Well It's About Time!

Happy Monday.  I was really excited when I saw this post over at Apartment Therapy.  I've been eyeing this rug designed by the Novogratz since I saw it on one of their HGTV episodes last year and so glad it will finally be available.  Looking forward to the rest of their collection at CB2 this summer!

Isn't this room fabulous?

(via tiltonfenwick.com)

Oh how I'd love to have this in our family room:

along with a new sectional to fit our family of 6!

IKEA Ektorp Sectional

And we'd have to get a clear coffee table so not to distract from the rug.  :)

CB2 Peekaboo Coffee Table

A Sweet Deal!

If you like these 2 rugs, run your fingers over to dwellstudio.com and order these PRONTO!  They are on sale for an insane price.

Big Floral Citrine Rug

Big Floral Persimmon Rug

The 8 x 10 is just $255, regularly $850.  And the 5 x 8 is $135, regularly$450.  You know how much I love Dwell and I've never seen a deal like this!

Too bad I can't this for myself, don't really "need" it... but just in case someone wants to give me a great Mother's Day gift... I'll take the yellow in 5 x 8.  :)

Enjoy!

One Off the Bucket List

I'm celebrating my 36th birthday this weekend by participating in a flash mob in Seattle.  I haven't had to learn a dance routine since high school and am really loving it!  :)

When was the last time you crossed something off your bucket list?  :)

Have a great weekend!

Growing Grateful Kids

I've been reading this book, growing grateful kids,  over the past couple weeks.  I checked it out from the library, but it's been such a good read that I'll probably end up buying my own copy.

 

If you're a parent, you probably have a mental list of character traits that you want for your kids.  Everyone's list may be slightly different, but they probably included things like kindness, compassion, honest, hardworking, etc... 

For me, included in my top 5, would definitely be gratitude.  Gratitude is a biggie for me.  I would be so proud if my kids could grow up with a real sense of gratitude as they walk through life.  And more importantly, understand WHO is the ultimate giver of all gifts.  None of the things we receive are because we deserve them. 

I like this book because it's a an easy read, practical and oh so relatable!  Susie writes alot from personal experiences and at the end of each chapter she includes practical questions for us to think about as parents, ideas on how to teach it, and a prayer.  Lord knows our kids learn so much more from what we do, than what we say.  Oh boy!  This is more than a parenting book because it's been reminding ME of how I can better live out gratitude in MY own life. 

I just finished the chapter on restraint.  The message in this chapter has stuck with me.  Here's a short excerpt:

"When we oversaturate our kids with the latest and greatest trinkets and toys, we actually ruin our children.  When we bail our kids out so they don't have to struggle, we actually weaken them.  When we make excuses for our kids so that they don't have to feel bad about their behavior, we deceive them into thinking they don't need a Savior.  When we lay down the rules and then change them because they are not convenient to enforce at the moment, we confuse our children and diminish our own credibility...  it's not such a bad thing to let our kids wrestle through difficult circumstances or to go without something they want or to face their own character flaws."

I think the part that spoke to me the most is doing the hard things, even when it is inconvenient.  How many times have I given it at the grocery store or at restaurant, just to make things easier?  To a larger extent, this is why homeschooling can be a huge challenge.  Constantly teaching, redirecting, and reinforcing character lessons definitely cuts into my "to-dos" and can be extremely inconvenient.  But obviously oh so worth it.

Ok... this has turned into a much wordier most than I usually write, but I thought this was too good of a resource to not pass along.  Gratitude in today's world of over-indulgence is a special treasure to possess and to work towards.

Kitchen Art

I got the new Crate and Barrel catalog and one thing that caught my eye was a couple of their new dish towels.  I love textiles and some of these are almost too beautiful just to be used as dish towels.  Frame them for some great art for the kitchen!  You know me... "elevating the everyday" right?  Well... doesn't get much more everyday than this.  :) 

(Canning Dish Towel from Crate and Barrel $5.95)

I knew I'd find some great pieces on etsy too!  There are sooo many, here are just a handful of my favorites.

For my fellow Pride and Prejudice fans, aren't these cute?  From brookish.

Love the colors and graphics on this one.  From avrilloreti

A sweet reminder.  From:  indobay

A great punch of color and pattern.  From: leahduncan

Happy Monday everyone!

Loving this Makeover!

(all photos via houseandhome.com)

Happy Monday!  I see plenty of before and afters and some are predictable and some really knock my socks off.  I found this makeover at House and Home and I truly love everything about it.  I found myself going back and forth between the befores and afters and thinking, "How did she do that?"  Here are some things that I particularly love:

1.  I think her place before was something we can all relate to.  Not awful, nice bones, but they really didn't reflect any style or personality.  I think we all have or have had rooms like these.  How inspiring to see how furniture placement, paint and being selective with choosing some really interesting pieces can just really change a space COMPLETELY!

