a walk down memory lane

January 10, 2018Leave a comment

some old photos of the kids rooms popped up on my facebook memories yesterday.

the photo below is baby girls room in january 2013. the tissue paper flowers were from her 1st birthday party in 2010! they hung in our playroom for a few years and then i added them to her bedroom.

i also made the paper bag sunflowers.

five years ago, when baby girl was only 3, i could do pretty much whatever I wanted to do with her room. i had fun playing around with DIY decorations, thrifted items, and some of the artwork i had in her baby room.

a couple years ago we ended up having the kids switch rooms. i think i ended up moving all the furniture by myself one day when ryan was out of town. i remember it being really messy and hard and wondering why i decided to do it.

the following photo is one i took on my phone this morning. totally not staged for a photo shoot, but a comparison.she loves pigs, so she dictates the design of her room now…i just add bits and pieces when she lets me.

the photo below is in the same room as the photo above, but it was the little guys room 5 years ago.

he was 5 and loved everything batman.

the decorations on his wall next to the bed were from his golden birthday party that was a super hero theme.

i had a love/hate relationship with his bunk/twin beds. we traded them out for a full bed a few years ago and there are some rare occasions when i wish we had held onto the twin beds (like when we have visitors and i wish the kids could just sleep in the same room together).he is now in baby girls old room. they each got to choose an accent wall color when we had our house repainted in 2016. his favorite color is purple.

he is a little more easy going when it comes to the decorations in his room. i was able to repurpose some dog prints that we used to have in our family room. it love how it worked out because on the wall to the right of the photo i found a decal that is a lab carrying a lacrosse stick. you can also see the pillow on the bed with max the lax dog. the lacrosse storage organizer is from pottery barn, but is used to display a vintage lacrosse stick that my dad gave him, and a pair of gloves from a former professional lacrosse player. he says it’s one of his favorite parts of his room.

i am hoping to write more posts that are interiors related this year as i also hope to start doing design work for clients here in the portland metro area.

what kind of posts would you like to see more of this year?

i’d love to hear your requests and comments!!

{october 6} happy corners of our home

October 6, 20157 Comments

ok, this is crazy.

today started out with a list of things i needed to get done in my head, but i felt led to go to IKEA.

seriously, like drop everything, get in the car and go.

i had one thing i knew i needed to get and one that i quickly looked for online.

rarely, do i just wander through IKEA. i get overloaded and usually end up with too much in my cart. when i shop {for almost anything} i have a list and a plan.

so, i found out where i needed to pick up the big items and headed through the maze.

i got my first item and put it on the crazy driving trolley thing.

then, i went to find the other item.

i couldn’t make up my mind on which color i wanted, so i decided to walk away and think about it. i also needed help loading it onto the trolley thing, so i started to look for help.

then i spotted it in the “as is” area…the item i was looking for…in one of the colors i was choosing from…at a highly discounted price…and it was already put together!

done.

i was led.

seriously, even in things as trivial as furniture and home design we can be led.

stop and listen when your head is having trouble making a decision.

sometimes you need to walk away.

you will be guided.

i was guided to this chair, that makes this a new happy corner of our home!

vintage map: goodwill
quilt and plaid throws: goodwill
picnic baskets: value village
thermos: value village
rug: rugs.com
chair: IKEA

{october 3} happy corners of our home

October 3, 20155 Comments

the bed is unmade and we still need a headboard of some sort, but this is a pretty happy corner of our home.

thinking i might just crawl back in there for a nap.

maps and hoop art: sparrow mercantile on etsy and instagram
love and you are so loved art: cut pages out of a katie daisy planner
granny square garland: from my instagram friend april
vintage sheet garland: DIY

{october 2} happy corners of our home

October 2, 20154 Comments

if you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know i love color.

if you are new, you will learn that i love color.

the thing is, i keep the big pieces of furniture neutral (wood tones, solids, white) and accent with color in my artwork, rugs, pillows, and accessories.

this makes things easy to change up.

in fact, if i decided tomorrow that i no longer like color and want to go with a neutral design scheme in our home, i could do it.

would it cost me money?

probably.

but, it wouldn’t cost more than changing out a few rugs (or just putting them in storage) and changing out accessories and artwork (which i get a lot of at thrift stores and garage sales OR i make myself).

would it take time?

probably.

but, this is my passion. i love to design spaces.

and, while i am home to take care of my kiddos, i end up changing out our own spaces on a regular basis.

actually, who am i kidding, i did this before kids and when i was working full time for design firms.

