Homeowners: Guest Room Make-Over

One of the first tasks we took on in the new house was the upstairs spare bedrooms. Not only did they need some serious painting but we wanted to turn them into spaces we would use and appreciate. Since we had some amazing help from J's family with our actual move (they flew in from CO just to help us!) we thought it was fitting to actually set up a guest bedroom for them. 

Check out the transformation!

Just incase you can't tell from the picture, yes, this room used to be Pepto bismol PINK and it needed to go! We wanted to paint a neutral color in the whole house that would be more than just "off-white" but that we could decorate with in all parts of the house to their unique styles. We decided on the color Wheat Bread from Behr and I absolutely love it!

Since we were coming from a one bedroom apartment, one of the first things we had to buy was a guest bed. We decided to hit up IKEA and bought this HEMNES bed frame in gray-brown. The duvet cover and pillow shams are also from IKEA from the "as-is" section and cost me a grand total of $10! Plus I love the little detail work that makes it that much more pretty. The sheets are from a previous bedding set that I used to have at home and I thought they were the perfect compliment to the duvet with a bit of color. 

I made some art work for above the bed of a blown up version of the flower in the sheets with this as my inspiration. I am very happy with how it turned out but it did take a bit more effort that I was imagining. I plan on doing a post about this specifically later on.

We still have a little bit of work to do in the room, like finding an actual bed-side table (not just two storage baskets stacked on top of each other) as well as some other aspects for the walls but those can come with time.

*updated* I was able to find the perfect start to the rest of the wall decor for the room the exact same day as I originally wrote this post. See that awesome shelf on the wall? Yeah, I found it at Goodwill for $4.99! Some struggling later and I was able to get it hung on the wall, given a fresh coat of ultra white paint and added a few items to it that were also either cheap or free. And who doesn't love that. 

I found this awesome frame (purchased because I loved that it was square and I loved the wood it was made of, and for $1.99 I had to get it) and was able to give it a little face-life. I used fabric from an old white sheet to make a bunch of rosettes and glued them to the front. I love the texture it adds.

The rest of the shelf contains votive candle holders I already owned, a cheap IKEA clock also previously owned, and a frame from Dollar Tree with a print out of one of my favorite sayings:

"What I love most about my home is who I share it with"

Overall I love the look of the room and am actually sort of jealous that our master bedroom isn't even this put together yet! I can't wait for more visitors to come and stay with us now that we have the perfect space for them. 

Homeowners: SOLD!

Things are a changin' my friends. 

There has been lots of hard work, big decisions to make, and plenty of excitement as we transition into a new stage of our life. 

A new stage where we are homeowners!

I've decided to start a series around here where I'll share with you parts of our new home, projects we've accomplished and anything home-related so please stay tuned. I cannot wait for all of the adventures that this home is going to bring J and I and I can't wait to share them with you here. 

But now, I'm off to paint!

Doggie Dip Swim Day

It's no question that our dog loves to swim. We started taking him to the beach when he was really little and he loved it so much that we've taken him back many times since. Our apartment complex also has a pool that we may or may not have tried to coax him into as well but don't tell.

So during our vacation home we took full advantage of Doggie Dip. At the pool where J and I first met (at least 6 years ago) they host a day for the dogs. It's the last day of the summer/outdoor pool season for the year so they don't care about hair in the filters or anything that comes along with a dog in a swimming pool. We have both worked this event many times so it was fun to go back with our pup this year.

It was so much fun, absolute madness and everyone had a blast, Ollie included. While we never did teach him to jump off the edge into the water (silly timid pup) he did swim up a storm, play with tons of other dogs and run around in the grass like a wild animal.

Do you see all those dogs? That's one thing that I love about being back in CO. So many more people have furry friends.

And it doesn't hurt that the whole time we were watching him swim (and swimming with him) that we had a gorgeous view of the foothills. 

I love being home.

Vacation Home to Colorado pt 1

About two weeks ago J, Ollie and I took a little vacation back to the good ol' Colorado. We hadn't been back in quite some time and some of our very close friends were getting married so it was the perfect opportunity to take a week off and head home.

