Isabella's Room

So here is Isabella's room (yes, finally) As I said earlier it's out of my normal comfort zone with decorating it but I am really happy with how fun it turned out.  I still need to complete some finishing touches but I figured if I didn't show you all now it might never happen! Please feel free to skip all of the writing and just look at the photos! 

This is the wall the door is on (it's to the left of this painting, the door you see is the closet)

The painting in this picture is what Isabella is named after. It's by James Christensen and it's one of my favorite pieces ever. Uber bought it for me right after we were married and Mum framed it. So I figured at least for now it has to be in her room. 

I've been seeing the "I am a child of God" prints all over the place and I really liked it so I made one in photo shop and had it printed locally. The style is copied from this etsy seller I just color matched the text in mine to the colors in the room.  (please note I made it for personal use only) I actually really wanted to order this print to hang with it but currently she only offers it in 8x10 with is too small.

The mobile which I showed you all here.

The crib skirt fabric is Framed Sea Glass from Anna Maria Horners line LouLouThi. 

I had all sorts of issues in this space since we didn't want to paint and the 9 ft ceiling just made me feel like everything looked blah and short and squat so I started out with this (excuse the iphone photo...also note the bat in the crib... this was before Isabella arrived) I was happy with it but not thrilled. Then late one night while I was up with Isabella I came across this featured on a blog which lead me to this blog seriously could it have been any more perfect?

 So here is my version. I already had the Martha Stewart pinwheels so I had to work with what I had (unfortunately because the party store versions are so much cheaper!)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wall! It matches her quilt and brings the color up to the ceiling.

The ottoman from our last post. 

This Begonia was a gift for Isabella. It's doing absolutely gorgeous in her window... The beautiful miniature rose that was also sent, not so much it's gone to live with my mom and I am hoping she can revive it because it was also stunning. 

I couldn't bring myself to get rid of this corner cabinet so it's currently living in her room. The balls and poufs were an addition before the flower wall. That's about 3' of space and it looked bad with nothing there so I decided to make it into a 

NIGHT LIGHT! (update: tutorial here) I don't leave it on all night this is just what I turn on when I come into the room. It gives enough light to change her and see my way around but not enough to wake either of us up. 

I lined the back of the corner cabinet with gift paper from World Market. The pink ribbon is from Martha Stewart's Michael's line a few years back it's adhesive. On the shelves are a bunch of random keepsakes. The stained glass piece is supposed to be hanging... lost one of the pieces of chain in the move. And I still haven't printed pictures for the frames. 

Growth Chart and the Mendocino Mermaids

I had these two frames that needed art work so I made up these (based off of these prints here once again for personal use only) not sure if these will stay permanently I just love the song and the design and needed something for now. I want to find hooks to hang under these... someday 

Here's a quick picture of the girl in her room. She's wearing this dress made by Grandma. She is growing so fast! 

So there you have it. It's not done but it's done enough for now. I really want to get on with it and do some other projects... not really sure what yet! 

Hope you all enjoyed. Sorry for being SO LONG WINDED. 

Art Board Tutorial

I just thought I would give you guys a brief run down/source list on how we made the Art Board in Micah's room.... just in case anyone wants to make one of their own.

I thought this project up when we were in the process of moving and had this huge 4'x8' pegboard that once hung in our garage. We either needed to store or get rid it, as we don't have a garage in our new place. Really it was just too nice of a piece to get rid of. Uber made it with molding that I can't seem to locate more of - it's basically a picture frame molding that used to be sold at building supply stores... not sure what it's called or why no one here seems to carry it any longer. 

Mom bought the Martha Stewart Organizing Magazine to get us ready for spring ... and my move... and in it her people used a peg board in a kids bathroom which made me think how awesome it would be in a kids room.    

So we started with this already built frame. 

From Ikea we picked up:

The shelf - EKBY JÄRPEN/ EKBY BJÄRNUM - in the 7 1/2" depth

Bins - RATIONELL

Rail- GRUNDTAL

Paper - MÅLA

I just played with the heights for these until I was happy with the placement. Then we centered them and used toggle bolts to hold the the shelf and rail in place. 

The Grundtal Rail has screws on the ends of the bar so when the paper needs to be replaced we can just undo those and slide on a new roll. 

The bins are all held on by small pegboard hooks- this way they can be rearranged in the future if the supplies being stored need more space. 

The sheet metal was a bit more tricky- home improvement stores didn't carry a large enough piece so luckily Mum deals with First Coast Sheet Metal (no website but you could look them up if your local. I would recommend them) through work, so she ordered a custom piece cut to the exact size I needed with rolled edges- I am sure you could just look up a company in the phone book and have the same thing done. It was relatively inexpensive - around $40 which if you price out the smaller pieces sold in Home Depot or Lowes you would be up over that price and would still have to figure out how to cut it yourself.

I'm sure they could have drilled holes for us but I am not that on my game so Uber had to do it when I got the metal home and marked the back. 

He used a nail punch to dent the metal where he would be drilling

And then slowly gauged up with the drill bits 

The tear bar is a short piece of aluminum that I found in the metal section at Lowes.

The sheet metal and tear bar were all secured with a bolt on the front and a washer and nut on the back. 

The sheet metal serves a couple of purposes- smooth drawing surface, magnet board and can also be used as a white board. 

I used my silhouette machine to make these chalkboard vinyl labels (since I had vinyl on hand from the stair numbers) but Martha Stewart sells the same thing at Staples. I used a chalk pin to write on the labels so they can be redone in the future.

 And of course don't forget to secure the board to the wall so you don't have to worry about it falling over on anyone. We have ours leaning too - the bottom is about 6 inches out from the wall. 

