You guys, I'm so excited to share this bedroom with you. Aside from the fact that I'm so pleased with the results, it has made me doubly happy to see how much my mother-in-law loves the room. As an army wife for 24 yrs, my mother-in-law has made a lot of sacrifices along the way. With countless moves abroad and in the states, practicality won over preference for many years.  So when she came to me and asked me to take on the project of designing her bedroom, I was both flattered and nervous because I really wanted to create a room that was worth the wait.
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About the room- my mother-in-law has a minimal aesthetic which works perfectly with mine. Her main requirement was that the chest be worked into the design of the room (its a family heirloom) and my father-in-law requested to keep a ceiling fan. The first thing we did was change the orientation of the room. Here is the before pic:

Originally I had planned on switching out the existing white ceiling fan with a really cool pendant light, but that was before I learned how much my father-in-law loved his ceiling fan. So, we opted to spray paint it a matte black instead. I was impressed with how well it turned out. We also painted the room a bright white.

*You may notice I updated the "services" tab on the blog. I'm now offering e-design services as well as in person consultations in the Boston area for those interested. 

Sources
Paint color- Valspar's ultra white
Picture hanging- DIY

Nightstand

Headboard- craigslist

Black and white striped pillows

Black Triangle pillow

Linen duvet

Blue lumbar pillow

Rug

Throw

Sconces

Small textured vase

Tall triangle vase

Black clock

Dresser

Mirror

Hamper

Brass tray

Ceramic cup

Carafe

Hand Towel

Oragami white vase

Bench

To this day, one of my favorite wedding gifts was a blue bowl that one of my friends made for me. It's moved from the kitchen to the living room, and then to my bedroom over the years. One of the reasons I love ceramics (aside from their versatility), is how practical they are as a piece of art. Recently I spent some time scouring the web for ceramics for my client/in-laws bedroom re-design, and I stumbled across some of the most beautiful pieces. I thought I would share some of my favorites here with you.

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1. BTW Ceramics . The below pitcher and tumblers are on my wish list, and pretty much anything else from Brooke's shop.

3. The marbled bowls from One and Many make me stop in my tracks

5. These indigo tumblers from Studio Joo

So. We sold our couch in September the week we found out we were moving (it was a 9 year old ikea couch) and though I was oddly sentimental about it, we didn't think the couch would make it through another move. Because anything with an ikea label sells like hot cakes in Indianapolis (the closest Ikea is 2.5 hrs away), it made the most sense to sell it before our move to Boston. Now that our move to Boston is fast approaching(5 weeks!), it just occurred to me that I need to figure out the couch situation for the new place. Your input is appreciated!

I like the idea of a leather couch for practical reasons (hello kids). 

Then there's the question of tan or black. I always lean towards black over brown, but in this case I'm torn. The tan leather is more classic and versatile.

1/2/3/4/5

I'm one of those people who genuinely loves looking back over the past year, and picking out highlights. Though we did a few smaller trips, this was not a huge year of travel for us. And even though I was ambitious last January, this year was not the year I got an etsy shop up and running. But what I did do this year was something I'm proud of- I did my very best in all aspects of life and when that wasn't enough, I did not fight it. It did not steal my joy. I guess you would call that a year of personal growth? I felt real contentment this year with the imperfect. I did not cook as many meals, do as many projects, run as many miles, or blog as much as I would have liked…….but this year I found myself much more "ok" with my shortcomings than I have in years passed. I found myself letting those things slide off my back while I snuggled with my girls, and spent quality time with Connor. 

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This coming year, we have more travel plans than we did last year, and I'm hoping to find more time to blog…..but above those things, I want more of the contentment I took away from this past year. That said, here are some of my favorite memories from 2015, the highlight reel if you will(shortcomings not pictured). 

Watercolored Easter eggs

She blogs! It's sort of funny, really. When C accepted his new job that required intense training in DC (keeping him away from us during the week), I actually thought I would have TONS of free time on my hands (no cleaning my house since we are staying with my parents, minimal cooking!). Really though, this whole single mom thing that I've been doing Monday-Friday has been kicking me in the butt. Kudos to you single moms out there who don't even get a break on the weekend, I'm even more in awe of you than I was three months ago. Yes, we've been here for three months, and have just another two to go. Then we are moving to…..(wait for it)…..Boston!! Aside from the fact that we are moving to Boston in February (hmmm….timing?), we could not be more excited. Send any and all recommendations!

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In the midst of all this craziness, my baby girl Charlie turned one this weekend. Such a mix of emotions, but mostly so incredibly in love with this girl and the joy she is to our family. My parents let me use their beautiful sunroom that was just completed last week for her party. I used my great grandmother's coconut cake recipe and went with a winter wonderland theme. This was the first birthday party where both sets of grandparents were present along with uncles and aunts and cousins. It was a sweet day. I was reminded how much I have missed creating and styling.