The Nelson Narrative

So it's kids' rooms this week at Kelly's Korner Home Tours.  Unfortunately, we haven't finished the girls' room make-over.  We recently transitioned from toddler beds to twins.  I would have loved to get bunk beds to save space, but the twin beds were given to us by friends of Paul's parents so we're making do.  They were wood-colored (oak, maybe?) so we painted them white.  It was challenging to figure out how to arrange their furniture because of the alcove/nook thingie on one side.  I couldn't do the obvious two beds perpedicular to the wall with a nightstand in between configuration, so I had to compromise. There are lots of finishing touches still to be done.  We need to replace their dresser, get a nightstand, put up a shelf (ledge) or two and some wall art, and curtains.  We're also going to paint.  I've had my heart set on purple for a long time, which is why I chose this bedding with some purple but not too much, but now...

Two years ago when my friend Kristen came overnight to visit and babysit the girls so Paul and I could go out for Valentine's Day, we went to Ikea and she bought me a belated birthday present:  a cool salad bowl and some curtains.  Yesterday, Paul and I finally got around to hanging them!  Part of the delay was that they needed to be hemmed, because for some strange reason Ikea only sells curtains that are 90-something inches instead of the more standard 84" or whatever, but at least they provide an iron-on hemming strip.  The other thing was that we wanted to paint before we hung curtains, and we finally got around to that last September (ah--the day that will forever be etched in my memory as the last day the girls ever napped.  Sigh...).  Anyway, for the first time in my adult life I have a living room with curtains !  I'm so excited. Before: After: It's hard to see in the picutre, but I love the dark burgandy color wit...

So ours isn't really a bonus room, it's just a family room, basically.  The builder called it a loft, because it's on the second floor, but it's basically the equivelant of a family room off the kitchen or whatever.  We use it as a TV room and a playroom for the kids.  And like most other rooms in the house, we have yet to do much with it.  I had envisioned painting a red accent wall, but the couch is a dark burgandy (looks brown unless you look really close, or if the light is just so) and the chair is a steel blue (all left over from Paul's single days).  So eventually we will paint some color, just not sure what yet.  And don't you love the baby gate in front of the TV/DVD player/cable box, etc.?  There are a bunch of DVDs down there, too, and the girls will just NOT leave that stuff alone so we had to barricade it. Can't wait to get rid of that gate! Like many other rooms, I plan to paint and hang curtains...someday.  Also ...

It's been awhile since I've participated in Kelly's Korner  's Home Tours.  This week is bathrooms. First, our downstairs powder room: This is the only bathroom that we have painted so far.  It's hard to tell, but it's a silvery lavender color.  I fell in love with the color, and thought that it would go great with our purple rugs but turns out it's a bit too blue.  Oh well.  It will have to do for now. Here's the girls' bathroom: The only reason I have that shower curtain in there is because I needed something blue/green to go with towels we already had, and that was the cheapest one I could find, plus we already had (Paul's before we were married) a framed picutre with seashells, etc.  I thought about re-doing it in some kid-friendly theme, but have pretty much decided against it, simply because I don't want to have to re-do it again in a few years when they outgrow it. And now to the master: Blank wall where another sink/v...

The girls' new bedding arrived this week. I love it, but I'm still a little torn.  I had my heart set on painting their room a purple along the lines of this: from Google Images But I had a hard time finding bedding I liked that would go.  In hindsight, I probably should have checked out Etsy (a website where people sell their own home made stuff, i.e. jewelry, kids' clothes, hair bows, dog sweaters, purses, you get the idea).  I probably could have had something made in a fabric of my choice.  But who knows how long that would have taken, and it probably would have cost more.  These were only $30 for the 4-piece set.  Anyway, I really like this bedding but it's a bit more pink and less lilac than I thought (so hard to tell on a computer screen).  And even if it were more lilac like I thought, it still wouldn't go with that shade of purple. There was another bedding set that I almost ordered instead that, turns out after seeing ...

Too bad this didn't come a bit later, as we are currently in the process of transitioning the girls' room into a "big girl" room.  We changed out their cribs to toddler beds a few weeks ago and I just ordered their new bedding.  We still need to remove the wallpaper border, re-paint and hang curtains and new wall art (or stencil or something).  So for now, here's what it looked like in the beginning and now during transition: Changing table/dresser and Olivia's crib Now just a dresser Olivia's bed, with the addition of wall art These pictures were a gift from my mom that she got at an arts and crafts festival Kayley's crib and glider Kayley's bed-still with the same crib bedding.  The rocking horse was a Safety prize from work years ago.  I kept it forever hoping to one day have a baby's room to put it in. Bookshelf The glider is no longer used and the kitchen is outgrown, to be replaced by Santa this Christmas! Here is the b...

The Friday home tours continue at Kelly's Korner , and this week is kitchens.  Our kitchen is fine for us but nothing special.  It's not that big and doesn't have an island, but I do love the breakfast bar.  We bought brand new so we were able to pick out our cabinets, countertops, flooring, etc., which was really fun and I love how it all came together, probably the most out of any other room in the house. I love this poster.  I think I got it at Michael's. Love these barstools