He's not a baby anymore

When we moved into our bungalow I thought Alex would be upset about leaving the home he had since he was 6 months old. Our last house was a large new build where he had a finished basement and nice playroom.  Surprisingly Alex seemed as excited about the new adventure as we were and I think it partly had something to do with the fact that we have always included Alex in as many of the decisions as possible. With that said his room was completely designed by him. He chose the paint, the artwork, the decorations and if a dresser sat in a certain spot it was because he insisted on it. I think he did pretty good

Nearly 2 years later and our 5 year old is going on 15! He really wanted a new room and although we didn't cover the ceiling with wood as we had planned (due to time constraints) together with Alex we chose some new colors and created a new room for a big boy. I'm certain Alex can grow with this room and enjoy it even as a teenager with a few updates here and there.

Remember this vintage school chair I found at a garage sale last year? It makes a super cute side table perfect for a glass of water, superhero books and the little boat Alex made

The new Hemnes dresser from Ikea fits perfectly and offers so much more storage than his old dresser

We scored two beautiful wooden boats at a garage sale last month for just under $10 for the pair. The silver dinosaur we refinished last year looks right at home next to his favorite star wars poster

A pull out drawer on wheels perfect for storing Lego

These drawers can be found at Ikea however I picked this up on kijiji for a few bucks and lined it with some funky paper

We kept the closet pulls that we added when we did the room the first time, I still love them

My little guy is super happy with his new room!

Hope you enjoyed the room update, I told you I wasn't completely slacking over here!

Enjoy your week

 

Big Boy Room

baseboards

DIY bookshelf
headboard
toy and book organization
figurine display case

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

I'm baaaaack!

Well I guess I really didn't go anywhere, no exotic trips or lottery winnings to report, oh unless you count that $5 I found in the laundry the other day (score!)... just incredibly busy wrapping up a recent work contract for the season, enjoying the nice weather and day dreaming about future projects.

 

For those of you that have written in asking where we are, thank you so much! As a new blogger its easy to forget that some people actually read what we are writing and actually notice when we haven't posted! I do apologize for the delay in posts and my goal is to continue posting as often as possible although it will not be as often as before.. that whole life / work / parenting/ get healthy / be creative/ balance thingy

 

 

For now this is a glimpse of this evenings festivities, the kids appeared looking like this and Alex wanted his picture taken solo but Emily not only joins in but mocks him.

 

And a preview of what I'm working on right now.. a certain big boy room for a certain superhero

Thanks for reading our blog and sticking around xo

 

 

 



Ain't Nobody got time for that!

"Ain't nobody got time for that" has been a recurring thought in my head these days. We have done really well checking off items on our "to do" list over this past year. As many of you know we have really focused on doing as much DIY as possible to save some money wherever we can. Lately it seems like we are always racing against the clock, there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done and therefore we need to really consider when DIY is NOT the best option. For over a year we have wanted to build a little play kitchen for Emily. It seemed super simple and very inexpensive compared to a lot of the play kitchens available in stores. And we could customize! Sadly a year has gone by and we thought we would have the kitchen done in time for her second birthday. We found some really great tutorials for these beauties below (aren't they adorable?!)



Ana White

Young House Love

We did go on a search for some materials at habitat for humanity and the hardware store however we usually had the kids with us on those spur of the moment runs and often got frustrated when we couldn't find what we were looking for right away. (I remembered the days when I loved the hunt.. sigh)   Emily's second birthday came and went and still no kitchen. We decided that although we knew we could make her kitchen and probably do it quite cheaply we wanted her to get one before she was 5! 

 

So on a beautiful spring morning (no butterflies in Edmonton, just snow)

We headed to "that place" and enjoyed breakfast ($1 each for a plate of deliciousness)

 

and brought home a store bought kitchen (gasp)

 

And she loves it!

Of course I will be personalizing this somehow sometime soon!

 

oh and in case you didn't notice in the photo above.. We traded the living rug AGAIN!

 

We went from this

 

to this

 

 

And I love it.

 

Two happy girls in the house this week.. holla!

Watercolor, Glue and Salt

 

Craft time!

