and style is an interesting thing. I take great pleasure in changing, rearranging and tweaking the rooms in my house. My style has changed pretty drastically (since I basically started out my married life with no style preference at all), but I'm still developing my tastes and preferences. Things rarely stay the same for long, which is exactly how I like it. My desire is to create a home that is comfortable for my family and welcoming to guests, that is pleasing to the eye, but that is also practical for raising two kids. I'm fairly certain that this will be a life-long quest. However, money and time (or the lack there of) make it a little more difficult to decorate and change things like I'd like. Kevin and I have had a few rough years financially, and so, I am finding that if I want to redecorate, I have to be resourceful and creative, and most importantly, learn how to repurpose items we already have. I've been learning the very difficult lesson of contentment (Melissa, at The Inspired Room, said this about contentment that really resonated with me), and am realizing that I don't have to have the perfect house, just one that my family considers beautiful and can enjoy living in.
With all that said, Monica and I will be showcasing our houses to you; not because they are perfect, far from it actually, but because they are a huge part of who we are. So, welcome to the evolving house.
This is C1's bedroom. Just recently, we changed her over from a toddler bed to a full-sized bed. In one afternoon, it seemed like she grew older right before our eyes just because of the furniture! I love her room- it's girly and sweet, but can also really grow with her. We painted the walls a really pretty shade of green (I'm sorry I don't know the paint color anymore!), and we used all-white furniture. Every piece of furniture (except the headboard) is hand-me-down or was hand-made by my hubs. Her cute butterfly and flower bedding came from HomeGoods and was a gift from my mom. She has a great dormer window, in which Kevin built a toy box/window seat. When we were creating her baby nursery, I envisioned that little space as a great reading spot for her down the road. For now, she uses it to play and look out the window.
This shelf came from my mom's attic (she has a great supply of decor and furniture she's not using and is really generous with it!). I made the monogram, using adorable patterned and hot pink card stock, and put them in frames we already had. I hot-glued ribbon to the tops to make them a little more feminine.This monogram project cost me no money at all, since I used items I already had! The little porcelain shoe to the left of the frames was a gift from her great-grandmother and has all her birth stats painted on it.
This is my favorite feature in her room. Inspired by something I saw in Pottery Barn, Monica and I created a tree stencil for the walls. I then hand-painted the trees (there are two of them- one on either side of the dormer window area), and added leaves and pictures of our families to make it a family tree. One side is the hub's family, and the other side is my family. I wanted C1 to have an understanding of the importance of family, and how blessed she was to have such a Godly inheritance, from an early age.
Isn't this chair the most precious thing you've ever seen? Ahh, I can't get enough of it, and you'd never guess that I got it at Big Lots for $40!
But really, these pictures show what I love most about this room: My two kids living in it.