H ello from New York! I’m off on an anniversary adventure with my hubby this week sightseeing and enjoying the city! Yahoo! Then I’m meeting up with a blogging friend you all know for a girls’ day of shopping and maybe some coffee at a charming cafe—and we will be taking you with us! More on that to come.
Have you been to NYC? What are your favorite things to see?
p.s. you can follow the rest of my trip on instagram: @theinspiredroom
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*Be inspired by REDEEMED … DaySpring’s newest gift & décor collection!
*Check out French Charmed, a Parisian Lifestyle Boutique! And the French Charmed blog too!
Source: The Inspired Room
I love a cute, romantic or otherwise charming garden shed! I’m not sure why I love them so much, but I just do. I have been dreaming of a little garden escape in my own backyard for quite some time.
Since we have a new house without trees or much landscaping, I’m in need of ideas for camouflaging the view of our neighbors. While trees will definitely be in the plans over the next few years, I’m also thinking about a garden shed. Not only would it be practical for garden storage or a dreamy backyard escape, but it could help hide the view of our neighbors and give our yard a little more structure.
Here is a round up of some pretty garden sheds! From yard tool storage to a backyard guest room, check out these out and tell me your favorites.
via My Home Ideas
This bedroom shed is awesome, can you imagine waking up in a room like that? It would be like a vacation in your backyard!
via My Home Ideas
Or what about this one? Open the double red doors and voila, your guest room awaits!
This would be a dream! Yard and garden tools organized and at the ready for potting plants and other outdoor projects, all in a prettied up shed with a chandelier? Yes, please!
I die. That garden shed above? Impossibly adorable. Can you just picture having a garden party with THAT in your backyard? I dare say that would be quite awesome.
via My Home Ideas
OK, this little white shed above and below is the perfect dreamy romantic backyard getaway.
via My Home Ideas
Good night, moon. I’d sleep in the shed every night and never complain.
via This Old House
This is a sweet little shed. My girls would have loved that as a play house!
That shed is basically a guest house in your backyard. Actually, I could live there. Forget the main house.
And this little backyard gem? Perfect little escape from the heat of the summer sun.
I’m thinking I could get used to a morning quiet time with a cup of tea in this backyard church er, shed? Sigh.
Oh, this open and airy lattice shed is so adorable! I love that it would let the breeze and light filter through, making it the perfect place to garden on a beautiful summer day!
And this little shed is like a backyard destination, the perfect retreat for being creative with art, painting, gardening or flower arranging! I cannot imagine a more charming way to fill an unused corner of my backyard!
How about you? What would you use a charming backyard garden escape for, if your garden shed dreams came true?
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*Be inspired by REDEEMED … DaySpring’s newest gift & décor collection!
*Check out French Charmed, a Parisian Lifestyle Boutique! And the French Charmed blog too!
Source: The Inspired Room
So, I know I’m not supposed to start a new project until I finish the ones I’ve started. Clearly, I’m a rebel and probably a glutton for punishment. But, I am almost done with my office (just have to hang the blinds and the two reading lights and then take some pictures for you!). I’ve got quite a few small projects to finish up as well (the map wall, the fireplace wall, painting the other side of the front door) and I promise to show you those soon as PROOF when I finish them.
Disclaimer: I know I kind of hop around on projects, but it really is the way I work and accomplish things around my house. Fixing up my house is part of real life for me, projects stuck in between family, church and other life obligations. But the reveals will happen, I promise.
I know figuring out how to use my house is not a big deal in the grand scheme of problems in the world, I’m just grateful I have a home. But nevertheless, I’m on a mission to make my home work well for us so we can be more effective in all we do in life.
So, our living room? It didn’t work.
I mentioned in a post like a year ago that while some of our rooms are small, our house itself is not really too small, it just isn’t being used as effectively as it should be. I don’t need to move or add on, I just need to make the best use of the space I have.
I’ve talked quite a bit about small houses and making the most of your space and my need for better organization and space planning for how we really live in this house.
