Decorating around a HUGE TV

We recently moved our TV to a different wall in our family room, and for the first time I had a huge empty wall to decorate around this big black box. 

In the past we had our TV above the fireplace (our first house) and most recently it was on a half wall. So this was new territory for me!

Obviously what was on that wall before the TV was there wasn't working...

And I hadn't changed anything on that wall in ummm...5 years or so. It was definitely time for a change!

I knew I wanted to create a fun collage to frame the TV, and my inspiration started with this butterfly artwork Landon created in art camp last summer. 

I love everything about it! 

Of course the fact that my 8 year old made it is the best part. But the image is so lovely, especially the colors. I found a shadow box frame for it at Hobby Lobby, and covered the board behind it with sticky chalkboard paper to make the art really pop. 

And then I started gathering more artwork and other pieces that coordinated. 

The hexagon shelf was an idea I had pinned a long time ago, so I was excited to pick one up, also at Hobby Lobby, along with the four artwork. The cute little faux succulent is from Target, and the adorable peacock house is from Things with Wings. 

Here is the finished (I think) wall...

I might still do some tweaking. Not totally sure about the arrow in the lower left, but for now I'm calling it a day.

"Kind people" artwork from Natural Life, and what my husband refers to as a "giant paper plate holder" 😂 is a thrifted basket from Goodwill. "Dream" canvas is one of my licensed pieces from METcolors.

My other favorite piece on this wall is this landscape painting made by Ben, also in art camp this past summer. 

(We LOVE art camp!)

Home sign also by Things with Wings, and lovely hand artwork by Mary Wangerin. 

The turquoise piece is a trivet from Hobby Lobby!

And another sweet spot are these candles and mini (faux) succulent on the TV cabinet...

And now I want to redo basically every wall art we have in the house. My husband is thrilled. 😉

Cheers to the weekend!

{kitchen reno update part 2}

Oh I am BEYOND happy to share with you that for all intents and purposes, our kitchen reno is DONE!

Goodness that 7-ish weeks felt like an eternity! 

We still need to do some painting...white on the walls and a pop of turquoise on the island surround, but anything that we hired someone else to do is finished! 

It is all so bright and white and pretty. I don't know if I can pick a favorite thing. I'll post again when everything is 100% done but for now here is how it is looking!

Oh this backsplash makes me all kinds of happy. This photo was pre-grout but we went with gray so not much of a difference in the finished look...

The open shelving is from IKEA and is making me giddy! I couldn't resist plopping some dishes on it two seconds after the contractors left and snapping a few pictures. 

And now for a  good corner view of everything...

The upper cabinets, sink and drawer pulls are also IKEA. We purchased the lower cabinets and countertop (formica if you can believe it!) from Lowe's. 

And I actually smiled while washing dishes the other night... 

That Mrs. Meyers lemon dish soap didn't hurt! I'm obsessed with anything lemon scented these days. 

And because we all love a good before and after...

Holy cow right?

I've been pinning kitchen ideas ever since we moved into this house over seven years ago and really didn't know if we would ever be able to do this. It is a dream come true! 

And I really want to encourage you by adding that even though this wasn't inexpensive, we did it on a lower budget and income, so it is possible friends! Here are some examples of how we saved money...

We have a TON of countertop, and with formica it was only around $700 for the entire counter. No need to spend thousands on granite or solid surface to get a beautiful counter. The farmhouse sink from IKEA is only $300 which is a bargain. And it is a monster...so much room in that thing! Our faucet was an $80 Ebay find. The gas cooktop was $150 marked down from I think $400 in the IKEA clearance section. We have literally had it in a closet for like four years waiting for a new kitchen. The key is to be creative, think outside the box, and snatch up deals when you can!

Thanks so much to everyone that has joined in my excitement over this renovation. You are awesome!

XO,

kitchen reno update!

We are a month into our kitchen reno and I thought it was time to share an update with photos! 

I wish I could say it is finished...but it is well on it's way and for that I'm going to say thank you and keep practicing patience! (Although eating off of paper plates is getting OLD.) 

Here is my last post with the before photo (ack!) and lots of inspiration images and the plan. 

But in case you want to see that before again...

And here are the progress photos!

We had a new window installed which provided a much bigger before and after than we imagined! Worth every penny.

I'm really proud of Dan for getting the pieces for our island ready for the contractors. He painted the cabinets and has painted countless coats of sealer on the butcher block counter. Here it is temporarily put together so we could get an idea of how it will fit in the space...

The island will house our cooktop and have an extra piece of counter added to the back to accommodate stools. It will also have a surround added to cover the base cabinets that we'll be painting turquoise. The awesome cabinet with the pull out drawers was a super lucky Goodwill find, and we grabbed the slim cabinet from the clearance section at IKEA (we'll be adding shelves inside). They were mismatched colors so Dan painted them both white which really pulls it together. The butcher block top is also from IKEA. 

And umm how perfect is that Raskog cart nestled in the middle? I'm dying. Can't wait to see it finished! 

Next week is supposed to be counter install, which will then lead to the sink and hopefully back to a functioning kitchen very soon after that! Eek! 

SO ready to stop using those red solo cups. It looks like a 24/7 frat party at our house!

XO,

{a tale of two dressers}

I happen to be a big fan of dressers in entryways. I've wanted one in ours for quite awhile now. A midcentury one to be more specific. 

We've had a console table in there for a few years, which looked just fine, but offered zero storage.

And we had an adorable midcentury modern dresser in the boys' room...

A few weeks ago, someone at my work was selling a barely used IKEA dresser for super cheap. So we snagged it up and moved it into the boys' room...

It offers SO much more storage than the midcentury piece.

And speaking of my MCM dresser...

It is now in the entryway where I always wanted it!

I'm so happy with how it works in the space, both aesthetically and functionally. 

And I'm also loving some springy decor, considering it has been around 10 degrees here this week!

Do you have a dresser in an unexpected spot in your house?

XO,

{boys' bedroom makeover}

Oooh I'm so super excited to finally be sharing the boys' bedroom makeover with you today!

It has been quite a process and the first really DONE room in the house which makes me so happy. Even if the rest of the house is a complete disaster, I can sneak away to their room and act like my entire house is this cute and clutter free. 

So here are the photos and I'll have a source list at the end!

I thrifted this cute cubby shelf from Goodwill and painted it red, then let the boys fill it up with all sorts of treasures. The photos are taken with my Instax camera and hung with fun washi tape.

This wall is my absolute favorite. I folded laundry in there today just to give myself a pretty view. 

Aren't the arrow decals so much fun? 

The hoop art is one of my favorites of the boys' old t-shirts and some felt...super easy!

My Mom thrifted the light-up globe AND the tin #2 for me. She is the best.

The instagram canvases were a fun DIY project.

Another DIY project was this palette art...

And this post wouldn't be complete without my goofy Benny striking a pose...

They love their new room and that made the work all worth it.

Source list:

• Bed, bedding, toy box & hamper: IKEA
• Dresser, globe, #2, cubby shelf: Thrifted
• Map print & red ampersand (painted red): Hobby Lobby
• Arrow wall decals: Groopdealz
• Bunting: Lilly James Co.
• Mason Jar sign: Prim and Proper 
• Photo canvas: Printicular Canvas App via Walgreens
• Red trunk: TJMaxx
• Rocker: Passed down from my Dad
• Rug: Walmart
• Side table & closet curtain: Target
• Curtains: DIY thanks to my mother-in-law
• Palette art and Instagram canvases: DIY
• Red lamp: Walmart
• Silver lamp: I can't remember!
• Red tool box: my Grandpa's

Thanks for taking this little tour with me!

XO,