I can not express to you how much I LOVE this project. It's really fun and I think it will grow with him. I have all sort of fun ideas for magnets!!

And no post about the boys room is complete without a picture of the boy himself- his dad taught him how the drill works.... not really something I appreciate....he is crazy about tools

Should an 19 month old be able to lift a drill? 

Well he can and he is very proud of himself.

Micah's Room

So this is way too many pictures... but whatever I LOVE the way his big boy room turned out so you will just have to deal with it! 

It's not too different from the nursery everything that Isabella doesn't need stayed with him. But there is a whole lot of new stuff- most of it things we (or someone... ahem... grandpa) already owned  and they all made their way into his room to make one super fun kids room. We decided (Uber talked me into) not to paint anything since it's a lot of work and he would have been the one doing it, so this is the reason for the builder grade white/cream walls... I do miss color... but it's temporary and left more money for some new fun things!

I just have to say this toy shelf is looking really empty ... but that is only because if you could see the living room when these pictures were taken he had dragged everything out and strewn it all over ... so don't feel bad for him and think he needs toys!

 Yes it's a bear rug in a child's room. It's awesome and he LOVES the thing so why not!

 Dad's Zebra window is finally getting the amount of light it's always deserved. This west facing window gets crazy sunlight so the black in the Zebra gives enough shade that I leave this window open all of the time. There is so much sunlight in this house compared to the town home. 

 The mischievous boy ran through while I was taking pictures-- can you tell which ones were taken after his arrival? 

 Transitioning him to the bed turned out to be relatively stress free - of course Uber took care of it so really I don't know first hand - haha - there is usually a safety rail there I just removed it for the pictures. Also do you see all of his quilts? This boy is spoiled!

 Have you noticed the gondola? That is another Grandpa addition it's really awesome and it moves and has little passengers which thrills Micah.

 The Art Wall - this has been the project I've been waiting to complete before showing you his room. I LOOOOVVVVVEEEE IT! It turned out better then I could have imagined

 Uber and I might have more fun playing with it than Micah does.

 I'll give more details as to how we made it next week sometime.

 I'm guessing anyone who reads our blog also reads Crafterhours but just in case you don't I want you to know these awesome vinyl clothing stickers are totally Susan's idea she even sells them here. But since I have a silhouette and vinyl on hand and needed a few icons she doesn't have I tryed making some myself... though now that I look again at her pj's I think I may want to try again- much cuter! I was working off her first version as inspiration no pj's there... Or maybe she will decide to add swim trunks and shoes and I can just order them from her? She has lots of neat colors... colors are more fun then black! 

These are meant to help his dad find Micah's clothes...so far he really likes them!

Well that is it for Micah's room I will try and get posts together for the rest of the house asap. Maybe I can even get mom to show you the craziness that they have accomplished at their house- tons and tons of projects- and she hasn't shown you a single picture! Yes that's right I am tattling!

Nursery Reveal

I am so happy to finally show you Micah's completed nursery!

My goal was to create a fun space that he wasn't going to out grow quickly. I really wanted to stay away from any specific theme's but have a lot of nature inspired items. It was amusing to realize later that the first item I had for the nursery was a calendar print of James Christensen's Flight of the Fable Maker that I'd had my Mum frame a few years ago. I had it hanging else where in the house and had totally forgotten about it until half way through finishing the nursery. It fits in perfectly and ties the whole room together. So somewhere I managed to keep that in the back of my mind as I made all of my design choices!

I can't say by any stretch of the imagination that this nursery really ended up being budget friendly, well at least by our standards. But I did pick items that could be used for all future children and then could transition into our house in other areas easily. And everything that I could possible do myself I did.



Matt and I have always thought it would be fun to have a giant map in the house so I decided to incorporate one into the nursery. I just love the array of muted colors it brings into the room and I made a bunch of flags out of Japanese masking tape and straight pens to mark all of the place we've been separate, together, and soon as a family.

It's hard to pick a favorite item in the room but the Tree Stump Ottoman is definitely near the top. And to make it even sweeter it's full of a schleich animal collection my dad has steadily been adding to.

The Mobile and Quilt are my other favorites for the room. And are hopefully items that will be with him for many years to come.

Most of the toys in the room are hand-me-downs from various family members. With a few additions like his own Steiff elephant, SIGG bottle and various Melissa & Doug items.
Well there it all is finally! I hope you guys enjoy the pictures as much as we are enjoying the room! Oh and sorry there is not Micah shoot for you this post has taken a few days to get together and I simply forgot to load one in at the bottom when I started... I'll try to get some up in the next few days! : P

Resource list:

Crib - Walmart.com

Dresser- 'vintage' piece my parents picked up second hand for me in Germany

Chair - Babiesrus

Side table - Pottery Barn Kids

Rug - Pottery Barn

Wall sconce - Restoration Hardware outlet

Curtains - Pottery Barn pinstriped sheers discontinued

Floating shelves - Ikea

Closet shelves/hanging system- Lowes

Baskets - Michaels Craft Store

Wooden clothing hangers- amazon.com

Book baskets & wall hooks - from Ballard Designs but have since been discontinued

Map - McMaps.com

Toy Chest- has been in the family since my mum was a child

The elephant puppet is from this etsy shop

Puky Bike - a gift from my parents

The stuff I made: Tree Stump Storage Ottoman, Bunting, clothing organizer, Mobile, Quilt, bumpers, Deer head, Spoon Shadow box, growth chart

Stuff others made: elephant stuffed animals, hamper, diaper bag, back pack, elephant garland,