hi sweet friends and happy april! I'm not sure where the month of march went, time seems to go faster with each year! so i finally got out the camera to take some pics and share the little mudroom refresh that started a few weeks ago. it all kinda turned into that 'if you give a mouse a cookie'. one thing led to another led to another led to another...you think i would learn this by now. but please tell me I'm not the only one!
so it all started with the search for the perfect wallpaper....i have wallpaper in the carriage house mudroom, and have always love the extra bit of 'cozy' it added to the room. the mudroom in the addition still just needed that little something, and turns out that wallpaper was the perfect little something.
i knew i wanted something with a look from years past, and after googling 'hand blocked wallpaper', i found the perfect pattern at wallpaper direct.com....to visit them just click
HERE i ordered a couple of samples in three different patterns and a few different colors, taped them up, stared at them for a bit and knew my original pick was the winner. at first i thought maybe it was too light, but it is just the perfect touch of color and texture...it could not be too busy since it is so visible from the kitchen and den. and i must say i LOVE the way it turned out...it is the pattern #3663 block print and to me it could not be more perfect. and a HUGE thank you to my mom for helping me install it. this was our first time we worked with paper that you put the paste right on the wall and then stick the paper right to that, and we loved it! less mess for sure, which is always a good thing, right? the paste also came from wallpaper direct.com, which i loved...that i could get everything i needed in one place and delivered right to the door.
and how about that beautiful new barn door track from www.thebarndoorhardware.com? i guess it was about three years ago when we hung the original track....we were on a budget and got the galvanized track from our local farm supply store and spray painted it black. but when i saw this gorgeous raw steel track, i asked my sweet hubby (while smiling real sweet and with a few pretty pleases thrown in;) if we could change out the track.
really hard to get a good shot of this space, but you can hopefully tell how amazing the new track looks, and of course the gorgeous barn doors my sweet hubby made (insert really proud wife face here;).
a few other little touches to the space are these gorgeous picture frames from the sweet jenny www.jennysteffens.com ....to visit jenny and check out all of the pretty she sells just click
HERE i adore that they are so classic and simple....and i love that i walk by these sweet faces everyday, even though it makes my heart a bit sad. i miss the days of chubby cheeks....
and this is the larger 11x14 from jenny with a watercolor that my sweet emme grace painted for me last year for mother's day. i have always told my girls all i want is for them to make me a card for mother's day, birthday, etc., and i must say i love how that has stuck year to year. and even thought i miss the cards with circles for hand with three fingers and really long eyelashes, i also love the amazing art my girls paint for me now. each stage is so sweet and so special and honestly goes by way too fast for this momma.
the beautiful basket is also from www.jennysteffens.com, and the dried lavender is from the faded farmhouse in arrinton....if you are ever in middle tennessee and near franklin, you must stop in at the faded farmhouse...so much pretty to look at!
i also had my sweet hubby add a new sconce, which like most things became a bit more involved than i thought....moving of an electrical box, cutting out old trim, adding new trim, which led to painting which led to paint not matching which led to having to keep going around the room....you get the picture. (insert frustrated, crying face here)
i have had the light for a while now, just waiting on the perfect wallpaper. i googled vintage double sconce, and i actually found this one on ebay. it isn't vintage, but it looks kinda vintage....i love the way it looks in the space so much. (insert heart eyes)
my sweet hubby made me the bench a couple years ago for Christmas after i found an antique one that was way out of our price range. and i ended up loving his SO much more! the brick tiles are from home depot about 5 years ago, and we did a border out of the 100 year old barn wood we tore off of our barn when we restored it. the pillows are from les indiennes, and the little owl is one of magpie's favorite toys ever, blabla kids. i sold them at the briar patch and my big girls would always bring home any new one that they came out with. but it wasn't until magpie came along that they truly got LOTS of love. she tots them EVERYWHERE!
the painting over the bench i painted to fit the spot, and jeffrey framed it for me in barn wood. i started painting about 12 years ago, at first for our home and then to sell at the briar patch. i had not painted in a few years, but was missing it so i picked up a paint brush a couple years ago...i must say i'm loving getting back to it!
the drapes i had custom made about 5 years ago, and i still love them so much! the beautiful striped runner is made by dash and albert, the basket is vintage and a flea market find, and the lavender is real and from publix....i'm hoping and praying i don't kill it like i have every plant i have tried inside! (insert monkey with hands over eyes emoji here;)
one more of the lavender because it is spring, it looks so pretty, and it looks kinda perfect in that basket and because i have kept it alive for over two weeks! (insert praise hands here;)
i hope y'all enjoyed the little tour around the mudroom after it's mini makeover...the wallpaper that led to the barn door track, that led to the new pictures, and the new basket, and the new light...yep. that whole if you give a mouse a cookie thing:) but i must say that it finally feels complete, it feels like 'home'.
