Home Keeping: A Small Change Can Make A Big Difference

 

For three or four years I have had these gold velvet curtains in my living room. I love them, but I've been wanting to bring more red into my living room as I felt every thing had gotten pretty neutral. 

I've been looking off and on for red velvet curtains that wouldn't break the bank, and last week someone linked their curtains and I followed the link to Amazon and velvet curtains. Amazon has been having sales, early Prime day prices and the curtains were an excellent price for two panels! I needed four panels, so I hesitated but then hit the purchase button. They came a few days later.

They look beautiful with my lamps and bring a gorgeous red into the room! 

One reason I was able to buy them is that I have money from the weddings that I have done. It's not part of our budgeted funds. I paid $71.14 for two packages. Each package has two panels. I will link them {here}, but the price has gone up a bit, though there is a coupon you can use.

Now you may be wondering what I did with my beloved gold velvet curtains. I've had dark burgundy curtains in my room for many years and used them in my smaller bedroom that Tim and I live in right now.

I switched them out for the gold velvet!

This window only needs two panels so the other two are going to go across the closet opening. I'll keep the burgundy curtains because you never know where an opportunity to use them will pop up!

So what do you think of my small change? It has made a big impact and the living room feels warm and cozy, ready for the cold weather that is coming. As for me, I'm loving it.

Spare 'oom

When Rachel married and moved out of our home, we had some bedroom shuffling going on.  Sarah immediately moved into Rachel's bigger bedroom, and a week later Kyle moved into Sarah's old room.  This room is the smallest bedroom, but when the previous owners added a master suite onto the house, they made the entry through what was Kyle's old bedroom.

This was never really a problem.  When we moved into our cottage, I was pregnant with Sarah, so we always used that room for a nursery or a young kids bedroom.  Of course kids moving out almost always caused a room reshuffling, but I thrive on change, so it was never a problem for me!

We now have a "spare 'oom," and I'm having fun with it.  So far all I've really done is put Sarah's old daybed in the room.  I have a lot of sorting and clearing of collected kids things to go through.  

This room will be where grands sleep, or Sarah when we have overnight guests.  I used bedding we already had (Watson seems to like it) but I will be looking for some that works on a daybed.  This mattress is comfy, and we added a down topper to it, so it is lovely to sleep on.

I need to get Kyle's room organized and pictures up on his walls etc, before I take any photos in his new space.  Of course, I just got him to deal with a pile of dirty socks, so who knows how long this will take! {grin}

When Sarah flies the nest, Kyle will move to her current bedroom, and then who knows what kind of room this might become, maybe an office or studio space for creativity.  

For now, I'm thinking of new wall color and whether to take the shelf, that runs all around the room, down.  I like the idea of wainscoting to cozy up the space, and it would work just fine with the shelf so perhaps we'll leave it.

I love design projects, but it takes us longer these days due to my back, and Tim being very busy with his business.  However, I do have handy kids, and perhaps we can trade labor for dinner?  Hmmmm. 

Home Keeping: Dreaming Of A New Bed

I've been lobbying for a new bed for several years.  Our current bed is a full size bed that we've had since before Rachel was born!  It fit perfectly in our old house, which had been built in the 1930's, with small bedrooms.  It was comfortable, and we loved it.

When we bought our cottage, the previous owners had added on an enormous master suite.  When we looked at this house, the owners had a huge king size bed, a huge wardrobe, dresser, couch and more in this room.

We have our full size bed in here and it looks so small in this space.  And its old.  We have been able to keep using this bed because we added a memory foam topper.  We are both beginning to feel stiff and sore in the mornings, and I think its time for a new bed.

I really like memory foam beds that I've slept on, and would like to do some kind of memory foam bed for us.  We also need a proper headboard and foundation.

I like these from Wayfair, and I think they are well priced.

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I also would like new bedding.  I still haven't replaced by poor, beloved Waverly comforter set that wore out after 10 years of use.  We've loved the red and yellow/gold tones of the set, but can't find anything that we love in those same colors.

So I am thinking of going with white bedding, and then adding color in through a throw blanket, euro shams, and other accent pillows.  That way I could do navy and white in summer, I could do reds in winter, etc.

I'd be happy to hear your recommendations on beds, bedding, and mattresses.  Now, to set some funds aside for this change and convince Tim that it's time!

A Little Change

My green dresser has been in my closet for several years, and my white desk was next to my bed as a night stand.

This past weekend I switched them around.

I actually have more room in my closet now which helps functionality.  The dresser is just fine next to my side of the bed.

You know how one change can lead to another?  I'm thinking now that my dresser needs a new color.  It has been this green for over a decade.

Definitely time for a change.

A Bedside Table

We've been on the lookout for a table for next to Sarah's bed. She had been using, by her own choice, a cardboard box!  (smile)  

Today, I was at Christmas Tree Shops picking up cute napkins for daily use here at home, and some napkins to use when our homeschool co-op starts up next month.  I always make a trip through at least the perimeter of the store and in the furniture section, I struck gold!

 I saw this table and thought that the styling, in spite of their 'modern' label, reminded me of a campaign desk (here is a link to one).  I knew it would look great in her bedroom, and they were marked down by $30!  They only had grey and white on display and I was bummed, but as I looked at the boxes I saw that they had black tables in this style!  Score!

I brought it home, and assembled it this evening.  I had her take a few photos but they were mostly dark.  I'll try to get a better shot or two of it, in her room, tomorrow.

I love the way it looks in her room! And I'm happy that she has a nice table beside her bed now, rather than a cardboard box!

EBAY Has My Comforter!

You can see it here.  It looks like its in good shape, but it's gently used.