And to remedy my issues, I’ve been taking action.
My newly updated office (which will be finished soon, I promise) is really small, but is working out really well for my own organizing and business needs. So putting our family organizational systems into the small hallway right outside my office door is a great solution. It makes that space actually work for us and serve a purpose instead of just being a pass through.
A wall in process, pardon the nails…
On one side of the hall (under the map wall, which still has some trim work that I need to finish so pardon the nails), is a wire wall organizer from TJ Maxx. It is perfect for sorting out papers that belong to my husband, son or myself and that require our attention. If it is empty, that means we are keeping up on our papers! GO US!
And on the other side of the hall is my command central chalk board. It has proven to be the most awesome use of that wall ever. We use it constantly!
So, I’m kind of working my way around the hub areas of our house, trying to get it set up to be most effective for our needs. And that brings me to our living room, which as I mentioned, was not working for us. The room is open to our entry, on one side of the staircase.
Why does our living room not work for us?
We had our small living room set up like a regular living room with a sofa, coffee table and chairs. Kind of like our family room. Two rooms for sitting in a small house with only three people living here most of the week. We had way more furniture to sit on than people to sit. We aren’t sitting people most of the time, any way, we are mostly on the go.
Originally I felt like my living room was a good place for me to escape the loud family room. Maybe to sit and read a book. Yet, as I found out, our living room was way too open to the rest of the house so it was not quiet at all.
So that is what prompted me to create a “girl space” in my office. My office has a door and that door is a miracle worker, people! That door saves my sanity. And now that we have a “girl space” to get away from the crazy boys (husband, son and two male dogs), the living room is pretty much useless to us as a sitting room. It was another pass through.
The living room is really small, I’m not sure if you can judge the size from the photos. It ended up feeling crowded and cluttered all the time because my husband would come home from band practices with his guitar, amps and briefcase and my son would come in with his instrument from school and it would all get set in around the furniture. Can you say CLUTTERED? It was WAY too small of a room to function as a living room and an entry/mud room. So, it was a room that was confused with its identity and it wasn’t being effective at anything.
It has become clear, we need more space for coming and going in day to day life and for special parties, events or craft projects — not a another place to put furniture we never sit on.
So, recently I just was fed up with feeling like that room was not working and out the furniture went. Good-bye! I was not in love with my furniture or had other homes for it, so it was liberating to free the space! LIBERATING, I tell you! I decided I’d rather have an empty room than a room pretending to be a living room (that I wasn’t in love with) but acting like a mudroom (but looking nothing like a mudroom) and generally making me feel stressed out.
And then, oh yes, there is the carpet.
Yep. It is still there. It has been hiding under an area rug, which we also removed with our furniture.
Nothing like having graffiti on your living room carpet. And as I’ve mentioned, dogs and carpet are not a good mix for us anyway so carpet is on its way out!
So yeah, I have some things to work on. I’m thinking hickory hardwood floors like we have in the entry and kitchen and hall so the small entry feels like it flows right into this space and actually becomes more like one room.
I’m envisioning things like maybe a built in window seat with storage underneath, a long built in cabinet under the small windows for stashing stuff, maybe a few big hooks for coats, and enough free space in the middle to adapt to our every day and special occasion needs. It could easily be turned into a dining space, a game room, a meeting space, a craft room – whatever we need …. because without a lot of furniture in my way every day, I’m not limited in how we can use it by what is there.
Inspiration pictures and more plans will follow as I gather up my ideas! I’m still not entirely positive about what I’ll do in there but I’m excited to get my plans in place!
Do you have a less-than-useful living or dining room?
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*Be inspired by REDEEMED … DaySpring’s newest gift & décor collection!
*Check out French Charmed, a Parisian Lifestyle Boutique! And the French Charmed blog too!
Source: The Inspired Room
It was a productive, crazy and yet still lovely week at The Inspired Room headquarters aka my life. I’ve been slowly but surely making my way towards the finish line on my office makeover. Just a few little pieces left and I’m going to call it done! It is very personal, lively and makes me almost giddy! I love it. I cannot wait to invite ya’all in to take a look soon! You can see a couple more peeks in my collage at some of the new things I’ve brought into the room.