i chose the bemz slipovers in the loose fit country...i wanted a bit of a looser fit, kind of a shabby chic look. another thing i love about bemz is that will send you free samples, so i picked several of their neutrals, creams and whites....it is always so helpful to look at the fabrics in your home...colors aren't always what they appear on the computer screen. and my very favorite was the rosendal pure washed linen in unbleached. it goes perfectly with the wall color (the same custom color we have in pretty much every room;), the check drapes from ballard designs, and provides the perfect backdrop for the fun, colorful pillows.
i am just in love with the bemz slipcovers and the way they barely puddle and just give it that extra comfy cozy feel. we have all already been enjoying the new space...i do not want to put a tv upstairs...i want to make sure they come downstairs ;)...but jeffrey did put a movie screen and a projector up for now, and we have loved cozying up and having movie nights...and all of the girls have been spending time on their iPads and reading books cuddled up under quilts in the space.
the adorable pillows on the ends that have the sweet ties are from tori and www.thelinenrabbit.com, tori has so many gorgeous custom pillows, click HERE to check out all of the pretty! and the other pillows my mom came to the rescue and made them for me out of rifle paper co. fabric...i couldn't find any other pillows that i just loved for the space...that would give it that sweet 'three girls live here and enjoy this space everyday' feel;) the drapes are the taupe check from ballard designs, and the precious stuffed cat is from www.blablakids.com....i sold them at the briar patch, so we have MANY blablas...our magpie LOVES them, they are just so squishy and soft and perfect for her to tote around.
rayley beth made this sweet owl in third grade...this entire room is filled with the girls' artwork...it makes it so happy and cheerful and one of my favorite rooms in our home. i feel so very blessed to have such an amazing space to homeschool our magpie...
i painted the tree on the wall five years ago this fall...i had found a tree decal with vintage wallpaper for leaves, but it was around $300....so it was out of budget. so i started thinking of how i could do something similar for a lot less money...and another problem...every tree decal was only 8 or 9 feet tall, and i needed it to be 10 feet tall. so of course a diy tree came to mind. i taped off the tree design using painter's tape, and then sketched out a pattern of a leaf on cardboard, and then traced it on to several different scrapbook papers that i picked with a vintage look. the entire thing cost less than $20, and i still love the way it turned out.
and just a few more fun pics of their space....the table and art box are made by jeffrey. i wanted something to hold all of the jars of markers, crayons and colored pencils to keep them in one spot...so sketched it out and sweet hubby made it happen.
and the little shelves for the books are also made by jeffrey ....using some of our 100 year old barn wood we tore off of our barn when we restored it...
and if you don't own any of the pigeon books....i highly recommend them! we have several and they are just the cutest!
more of my sweet girls' artwork, the banner we made after i found several fabrics with a vintage look and in colors i imagined for the space, cut our the triangles and my sweet mom stitched them up for me....
the dollhouse is a hobby lobby kit that i made for rayley beth a few years ago for Christmas....it took MANY late nights of painting and staining each tiny shingle and wallpapering teeny tiny rooms and having jeffrey cute teeny tiny trim...it was a labor of love for sure, but i hope it is enjoyed by our girls and then by our grand babies one day...
and of course it wouldn't be complete without a couple vintage chairs...perfectly sized for our magpie. i have such a love for vintage children's chair...thinking about all of the tiny tushies that have sat in them throughout the years. i may have almost 20 wee chairs. (insert face gritting teeth in disbelief;)
and other than my girls' artwork, one of my very favorite things in the space....this antique newel post that i fount at an antique shop in franklin over 16 years ago....they said it came from an old school house... i love to think of all of the tiny hands that touched it before our girls' tiny hands....(and this is at the top of the 19 steps in the carriage house, the 19 steps we climbed multiple times a day for the 11 years we used this as our den/kitchen...and now use as the playroom/school room/art room...i know it a bit confusing until you see it all in person;)
so i hope you all enjoyed the tour...it is still a work in progress...i'm on the hunt for the perfect rug, and we have several things to finish up on the other side of the room that is so cleverly cropped out;)...but i will share the rest of the space once it is finished. hope you sweet friends have a week that is as happy as my girls' artwork!