So I'm not sure.

Plus, do I want the same thing I've had for 10+ years?

I've been checking out Kohl's online, and Country Curtains.  The Red Buffalo Check is dreamy, but a bit out of my budget at the moment!

Tim and I were just talking and he thinks something different than what we've had would be nice.

So the search continues....

A Tween Boys Room

Kyle's room was in need of some rearranging and organizing, even though he thought it was fine.  Unfortunately for him (but not really), when the previous owners of our cottage added a master suite, they decided to just make a door from this bedroom into the master suite.  What that means is that for us to get to our bedroom, we have to walk through his room.

That means we see it every day, many times a day, and when it needs some attention, we notice!  So Wednesday he and I, with some help from Kamryn, worked on his room.


You can see a few shots of what it looked like before in this post.

Here is what it looks like now.

 This is the view from the hallway.  His bed used to be across the window, his desk on this wall, and his bookcase much closer to the doorway into my room because of his bed frame.

 He suggested putting his desk under the bed, and it just fit.  It is mostly filled with Legos.

 He's definitely outgrowing somethings, but he is sentimental and not ready to put his PillowPal in storage. (smile)

 I found this great kids chair at Goodwill several years ago.  We've now made a reading corner for him.

 He loves these Professor Noggin games!

 Boy treasure: a flat rock, a tracker, a feather, good books...

Emma made his copy of Psalm 23, and Lindsay sketched George Washington for him.

Kyle's bed from my bedroom doorway.  This Astronomy posters are coming down this week, he needs help with the tacks on the top, or they'd already be down.  We have found that he absorbs information that he is surrounded by, so we put up things that correlate to his interests or that go along with his studies.  This last year he studied astronomy, before that we had a huge map of the US on his wall.  Still looking for something to put up for this year.

By simply moving his bed and putting the desk under the bed, we opened up a lot of space and made it much for functional for him, without having to do anything major in this room.

If my parents sell their house later this year, Kyle will be moving to another room, and this room will become a sitting room for my parents and they will have the master suite as well.  The window in this room will become a door, so they will have their own entrance or at least a door for emergencies or to just go out and sit on the porch! (which will be added)

Quick Bedroom Make-Over

One of the quickest ways to freshen up your bedroom is to change out your bedding.

The key is to use a neutral color for the base, then you can mix and match the rest.

  When I took the flannel sheets off the bed last month, I wanted to refresh the look in our bedroom, so I went with this look which is something I did last summer.

Yesterday, I changed it out to this

 This comforter and shams are long time favorites of mine. 

 As you can see I have a whole new look but the foundation is basically the same.  I changed to all white sheets and pillowcases, changed the shams and put the comforter on the end of the bed.

 The colors make me happy and what really works is the combination of textures.

This cottage look makes my heart sing.

This is a simple way to get a whole new look in your room, or simply to freshen up your look for spring.

These photos were taken in natural light.  In the early morning, this northwest room gets diffused, not direct sunlight.

Boy's Bedroom: Updating

Kyle is going to be 11 this year.  He loves legos, science - especially Astronomy, being active, minecraft, and playing with his niece, Kamryn.

His room reflects all those things, and yet it is also cluttered as it is a very small room - about 10x10 with the closet coming into the room. 

Just as you come in his cool desk is on the left.  full of legos, rocks and anatomy pages. ;)  

 I'm okay with this because its a roll top desk and it all can be 'out of sight' with a quick pull down of the roll top.

Tim made this bookcase/toy storage when Kyle was a baby.  It was white, but I've painted it with ASCP in French Linen.  (Kyle, who is VERY sentimental was completely fine with it staying white)  I am trying to add in some more of a pre-teen/teen look to his room, since he doesn't like stuff to change.  Example of his lack of wanting change; his big basket of cars.  He doesn't really play with them anymore, so I was going to move them downstairs.  They'd be accessible if we had young guests, but he's not ready for that yet.  He also said, "Kamryn still plays with them, Mom."  So, okay, they'll stay.

My inspiration for painting the bookcase grey is this metal K.  

 Now to explain a few things.  There is one window in this room and it is behind this bunk bed.  The bunk is low, and Kyle and Tim made the top bunk a platform for building and playing, yes, you guessed it - Legos!  The light in this room is coming from his window and its white curtain which is still closed.  That paper plate on his shelf?  He drew lego minecraft characters two years ago.  He doesn't want to throw it out yet!

 He has some cool vintage (from my dads collection of old Astronomy magazines) posters about the Solar System and that kind of thing.  I want to keep those, but would like to ditch his birthday poster from last August.  He likes it and wants it to stay.  We are working on a compromise!

When you have such a small room, I think it's important to keep things as clutter free as possible.  For me it means that legos must be contained on the desk, the loft, or the bins.  But it's also important that there not be so much visual clutter.  So we'll be working on that.  I may paint this room this summer - he is into green these days.  

Bit by bit it'll get changed.  I don't want to come in and make it into my image, it's HIS room, but I do want it to grow with him, and make his room function better.

Joining these fun gals again this week @ Thoughts of Home

Home Keeping: Changing The Bed Linens

I love a nicely made bed, and if it is pretty, so much the better!

I love adding white on my bed when the weather turns warmer.  The comforter goes to storage until Autumn, and I bring out lighter bedding.    I have an older matelassé, that I now use as a cover on the couch in my bedrooms' sitting area.  I was in need of something new, and I found this beautiful quilted coverlet at Christmas Tree Shops.  It was $29.95, can you believe it?!

Do you make changes to your rooms seasonally?  



In other news....


Emma is on her way back to South Carolina today.  Prayers for a safe journey are appreciated.