in fact, i did it when i was young, when i was single, and long before i went to school for interior design.

at any rate, this little corner has a little bit of everything…color, wood tones, black and white.

this little tennis ball basket holding vintage fisher price xylophones has been a favorite accessory of mine for years. kids love to get them out and play with them, and when they are not being played with they brighten up this little happy corner of our home!

tennis ball basket: goodwill
fisher price xylophones: goodwill
rug: IKEA
shelves and baskets: IKEA (discontinued )

{october 1} happy corners of our home

October 1, 20155 Comments

today begins another write 31 day challenge. last october, i took part, but didn’t quite finish the challenge…you can see my posts here.

this year, i am hoping to actually complete the challenge with a new topic…happy corners of our home.

a few years ago, kelle from enjoying the small things started #happycornerofmyhome on instagram. it was so fun to see little corners of people’s homes.

in the words of the nester, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

i also believe that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be happy!

you will see 31 corners of our home. some will be imperfect, some might even be darn messy, but they will all be happy!

here is the first one…

a new happy corner in our playroom. it’s a tiny little space carved out just for me. it means my laptop can sit out and be accessible, but not take up room on the kitchen counter or on our craft table.

globe: goodwill
desk and chair: craigslist
create letters: found at michael’s and joann fabric, painted by me
heart garland: target (found during valentines day a few years ago)
paint pallet: barn owl primitives

{gallery wall} take one

September 30, 20153 Comments

It was fun to revisit an old post yesterday, so I am doing it again today…this one is from June 2011!

I’ll have to do an update because, of course, things have changed a bit. However, the majority of this gallery wall has stayed the same!

Our walls have been bare for almost 4 years in this house.

I put something up for a short time and then find that I am not happy with it.

As you may have read, when I get frustrated I move furniture, but hanging art on walls just makes me frustrated. It’s a vicious cycle.

Hanging artwork seems permanent to me…which means I can’t move furniture around.

Now that our furniture is finally placed where I am happy with it (for now) I have wanted to hang some artwork on the walls. Ideas have floated around in my head from photos I have seen on other blogs and Pinterest. Nothing really forced me to put any holes in the wall, though.

Recently, we have been talking about getting the walls in our house painted. I would like to make holes in the walls pre-paint so that the painter can patch any mistakes and our walls with be nice and clean.

Then it all started with this…

We had this photo taken over a year ago and I finally ordered a wrapped canvas with a coupon I got from Sharing Spree.

I was thrilled when I received it and decided I had better put it up on the wall!

So, one afternoon, I just started hanging my black frames. Some already have photos in them, some need updated photos, and some just need photos!

This is a tall wall in our entryway. Below it is a bench that I have had since I was a little girl. This is where the kids keep their shoes, etc. It faces our playroom, which also has artwork with black frames including a large bulletin board which displays the kids artwork, Christmas cards, or other fun things depending on the time of the year.

Of course, after I got everything up on the wall I found about five more frames to add, and have Ryan’s Father’s Day gift to hang up on the wall.

The good thing is that there are more walls or more room on this wall!

The other good news is that I have started to put holes in the walls. Now I just need to continue with all the original artwork we have stored in our attic and some other prints that I would like to get framed.

Wish me luck!

home is…making progress on wall at a time.

*linking up with Tatertots and Jello…

{our home} mad for plaid

September 29, 20156 Comments

Everybody seems to be mad for plaid this season. I am no exception. I have pulled out my vintage plaid throws, quilts, and thermos’. I also pulled out the pillow covers I ended up making in the post below from October 2012. I only held onto four of them, but I think I still have the fabric stashed somewhere…maybe I’ll make more!

One of the things I love about living in the Pacific Northwest is that fall lingers.

The first signs start to show in September…apple farms, cooler nights, shorter days

October brings changing leaves, boot and sweater weather, and pumpkin patches.

Wait…it’s not over!

The leaves still change color well into November until the rain settles in and our thoughts change to winter on their own.

Given this fact, the quilts and afghans we used for picnics and outdoor movies during the summer have found their place in our home for use everyday…and I was inspired.

Specifically by the plaids in the quilts…probably somebody’s old ripped shirt that could no longer be worn.

I thought about making some pillow covers out of thrifted plaid shirts, but wasn’t having any luck. The shirts were too expensive (i.e. one shirt could cover one 20″ x 20″ pillow, but the shirts I liked were all $13-$19).

Then I searched the internet for pillows, but just couldn’t find something I liked.

Then, I went to Target yesterday. I found two large plaid pillows and thought, “Perfect,” but they were $30 each.