However, now that our little family includes the fur baby, it makes traveling a little bit more difficult. Because of flying regulations it is basically out of the question for us to easily fly with our pup. And since we live in an apartment and don't have any family out in SD, it makes it hard to leave him behind without having to board him or pay someone to watch him. (Both of which we don't want to do)

So what does all this mean?

It means we all hop into the car and drive home. From SD to CO. And for those of you wondering, its between 15-18 hours of driving depending on the conditions. Here's a peak into our road trip.

This is the typical view of the inside of my car. And yes, I told J we should make funny faces, we don't always look that goofy.

Ollie decided to sun bathe for a while when the sun was low enough to get to him in the back seat. We never really knew if he was sleeping or just closing his eyes because it was bright. What a weirdo.

Our trip takes us through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and eventually Colorado. With my car getting good gas mileage we have to stop three times along the way to stretch and get gas. This was in Prim, Nevada. Right at the border between CA and NV there are already casinos.

O-dog does surprisingly well in the car and we are very thankful for that. Most of the time he sleeps, sometimes he looks at us and catches some of the AC directly. We bought a car hammock for him in the backseat and it is definitely a purchase we would do again. It makes the back seat a lot bigger/more useable for him and makes it a bit safer for him back there.

Finally we made it to CO and I always do a little happy dance when we see the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign.

Because finally we get to see views like these. Rolling hills, bright blue skies, white clouds and mountains in the background.

Rain clouds filled with thunder & lightning (something we don't get here in SD).

Mountain tunnels, steep rock walls, waterfalls and pine trees.

We had a fabulous time while we were home and as much as we dislike the drive it takes to get there, we'd always do it again to spend quality time with friends and family. I'll be posting some highlights of our trip within the next few days as well as new updates about our new house so stay tuned.

Friendship Bracelet Swap Pt 2

Remember when I was going to participate in the Friendship Bracelet Swap held by Amanda and Jenn? Well it turned out fabulously and I thought it was appropriate for me to share with you both the bracelets I made as well as the ones I received.

Here are the ones I made to send to my new friends. I chose to do the classic chevron pattern with a twist and each bracelet had a total of 6 different colors.

Even though we shared our wrist sizes I wanted mine to be adjustable so I finished the bracelets off with braided tails for tying.

I've never done a non-symmetric chevron bracelet before and after doing these I have to say that it is my favorite now. I love how they turned out that I know I will be making some more like these in the future. The blue bracelet went to Kylie because she likes blues and purples, the pink to Barbara because her favorite color is pink, and the multi-color to Cidney because she likes brights.

I printed color coordinated headers for little notes I sent along with the bracelets and wrote a little something to each girl before sending off their packages. I really hope that they all liked their bracelets as much as I did making them.

Now onto the bracelets that I received. I cannot express how much I love all three of these bracelets. They are all so different from each other and totally suit my style in their own ways.

The wide, bright chevron was from Kylie and the colors in it are fabulous. I also love how wide it is because it's definitely a statement piece. She was kind enough to also send a smaller, solid yellow bracelet along with this one (because yellows my fave color) that pairs perfectly with it. The middle, unique patter bracelet was from Barbara. As soon as I opened the envelop I thought this was one of the coolest bracelets I'd ever seen. I am still fascinated about how to make one like this and I love that she incorporated my favorite color and some neutrals. The neutral, classic chevron was from Cidney and I love it's simplicity. I told the girls that I was typically into more neutral colors and she knocked it out of the park with this gray scale bracelet.

It was very interesting to see each of the ladies individuality come out in the bracelets overall. Like how different all three were finished. One just has loose string ends, one has an actual bracelet clasp and one has braided ties.

I have been wearing all of my bracelets ever since I got them. I wear all of them at once with some of my own creations to make a statement. I wear one individually for a simple, coordinated look on a specific outfit. And I have gotten many, many compliments and questions about them every time.

I love having these bracelets literally from all around the world and I am so glad I decided to participate in this swap.