Levi's Reading Corner

When we transitioned Levi's room to his big boy room a few months back, I immediately knew the space across from his bed was destined to become a reading bench.  I even knew I wanted to use an IKEA Expedit shelf turned on its side as the bench.  But unfortunately for us, the nearest IKEA is about three hours away from us.  So we waited and waited patiently for someone to make the trip, and finally my sister came through a few weeks ago.
She didn't buy the Expedit shelf, but something that looked the same (I don't remember the name).  It was super easy to put together and then the boys helped me move it into Levi's room. Next, the bench needed a cushion. Again I had a plan and knew I needed a 5 foot section of foam and some fabric.  I headed out to Hancock Fabrics, but had a bit of sticker shock when my piece of foam was $85 (more than the bench itself!!!).  I knew Josh would have a mild stroke at that price, so I held off and tried Joann's instead.  It was cheaper to start plus it was on sale there, so I spent only $26 to get my foam (quite the improvement, right?!?).  I already had some fabric on hand (that I had used at both boys' birthday parties, so you may recognize it), so I wrapped my foam up, used some hot glue to secure it, and stuck it on the bench!

The reading corner was coming together, but next we needed a place for Levi's vast collection of books.  I'm sure you've seen rain gutter shelves aplenty on Pinterest and elsewhere, so obviously this was not an original idea.  But it was crazy affordable shelving!  I grabbed one 10-foot gutter ($5), cut it in half once I got home (I just used a hacksaw, and was even able to do it myself!), and had two shelves!  Josh hung them up for us this past weekend, and the boys were both eager to help me stock them with books.  I was pleasantly surprised at how many books they held!

And Levi was clearly very excited to try out his new reading nook!

You may have noticed that I didn't bother to really style the bottom shelves.  Levi has toys for them, but I'm not sure if I want to go all out with baskets or just let the toys hang.  So for now, we'll consider the reading corner complete!

DIY Painted Curtains

Over the last few weeks, Colton's room has received quite a bit of updating.  We upcycled an ottoman to give him some shoe storage and made him a sturdier, better looking, bigger tee pee.  And in doing both projects, we also created the need for new curtains because I used some of the fabric from his old curtains in each of the previous projects!  In fairness, we needed new curtains in there anyway, but ripping the old ones down and tearing them up pretty much sealed the deal!!!
I don't know about you all, but I always have the hardest time finding curtains that I like.  Let's modify that actually.  I can usually find curtains that I like, but not at a price point that I like.  I looked in every store I could think of...both real and online...and came up empty-handed.  So, then I turned to Plan B: buy some basic navy curtains from Target and jazz them up somehow.

Can I tell you how easy these were?!?  I've stenciled curtains before, and while I liked the result, it was a long, painful process and I knew I didn't want to go there again...at least not now.  Luckily, I found an inspiration image on Pinterest and decided to just try my hand at it.  I painted a bunch of random circles on each curtain panel.  Some were big; some were small.  I just went with it, and in the end, this is what it looked like (pardon crappy, blurry iPhone pic):

I was a little worried it was too busy, but figured/hoped that once they were hung and bunched it would work itself out.  You be the judge, but I think it did.  In fact, I'm pretty darn pleased with the result.  High impact.  Affordable (like $20 for the pair). And easy (like an hour's work total!!!  sure beats the heck out of stenciling...trust me!).  If you need more views to make your call, I leave you with these...

I'm a Big Kid Now

We are less than a week away from finding out if Baby #2 is a boy or a girl.  To this point, I have exercised considerable restraint and have not allowed myself to get too far in planning a nursery.  True I have picked out a boy color scheme and a girl one, but that has been about the extent of the work.
Luckily, I have had another room to keep me occupied...Colton's big boy toddler room.  Yep, with the baby's arrival, Colton will officially be ushered down the hall to what is currently our guest room (yes, if you're a loyal reader here, you will remember this is the same guest room I spent weeks working on this winter...aaahhh, how the universe laughs at us sometimes, huh?).  For kicks and giggles, let's take a little glimpse of the guest room, so you know what we're working with, shall we?
                                     
                                     
Yep, the teal walls, chalkboard calendar, and yellow details that I worked so hard on are on their way out.  BUT on the bright side, I have a new room to plan, and I have been hard at work on it already!  The brick walls are, of course, there to stay, and I think they will add a lot of character to a little boy's room.  I saw this image on Pinterest, and it immediately became my jumping off point for Colton's big boy room:

I feel like the wood plank wall resembles the brick walls we will be working with, and I am obsessed with the navy and white striped comforter on the bed (in fact, someone would be my hero if you can tell me where I can find one...I have already started searching, and it's not as easy as I had thought!).
Colton's nursery was done in a blue-orange combo as well (more of a teal blue though), and I would like to keep the orange accents to pair with the navy.  One big mistake I made in his nursery, though, was painting the walls a bold color.  I now realize I am much more a fan of painting my walls in more neutral shades and then allowing the accents to pop in those colors.  In that vein, I am debating on painting Colton's walls a color reminiscent of the tan in the picture above or a light blue/gray similar to the color in the Pinterest photo below (opinions welcome as always):

As for furniture, Colton will be transitioning to a big boy bed (with rails of course).  In an attempt to have this bed last us a little longer, I would like to go ahead and invest in a full sized bed.  I really like this bed from Land of Nod, and I even am leaning towards it in the navy blue color, although I worry that unique color may reduce the life of the bed (again, opinions welcome and appreciated):

As for other furniture, I am going to wait on the decision of a dresser until the bed one has been solved (Colton's current dresser will either travel with him or wait for his sibling).  I have decided, though, that Colton must have some sort of cozy corner in his room.  Call me crazy, but I love the idea of a tee-pee:

That's about it for the big elements in the room.  Luckily, the orange accents from Colton's nursery will fill in most of the accessories for this room as well, but I am sure I will find some other fun stuff to scoop up!  

So, that's how I've been filling my free time.  Tell me what you think.  Opinions and recommendations are seriously welcomed and much appreciated!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  Temperatures around here have finally normalized, so this girl is happy and comfortable!