Remember...

this:

My design board for our master bedroom.

Well, it's finally happening.

I know I wrote about it way back here, but then we worked on a few projects I thought would go after the bedroom. But, the Mr. had other ideas in mind that included ripping out carpet in our study... and putting in recess lighting in the study and removing linoleum in the laundry room... and then putting tile (ourselves) into those very spaces... while we were at it, we thought we'd go ahead move our whole house to the tiled area and refinish all of our hardwood floors and have them installed in our linoleumed kitchen... and then installing bookcases in the study and building my desk. Not to mention ANY work that's been done outside including having FIVE TREES removed (due to poor cutting by the power company and disease) and planting five in their place... and bushes... and flowers... and more.

I'd be lying if I told you there was a part of me that, while I loved all of the great things happening around this place, was becoming increasingly more distressed over the state of our bedroom.

It's supposed to be your retreat. Your safe space. And it was my least favorite place to be in the whole entire house. It had no unifying decor... no connection to the bedroom I envisioned when we picked out Jamestown Blue back in October of 2009 when we bought the house.

But now?

Our second IKEA trip of the year!

Giving up the ghost (our 16-year-old, hand-me-down mattress...) for this AMAZING NEW MATTRESS (on our new bed).

A fuller perspective, including NEW LINENS & SHEETS (and no, that's not paper bag art taped to the wall, it's the guiding template for my frame collage).

Another perspective, this time with the collage added and one set of curtains up (the other were mis-marked on length and have to be returned).

 

We're making our way. You'll have to rely on my trusty iPhone pictures as we continue putting together the pieces, but you can bet it'll be getting a photoshoot of its own.

This is the space I've been dreaming of, and it's all coming together at JUST THE PERFECT TIME. Lord knows I'll want this to be a comfy, cozy haven in less than seven months.

Oh boy, oh boy!

I've finished (for now) my design board for the master bedroom (next stop on the Decor Snowball!) This time I went a little less collagey, and a little more - modely? Took way longer, but I'm so pleased with the results, I can't help but think it was worth it.



You know, I know I could pay someone to do this for me. I do.

But then, I wouldn't enjoy this half as much I don't think - or lose nearly enough sleep. (I designed this entirely from scratch on Photoshop, thankyouverymuch.)

Where would my badge of "Oh! I'm so tired!" be without that?

It's interesting to think how much this will change and adapt as we work on the space. And considering all we have really now for the space that we want later is the space itself (and the wall color!) we've got a ways to go... and I know it'll change so I'm less apt to talk about the details now as I will later when it's pulling together. It's a bit more contemporary than the brown guest room, but still has enough rustic (we're looking to get black distressed furniture) and comfy and vintage to keep me happy. I love the play of the contrast and punches of color... A THOUSAND POINTS to anyone who knows where the inspiration for the color themes in our room came from (hint: above the bed).

Speaking of beds, a new mattress, after sleeping in a bed for three years that we inherited from Cliff's sister and brother-in-law that they got as a gift when they got married (I WON'T tell you how long ago THAT was) will be heaven... pure, pure heaven.

Dream A Little

As the landscapers currently do their thing, I couldn't help but do my own.

That is, dream.

In the middle of an album design, I decided to take my own design break and pull together some of the inspiration I've been culling for our first guest bedroom design. We've decided this is going to be the first room likely to be finished in what we're calling the Decor Snowball. (You've gotta figure we'd pull out some Dave Ramsey-ite phrase in this, right?)

Seeing as it's the room closest to being complete, it'll be the first we actually do finish. And with that under our belts, each project will likely seem more feasible.

At least, that's our thinking.

So here's the guest bedroom to date:



(forgive the botchy merge job by Photoshop. my wide-angle lens isn't exactly wide-enough to get it all in one frame.)

And here's the design board I created for the room:



It'll be awhile, I'm sure, before it gets to where we want it to be but I'm really enjoying the direction it's headed. Beautiful neutrals with a pop of color, a real antique bed with soft, neutral linens, slight rustic meets vintage meets antique meets warm and cozy.

Can you see it? What do you think?

p.s. if you don't subscribe to Real Simple and haven't taken the Decorating Personality quiz, you can take it online. And maybe you've got it figured out, but this was a life-saver for us. We're predominantly Cozy Casual with a touch of Vintage Eclectic thrown in!

The Definition of Decorating

Watch, and be amazed.

As Cliff Mentioned

And as you all evidently already know, Christmas preparations are in full swing, and I, for one, am ecstatic about it all. Just the first couple of notes of "Silent Night" on Mix Ninety-Two Niiiiiiiiiine... and I've lost it. Don't even think about singing "I'll Be Home For Christmas" around me or you're sure to get snot in your face.

But anyways.

The tree is up.



The Christmas cards have started coming in (and ours are finally designed and ordered!)



Cliff's cube has been decorated.



All but one Christmas gift has been purchased. We've had our fare share of Hot Nogolate around the house (uh, yeah, it's hot chocolate made with egg nog and milk). The Christmas parties have begun. We've sung carols a couple of nights with different groups of people. The decorations are still finding their way into new places in our home.









Overall, we're loving everything about this season despite its hustle and bustle!

That Time Of The Year

Hey there everyone! It's been a while again since I've written a blog so I thought that I would take a moment and do one on this wonderful Wednesday morning. We are a little less than 16 days away from Christmas and it is that time of the year when we are all either starting or finishing up with plans for the holidays and decorations.

It's been a pretty crazy last few weeks and we are about to wrap up the decorations at home. We did get our tree up last week and it really looks great in the new house. I'm sure Kristine might get a picture or two up of the house before Christmas. We also were blessed to be able to travel to Raleigh to visit Kristine's sister and brother-in-law, and niece and nephew as well. It was a wonderful time and also difficult at the same time when we had to leave since we only get see them around once a year on average.

I wish we had more time and money to see the members of her family a whole lot more than we do but I guess we just have to be thankful for the time that we do have with our family when we can see them during this stage of our lives. I'm sure that every family across the country deals with emotions and feelings like this from time to time but the holidays do seem to make one reflect on things more than other times of the year. Again, I'm just thankful for all that we have been blessed with in our lives.

Work is going great and I am spending my days working inside of a giant present (literally) as a result of my crazy decorating idea for my cubical and the intense decorating that has been going on all across the building. There has been a competition here at work the past week for each section of the building to decorate their area and today it should all be done and ready to be judged. There are around 16 different areas in the building that have decorated by the individuals teams in those area and there is quit a bit of creativity and variety in every area. I wish you could be here to see it all. It looks great!

Kristine has been crazy busy with work at Belmont and her photography business (which is doing wonderfully and really taking off the ground). Also, I would say that just keeping up with me and being an awesome wife is more than a full time job itself. Hopefully she will be able to finally get some great rest over the course of her vacation time around Christmas and New Years. She deserves it!

Life is busy for sure these days but it is really nice to stop for a moment during the day and think and reflect on why we are all doing so much to decorate and celebrate the season. To think about our wonderful families and friends and how lucky we are to have all of them. And to know that God is in all of this and it all would mean nothing if he hadn't sent His son.

Those were a few of my thoughts as I have been going through the morning and I thought that I would take a moment to make sure that I reflected on them and to share them with everyone as well. I hope that your day and week is going great as well and that maybe this post will fill your heart with a little holiday cheer!