In other news, I got locked out of the house one entire afternoon this week. That was fun {not}! I didn’t have any money or my phone (it was IN my office! Gah!). I took a walk, pulled weeds and then was bored out of my mind. Finally I decided to play in my tiny fairy garden! HA! I have been wanting to replant it this spring, but being locked out and all, I didn’t have much to work with. All I could find in my yard were a few stray succulents. But, I had fun tweaking it anyway! It is a start!
Every weekend now we open up our church building to what has turned into an under age concert house for local bands. It is pretty cool to be able to invite the community in to enjoy the space. You can see the picture of some guys playing ping pong in our lower level! We are still having a blast decorating and fixing up the building, completely on a budget of course! I’ll have more pics sometime soon.
And last but not least this week, dear sweet Jack filled our days with fun and laughs. He got into a bunch of mischief as always. He ate my debit card, for one thing. That was awesome. No more shopping for me. To help him expend more energy this summer, we took the plunge and had our backyard completely fenced in and it is almost done! SO EXCITED!! We cannot wait for him to try it out! You can see in the collage that we also need a lot of landscaping (new house woes), but for now, at least Jack can run free as a bird and enjoy the sun this summer! Oh, and he also got his teeth brushed and took many a nap on his favorite ottoman. It is a dog’s life!
Hope you have a lovely weekend, friends!
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*Be inspired by REDEEMED … DaySpring’s newest gift & décor collection!
*Check out French Charmed, a Parisian Lifestyle Boutique! And the French Charmed blog too!
Source: The Inspired Room
Now and then I let myself dream a little bit about my future bedroom makeover. I haven’t done anything to my bedroom in this house. Not even paint on the walls. I just have had too many other projects going on in life and around the house (such as finishing up my office!!) to work on my bedroom.
Layered Bedding via Sarah Richardson HGTV
Layered mint green bedding BHG
Honestly, although it feels like a far off dream, my bedroom is actually a room I need to work on in the upcoming months — for my sanity. Bedrooms are so important to me. They are where we spend so much time, where we retreat from the world. Our bedrooms should feel like an escape, not a place we want to escape FROM.
Teal and white layered bedding BHG
The truth is I don’t like my room at all. Not at all. I know it doesn’t sound very grateful. Mostly I feel I need to give my room a makeover because the carpet is yucky (old dog/puppy) — I’m just ready to rip it all out and start over. It is a project that really cannot wait any longer.
Red white and blue and patterned bedding via House & Home
Besides getting rid of the nasty carpet, I’m excited about getting new bedding. My bedding is not something that is an emergency to replace, it is more of a “I want.” I’ve had the same bedding for maybe 12 years. I can hardly believe I’ve had it that long (how does time fly by so fast??).
Fieldstone Hill layered bedding
Of course, it is awesome that so many years ago I went with a classic soft white matelasse coverlet that is always in style. And fortunately the quality was excellent and so it still looks good! It was all money well spent. But, I’m just ready for a new look. I think after 12 years of the same bedding I’m entitled to a bedroom makeover, right?
So if it is in the budget, I’m hoping to update my bedroom — but first I want to replace my flooring. It is always like waiting for dominoes to fall to get things done around here!
I love this striped headboard! Kerrisdale Design, Inc.
Good thing I like thinking about what I want to do even though I can’t get started yet. It helps me to process what I really want and hopefully helps me from making hasty decisions.
One of the things I know I love for a bed is a layered look. Always have. Mixing and matching patterns gives a bed so much personality. I also love the informal feeling of layers, it keeps the bed from looking too stiff or stuff. And I don’t think I’m a formal kind of girl so this style suits me well.
I really adored this bedding at West Elm when I was in their store recently. This is the bed that reminded me of my love for layers and got me thinking about wanting to get new bedding! I should never go shopping. It is always dangerous.
