Playroom reveal

I have been busy doing some decorating in our new house.  I haven’t taken any staged photos of the other rooms yet, but I’ll get around to that.  I just finished the playroom (technically the formal dining room, but we aren’t so formal) and I LOVE it!

So here’s my inspiration (thanks Southern Living):

Here’s what I started with (sellers photo since I FORGOT to take a before photo):

Except they had new carpet installed and we changed the light fixture.  Here is after I removed the curtains before I started painting. 

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And the after photos!

 

I painted stripes on the walls in a similar pattern to the inspiration photo.  I used Behr Ultra:  Refreshing Pool (darker blue), Shallow Sea (light blue), Asparagus (green), and Tropical Smoothie (pink), with the trim done in Frost.  We bought 1/4” plywood and used chalkboard paint to make the chalkboard (we have textured walls).  My husband installed the 7-1/4” baseboards.  We plan to install a magazine rack on the left directly onto the chalkboard to help ‘even out’ the seams.

I used Frog Tape and chalk lines to get the stripes done.  You can see where I ‘sealed’ the tape with the base color (light blue) then the stripes are perfectly straight.  I still need to go back and touch up the doorways with the living room color (Behr Porpoise). 

The toy fabric bins are from Target.

I really want to figure out a different solution for the toys in the larger bins, maybe a bench or something.  We also plan to install a floating shelf above the TV.  We will be doing home automation this summer so the wires will go away too.

The curtains are from Bed, Bath & Beyond and I got them on clearance for $10 a panel (I hyperlinked to the ones that are the most similar).  The kids play table and chairs are from IKEA and we painted it the same white as the trim.  The end table is an old wood table my husband had from college days that we also painted the trim color.  I made the green/white  and pink pillows from fabric I purchased at Joanne’s.  The fuzzy blue pillow is from Walmart.

I plan to replace the couch (it’s from a sectional that we purchased after we first moved to CA), but for now it works fine.

Light fixture from Lamps Plus.

I bought these little benches from Target on clearance a while ago.  They came with navy blue bins and navy blue cushions (see Charlotte from her birthday party).  I bought fabric at Joanne’s and new bins at Target to make it fit the room a bit better.  I just put them back to back to make an ottoman.  The kids chairs were made by their grandpa (my husband’s father).

Vinyl trees from Etsy seller studiojk. I’m thinking about getting some birds to sit on the tree or in flight.  Maybe some wooden letters above the trees too.

I just love how the room turned out!

Cinemagraphs

Amazing.  Awesome.  And creepy all at the same time.

http://www.cocacolla.it/arts/jamie-beck-e-kevin-burg-cinemagraphs/

Baby gear makes for endless entertainment

I brought up the swing from the basement when my friend’s baby, Reese, and also my nephew came to visit.  Apparently toddlers find them completely fascinating.  Cooper rocked his ‘baby’ while Charlotte was loving being adored by her brother rather than tormented.

I’ve been trying to work on exposure and getting it right in camera.  I have struggled with taking photos in my new house because the light is so different than what I’m used to.  We get a lot of natural light, but two of the windows just have the sky since they are so high.  This means a lot of my photos turn out really cool.  I think I need to set my white balance to cloudy to compensate.  In the mean time I’m sort of throwing out worrying about everything and refocusing on individual parts of photography.  The first is exposure in hopes of being happier with my photos and thus more motivated to take photos.

This is straight off the camera with nothing but a crop and watermark.

New cousin

Cooper has always loved his baby dolls and now he thinks his new cousin, Alexander, is his new baby.  He wants to hold him and rock him.  He wants to carry him around and any little grunt or peep Alexander makes Cooper asks for his pacifier to put in his mouth.  I absolutely adore watching him with his little cousin! 

Charlotte doesn’t seem to be so interested.  She’ll hold him, giggle and then move away from him.  Of course she’s always been way more interested in her trains than in any doll.  I think she needs time to warm up to him and once he can play trains with her, she’ll love him.

We will definitely be taking more photos with cousin Alexander!  (Don’t mind the white balance on these…just trying to get things posted so I can post more about the current things in our life!)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Taken:  March 26, 2011

I took these late and I am posting very late.  They were incredibly uncooperative and I didn’t have the patience.  So I didn’t really bother editing or cropping properly.  There are so many funny outtakes, so this is an outtake post.  Check out Charlotte’s crazy expressions! 

                                     

           

Sleeping in a snack bowl

Taken:  March 25, 2011

Haha, she fell asleep in her snack bowl! 

Sick Charlotte

Taken: March 15, 2011

Poor Charlotte got sick and she just looked drugged.  I don’t love how this picture turned out since the white balance was off, she’s not quite in focus, the composition is too centered for my tastes and she has a light switch growing out of her head.  It captures the moment but I’m noticing my skills decreasing just a bit when it comes to candid photos—a combination of not trying and not practicing I imagine.

Life has been busy

Taken: March 5, 2011

My father was hospitalized February 20 for complications from end-stage liver disease.  Only a couple weeks later we nearly lost him.  I chose to take the kids up to the hospital to take photos with him as a ‘just in case’.  Fortunately he has recovered very well, given his diagnosis and he his home with my sister.  I’m only sharing a couple of these photos that do not identify my dad, since these are intensely personal. 

The kids were very worried about their ‘bampa’ and now you understand why I have been SO behind in blogging. 

Waiting for momma on Tuesdays

Taken: March 1, 2011

On Tuesdays, Maile comes over for a few hours until her momma comes to pick her up.  The kids look forward to Tuesdays.  Maile knows that when I get home her momma will be home very soon.  On this day she missed her momma very much and sat looking out the window waiting for her to come home.  It was so sweet.

The new nap

Taken: Feb 27, 2011

About 6 months ago we cut out formal naps because the kids were becoming very difficult to get to bed at 8.  Now if they are tired they lay on the couch and pass out for 30-45 min.  It’s so cute to see them sleep like this!  It almost makes me miss the baby days.

Cooper with his blankey and Dr. Mater and Mater the Greater.

And Charlotte loving her blankey with her thumb in position to go back in her mouth at any moment.

Tug o’ war

Taken:  February 21, 2011

The kids play tug of war with blankets all the time.  Their twist?  They use their teeth instead of hands.  (And don’t mind Charlotte being incredibly dangerous with the train ON the ottoman…of course I grab my camera first!)