A Room That Feels Like Her Own- with LexMod and UrbanWalls

So we've been living in the apartment now for a month and a half and we have about two more to go! I know in the grand scheme of things this isn't all that bad or that long but for the littlest people in the house it can feel like an eternity. Don't you remember being little and how slow the time can pass!

 I want the girls to adjust to the changes we have made as best as possible. I still want them to feel comfortable and happy in their surroundings, especially while we spend these few months in the apartment.
If we were staying here a lot longer I wouldn't even hesitate to really get in to making it feel like home but because I know that we only have about 60 days left I don't want to go crazy. I also don't want to spend a crazy amount of money on furnishings and decor that may not work in the new house. So pretty much everything is temporary right now and so is the design.
The one thing that I have been working on is changing out all of the mattresses. Believe me its time! I also know that mattresses will work no matter the design and also it gives us all the feeling of something new and special just for us. What is more personal than your bed, right?!
With all of the new mattresses we have received lately, I wanted to get the little miss one also.
LexMod offers the Aveline mattress and with the amazing reviews and even more amazing price point we had to try it!

The Aveline is exactly what the reviews say....super cooling, soft but also firm enough that I haven't woke up one night so far with an aching neck or back....yes, I said I, because these days my little one will only sleep if she is right next to me and I mean thats the only time. So basically, she better have a mattress Mama is comfortable on too. 

So now that her new mattress is finally here I was looking around the room and wondering, what can I do to make it feel more like hers?

Thats when UrbanWalls came to the rescue! 

I had used the Urban Walls decals in her room design in the old house so I already knew how easy they were to use and once again they didn't disappoint. 

You can watch the application process HERE

But oh my gosh, what a difference some beautiful flower decals can make! 

I cut them exactly the way I wanted them to appear and then applied them to the walls, which are textured and you would never even know it. The decals applied perfectly!

Just a few over her bed cascading from the corner and then a few across the room on the opposite wall. Perfectly girlie but not overdone. Such a perfect way to dress up her space without being committed to having to repaint or repair the walls when we move in a few months. Just peel them off the wall and we are done! 

My Chairs are on SALE!

Hey, remember these chairs 

Yes, these right here...

And here....

 Well they are ON SALE right here....

So go get yourself a pair because they are beautiful, super comfortable and at that price you can't beat it! 

Why we Sold our perfect home

Our seventh home. Thats where the name came from you know...House Seven. It was here where I finally figured out what I really kind of knew all along. My passion is in interiors and even though  from as far back as I can remember I would spend hours sifting through home decor magazines and reading interior design blogs it wasn't until we moved here did I realize my gift. I mean I was obsessed with my great aunts floral sofa when I was all of six years old but it took me another 30 years or so to really get it! Yikes.

But now its here and I'm more passionate about it than ever. Thankfully this house made it happen for me. It was the canvas that I guess I had needed to really allow my creative side to flourish and it was here that my husband and I realized that we love to work on interior projects together. Its been pretty wonderful living in this house and watching the progress and how its evolved from where it began. So what do you do when you're super happy with your home and you've dedicated hours upon hours remodeling it and all your sweat, blood, tears and money working to make it perfect? 

I guess if you're us, you just go ahead and sell it! And thats what we did. We sold it.

Why? Why are you doing this? Why do you want to? Did you have to? What would make you sell such a lovely home?

Peace. It was all about peace. Peace for our family.
And it was about the feeling of having less. Less things. Less bills. Less everything to make more of something. That something is our lives and we wanted to free ourselves of the stuff to make more room for the memories we could create by not having so much stuff to take care of.
Am I making any sense at all?