 

This week we attempted to try out a pinterest idea involving watercolors, glue and salt. Sadly our experiment didn't turn out (not even close) and I suspect I didn't use the proper materials

BUT

our kids love doing crafts and they feel very important when they use special grown up materials like real canvas ($2 from the dollar store) and proper art brushes, so it was still worthwhile

 

 

 

Its difficult to tell from the photos but the art is slightly textured thanks to the salt and glue.

 

 

We began by using watercolors on canvas

Clearly this was serious business

 

Once the canvas was covered Alex went to town adding clear glue

 

 

 

Next a sprinkling of salt

 

Let it dry and instant art!

 

 



5 year old designer

Alex: "Mom I just cant take it anymore"

Me: "What? cant take what anymore? what's wrong?"

Alex: "These popcorn ceilings, they are just awful, I want them gone from my room"

Me: (jaw drops)...............................?..................!.......................WTF.

 

True story.

My son is a snobby design genius or he actually pays attention to design shows mommy watches. Either way he has developed quite the opinion on the subject and he hasn't stopped bringing it up.

This summer we will upgrade his room as Emily is ready to say goodbye to her toddler bed. The bed she currently uses was also used by Alex and will convert into a lovely double sleigh bed. Since Alex has a slightly larger room he will get the bigger bed. This is how it starts.. a bigger bed.. turns into a new dresser.. new design elements.. and a whole lot of fun!

Here are some ideas we are considering

 

We are seriously thinking of covering the popcorn ceiling with pallets.

 

 

Perhaps we can convince the little guy that a pallet feature wall would be just as cool

This will be his new dresser from Ikea

 

and while there we might as well pick up this adorable print too

 

A collection of globes would be perfect! Globes are expensive but I've been on the lookout. Hopefully I can find some this summer at tag sales

 

I love this idea for an under the bed lego table. We have accumulated so much lego its taking over.

 

 

I pretty much love EVERYTHING about this room that has a nod to the 1950's. Although we wont have room to put up a teepee we could definitely do some bunting and use some old suitcases to store thing like say.. LEGO! the pillows are amazing and I adore the bed.

 

I will leave the color scheme up to Alex but Im really digging the look of orange and navy

 

or grey and red

 

How fun would this chevron rug be from rugsusa.com

 

 

Alex and I are so excited to begin his room this summer. Such little time and money but I know we will have fun hunting for treasures at yard sales and creating a room he will love.

 

 

all photos were found on pinterest

 



Out from under a rock

My apologies for not posting lately. I must confess that a few months ago I had taken on some contract work and between the house the kids and the job my time is being swallowed up faster than I can say.. well you get the picture.

 

However there is ALWAYS time for a good sale!

Ikea recently had the sofa event on yes I really am an Ikea whore and I couldn't resist picking up 2 of the Jennylund chairs (buy one get one half off)

We had been struggling with the chaise part of the Karlstad sofa we purchased. The cushion never seemed to stay puffy, it was always flat (clearly a favorite spot in the house) and it was beginning to give everyone a back ache. The favorite spot quickly became the rotten egg.

Ikea kindly credited us for it (happy dance) so hello new chairs

 

 

which led to a new area rug on sale at Homesense (we sold the shag)

 

 

and now we have a fresh new space

 

 

 

 

We are still on the fence about the rug, what do you think?

If we keep it I think we will have to switch up the curtains too.

 

And to refresh your memory.. an evolution of the front room (still in progress)

 

Starting with how it was when we bought the house

 

 

 

 

 

slowly coming along..

 

 

 

This week in pictures

1 Big Cook

2 funerals

Spring Break

Easter

Blizzards to Puddles

3 Band aids

 

A whole lot can happen in one week. Its been busy.

 

From left to right

1. Crazy snow blizzards at the beginning of the week.. I actually got stuck in front of the house

2. A little trip to Habitat for Humanity restore on a hunt for project materials

3. Williams Sonoma - pretty kettle. pricing is insane

4. Star wars pancakes, cookie cutters and so much more. AWESOME

5. A few rides at West Edmonton Mall Galaxyland with my best baby girl

6. Updated the bookshelf with different wrapping paper, so much better

7. New dish soap

8. Easter baskets!

9. Apparently decorating eggs is hilarious

10. The snow has melted! within a week roads are dry and rain boots are out

11. Easter stroll before the big dinner

12. Happy Birthday to my oldest niece xo

 

 

How was your week?

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