Sunday, May 31, 2015

A nursery for my nephew-to-be!

A few months back, I shared exciting news that my sister-in-law and brother (whose wedding you can read about here) were expecting! Once we found out, we immediately started scheming nursery ideas and I shared this one with you. 

When they learned it was a boy, she went to purchase this rug that was to be sort of the focal point of the whole nursery. Unfortunately, it was too late because the rug was already sold out in the size they needed.

It worked out for the best though because she decided on a whole new "look" for this space that is so serene and peaceful, baby (who is due in just a few weeks!!) will feel right at home.

Here's a look around this beautiful nursery that was a collaborative and fun project the whole family took part in (source list for almost everything at the end of this post):

























Source list:

crib sheet - Land of Nod
blanket on crib - Pottery Barn Kids
white frames above crib - Ikea
porthole print - Urban Outfitters
letter "A" print and "the world is your oyster" print - made by my talented sister!
wood vertical hanging bookcase - garage sale
small wooden chair - garage sale
white wall shelves - Land of Nod 
rug - Serena & Lily (no longer available)
faux leather pouf - Land of Nod
white chair turned rocker (visit this blog post for a DIY tutorial) - Ikea
turtle pillow - Serena & Lily (no longer available)
end table - Target (pink base was spray-painted white!)
lamp - garage sale
lampshade - Target
curtains - Serena & Lily
bamboo shade - JCPenney
wood and white ceiling light fixture - Crate & Barrel (no longer available)
dresser turned changing table - garage sale
round mirror - Target
paint color - Benjamin Moore Horizon

Have a great night!
- Caitlin

Thursday, May 28, 2015

More Pic Monkey projects

It feels just like yesterday we were taking Charlie's first month picture and now he's one!
It's so true what they say. It flies by (and way too fast if you ask me).


Anyway, way back in this post I shared how I used PicMonkey.com to edit the pictures and add the numbers and letters for 1 month, 2 months, etc. along the banner.

Now that he is one, I went back on PicMonkey.com to use their collage feature to put all of the month to month pictures together.


Here's how it turned out:


Pretty cool, right?
I'm definitely going to print and frame this for his nursery.

That's not all I've used the website for.
Recently, I took some pictures for his birthday party invitation and needed to add a mustache to his face.
Let's be real though.
There was no way an almost one year old was going to keep a stick-on mustache on. That thing would last one second. So, I turned to PicMonkey.com to digitally add the mustache.



And there it is. Baby's got a mustache.


The website is so user-friendly, it was so easy to do.

 Lastly, here is one more way I recently used PicMonkey.com to edit pictures of Charlie.
Inspired by this picture I saw on Pinterest, I decided to create my own version.
So, we plopped Charlie in our freshly cut yard and I snapped a picture leaving a lot of blank space on the left.


Then, on to PicMonkey.com I went and I added text in all different kinds of fun fonts.



Here's the end result:


I hope to do this each year, maybe with different back drops (the beach, one of our stone walls, etc).

Hope I've inspired you to create some of your own Pic Monkey projects!
- Caitlin

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Powder room progress update

Today I'm sharing the latest on our powder room renovation.
To see other posts on this space, you can visit here and here.
Oh, and to see what the space originally looked like (yikes), you can visit here.

Anyway, last week we were able to get the plumbers in to install the vanity, hook up the sink, and install the toilet. 
No more having to run upstairs to use the bathroom!


The vanity we chose is Restoration Hardware and we were able to purchase it during one of their bath sales (and it's still on sale). 

Originally we thought it would be cool to find some kind of vintage dresser and turn it into a vanity. 
But, I wanted this bathroom done sooner than later and going on a hunt for an antique would just delay this process. 
So, we went for this one and I'm really happy we did. 
I love the weathered oak and how it contrasts with all of the white.


Now when looking at old pictures of the bathroom, you might notice that during this reno we moved the plumbing to under the window. 
Originally, the pedestal sink was on the adjacent wall and in an effort to save money and time, we were just going to replace the old sink with this smaller version of our vanity.

After a visit with my parents, they offered their two cents and suggested that instead of having a tiny vanity "crammed" in the corner, why not center a larger one under the window? 
Although this was a more expensive option, they had a good point. 
So we listened and I'm glad we did. The bathroom seems to make more sense this way.


The faucet we chose is by Rohl and can be purchased here and we used Italian carrara marble counter that came with the vanity.



So clearly this post is of the progress, and not the final product.
We still have some work to do, especially around the window.
We had to rip out the bottom part of the window sill to make room for the vanity. 
So, now we need to add the plank trim and put in a thinner sill.

We also need to settle on some kind of window treatment.
I'm thinking of having another faux roman shade made (like the ones in Charlie's nursery) and having a pull down linen shade behind it. 
Off to fabric shop I go.


The work doesn't stop there.
I need to figure out what the heck I'm putting on this big blank wall.
I have a horrible time picking out wall art so wish me luck!


At least for this wall I'm fairly certain we are going to hang this mirror (originally a $5 garage sale find and snagged from our staircase landing).


Lastly, we are contemplating a new light fixture. 
This original one doesn't bother me at all but Chris isn't on the same page.
So, I've been eyeing this one
I'm kind of obsessed with it!


Again, there's still a bunch to do but I'm just grateful to having running water and a flushing toilet (we bought this one).


Hope to share more progress and the end result with you soon!
- Caitlin

Thursday, May 21, 2015

What a sham!

So the plumbers are finally here to install our vanity and toilet in the powder room, a project that we started all the way back in February! 
Excited would be an understatement and I will share an update of the space very soon.

In the meantime, I'm sharing a little update in our master bedroom.
It's no surprise I love re-purposing things and recently did just that when I turned a geometric tablecloth from Home Goods into new pillow shams for our bed. 

Here's what our bed looked like before:


And here is it now:


Confession: I didn't actually sew the shams (surprise, surprise). My mom did. 
I'm starting to sound like a broken record at this point but I'm still waiting to learn how to really sew. 


Anyway, I love how the shams look and think they are a fun and inexpensive change to our bedding.





Have a great day!
- Caitlin