2.  Painting the trim and wall the same color.  I know I tend to think, "Oh I want to highlight the trim or the crown molding, so I purposely choose a different wall color.  But after looking at several of her rooms, the thing that really makes the room seem bigger and the walls almost recede and seem endless is that there's no definition between, wall and window.  Except for the bathroom, it shows how interesting white walls and trim can be!  Inspiring if you can't or don't want to paint.

3.  Texture!  We've heard all designers talk about texture, but it really does make a space come alive.  Check out each of Emma's rooms... Maybe with the exception of the bathroom, every space as a bit of nature (trees, branches and flowers) , metallics (gold or metal finishes), sleek, hard surfaces and lots of soft throws and furs.

Enjoy these pics!  Thanks Emma for the inspiration!  And click over here to see the full house tour.

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER
Loving the fig tree, stacked logs, wire chairs and furs

Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen AFTER
Loving the dark floors, (maybe slate?) and the marble backsplash!
Also, contrasting counter tops.. white on the cooktop side and dark on the island.

Chalkboard door.
What's not to like.  Great place for chalkboard paint if you don't
want to invest in painting a whole wall.

Dining BEFORE

Dining AFTER
Loving the sharp contrast between white and black. 
Another great tree and bold, oversized art.  Too often, artwork is too small.

Master Bedroom BEFORE

Master Bedroom AFTER
Loving the scale of the 2 pieces of artwork and the placement of the bed.
I wouldn't have thought of that, but oh so cozy!  Great textiles too!

Bathroom BEFORE 

Bathroom AFTER
 I actually thought it wwas pretty good to begin with... but...
Loving the blue/black paint and the shower curtain!!
( if you're curious... paint is BM, Raccoon Fur)

The Heart of Our Home

I thought I'd take a moment to share some of the changes we've made to our playroom over the past year as we embarked on our first year of homeschooling.  You can see what our playroom looked like before. 

The biggest change is that we took out the big toddler toys, a workbench and a kitchen.  I was sad to see those things go because it meant the kids were growing up, but I have to admit, the moments that we experience in our classroom/playroom now are so much richer. 

Sure, there's been plenty of tears shed over not wanting to do school, feeling discouraged, or flat out having a bad day.  But there's also been many priceless moments of excitment, incredible teamwork, accomplishments and creativity. 

There's nothing too fancy about our set up.  We reused our IKEA Docksta table from another room and simply moved some things around.  Many items are from Target's Dollar Aisle.  My favorite part of the room are the IKEA Trofast storage units we have.  SOO practical and not too bad looking either!  It gives me plenty of cubbies for organization, plus a place for me to spread out... I need my piles.  :)

Harmony.  How lovely it is when it happens.  :)

Mission Control.  Our main school wall with our calendar, places to display projects, word wall and wipe board. 
All our papers, math manipulatives, and some toys are stored in the bins. 

Our classroom/playroom from the door

Our reading nook

Typical week... letter of the week with a verse of the week. 

Now, over my 10 years of teaching 3rd grade, I don't think there was a single year that I didn't move things around.  So, this room will definitely be progressing and changing throughout the months and years!

Lastly, of course, this post is purely about logistics and how we have set things up for our first year of homeschooling.  Some day soon, I'd love to share with you why we chose to homeschool and why we are commited to do it for another year.  In a nutshell... it was something that I never thought I would do, but felt a calling as our oldest was ready to head into kindergarten.  It's not for everyone, it's not the only way, but it's the way for us, for now.  :) 

Bath Textiles from Cost Plus

I spotted some gorgeous shower curtains and towels over at Cost Plus.  Now... I know, one can only have so many shower curtains, but don't forget... this is a great way to get inexpensive and lovely fabrics for window treatments and pillows.  You could easily get at least 2 throw pillows out of each shower curtain panel, and probably 4 if you used a contrasting fabric for the back.  All these shower curtains are $29.99.  Do the math... a great deal for pillows!  Don't know how to sew?  Go to your local dry cleaners!

 

(blue ikat shower curtain)

(gray buhti shower curtain)

(purple green ikat shower curtain)

And take a look at these beautiful towels.  I bought 2 just to spruce up our powder bath.  :)

(mosaic printed velour collection)

(painterly flower velour collection)

(feather bouquet printed collection)

Want to see more?  Click here to view their entire bath line. 

(all photos via costplus.com)