Shhhh....Do You Hear That??

That's the sound of me going "Aahhhhhh".  The sound I make when all of my Christmas decorations are down, the house is clean and I feel like I can breathe again.  Such a great feeling.  And so great to have my house back to normal.

Since I was already in declutter mode, I moved things around in here and did a huge purge.  I've got at least 3 totes headed to Goodwill.

But I won't get too used to this feeling of calm.  In about 2 weeks, this wide open space will be filled once again.  Only this time, instead of Christmas trees and garland, it will be baby swing, bouncy seat and bassinet!  Oh Boy!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

As I got in my car to run some routine errands this morning I was struck by the peace surrounding me. I was instantly reminded of why I love January so much. Everyone is back to school, back to work, back to their routine and life is "normal" once again. No crowds at the stores, no lines, no snarling traffic and no lists swirling around in my already crowded head. I can breathe once again and life is good.  So Happy January everyone. It is, in my opinion, the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!


So with that, I am happy to celebrate the New Year with a renewed sense of energy and well-being.  Tops on my list is blogging, something that has always brought me great satisfaction and self-worth, yet I have been lacking the mojo to post as of late.  My guess is it had a little something to do with the fact that the Holidays are a big deal in Blogdom and I kind of felt somewhat left out this year.  My low-energy level and doctor's orders prevented me from decorating as I normally like and therefore left me with little to post about.  Rest assured I was here in spirit and visited as many of your wonderful blogs as I could, enjoying all of the amazing and beautiful Christmas decor.  You were all on my mind.


I will start out the New Year with promised pictures of the progress on the Nursery (say that fast 5 times!).  This room had humble beginnings as a nursery for Amy 11 years ago.  Back then, I had a "theme" nursery with a border and coordinating bedding.  A few short years later, it was transformed into a playroom for the girls.  At one  point I think we even turned it into a mock-schoolroom for them to play pretend - think crayon on the walls and numerous thumbtack holes.  My "babies" are old enough now that they don't need a separate play room.  At last Rich and I could put into motion our grand plans for turning this room into our own retreat with built-ins for books and grown-up furniture.   Insert sound of car coming to a screeching halt here.  "Surprise", also known as #3, or more affectionately, Cole, has put those plans on hold.  And so the process began of moving toys/junk out and the we-thought-we-were-so-through-with-this-phase-Baby stuff, in.  


I must admit, there was tons of inspiration in Blogland for this transformation - I got lots of links from my dear friend Gloria, at The Little Red House With The White Porch.  Rich and I agreed that we wanted this to be somewhat of a sophisticated nursery - no theme, and not too "baby".  We want Cole to be able to grow into this room without much remodeling in the future - we're not getting any younger people!  My favorite inspiration came from Savvy Southern Style's Kim's daughter's baby's nursery (say that fast twice and you're smarter than a fifth grader).  I fell in love with this nursery instantly and knew that I wanted to mimic the style in our's.  I love the look of board and batten and it was much easier than we thought.  Of course having a handy hubby helps too.

The color on the walls is a greyish green and we opted to paint the ceiling in the same color to keep the focus of white on the walls.  

It was Rich's idea to use black furniture and I'm so glad I went along.  We were fortunate to have our parents purchase all of the nursery furniture for us as a gift.  The window treatments are micro-suede and I got both panels for $1 at a yard sale.  I had them dry-cleaned for $12.

I found this set of frames at Marshall's for $7.  It already had black ribbon and "Live,Love,Laugh" words on the matting.  All I added was some craft paper I had on hand.

The dresser/hutch combo was a must for me.  I wanted to be able to use the changing table for more than a couple of years and this piece from J.C.Penney was perfect.  It also matched the style of the crib from Babies R Us.

The bedding was the inspiration for the color on the walls.  It was donated to me by a sweet neighbor and I love it.  It's from the Glenna Jean collection, which I  had never heard of before, but is quite expensive, so I was lucky to have it given to me.  I wish you could feel it for yourselves, it is SO plush and thick.  Just perfect for a new baby.  And the colors are so warm and soothing.  

This is the view from the doorway.  The floors Rich had installed himself a couple years ago and the area rug is from Target.

This rocking horse I picked up for $10 at a yard sale over the Summer.


Still left to do is add doors and organizers to the closet.  

We removed the doors years ago as well as the bar for hanging clothes when we thought we were going to add built-ins here.


Additionally, I've reserved a special spot on the same wall for a beautiful painting that was given to me by my dear friend Terri of Dimples and Dragonflies.  It has special meaning to me and will take it's rightful place on this wall.

Here is the painting.  As you can see it is very large and very heavy, so hubby needs to get the proper tools for hanging.

Just love this painting!  Terri is a talented artist from Georgia and has her own Etsy store where she sells her amazing creations, not limited to her gorgeous paintings.  


I'm linking this post to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Savvy Southern Style's Boring to Better Party.  Thanks to Susan and Kim for hosting!  


Thanks for sticking with me during my haitus and have a wonderful week!
xoxo,
Kim

Christmas Centerpiece

While the rest of you are busy decking your halls and trimming your trees, the hubs and I have been hard at work preparing our nursery.  Not much time for Christmas decorating this year.  


I did manage to put together an easy-peasy Dining Room table display though.  It is the first thing you see when you enter my home after all.

I call it My Blingy Tablescape.

I will share pictures of the nursery as soon as I can!


Have a great day!
xoxo,
Kim