We've Gone Industrial

A mixing of the lights around here....yup, this post is all about 2 lights that have changed locations.  

Bostons room has had this girly chandelier in his room since he was born.  And it was time.  Time to change it out for a big-boy-light.  So we headed over to home depot a few weeks ago and happened to notice a cool looking industrial light fixture that I thought would fit well in his new room.  It wasn't too colorful and it wasn't too fancy.  It was just right.  So we bought it.

And it sat and sat....and sat in our playroom for a good 4-5 weeks before we got off our fannies and hung it.  Well that was 2 weekends ago.  Mr. hung took the chandelier down and hung the $30 beauty pendant that we like to call silver hat (for reasons below).  :)

You can't hang a pendant light fixture until you try it on as a hat, right?  I thought so.

Here she is in all her glory.  She's puuurrfect!  Yeah, she was totally meant to be in this room.  The only hard part was deciding on how long she needed to hang down.  

I eye-balled it and gave the Mr. a thumbs up.  And I think it's exactly where it needs to be.  However, Jer was a little worried we hung it too low since he, "knows how boys are."  So we shall see.  :)

And one more because we love her so much.  

So, where did the chandelier go?  You'll see soon.

xo

Goodwill Lamps Gone Good

A few weeks back I headed over to my beloved Goodwill in search of whatever I could find.  :)  Call me crazy but it's one of my favorite stores, ever.  Everything is cheap and diy-able.  Oh and the best part, each month they have one 50% off days!  Score. 

After perusing through most of the store, I headed over to the lamp section and there were a ton to choose from.  All kinds and styles.  I first spotted one glass lamp that I pretty much loved from the moment I saw it and then at the other end of the shelf I saw another one that was almost identical to it.  I was immediately sold.  I paid my 10 buckaroos and brought those babies home.  When I brought them home, Jer couldn't even notice the difference in them.  Since we are re-doing our master bedroom a bit (like our grid wall that I'll be posting about soon, fingers crossed) I needed to find some lamps of the prettier/classier kind.  And these were it.  

Since the parts were a little rusty and one of them didn't work I went ahead and got some new parts for them both and one lamp kit package for the one that didn't work.  It didn't matter what the "parts/hardware" looked like since I would be spray painting them all the same color.

The question was, what color did I want them painted?  These were my two choices and I loved them both. So, in the end, I chose both!  Why not give them a little two-toned action?  The Krylon was used for all of the "parts."  But the mint color was the real winner since it was chosen to give it some color on the outside.  

These $10 lamp shades from Lowe's were simple, cheap, white and round....everything that I was looking for.

Here's what we started with BEFORE:

The lamps did us good for over 8 years but it was time for them to go.  But no worries, they'll be getting a makeover themselves.

And here's one new beauty (on my side of the bed):

I LOVE how they turned out.  Especially that mint color.  They look like they cost a pretty penny.  But really, they cost a total of $60 for both!

You can see the satin nickel color we used for the hardware of the lamps.  It's pretty perfect if you ask me.  :)

So, what do you think?  Don't these lamps look better?  And doesn't that mint add the perfect touch of color?  

xo

Jen

Sippin' Coffee With My Mrs. Mug

Remember back when I added a little touch to these coffee mugs a few years back??  Well I've gone and done it again!

A Goodwill mug got a little pizzaz recently.  Nothing better than a .25 cent mug, right?

I've had this white-ish (it's kinda cream and not true white) mug for a while and it was a little blah.  So I took to it, my gold metallic permanent marker that I had on hand.

Since I love being a mrs I thought I'd stick with that theme, again.  If you mess up while writing/drawing simply use a wet paper towel to wipe it right off and start over.

After backing it in the oven on 350 degrees for 15 minutes....

This time I added a little something to the back.  :)

Another way to use your mug....a pen holder!

Total supplies: 2
Total time: 3 minutes (with several re-tries since my handwriting is only so so)
Difficulty: easiest of the easy

If you have a mug that you make pretty, please show it to me!  I'd love to see it.  I'll be fancy-ing up another one real soon!

xo

He's Got The Whole World...

....in his room!

Since we're talking about Boston's Big Boy Room this week.....which has been waaayy overdue (kinda like our Christmas that we haven't talked about...oh, and our vacation from back in October, ha) this post is all about how a map!

A few months ago I was perusing through Hobby Lobby's map section I found this huge map for $9.99 I couldn't pass it up.  And with my 40% off coupon it cost me only a few bones.  Since we plan to incorporate globes, maps and airplanes in his room this map would fit in perfectly and could be great for being used as a focal point in his room.

Since the map wasn't in a picture frame it wouldn't look right with out some type of border or trim around it.

So that's when we hit up the Home "Dep-oh" as Jer would call it.

But first, we had to do a little measuring.  We were curious how much he had grown (since we haven't measured him in over 2 months on his ruler!).

He took his job of helping very seriously.  I think he secretly loves looking at trim as much as I do.  I could walk for days in this store dreaming up projects to do.  

