Bedroom Redo 2013

It's been awhile since I've blogged and now all of a sudden there's several posts in a row. Crazy, I know but I had two nights of sessions rained out this week so I've been caught up on editing (for now). (This post is set to autopost so by the time you see it I will be behind on editing. Again. But for now.... I'm visiting the Hickstionary!)


It's also been awhile since our latest bedroom redo. The longest while in between bedroom makeovers actually. We built our home five years ago and in those five years, we've had some paint color on the walls! The previous paint color was there the longest. Not because we loved it but because B was born and it's a lot harder to work full-time hours from home and have a baby than I estimated it to be. And to throw in any home improvement projects? Pure craziness. I digress.

It'd been awhile since our last bedroom redo so when R told me for Mother's Day and then again for anniversary... and then on my birthday.... that he would do a house project for me as a gift, I knew what project I'd be picking out. I definitely wanted to redo the bedroom!

The problem was he kept gifting me an 'IOU' but we never saved the money to actually make it happen. Enter: my 30th birthday. And the crazy awesome friends/family that showered me with gifts/gift cards/cash. I haven't gotten that much birthday money since... never. Wowsers. I was spoiled. And I had a plan for those very generous gifts. (Thanks, guys!!!)

The plan was to use the birthday money for the bedroom if you didn't figure it out.... ;)

And so began #bedroomredo2013.

(But first lets look back at the two most recent looks.... yikes.)

And the bedroom redo 2013:

The breakdown:
-White down comforter, coral pillow cases, bedskirt, grey ombre dip died curtains, top drawer mercury glass knobs (on mint dresser): Target.
-Grey pillow: Kohls. (And I still have $30 in Kohl's gift cards to spend... any ideas?)
-Headboard: made from 1x8s.
-Sconce: cordset from West Elm (wrapped in scrap fabric), bracket made from scrap wood.
-Dakota's dog bed: Pet 360.
-Mint dresser: neighbor's curb (then painted).
-Flooring: Shaw Rustic Allure Delavan Pine (Menards)
-Paint colors: Walls: Timeless Ivory. Mint: Coral: (all from Menards)
-Wood stump nightstand: R brought the trunk home from working tree service. The plan was to use it in B's 'big boy' room as a night stand but we realized our existing nightstand wouldn't work in here so we 'borrowed' it until B's room is ready for it.
-Printables: found online (with modified colors) or {cb}h printables.
-Wood folding chair: my MIL got a set of them from a church that was getting rid of them.
-Everything else: found around our house.



What I love:
-The lighting in this room. We have some big windows on this side of the house and get some awesome light a few times a day but before the walls were painted 'white' most people wouldn't have known it.
-The flooring. It's just not possible to feel like carpet is clean with you have a dog and a toddler. (Yes, they both hang out in our room.)
-The white bedding. (Hello, bleach!)
-The mint dresser (It was a great find on our neighbor's curb! It needed a little TLC but is now a lovely shade of mint.)
-The coral pallet arrows. (Super easy-and free! project but adds a lotta punch.)

What I'm not crazy about:
-The coral painted nightstand and sconce. (I painted the nightstand coral first and thought the sconce would balance it out and tame it down. It did the opposite and added enough coral to make it look like a preteen bedroom instead of a master bedroom. Yikes.)
-The headboard. (We had planned on making it out of barnwood but that didn't happen. We found cheap 1x8s and went that route instead. I planned to stain them but R said they needed painted. They started out bright mint. I attempted to tone that down. It's less nautical than it was in it's beginning stages but still not quite where I want it.)


What I'm going to try/still need to do:
-Tame the headboard down with some driftwood stain.
-Paint the nightstand. Again. (But what color?!?!)
-Paint the sconce bracket grey (of course).
-Find a paper mache ampersand!!!!! The plan was to put 'R&H' on the headboard but for the life of me I can't find that '&.'
-Find a replacement nightstand for when I need to move the 'wood stump' to B's room.
-Paint the bathroom. (That blue you see peeking out.) I always get hung up on a bedroom color because I always feel like the bathroom should match. We hate painting the bathroom (there's a lot to it!) so we've yet to do it. I'm thinking a light grey maybe? Anyone wanna help? :)


What I've thought about but wont likely get to:
-An art gallery wall where our caricature is.
-An area rug.


So overall, it's a huge improvement from before! We're loving the walls and the floor so hopefully those things will stay put for awhile. A little paint on the nightstands and headboard will make it super easy to change out this room as soon as I get sick enough of the coral color to do it.

What about you? Any home projects your way lately? :)

30 before 30 update

I'm finally checking back in with an update on my 30 by 30 (things I wanted to do by 30).

