before & {happily ever} after...master bedroom

It's been a few months since I showed you a "before and after" of our home.    I've showed you the kitchen, the entry and hallway, now it's time to show you the master bedroom.

When we first saw this house, we had already seen a lot of wallpaper before we got to this room, but I hadn't seen the end of it!

{you can click on the pictures to make them larger}

There was a lot of Waverly floral wallpaper in this room and it took a lot of work to get it all down, but I think the after was totally worth it.

{you can click on the pictures to make them larger}

Here's how the room was transformed:

• Removed 2 layers of wallpaper 
• Had the walls re-textured as the original wallpaper was installed directly on the drywall.
• Removed popcorn ceiling and had it re-textured
• Painted all trim white
• Installed new doors
• Removed/replaced window treatments
• New paint
• Installed a ceiling fan (with light) - can you believe there were no overhead lights installed in any of the bedrooms?!
• Installed new carpet

The master bedroom is definitely still a work in progress and probably doesn't suit everyone's style, but it is perfect for us.  There are a few things that I want to change (including our bedding, when the next holiday rolls around!) but it's a relaxing room that doesn't have a speck of Waverly wallpaper left.

1 thessalonians 5:16-18 {filler print}

I'm back with another filler print!  I posted a {blessings} print a few weeks ago and have been toying with the idea of framing it for our master bathroom.  Our bathroom is pretty simple at the moment, which has been kind-of nice, but I think it needs a little something.   However, the {blessings} print needed a partner to fit the space that I'm looking at.

Out of that, this filler print was created...

 {download here - it will open in a new window}

I love these verses and thought they were the perfect thing to hang where I'd see them several times a day.  We all need reminders now and then, don't we?  It's a perfect compliment to the lyrics in the {blessings} print (which is why my friend, Erin, asked me to add the reference at the bottom) so I thought they'd naturally be a perfect pair.

 {download here - it will open in a new window}

I also re-worked the {blessings} print and removed the reference.  Someone left a comment (anonymously) correcting me that the lyrics were not, in fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  While I knew, I didn't want anyone else to be confused by it. 

Do you have any great verses that you've posted around your house as a reminder?  Have you printed the {blessings} print for your home?  Leave me a comment...I'd love to know.

the pinterest challenge

I have already professed my undying love for Pinterest in recent weeks, but we're about to take that up a notch.  Two of my favorite blogs, Bower Power and Young House Love, have issued the Pinterest Challenge to each other and their readers!  Sherry and Katie are planning to recreate something they've pinned and post about it in a week.

I have already recreated a few things I've found on Pinterest, but I'm going to take this challenge to recreate something new!

Does anyone else have as big of a crush on Pinterest as I do?  Are you planning to take the Pinterest Challenge, too?

ruffles (actually pleats) + pillows = love

I posted a few weeks ago about my sudden urge to change up the colors in our house during the spring and summer to cool blues and greens...I've done a little of that, but now that we're home from all of our camps, etc. my decorating craze is in full swing.  I know that it's almost August, but I can enjoy it for a few months until fall!

One of my first projects has been to recover the red pillows on our couch.  I knew I wanted to sew envelope-style covers so they could be easily removed to be thrown in the wash.  With a 3 1/2 year old and a 90-pound dog running around, washable covers are a must.

The first pillow cover I tackled was Emily Jones' fabulous ruffle pillow.  I strayed from her tutorial just a bit, making pleats instead of ruffles (it's much faster if you're not overly concerned with them being exact) and fashioning the back into a envelope-style closure.  But, her tutorial is wonderful!  This took me less than an hour from start to finish.

I'm tempted to cover all 4 pillows in this style, but I think the boys in my house might stage a revolt. :)

By the way, if you haven't checked out Emily's blog before, do yourself a favor and read through her archives!  Grab a cup of coffee, a snack, and settle in.  She's one talented lady!

What about you?  Do you have the urge to change up your decorating to a more "summery" color scheme? 

counted in addresses, coats of paint, and broken thumbs...

Six years!

2,903,040 minutes

3 mortgages

6 addresses

dozens of youth camps, retreats, and Disciple Nows
5 cars

3 states

3 churches

1 sewing machine

a hundred coats of paint

1 dog
1 birth

1 broken thumb

1 broken baby leg 

1 house remodel

a thousand tears

a million laughs

one love of my life.

