Decor

On our endless list of household renovations – along with finally finishing the outside paint job and adding a pool deck – is a master bathroom. Our house doesn’t actually have a bathroom connected to the master bedroom at all, meaning that Nate and I have to tromp through the living room and on over to the guest bath anytime we want to shower or pee.

A couple weeks ago, I told you all that we were working on getting some family photos with me actually in them. We had Opa come over and take a bunch for a photo wall in our master bedroom.

It must be the pregnancy. I think they call it the "nesting urge." I have been SO busy and had so much to do lately, yet all I want to do is clean and decorate the house. The impending baby plus all the visitors I know we’ll be expecting in the coming months are really giving me the urge to add some home enhancements and cozy up our space a bit. However, we’re on a really tight budget right now and honestly, I don’t think we’ll be sticking around in our current rental for much longer. This is REALLY not the time to be going crazy with projects and home enhancements, so I’m adding some fun, easy updates to curb my creative design urges.

We’re still painting the exterior of the house, slowly but surely. I failed to anticipate how much pregnancy slows down manual tasks like painting (go figure) and then we inexplicably had a bout of rain here in early August. What GIVES with the San Diego weather lately?

Remember our ridiculously RED bathroom? Well…now it’s our gray bathroom!

Remember when I found inspiration for a nautical kids room in the most unlikely place?

We’re still working on our home paint palette. The biggest challenge, honestly, is sticking with our choices and not getting distracted. Earlier this year we picked some bright, all-American contrasting colors. I am utterly smitten with the way they tie our house together.

It’s officially December. Time to get your seasonal craft on! I have a tendency to go overboard, decorating other people’s homes as well as my own. Why leave homemade gifts for giving just on Christmas? Let’s spread the cheer all season long with random crafts of kindness. I like show up at my favorite people’s homes and surprise them early in the season. BOOM! You’ve been Christma-fied, friends.

Earlier this month I shared that our house was a complete and utter disaster as we moved my office into the former guest room to make way for a playroom (along with a whole variety of other household projects that have been taking over my life).

Back in our new house tour, I showed you all the massive list of home updates we were taking on. The big changes were easy to point out right off the bat: new paint, walls being knocked down, furniture, etc. But what I really love and truly excel at is the nuances of a home. Things like window decor can change the feel of an entire room. Back when my mom was studying interior design I used to hear her tell clients that one of the quickest and least expensive updates they could make to a room was in the window decor.

I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and one of the things I always look forward to in the nicer hotels is their indulgent bathroom decor. I’ve stayed at a couple artsy, modern places lately with cool ceramic sculptures and funky-shaped mirrors. Then of course, there are plush robes and toiletries that somehow always seem better than the ones you have at home. I’ve made a couple updates recently to bring this more upscale, indulgent atmosphere into my own home.

The nursery is slowly starting to come together, but it’s been missing a major component: wall decor. We’re not allowed to paint or wallpaper the walls in our apartment, so they’re completely blank and boring.

Our furniture situation’s been a little sad lately and I’m in that full-blown nesting phase where I want to get everything perfect before the baby comes. I told Nate I’d like to upgrade our living area a little bit and, being a dude, he naturally recommended we add some La-Z-Boy furniture to our seating arrangement. He wanted a couple recliners to get that "theater feel." I had two problems with that. First, I can’t help but picture my grandpa when I think of La-Z-Boy. Second, I know exactly who would occupy those recliners constantly. Nate and Brian would park their comfortable butts in front of the TV and I’d still be relegated to a ratty old couch. Not happening.

I have a couple housekeepers come over every two weeks. There are five people in this home, three of whom still get time-outs on a regular basis…I needed a little help. Anyway, the weirdest thing started happening. I noticed a slow stirring amongst my furniture.