So let me tell you a little story of how this all came about.
One day I was at Walmart. I was already grumpy that I was there and after parking my car I noticed a boy who may of been about eighteen putting shopping carts away. Right away I made a snap judgment about him, it wasn't kind and I'm not proud of it. But as I was leaving the store and getting in to my car I heard someone say "Thank you Ma'am, have a nice day." I turned around to see and it was him, standing there smiling at me and with the kindest eyes. I'M A JERK! I'M A COMPLETE JERK!
I drove home thinking about what a jerk I was to judge him without a thought. I was also thinking about how his shoes looked very worn and that he was probably working there to make a better life for himself. I'm such a jerk.
Thats when I started thinking about our own situation. Why did we have so much and not appreciate it? Why did we need all this stuff and for what? To keep up with everyone else around us because it wasn't helping us. All of it wasn't making life any easier. We were working our tails off to have stuff. In that moment all I wanted to do was to change. Change my thinking. Change our situation. Change our lives.
Why not make a change that would help us to eventually free up our time and money and use it to help people when and where we could and not waste more time working to only gain more items that would only cause us to do more work? It was God moving in me. I could feel it.

After much conversation and tears and lots of prayer we got serious and listed our home with the most amazing agent and it sold in a week! We closed on the house thirty days later and then we paid off every single last bill we had. Every single one! The feeling is beyond freeing.

The next thing I did was sell almost every piece of furniture we owned. I kept most of what the girls have because I wanted to make sure that where ever we ended up it would still feel like their home. But most everything else was sold because I have to follow my first rule when it comes to design and I don't believe in trying to make items you purchase for one home try to work in another. Because I didn't know where we were going I felt like it was the perfect time to start fresh and start thinking about a completely new design for the next house. But I did know we were headed to an apartment for a least a little bit of time and I could only take what would fit. I have to say that going from a five bedroom home full of stuff to only what will comfortably fit in a small three bedroom apartment feels pretty darn amazing.
So now what?
We promised that we wouldn't compromise what we were looking for in our new home so we decided that instead of rushing in to anything we would wait. We honestly just couldn't find anything that was meeting all of our criteria and even though it hadn't been that long it was becoming a bit discouraging. That was until one night while looking through the endless amount of houses that I had seen so many times before when I saw it. The next day we made an offer and I am happy to say we are moving to our new home in August! It is exactly where we wanted to be and moving there feels like home already.

It's so exciting and scary all at the same time. We still have some time before we move so I'm using it to concentrate on the new design because the first project is the kitchen. How I love a good kitchen reno!!
But more than that we are free. Free of the stuff, free of the bills and free of the pressure. I have the freedom to stay home with my girls and work on my business at my own pace. We have more time, and more money to help others when and where we can now. We have that peace we so desperately needed and all it took was selling our beautiful home and replacing it with this beautiful life.
God is good and he has blessed us with a new home that I am so excited to share with all of you. I just hope you will continue on this journey with me because I'm so excited for whats in store!

Making the house work for us

My main focus for our home is always to simplify and to declutter. I want our home to work for us instead of us always working to keep up with our home. Less stuff. Less to organize, clean, pick up...etc. Am I right?!?
Over winter break I was on my usual mission for the beginning of each new year to get this house in order. I cleaned out closets. I organized drawers. I tossed so many things that I can't even remember what I threw away which means we didn't need it in the first place. While I was in the midst of the great clean up of 2015 our basement flooded. UGH. At first I was really upset that we had all this work ahead of us to now clean up the basement along with the rest of the house but then I realized it was truly a blessing in disguise. It was just the excuse I needed to just throw more things away! I have to say its so much easier to let something go when its sopping wet on a basement floor. Yuck.
When I declutter it pretty much all goes so how do I decide what stays?
These are the questions I ask as I purge my home.....Would I buy it today? Do I think its beautiful? Will I miss it in a week from now?
Yes, I have sold or thrown away things that I regretted.... for like a second. Seriously, I am not sentimental about stuff and I know I breath clean air when my surroundings are minimal and cozy. Not cluttered.
When its all said and done, in the end you won't remember the stuff anyway. Its the people and the places that you go that will make your memories sweet. Don't waste your time managing the stuff when you could be making memories.
There is nothing like the feeling you get when you know you have empty closets in your home. Yes, empty because you don't need all the crap you are hoarding inside of it.
I decided that if I bring something in to the house then two things must leave. Yes, two! I also don't shop anymore unless I have a plan. I know exactly what I am looking for before I head out. I have a list and if I happen upon something I have been wanting but didn't know I was going to find then I make a promise to myself that I will sell or give away whatever I am replacing it with. It's working and our home is becoming more thoughtful and less full everyday. Its wonderful. I am also replenishing my wallet in the process which is also good!