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Scott!  I can't wait for the next 60 years!

{design dilemma}: help!

This huge window (along with the other one in the playroom) are one of the features that made me fall in love with this house. I love the light it brings into the house and the brick detail as a "seat".  It's 6 feet wide, almost 5 feet high, and 17 1/2 inches deep.

The thing that I don't love is the blinding sunlight that streams in the window while we're trying to eat breakfast each morning - or while Grayson is trying to eat breakfast and I'm on my second cup of coffee.  I'd love to put up some type of window treatment that can be used to block the sunlight for the hour or so that it's blinding, but that won't obstruct the view of the backyard.

Here are a few not-so-great iPhone pics of the window...

Here are a few of the looks like I love:

                                                                     Source: younghouselove.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

                                                                    Source: younghouselove.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

                                                                               Source: thenester.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

                                                                      Source: johnsjournal-maria.blogspot.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

I love the look of curtains, especially the fabulous striped drapes found at the Nester's house, but I'm not sure if that's the right fit for that window.  I like to hand curtains high and wide, but there's not much space for that on this window.  There's only about 8 1/2 inches of space on the left-side of the window, before you hit the dimmer switch and peninsula.

Here's where you come in!  How would you conquer this design issue if it were at your house?  Would you hang curtains?  Blinds?  Roman shades?  Or a combination?  I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

{philippians 4:19} filler print....

Confession time...I have a stash of frames under a bed in our house that are just begging for something to fill them.  I have LOTS of photos displayed in our home and wanted to design something else to fill one of those frames from my stash.

As I was thinking about what to design, the verse from kid's camp kept flashing through my mind...so that's what I used!

Introducing the Philippians 4:19 filler print...

{download here}

Simply save the filler print to your computer and then print out at home or send it to your favorite photo lab to print out as an 8x10.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This would make a great house-warming gift or a great gift to print out, frame, and give to a student when they head off to college in the fall.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I also have 2 other filler prints available for download...

{download here}

 

{download here}

link love: 07.09.2011

It's been a crazy few weeks in our house and it's about to get even crazier.  We just returned from an awesome week at Kid's Camp, we have Vacation Bible School this week, follow that with camp with the teenagers, and round out July with 200 students staying at our church for World Changers.  It's been fun and will be even more fun, but it's been busy!  Welcome to the life of a youth pastor's wife! Ha! :)

Our busy pace has me dreaming of a relaxing vacation on a beach somewhere, so this week's link love is based around all things coastal...

                                                                      Source: craftberrybush.blogspot.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

I'd love to make something similar to this...maybe with a scripture on it??  We have lots of old baseboard molding in the garage...

                                                                  Source: diydesignfanatic.blogspot.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

Beautiful, simple, coastal decor...

                                                                             Source: theletteredcottage.net via Mary Jo on Pinterest

I love this coastal, summery mantle designed by Layla at The Lettered Cottage...

                                                                         Source: coastalliving.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

I'd decorate my (imaginary) beach house just like this...

                                                                                   Source: etsy.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

For those of us who don't live close to the sea, this print is a beautiful reminder for the summer...

{blessings} printable...

One of my new favorite songs is "Blessings" by Laura Story.  It's an amazing song, but an amazing songwriter!  We actually had the chance to have her lead worship at our church in Austin - she's wonderful! Anyway, my friend Erin (over at Worthy of the Prize) asked me to design another printable, this time based on the lyrics from "Blessings".  I thought I'd post it here for download, too!

Simply right click on it and save it to your computer.  It's an 8x10, but let me know if you need it in a different size!  I'd love to know if you download it, so leave me a comment!

a conversation with Grayson...

My child is saying the funniest things these days and I want to remember them. So when I came across this idea on Pinterest, I knew that I had to re-create it.

 

I took most of the questions used on the original idea and simply had a little "interview" with Grayson while he was playing.  He LOVES to tell me stories, so this was right up his alley.

Some of his answers crack me up...he calls pepperoni pizza, "macaroni" pizza; Bart is my husband's intern (my hubs is a youth pastor); Trenton Moeller is one of the students in my husband's student ministry; and Grayson thinks it really is a dining board, instead of a diving board.

I'd love to do these little interviews a couple of times a year to remember all of the funny things that Grayson says!