So, I wandered…thinking about my options…and stumbled onto some woven throws on clearance for $8 each. I figured that even if I could only make one pillow out of each throw that I would still get each pillow for only $8, but they weren’t plaid.

I bought five of them and was on my way home when I figured I should just stop in at the fabric store and see what they might have.

Plaid flannel was on sale for 50% off!

I found five patterns I liked and bought one yard of each.

We had 10 forms to cover.

I covered them all and have lots of scrap for more projects…

Our family room is ready to keep us warm through fall and winter.

In the end, I got 10 pillows for the price I would have paid for the two I saw at Target!

I have plenty of fabric for more projects…maybe something for colton+cadence!

home is…letting fall linger.

the playroom: version 2015

September 22, 201516 Comments

when you enter our home, you basically walk into a big open space that is our staircase, living room, and dining room. this space is definitely where we do a lot of our living, but it is far from formal.

the playroom version 2015

there was a time when i longed for a playroom like the ones in the pottery barn catalog.

eventually, our living room became a designated playroom.

that was 5 years ago, and it’s changed a lot over the last 5 years.

{2011, 2012, 2013, 2014}

it’s still the PLAY room, but it is really so much more than that.

it’s a place to sit, love, and create.

in the corner, near the front door, i set up a little workstation for myself. it’s a nice place to keep my laptop and be able to have it out of the way of everything else that is going on in the house.

the craft table is now in a nice open location with plenty of room to move around it and add more seats if needed. it is also where the kids eat their snack and do their homework after school.

although toys are not spread all over the floor like they used to be when the kids were younger, this is still the place they play…as in video games.

it is also a space where they snuggle up and read or watch cartoons in the morning.

our dining room is our only eating space where all four of us can sit together, so it is far from formal.

the sofa area is so cozy now.

this space has always been one of my favorite spaces in the house, but i really love this version of the playroom.

yes, that is the cat litter box underneath the easel. keeping it real, folks!

soon, i’ll be posting more details of each area with sources.

home is…the ever evolving playroom.

{our home} cha-cha-cha-changes

May 4, 20157 Comments

a lot has changed in the two years since i last did a home tour here on the blog. {actually, the tour was over at home made lovely.}

you can now see the photos from that post by clicking {our home} in the menu at the top of the page!

soon, i will post some individual tours of the rooms in our home…EVERY one has changed.

we also have a remodel that is in the works…if you follow me on instagram, you might know what i am talking about.

if not, stay tuned!

home is…always changing!

{spring break} operation bigger clubhouse

April 2, 201512 Comments

My parents came out to visit us over Spring Break. It was the first time my mom was able to travel on an airplane after having BOTH of her knees replaced last year! She has recovered amazingly and we had so much fun being active over the break!

One of the main highlights of the trip began after we all went to watch the little guys baseball practice on the morning after my parents arrived. Shortly after we got home, there were multiple trips to Home Depot to get supplies…to fix our large deck near the house…and upgrade where the old playhouse used to sit into a new “clubhouse” for the kids!

We removed the railing from around the existing deck between the trees and started building walls on Saturday afternoon!

Between Ryan’s deck project on our large deck and the project my dad and I were working on it was a flurry of activity in the backyard. My mom was helping out by keeping the kids entertained…which was so amazingly helpful.

By the end of the day on Saturday, the walls were framed.

By Monday morning, the roof supports were taking shape and we were measuring and cutting cedar fence boards to put on as siding!

By Tuesday, Topher was putting the roof on and nailing the last finish pieces of trim onto the clubhouse.

It was so much fun to work with my dad on this project for the kids.

We made fires in the firepit almost everyday as we worked through the changing Oregon weather.

We celebrated and played in the clubhouse the rest of the week after we returned from our other adventures.

I have plans to paint the interior ceiling white and the interior walls a turquoise color.

I will also add canvas curtains to the front entry and to cover the windows and the slide door.

Until then, it’s ready for play!

I am not going to write up a post about how we built this…it was a labor of love. However, I will say that I was inspired by and The Handmade Home’s Handmade Hideaway. Their posts were invaluable in showing my dad what I wanted to accomplish and helpful for us to figure out how to get it done.

Thank you, Topher, for helping me bring my dreams into reality. It was so awesome to work on this project with you!!

I will be sharing more details in the next weeks as I add more finishing touches…in fact, Ryan added an awesome touch last night that I will need to share with you!

home is…a labor of love.

stephany taddeo

home is what you make it

Category: our home