Bye bye chocolate walls, hello windy skies!

Hello!!!  We are alive and well and up to the usual this and that.  Highlight of the week thus far? I finished scouring my bathroom today. Scrubbing the bathroom is something that has been on my list of things to do for quite some time, but it kept falling down the list. Bathrooms are easy to fall down my list. Finally I came to the realization that I would rather die than my little sis who is coming to stay here overnight see my bathroom in its current state. While I was scrubbing the floor I decided the next time Kyle goes out of town I'll probably paint it. The brown walls in there and the dirty trim were really bugging me. I have no idea what color, so I'll probably consult my friend Jessica again and have her whip something grand up.

Remember the room she designed for me?  Well I'm finally finished!! (ummmm...mostly, still need to hang my Nauvoo plate, but other than that, it's officially finished) Back in March she consulted with me on my ideas for this room. I gave her some ideas I had, along with my taste (or what I perceived my taste to be) and how I wanted the room to function. Then I snapped some pictures, took some measurements and e-mailed them to her and in a matter of days she had a plan for me!

It was so awesome and helpful having "someone to answer to" so to speak. Had I not had her help, I'd probably still be humming and hah-ing over paint colors. It was also great to work with her because she has opinions and ideas whereas Kyle is really indifferent. I found a shelf at a yard sale and she told me what color to paint it. Had I asked the same question to Kyle, this is more likely the response I'd get: "Why did you buy that thing and where is it going?" I consulted with her about my ideas for a couch and she helped me take the plunge and get something I loved, even if it was lighter in color. 

When I was painting the room in the middle of the night I could send her a picture text of my progress and she could get all excited over it with me. That was really nice.  Every girl needs a cheerleader in her corner when she's making big changes to her home and Jessica was wonderful! 

So you would have thought that Jess was like my next door neighbor or at least in the same town as me.

Nope. She's all the way in Virginia. We did all our communication via email and texting. While that may seem terrible, it was actually great and super convenient. I moved at the pace that worked with my lifestyle. (ie painting the room in the middle of the night while the kids were sleeping) And even though it took me 6 months to finish it, I never felt any pressure to "hurry up already." 

So, here are the "before" and "after" pics

BEFORE: Brown, Brown and more BROWN. It was EVERYWHERE!!!

After: As you can see, I not only had this room painted, but also did the entryway (yellow) and toy room (green). This room created the domino effect in my entire house and got me moving on my plans to lighten things up.

Originally Jess planned for me to have drapes, but I did like these plantation shutters. So I thought I'd see what it looked like with some paint and furniture...

Sure enough, they looked great and didn't need any drapes (in my humble opinion)

Really this room got started when I bought the bookshelf. I saw this in a store about 5 years ago and fell in love. In fact, I remember walking through the store with my friend Alicia and just loving it.  6 moves later I was thrilled to first, live in the state where I first saw this book shelf, and second, finally live in a home in which a piece of furniture like this could be properly housed.  

The chairs came soon after. After sitting in several, I finally picked out the style that were the most comfortable for reading in, then I picked this bee print, thinking it was cute and whimsical, and  fitting, seeing as how insects provide our bread and butter, and we live in the beehive state.

Next came the couch. Couches are expensive. Let me rephrase that. Good couches can be expensive.  I thought about using the couch that came with the house (it matches the existing love seat pictured in the "befores") since we had it...then I toyed with the idea of getting this Ikea couch. Jessica continued holding my hand the entire way through the couch selection, offering her advice and opinions.

Finally I made my way into Ethan Allen just to see what they had to offer. I was really impressed with their selection and customer service. Both of their sales people were really great at helping me define my style.  I initially started with the "design your own" couch line and then came back and was able to find an existing couch that matched what I had designed pretty closely for half the cost.  

I wanted to keep that airy, fresh, look so I went with a light but durable fabric. While I was at it, I decided to design an ottoman too. It was really fun, surprisingly painless, and the kids sat in the store patiently watching a Christmas movie the entire time. They got snowcones afterwards for their good behavior.

