So, it's been a few days. I've mostly recovered from my strep throat bug, though after a long day of work on Friday I was afraid I'd reverted back to my Tuesday state of health, but a morning of sleeping in revived me and now I've come down with a decorating bug.
I decorate in spurts. My house is done for the most part. I bought this picture for the kitchen eating area a few months ago and I'm still in love with it:
It was a clearance aisle impulse buy and the perfect addition of color and style to make my downstairs relatively complete. We also finished the playroom with the much delayed 1st birthday gift of a toy box from JP's parents.
It fits under the window like it was custom made and blends in well with his craigslist train table and storage shelves I found at Target. Landon spends a lot of time on it looking at the window or reading books. I love this room- love its look, location, and role in keeping plastic crap out of my living room. I don't think it will ever be a dining room- our kitchen eating area can seat 12 when the table is extended so I'd imagine we'll always entertain in there. Someday if we no longer need the space for trains and play kitchens I'll make it a music room, I've always wanted to learn to play the piano.
The study is done, courtesy of a gallon of "burnt copper" paint, Ikea Billy shelves, Ikea desk, Target filing cabinets, and a lot of late nights, toiling after work and cursing my idea of painting all the trim dark brown.
(the orange doesn't look nearly that bright in person)
I'm quite pleased with the final product. It's been so nice to finally put our books and photo albums on shelves and have a retreat for night and weekend work.
Our master bedroom is still a work in progress. I've been slowly purchasing new linens, towels, and accessories- every time I get a 20% Bed Bath & Beyond coupon in the mail I add one more item to our hall closet. I hope the day that I complete my shopping will be the day we can afford a matching furniture set (right now it's a compilation of family donations and craigslist finds)- only then will the dreams in my head be fully realized. That's at least a year away and for once I don't mind going slow. My plans have evolved with each purchase and I'm quite excited to see where I end up.
Today's focus was Landon's "big boy" room. The room he's in now will stay the nursery for as long as it's needed- it's at the top of the stairs and separate from the other upstairs bedrooms (our master is downstairs). His future room has a beautiful view of the backyard and is right across from the bathroom, which should come in handy for potty training. This room has also evolved since I started thinking about it when we moved in. At first I fell in love with this quilt, but then I found an adorable "transportation" sheet set for $10 and a $20 reversible navy/khaki comforter at Ross and decided I could no longer justify the price of the quilt. Landon adores the sheets and carries the package all around the house exclaiming "BUS!" - he even slept with it a few nights last week. Today I found a set of navy, yellow, red, and khaki striped panel curtains at Wal-Mart (their home goods have come a long way) and these truck holdbacks. I also found a transportation "road rug" to put between the two twin beds at Wal-Mart and these prints on eBay to frame along the wall. I'm so excited about his room, it just needs a few more finishing touching- shelves and some sort of toy storage- and it's done.
And speaking of Landon, here's a picture of his 1 year portraits.
I thought he looked so much older when he took them, but now I can see how much baby was still left- and how little there is now. The next step away from babyhood and towards his leaving me for college (tear) is moving out of his crib, and that's where I have a question. When do they do that? Right now he's quite happy with his crib and its cage-like qualities come in handy on the nights he flips out at bedtime. He yells and shakes the sides and then curls up and goes to sleep after about 30 seconds, I doubt he'd fall asleep that fast in a bed he could get out of. We're not in any rush, there's no Landon 2.0 waiting in the wings for the crib, but Landon 1.0 has a track record of needing some serious nudges at each step of development and I'm wondering how that transition went for everyone else.
For now I'm going to get back to scouring the internets for the perfect piece of (inexpensive, matching) furniture to fit under the window and between the beds to serve as a nightstand and toy storage. It's the only thing that will cure this bug.
I think it's so cool to look at pictures of other people's (beautiful) houses. You've done a nice job.
ReplyDeleteAbout the crib, I would leave him there for now. Trust me, the time will come and a crib can truly be a godsend on bad nights or way-too-early mornings. If the time comes that he needs a nudge, you can always do that. But for now I would leave it, he's just a little over one year, right?
I will tell you something else I've noticed recently. Mine are 16 and 13 (gasp, I still can't believe that) and it struck me last year ... we keep pushing them (consciously and unconsciously) to grow up, be more independent and do more for themselves. Sure it's part of the job description. And it makes our lives a lot easier.
But then one day you turn around and look at them, independently making their school lunches and doing all those things you wanted (and dreamt of ... like their own laundry!) and you wonder (at least I did) ... what the hell just happened? What have I done?
All I'm saying is be careful what you wish for. And make sure you take the time to enjoy every little step along the way. [And pictures, lots of pictures. Pictures are good!] I know you do and will. But sometimes I think we all need 'reminding' of things we already know.
cute house! I get the decorating bug in spurts as well- after having our house "completely" decorated for almost a year, I've decided to forgo the red accents I searched so hard for and head towards a "turquoise" look. I found fabulous curtains at Pier 1 on clearance and am now searching for "perfect" turquoise/ocean blue accents to match! As far as moving to a big boy bed- we moved JP to his almost 2 months ago. It was quite a transition! He cried and screamed and beat on his door the first three nights, but our pediatrician said to not go in there and after a week, he'd figure it out. Sure enough, 5 days in, JP stopped crying and kicking and screaming and now goes to sleep with NO problem! And it's so much fun because he wakes up on his own in the morning and opens his door and comes and wakes us up! I love rolling over to find his little face staring at me going "mommeee, milk please" ! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe found some pretty nice but cheap stuff at the stores in the whole Furniture Row center. Our entire living room is from Sofa Mart, basically! I am pretty sure there's one of those in Austin; check it out if you haven't already!
ReplyDeleteI left my oldest in the crib until he decided he wanted to sleep on the twin bed that was in his room. I think it was just before his 3rd birthday. He was old enough at that point to play by himself when he woke up, and not wake me up at the crack of dawn. We were in no rush to get him out of the crib, though (our kids are 3.5 yrs apart). The little one is Landon's age, and I'll likely leave him in the crib until he decides he's ready for a bed.
ReplyDeleteMy experience has been that kids are super excited about the idea of a big-kid room, but anxious about the actual transition. Is there a way you could convert the crib to a day bed? Or make a twin bed more crib-like while he adjusts? (Like putting the mattress on the floor, or those rails that prevent kids from falling out of bed.)
I would say let him stay in the crib as long as he wants to, and if/when you find yourself pregnant again, work on gradually transitioning him out of the crib early in the pregnancy so that he does not associate the crib/nursery as "his" anymore.
your house is so beautiful! I love decorating, but it's less fun when a) you live in an apartment and b) you move every couple years.
ReplyDeleteI like your theme for his big boy room ... very fun and very boy ...and obviously something he loves!
Landon is so lucky that he has a bedroom, a playroom AND a backyard!
Let him stay in the crib for as long as he is content to be there, or until Landon 2.0 makes it necessary. Both of my children were out of their cribs at around 17 months, much to my chagrin. Trying to convince a child to stay in his/her room when they don't want to be there and are physically capable of leaving it is a challenge, to say the least.
ReplyDelete