We got home and got straight to work.  We started by spraying this adhesive, from Hobby Lobby, to the wall and then applying the map to the wall where we had sprayed.  I sprayed and Jer gently sealed the map to the wall using his palm.  We went from left to right.  Spraying then applying.  And it worked like a champ.  

That map isn't going anywhere.

Then Jer started the trim building.  Building it perfectly in the middle of his two doors on that wall.  One door leading to his bathroom and one door leading into his closet.

Since it was already late in the evening, he set up shop in our garage (in hopes that it wouldn't be too loud for our neighbors).  He used his saw to cut each trim angle.

If you don't have a nail gun.  Get one.  Like yesterday.  Another favorite tool of ours that we couldn't live without.

After Jer constructed the frame, I went around it with white paint and applied a few coats so that it would match the crown molding trim.  Plus, a coat of polycyrlic.  

Because I love before and afters....

BEFORE

AFTER

Again, it's slowly becoming one of our favorite rooms in the house.  We are so proud of what we've done so far and hope that its a room that Boston can grow into for many years.  

Now to tackle the other 1/2 of the room!  I've already slowly started working on it.  :) 

xo

A December Eve Bed For A Big Boy

Now that Bossy is well into this 4th year of life we figured it would be prime time to phase out the nursery chapter and open up a new chapter of his life....a big boy room!  

When we think about it (which we try not to), it seems like we just brought him home and set up his nursery.  Even though we didn't set it up until he was about 3-4 months old since he slept in our room with us until he started sleeping through the night at 4 months.  

a few days old

Oh, and not to mention, we didn't know his sex until he was born.  :)

This has been his set up for the past 3 years.  It's been one of our favorite rooms in our house and we will definitely miss everything about his nursery room.  It had such a peaceful feel to it.  So bright and homey.  

Since he obviously was able to get in and out of his bed with a big leap over the rails, he began to veto his crib several months back.  So we took out the crib mattress and let him sleep under his teepee.  He loved it. 

Once he started to veto teepee sleeping is when the decision was made.  It was time.  Time for the big change.

This is his, "time to get the heck out of dodge, crib" face.  He was happy.  I was not.

Probably because he was ready to build something.  

In case we have another baby and want to use this crib again, we'll know where the screws will be.

And then this is what it looked like.   

Yeah, we still had his changing table up, too.  And what's even crazier is we would still change his diapers on it even though he was 10 feet too long for it.  

Let's talk bed.  We just miiight have splurged a little on his bed.  It was a more pricier one but the most comfortable one.  We hope that he'll be able to sleep in this bed for a long long while and wanted him getting good sleep in a comfy bed.  So we went the distance with this one for our little guy.

We couldn't leave the mattress store without a mattress protector for those "I was too tired to wake up so I peed the bed" moments.  #toddlers

Kid tested and kid approved.

The frame of the bed was actually purchased almost 2 years ago when our neighborhood had a community garage sale.  If you know me and have been following this blog, you know that I love searching garage sales, goodwill and craigslist in hopes of finding something to re-do.  So when we saw this toddler bed frame with a headboard and a footboard for $20 we scurried through my purse for some cash, handed it over to the lady and Jer loaded it up in the truck.  All in about 5 minutes.  

I knew I would be sanding it down and painting it but I still had a while until I had to decide what to do with it.  But we couldn't pass it up for 20 bucks.

When it came time to decide....I had my mind set on painting it bright white.  Like his crib.  And then, I I saw a navy bed on a Pinterest picture and I was sold. 

I knew it was meant to be when I saw this paint color December Eve while searching through Home Depot's navy colors.  Since, after all, we were in December when we revamped this bed.  Seemed fitting, right?  

One of my most favorite gifts I've ever gotten from Jer.  My electric sander.  l.o.v.e. love.  

Once it was sanded and wiped down, it was ready for paint.  

Typically I would apply a primer but since we were in a rush to get this done we went ahead and got our paint with a primer already in it.  Although, I did apply 3 light coats of paint for good measure.

The 4 corners of the bed had a hole on the top that obviously had some finials missing.  So Jer went to the fencing aisle of Home Depot and found some that fit perfectly on the corners.  

Before putting them on, we painted them by screwing them into a 2x4 so that they could stand up for easier painting.

The last thing I did was applied a coat of polycrylic to the whole bed.  This will seal the paint so that its chip-proof for a toddler.

I didn't paint the inside of the side rails since the box spring and mattress would fully cover it.

Here it is all set up in its spot.  He loves it, we love it and we couldn't be happier with the new color.  We call her December Eve.  So original, huh?  :)

BEFORE

AFTER

We kept his white nightstand from his nursery but added a new lamp.  A lamp from goodwill that I spray painted and added a new lampshade to.  

Up next (coming Wednesday)....how we applied the map above his bed.  Its so easy, anyone can do it.  No lie.  

xo