1. Run a 5k.- CHECK! I've done a few actually and even won my age group (never mind that they were small town races without many runners and that barely any other 20 somethings run 5k).
2. Get a runner's high.- Up for debate. I think I did. Once. But generally speaking I don't love running. 
3. Visit my college stomping grounds. (Anyone want to join?) :)
4. Bring Scratch Cupcakes to my town. (Oh it's so happening.)- CHECK! The cupcake truck came to town- just in time for my birthday! 
5. Start a play date group in my town.- CHECK! This has been so fun. We've had regular meet ups and even have a moms co-op for giving each other a little 'time off.' Its the best. 
6. Like one that actually gets together.- CHECK!! 
7. Hop in the car for an unplanned day trip.- CHECK. R and I did an unplanned weekend for our anniversary. We had so much fun and did a lot of fun stuff but realized its more my style to plan ahead and save money! It's expensive to be spontaneous. :)
8. Write thank you's to 30 people I used to know.-Check. But not what I planned. I meant to do 30 people from various stages of life. I ended up writing 30 thank yous for birthday gifts. I was totally spoiled and got the greatest birthday swag from friends and family!! So those guys got the thank yous. 
9. Find a fall Bible study to commit to.- Check. 
10. Commit to it.- Check. It's not my typical style of study but I'm sure God has something to teach me here. 
11. Introduce someone to Christ.- check. I think. Maybe. Still working on this. :)
12. Cry with a stranger.-Check. Twice. Yikes. (I just love hearing strangers' life stories apparently. I think I'm going to write a book about it.)
13. Stick to my weekly cleaning schedule.-eh. 
14. Forgive myself if I don't.- CHECK! ;)
15. Take B to the zoo at least 5 times.-Check. 
16. And the 'big pool.'-Check. He loves it! 
17. Play more.-CHECK!
18. Worry less.-eh....
19. Unplug.-Check. Sort of. I'm going to do better this month (its hard when your iPhone is your 'office').
20. Take a day for myself.
21. Spend a day with a friend.-Check! Thanks, Jen!!!
22. Complete 30 random acts of kindness.-  Check. 
23. Memorize Romans 12.
24. Listen to the life stories of at least 3 'strangers.'-Check. 
25. Show R some of my favorite places from growing up.
26. Get my hair cut.- not yet but got a gift card to for my birthday so it will happen has soon as I can get in. :) 
27. Dye my own hair........ (ohmygosh is this even possible? anyone want to help me out?) :) Seriously help me out. I'm scared. :)
28. Find a 'running' buddy.- check! A couple times actually. :) 
29. Make a new friend.-check! 
30. Love more.-check. 

Bonus: Start a bunco group. -Check! So fun!! 

Six more to go. And three of them have to do with treating myself (maybe I could do them all on that day for myself).  That's not bad at all. I will definitely take that! 

They're always smiling.

This week B started 'moms day out.' Its not really moms day out. It's more like a group of moms that started a co-op to give each other a couple of hours to themselves once in awhile (us moms can use those two hours to work or clean or get a pedicure or take a nap. whatever. I don't judge). ;) He's also in Kindermusik. Goes to Sunday school. Attends approximately one play date group meet up a week. And goes to 'mommy church' (the church nursery while I have Bible study) one day a week. If you're keeping track that's five days a week he has a busy schedule (about four more days a week than I ever planned on). 

B is into repeating things and telling stories. It's making me very aware of what I say and do. If I tell Dakota he is so naughty you can bet B will be telling everyone he sees 'uh oh deez so naughty!' (Dakoties so naughty- we aren't sure when his name changed to dakoties.) 

With his busy schedule and new found love for telling stories it makes me think of all the stories I've heard from kids over the years. From my days in two year old preschool to my days with fifth year seniors- I've heard a lot of stories. Many of which I'm sure the parents would be mortified if they knew their kids were sharing! And definitely enough stories I could write a book of them. 

I hope B's stories never end up in a teacher's book of crazy families they've heard about from their students. 

Oh. And that post title? That's what the name of my book would be. Here's an excerpt:

(The 8th graders were discussing media influence and peer pressure.)

Student that shall remain nameless: "Yeah Mrs. H I agree that our friends pressure us to have sex but my parents do too."

Mrs. H: "You mean they pressure you not to?"

Student: "No. They make me want to. They make it look so fun. Like if you do it you'll be happy all the time. They do it a lot and they are always smiling." 

Mrs. H: .......speechless........ 

And now you see what I mean by not wanting to end up in a teacher's book of stories. ;) 

Happy Friday. :)

It's been awhile!

Dear Hickstionary,

It's me, H. I know it's been awhile since I've checked in so I figured I'd avoid cleaning the messy house and visit the blog for a quick update. 

The 30 RAKs went by faster than I expected and while I completed all (okay, almost all) of them, I meant to check back in with a post about really serving. The RAKs were fun (for awhile) but I was really asking God for a way that I could really be a blessing, a way I could really serve. He sure served up more than a few options for me and kept my serving hands busy all summer long. I didn't always have a servants heart so I'm sure that's the next lesson coming my way. He's so good at the refining part of His job, right?

The 365 hasn't been going so great but I HAVE been getting pictures taken so when I do have a chance to catch up I'll have the pictures to do it. I'm sure there's an easy way to turn the instagram* pics into a 365 book and I'll have to figure that out because pretty much every picture I've taken (not work related) this summer has been on the iPhone. Poor B.

I fixed that today though with a quick (one picture) mini-session of the little guy. Because today was his first day of school (uh... kind of). Okay fine. It was kindermusik. And he didn't exactly sit for any of the class. And I'm pretty sure the teacher was ready to kick us out. But it was the start of his 'school career' and I'm thinking he was just acting this way to ensure some sort of 'most improved' award by the end of it. At least I sure hope that was what he had in mind. Oye vey. 

He may look a little naughty today but he sure is cute, right? ;)

In other H family news, we started the bedroom makeover. It's the first painting project we've taken on since B's birth. If you know me, that's kind of a big deal since we've lived here five years and our bedroom has been almost as many colors as years that we've lived here. I'd say I'll keep you updated on the progress but we all know I'm not real great about checking in here so you may just have to come see it for yourself someday soon. :)

B turns two (yikes) in just 10 weeks so maybe I'll check back in with an update then. But don't hold me to it.

Happy Fall!

-H

*if you don't follow me on instagram, I'm heididh33 over there. I totally slack at the blog and Facebook and twitter updates but my instagram isn't so bare. :)