Now that the house was in finding its way to less stuff and the closets were all cleaned out. I started really thinking about the fact that we not only needed to keep up with our mission of less but also really make our home work for us in every way!
I needed to rethink the space inside these walls. How could we get our home to meet all our needs? First, I had to figure out what those needs were? I grabbed a sheet of paper and with the idea in mind to not over think this too much ( I can obsess a little over this kind of thing) I started jotting down our needs.....

We have a five bedroom home with the fifth bedroom on the main floor. Sometimes this room is a playroom and sometimes its a guest room. Which always involved a ton of rearranging every time we had guests coming and lugging a mattress up and down stairs multiple times! So dumb.
My office is next to the downstairs bedroom and to be honest I wasn't ever in there. Most of the time I was doing my work from the kitchen table, bed or in the living room. I had an entire room in my home that wasn't even being used and we were lugging furniture around the house every few weeks. So dumb.
Another room that wasn't being used was our dining room except for thanksgiving and the occasional birthday dinner. But I loved the way it looked! It was such an inviting and pretty space and the first room that guests saw as they entered our home. I didn't want to lose all that. But what was I trading for it?
I knew what needed to be done and today it happened. I said goodbye to my pretty dining room and moved the table and chairs in to the kitchen. I wasn't going to get rid of those...heavens!
I swapped them out for the kitchen table now turned desk and added in the arm chair. I can now use this space for when I really need an office and it still looks inviting to guests.  But we can still pull in the large table and use it as a dining room come the holidays. Easier to move tables for company then a dang mattress...am I right?!?

{before}

I think I can handle the room like this and I like knowing that its going to work so much better for us in the long run. I do miss my pretty table and chairs in here but I also know that I will get used to it in  the kitchen. 

The other changes that I made was turning the playroom back in to the guest room and my old office is now the kids playroom/craft/computer room. All in one room!

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I grew up sharing a room with a sister that was nine years younger than me in a home that we had one living room and one kitchen for gathering and only two bathrooms for five people and you know what? It was fine!! We actually thought we were doing pretty good considering we actually did have two bathrooms as opposed to some of my friends that only had one! What the heck has happened that we as parents think our kids should own every room in the house? Since when did having their own rooms not become enough? Why must they now have a bedroom, playroom, craft room, media room, etc. all full of toys and their stuff and do they really need all that stuff. I believe this is another post to come shortly. 

 This might sound cruel to some but my husband and I have decided to take our house back. 

I should of been clear, when I said I wanted our home to work for us...that meant the adults..ha!  

{photos of the playroom and guest room changes coming to the blog soon}

Christmas Wish List

Everything under $250 wish list 

A little Christmas wish list that I put together because I think it can be hard to give gifts, especially to people that seem to have everything! I also think that when you are shopping for gifts, especially last minute you tend to spend way too much. I love all of these items above and they are all under $250 which is even better. I used to give gifts thinking I didn't want to buy them something that they already had but then I realized that I personally want things that are similar to what I already have because its what I like!! Not to mention, I personally can never have too many grey sweaters! Ha! 

Each one of these items is a personal favorite of mine to give and to get. I actually would be pretty happy if one or all of these things were waiting for me under the tree come Christmas morning....{major hinting there}

 Oh and did I mention this is all from shopping on line. Who needs to fight those crowds or the cold? Not me! 

Twill Slim Pants 

Woven Hooded Cardigan 

J Crew Satchel

Tocca Cleopatra Parfum

Short Pea Coat 

Sorel Boots 

Watch 

Suede Booties 

my love

16 years ago today we had our first date....steak and shake after a night out. Very romantic.
But he stole my heart and has kept it safe every day since....Happy Anniversary my love!

