Master Bedroom Refresh

Hello sweet friends!

Since I've taken many blog breaks over the past year or so,

I realized I have not shared a bunch of updates done around here.

(I may eventually need to do an updated home tour.)

So, today I'm going to start with the master bedroom.

Here is what the bedroom looked like before:

We had very dark mahogany furniture.

I somehow managed to convince my husband
that the furniture needed to go.
However, when we began shopping I realized
that the dressers nowadays seemed very small.
The drawers seemed very small as well.

You have to understand, we live in an old house.
Closet space is practically non existent in old houses,
so dressers need to store a lot.

After much thought, I decided to paint our furniture.
My husband was not crazy about this idea, but
I went ahead with it.

We painted the walls Cottonwood by Ralph Lauren.
Then the furniture got covered by
Annie Sloan's chalk paint in Pure White.
We bought an upholstered head board and
a chandelier and just like that,
a completely different look.

We were going to change out all the original brass handles 

on the drawers for new hardware, 

but decided to keep them instead.

And because I'm nothing if not real,

I'm showing you this picture...

I like a TV in the bedroom.

I'm am so happy with how it all turned out.
It feels so much lighter & brighter now.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Christmas Home Tour, Part 3

Well, here we are on the last part of my Christmas tour.

 

Today I'm sharing the Kitchen, Master Bedroom & middle Hallway.

It's funny, these photos reflect many changes we've made to our home. 

I have never shared those changes on the blog...yet.  

I really need to do an updated home tour.

Kitchen:

I love changing up the dishes in this cabinet.

Not the best photo below,

but this year I decided to give my window over

the sink a little something. 

My kitchen tree always

sits on the table in this nook.

Master Bedroom:

I like to add a little Christmas to the bedroom.

I'm so happy to have this tree in the bedroom.

At night, it's so pretty all lit up.

It gives me visions of sugarplums...

Hallway:

This tree sits in the hallway,

alongside our staircase.

I had no idea how I wanted to decorate it this year.

My sister suggested green since she noticed

I had some green glass balls in my stash.

So I went with it and decided black & white checked

ribbon would be a nice complement to the whole look.

I made the top hat tree topper because I couldn't

find a single topper I liked anywhere.

And there you have it!

The tour is complete.

I may be back to share a little more

décor if I survive the baking marathon

I'm about to take on!

Thanks for visiting me today.

Christmas Home Tour 2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Go ahead & grab a hot beverage because I've got lots of pictures
to show you today.
Let's do this home tour all in one post.
I'll even promise to keep the chit chat to a minimum.

Come on in!

Welcome!

We did several home projects this year which I, being 

a sporadic blogger this year, did not share yet!

Hopefully you won't notice them here.

Let's start in the living room.

I went with a red, white & black theme this year.

Now into the entryway we go.

This old window is right next to the front door.

Straight ahead, you'll see my 

"It's A Wonderful Life" themed vignette.

I have always loved this movie.

My husband, over the years, has come to love it too.

This vignette was so much fun to put together.

Now let's head into the dining room.

I pretty much always keep to a white, cream,

blue, silver & gold palette in here.

And the sitting room...

 Next up, the kitchen...

Moving on to the center hallway.

This little tree was all about pastels...

pink, blush, blue, mint, gray.

 I even gave the bathroom shelf (below) some holiday spirit.

 Next is the master bedroom...

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas home tour this year.

It's always a pleasure to have you visit.

Merry Christmas!!!

Linking to:

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

 

Christmas Bedroom

Can I just make a quick observation today?
Have you been following all the Christmas home tours
throughout blog land this year?

Wow, there is so much inspiration out there!
This year, more than ever,
I think everyone has really outdone themselves.
I've enjoyed so many of these beautiful home tours.
Very impressive, indeed.
♥♥♥

I never used to decorate in the bedroom,
but each year I seem to add a little more.

I guess that's what blogging does to you!  :)

Here is the master bedroom:

It all started with the white Simply Shabby Chic bedding

from Target.  Since this room is pretty much the only room

left in the house that still has dark wood furniture, I opted for white

bedding as a compromise to my wish for white bedroom furniture.

All in due time.

I gave the shelf a few Christmas touches.

My dresser got dressed up for the holidays as well.

I have a lot of Christmas jewelry.  Some I've had since I was in high school.

I may not wear much of it now, but I still pull it out each year.

This year, I thought I'd put it on display for something different.

That's my simple but festive master bedroom. 

Hope you enjoyed it. 

Thanks for visiting me today.

The tour continues...

Teen Girl Bedroom Reveal

 I was going to share my daughter's bedroom redo with you late last year.  

Being the bad blogger that I am, I never shared it.

-----

 One day, I got a bee in my bonnet.

I realized my kids were getting too old,

and in my son's case...too big & tall, for their twin beds.

Wouldn't it be nice to buy the kids bigger beds?

They'd be so much more comfortable.

It'd be nice to have the extra room.

(I think those were the phrases I used to convince my husband.)

Well, one thing lead to another & before I knew it,

both kids had a complete bedroom overhaul,

just because bigger beds were in order.

Fair warning:  

You will not see a room that is devoid of real life. 

 Magazine-ready kid bedrooms are unreal & unnatural.

Kids have stuff, and stuff has to go somewhere.

It can't always be hidden behind closed doors.

It took me years to understand this.  

Phew...glad I got that off my chest!

Olivia loves books and she loves New York City

(among many other things).

Her room came together from those loves.

Bear in mind, this kid loves her stuff and doesn't

want to part with any of it.

Gray, white & yellow became the chosen color palette

when we found this pretty quilt at TJ Maxx.

NYC pillow from this shop at Etsy.

I shared my DIY lamp shade for Mr. Pig here.

NY Public Library art found on the streets of NYC.

(a no brainer for this room!)

NYC decal from Etsy.

Our Lady Liberty and a favorite book of New York.

You can't talk NYC without some subway art!

Here are her shelves...
loaded with books & other stuff.
The shelves were here when we bought the house
and they are the sole reason why Olivia selected
this smaller room as her bedroom.
For her,
shelves = books; books = happiness.

More things she loves.

Celebrities, etc.

Sherlock Holmes ala Benedict Cumberbatch!

Found here on Etsy

The music box from The Phantom of the Opera.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Olivia's room.

See you soon!

P.S.  I've been thinking about adding an area rug. 

Any thoughts on that?

Linking to:

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

What's It Wednesday @ Ivy & Elephants