So how about you? Is your bedroom just like you want it be?
What would you want to change if time and money were plentiful?
On May 2 I’m having an awesome awesome giveaway that you won’t want to miss!!
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*Be inspired by REDEEMED … DaySpring’s newest gift & décor collection!
*Check out French Charmed, a Parisian Lifestyle Boutique! And the French Charmed blog too!
Source: The Inspired Room
{Yes, he chews on his name tag while wearing his color when he can’t find anything else to do.}
Every night, Jack goes to sleep in his bed.
Yes, this is his puppy crate.
He loves his bed and when I say goodnight to him, he is usually fast asleep on his back. Unless I am trying to take his picture. Then he opens his eyes and glares at me. He feels cozy in his little nest and will not go to sleep unless we shut his door. It has been his safe place for sleeping since he came to live with us. Shhhhh, don’t tell him he has a pink blankie. He doesn’t know his colors yet.
When we get Jack up in the morning, he is rowdy, energetic, happy and cheerful.
He always begins the day riding in the car, taking his boy to school. He loves that part of the morning.
Every day is an adventure for Jack.
He likes to explore the neighborhood. He is also very easily distracted.
But one furry foot in front of another, he sets out to find whatever the day might bring.
Jack is always looking for fun. And pine cones. And star fish. Mostly, he just looks for trouble. Most of his days involve at least 20 somewhat alarming incidents where his mommy or daddy or siblings need to intervene to pull something out of his mouth like a remote control, a lego, toothbrushes, homework, or bills we needed to pay.
Even though he still gets into trouble every day, he does know better most of the time. He just likes to try new things and test out how we might react. That is always a fun game. He graduated from puppy school but probably will have to repeat it.
Maybe with his own special intensive program for curious dogs.
Last week he carried an entire potted plant from our deck to our family room and dumped the dirt all over the carpet. He thought that was fun. I wish I had that on film.
Right before he was so excited about going out to the deck to get the plant, he didn’t notice the screen door was shut. Good thing it wasn’t the glass door.
On Monday, Jack is getting a new fence to fully enclose our yard (finally) so he can run free as a bird in the sun all summer long. He is looking forward to that. We all are. Otherwise, we will see him doing too many things like this:
There is no real explanation for the random things he does.
Why does he chew his bone while laying on his back?
We do not know.
But he thoroughly enjoys every moment of every day.
In case you are wondering what he is laying on, why yes, that is my white Pottery Barn sofa without the slipcovers. Most of the time now our white slipcovers are in the wash and our couch is naked, thanks to Jack and his destruction. We even have to put the cushions in another room so he won’t try to pull the foam out of them while the slipcovers are off.
Good thing we have white slipcovers to wash and bleach, though, because if we didn’t, we’d have a really messy upholstered couch that was difficult to clean. Instead, we wash slipcovers several times a week.
We do try to keep Jack on the floor, but he thinks he is part of the family. No one else has to stay on the floor.
No one puts Jack in the corner.
Jack gets very impatient and embarrassed and makes funny faces when he realizes we are taking his picture.
He thinks he is a celebrity though so he is used to all the photos.
This is Jack’s favorite spot in the whole house, the leather ottoman.
He throws his toys everywhere all day long, and then hangs for naps and resting on his ottoman.
He likes to watch TV with us and tries to eat our popcorn.
Jack is kind of weird. But we like him.
Sometimes he and his boy hang out TOGETHER on the ottoman.
And that reminds us why we have Jack in the first place.
Seeing him trying to squeeze himself onto the ottoman next to his boy is why we put up with the fuss, the mess, the antics, the expense.
Jack is a part of our family.
The end.
Have you ever had a crazy pet like Jack? You can tell us about your pet’s antics in the comments if you want today! I’m ready to laugh.
Ready, set, COMMENT.
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*Be inspired by REDEEMED … DaySpring’s newest gift & décor collection!
*Check out French Charmed, a Parisian Lifestyle Boutique! And the French Charmed blog too!
Source: The Inspired Room