Blogger Stylin Home Tour Christmas 2015

Welcome to the Blogger Stylin Home Tour Holiday edition. I'm so happy to be a part of this wonderful tour of bloggers which is hosted by Lindsay from The White Buffalo Styling Co. If you are visiting from there....

Hello and Happy Holidays!!! 

If you have been here in the past few weeks you will know I recently decorated for the holidays with a mini tour here but since then I've added another tree and changed things up just a little. Its always a process for me to get everything exactly the way I want it so I hope you enjoy the past tour and also the little changes I have made too! 

Our family Christmas tree...its not perfect and its a little messy but the girls helped with this tree and I think its just beautiful. Whether its everyday day styling of your home or holiday decorations, it needs to work for how you live. Our life is always crazy, sometimes messy but always full of love and thats exactly what I see when I look at this tree! 

My middles room got a little more festive with some easy string lights and a holly wreath over her bed. 

Thank you so much for stopping by on your tour and now its time to head over to Bliss at Home and see how she has pulled everything together this season!! 

Jonathan Louis Furniture

Marriage. It's a complicated little arrangement and thankfully after 12 years and 3 kids ours is the best its ever been! But the one thing that I have learned and wish I had even known earlier on is that its a work in progress with one key ingredient....Compromise.
It comes in many different forms....what to eat for dinner, where to spend the holidays, how we spend our money....compromise.
I love design. I love a beautifully styled room and all the accessories perfectly in their places and pillows everywhere. I love pillows!
My husband....he loves comfort! He wants a room he can fall in to. Where he can lay his head down on the sofa and not get the side eye.
This is hard for me. I want the pretty part and he wants to feel comfortable in his own space. We needed to meet somewhere in the middle...but where?
When we moved in to our home three years ago we had to make some decisions together. One of the main ones was what kind of furniture we would put in our main living area. We went back and forth but eventually decided on our sectional. I didn't want such a large piece in the room but he really wanted a sofa he could fit comfortably on. We fortunately found one we both loved . I liked that it was pretty and he loved that he could lay on it and put his feet up. We were both winning! Well, guess what...three years later and our biggest complaint is that its way too large! We realized that we used to snuggle up together at the end of a long day and now we find ourselves on either end. We hated it! We also wanted more room. Neither of us were happy with the way the sectional divided the room so here we areon the hunt for something new!
Thats when I discovered the Clarice sofa from Jonathan Louis Furniture. I loved the style of the english rolled arms but it had to be comfortable! We chose it in the Belfast Linen with feather blend  seating. Its a feather and fiber fill and its perfection. It arrived just the other day and we are in heaven!!

Not only is it gorgeous, it's so comfortable!! I honestly have never sat on a brand new sofa and been so pleasantly surprised and I love how the overstuffed cushions look in the room. I think I went right to styling them as soon as they were delivered. How could I not!?!

Jonathan Louis was such an incredible company to work with. They helped me so much by giving me a ton of options with not only the design off the sofa but also the fabric choices. The options are endless!

We also chose the matching chair because we need more seating when we entertain and I love the look of the two side by side. I've never been one to go with a "matching set" in my design choices but these just work so well together. The lines of the sofa and chair are so beautiful, I was sure of my decision the moment I saw them in our space. 

The Jonathan Louis sofa and chair have been the perfect addition to our home! I am happy to say we have also spent a few nights and mornings cuddled up right here in front of the fire with all the kiddos happily in the loft on the old sectional. This is compromise I can live with! 

I can say in all honesty that if you are in the market for a new, beautiful and well constructed piece of furniture than Jonathan Louis is a great place to start! Beautiful design, comfort and excellent quality! All the ingredients for a perfectly styled room you will both enjoy! Check out where to find your own perfect piece HERE. 

*sponsored post /all opinion's are my own*