Jess stretched me and gave me links for some modern prints to try out for pillow covers. When it comes to home decor, I typically lean towards traditional over modern, but I decided to take the plunge with the navy and white modern pillows. The red ones I found at TJ Maxx-- they don't have a modern red print, but the fabric was a canvas-like material that gave it the casual feel I was going for. The blue ones I found on etsy (of course!) and they are Kyle's very favorite part of the room I think. He calls them the "Greek Pillows."  I switch back and forth depending on my mood from the pillows in the above picture to the modern pillows.  I keep whichever pillows I'm not using in the ottoman, which, might I add, was a brilliant selection on my part. If you ever have a choice between a storage ottoman and a coffee table, always go with an ottoman. Not only can you store things in it or on it, you can also use it as extra seating. Yes, I heart storage.

Once the room was painted and the furniture moved back into place, I moved ALL the books into this room (minus many of the children's books which are in the toy room). I organized many of them by color, and then others by genre (parenting, marriage, self-helf, novels, books I wouldn't mind loaning out, etc). 

Funny story about these pictures of Savvy and one of her favorite books--- Savvy loved them so much she begged me to take them off the wall and put them in her room. I relented when I found an adorable painting of a cute little girl with a book by a French artist. I also have some French antique keys hanging in the adjacent corner to the new painting, so I call it "my French corner"

I love these frames to hold the kids' art.  Not only does it put one on display, but it holds many more pieces of artwork inside the frame. You can get them at Target.

I saw the silver pot/vase on an end cap at, you guess it, Target. I liked it and started dreaming up some sort of floral-ness to go inside of it. I decided upon Forsytha. It's a funky, long-stemmed thing that can hold it's own when you stick a few branches in it. I found the perfect forsythia stems at Campus Craft and Floral. this shot doesn't really do the pot 'o forsythia justice, but that's okay. We like it! I love how forsythia reminds me of Kyle and I's first home in Provo with the big forsythia bush in front of our bedroom window. It makes me think of my floral design class I took my last semester of college. It also conjures up fond memories of driving down the streets of Seattle to visit my brother and his family and hearing Savannah say, "Look, Mom! Forsythia!!!" and being so tickled that my little 3 year-old knew such a big word.

I found these storage boxes at TJ Maxx. The colors tied into the room nicely while providing me with some more storage space. The big box keeps all the dust jackets of the books and the little one keeps the kids' journals and journaling supplies (crayons, scissors, scrap paper, adhesives, etc).

I think this is the most clever piece in the room and makes this room and official library. I laugh to think that I not only was alive during the time the card catalogue system was being used, but I remember my librarian, Mrs. Davis teaching us about the Dewey Decimal system and actually using the card catalogue! I suppose that makes me an official antique!

This holds CDs and other randomness. Can you tell I am all about STORAGE? 

My happy place.... :) Another great thing about getting this room done was the fact that it forced me to get my children's pictures taken. You can't have a gallery wall without pictures of your kids, can you? Really, it's amazing the trickle effect committing to finishing a room has in the rest of your world. It was great!

This is hands down my favorite room in the house.  I love snuggling up to a good book in here. This is where I read to Savvy her Little House books (we finished the first one and just started the 2nd!), and where we read the scriptures as a family. 

Am I crazy for picking out such light-colored fabric? We'll see. I just love the look of lighter furniture (in fact, I am ready to take a can of spray paint to the card catalogue and lighten it up for kicks!)   When the furniture got delivered I called the children into the room for a special meeting.  I made a really big deal out of it, explaining that when I was picking out the couch, the people in the store kept telling me I couldn't because I had kids. I continued with the story: "'I told those store clerks that I had special kids. Kids that are REEEEALLY good listeners who know how to treat things with respect.  I have the best kids in the world. Most people couldn't have white furniture, but since I've got such great kids, I knew it wouldn't be a big deal and they would be just fine."  Cade and Savvy ate this up and I got the reaction I was looking for. We sat down and discussed some house rules for the room and at the end Savvy said enthusiastically, "we should make a sign for these rules  and hang them up in here!" 

There is no sign, much to Savvy's dismay, but they do a great job without it.   I won't tell them I did get the special warranty. White couches I feel it would be served well to have a warranty on. :)

Thanks, Jess!!!!  

Now it's time to dream up something nice and pleasant for my bathroom. I bet I'd clean it much more often if the walls were a different color. Ha! Excuse, excuses....