A Boy Room

I feel like we've been in a mad dash to get things done before the summer hits. We plan on doing a lot of relaxing this summer so it's been catch up time on the house projects. One thing we wanted to get accomplished was our son's room.

I forgot to take official "before" pics until after the room was already emptied but trust me, it wasn't all that exciting. There was a toddler bed, a plastic toy box and a train table that he never played with and took up too much space.

Oh and there was also carpet which we took up and much to our surprise, the hardwood underneath was in great condition!

The walls, doors and trim were all painted the same color, a light brownish tan that was entirely too dark for the room.....

Here's a peek at how it is now. I'm not done decorating yet but it's coming along! He loves the wall we did in floor to ceiling chalkboard paint....

This shelf is huge and sits on one whole wall. I'm waiting on a large map that I ordered to hang above it.

He loves superheroes so the sheets are Spiderman and the sham is from Pottery Barn. I had it personalized because, with his unique name, it is impossible to find anything with his name on it. I still plan on ordering a navy star quilt from PB Kids when budget allows.

Wall sconce is also from PB Kids. I took some frames and made a collage of pictures and his artwork for above the dresser.

Wall color is called Mineral, it's from Behr's new paint and primer in one. The fabric bunting came from this store: Jump Up And Down .

His furniture was my moms when she was young. I'm so glad she held onto it, I think it's special that he has it now. I made the mistake of calling it an "antique." Oops, sorry Mom!

He loves his room and I was surprised at how fun it was to decorate a boys room. It can be hard to find inspiration whereas adorable girl rooms are overflowing.

I'll share some more photos when it's all done!

Powder Room ~ After

The powder room is done! I'm so excited to show it to you. It was difficult to take pictures in such a tiny space but I did my best.

If you missed the "before" pictures, click HERE .

And here it is now.....

The sink was a craigslist find for $50....

Ever notice how the magazines rarely show the toilet? Well, it's a part of life and here is ours....

I'd like to find some antique brackets and put a shelf on the wall above it. I've been hesitant to hang much on the walls so far because of the wallpaper.

The old trim was standard stuff so we installed all new moulding and added crown. "We" meaning my hubby, you know the drill. ;)

The towel holder was found on Ebay and the soap dispenser is from Target.

Ruffle towel from Target and the holder was found on Etsy.

So that's the bathroom! We're so relieved it's done because we've begun other projects.

A few things we learned on this room:

~ Wallpapering a tiny space is more difficult than a large room.

~ Decorative plumbing parts are expensive. I wanted nice shut off valves with the cross handles since they would show behind the pedestal sink. The plumbing supply had beautiful ones in nickel but they would have cost $120. For $40 and some wonderful free advice we ended up with something just as nice. We purchased the shiny silver ones and used a Scotch-brite pad to create a nickel look. The scour pad worked wonders and now we have "nickel" shut offs for a fraction of the price.

~ It doesn't hurt to ask about display items. Our toilet paper holder was the last of the set so we were able to purchase it for $30. It retails for $146.

~ Be sure to measure carefully and not rely on the store employees to figure out what you will need. With both the wallpaper and the tile we had to order more after starting because it was underestimated. This ended up costing us more time and money.

Overall it was a really fun room to do!

If you've done any wallpapering lately, I'd love to see pictures! I certainly have a weakness for it.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Our oldest left this on the chalkboard for us:

You can't possibly have a bad day after a chalkboard love note like that.

Deep breath....

I'm excited and nervous to announce that I now have my own little store! There is a local craft and antique mall and as of April 1st I'm leasing a little place inside that I can call my own. It's fun but a little bit scary as well.

Before I signed the contracts I worried.....

...what if I can't find things to sell?

....what if no one wants to buy my stuff?

....what if it's a complete failure?

But then I thought, if I don't try, I'll never ever know.

Having an antique store is something I've dreamt of for a long time. And now I have a spot to try that dream on for size, to see if I can do it. Painting furniture is something I love to do but I'm running out of wall and floor space in my house! This gives me the opportunity to continue collecting and painting and to hopefully make a little money for my family in the process.

I took a few pictures so you can see what it is all about.....

It's fairly empty right now but I'm working on filling it up!

My daughters asked if they could take some pictures for me. Of course I said sure and handed them the camera. My younger daughter took this one.....

And my older daughter took this.....

Silly girl!




Some of my favorite things, milk glass, silver and lots of white and gray!

So that's my little announcement!

If you are a local reader, my store is in the Cottage Crafters Antique Mall, 4636 Broadway, Allentown, PA 18104.

My space is Q20.

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. ~Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

It's absolutely beautiful here in PA this weekend. We've been busy enjoying the sun and being outside. The kids are having fun walking around the house and looking at the plants that are slowly coming out of hiding.

The most exciting thing over here though is that our powder room floor is done! The tile is in and grouted and sealed. I think for his first tiling job ever, my hubby did amazing!

We went with a light gray grout and I love how vintage it feels. A bit of moulding to finish up and we can put the fixtures in. We are thisclose to finishing it, so exciting! I'll post lots of pictures when it's all pretty and done. After all this work, I'm not going to want anyone to use it. Hmmmm....maybe it should be like our "formal bathroom." You know like a "formal living room" that you can't touch and no one ever goes in except to look at it or dust it? No? Okay, okay, we'll use it but I don't have to be happy about it.

Easter decorations are simple over here. A few bunnies and eggs and we call it good.....

This fluffy tree is from Hobby Lobby. The branches are soft like a bunny tail...

All it took to make it festive were some gift tags, ball fringe and of course an egg or two....

To my blog readers that celebrate Easter, I hope you have a wonderful day with family. Try not to overdo it on the chocolate! And definitely don't go to the hidden stash, take out a bag of jelly beans and eat them in front of the TV when you're supposed to be watching calories until you have a stomach ache. Not that I would have any experience with that whatsoever...

I'll finally be posting about my secret project next week so stay tuned. Have a beautiful weekend everyone!