Living Room Progress

HI friends,
Thanks so much for joining me today. How was your weekend? We had a lot of rain here near Raleigh, North Carolina, so that meant lots of indoor time. Thank goodness for mini ipads, leap pads, wii systems, and all things technical to keep us busy and occupied. The kids and I went to see the new movie Epic-it was very good. And they got in some pool time too which was a blast.

I wanted to share with you today some progress in our living room. I think this room is just about finished for now. It's the first room you see in our house when you open the front door so it's main purpose is to be welcoming and set the tone for the house. We use the family room with tv which is adjacent to this room the majority of our time at home. I have found that I like to read in the living room- the sofa is super comfy for curling up on with a good book and a cup of tea.

Here's what our living room looked like when we moved in two years ago with a little bit of work:





Here's what it looks like today:



 

This room has seen many furniture arrangements as well as furniture from other rooms. Everything in this room is from our previous home except for the new curtains and rug (both Pottery Barn). 

Thanks again for joining me today friends. I hope you are well.
Happy decorating & living,
Megan

My Office is Done!

HI friends,
Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you've had a great week and have a chance to have some fun and relax this weekend. I am so excited today to share with you my home office that has one new edition to it and I think is done. Of course, it's taken me about two years (since we moved in our current house in North Carolina) to get it to this state. I needed inspiration, time for the projects, and money to carry out the projects (minimal $). Since I work at home when I'm in between my travelling work assignments as an educational consultant, I use my home office every day. Also, the kids do their homework and crafts in my home office so it needs to function for them as well. Since it's really supposed to be our dining room it's located on the main floor of our house and we see this room each and every day so it's important to me that this room is pretty and functional (as I can't close a door to it as there is no door!). It has received a lot of decorating attention over the last two years (versus some rooms like my husband's home office and our bonus room that haven't received much attention at all).
 
Here was my home office yesterday:
 

 

*You might remember the inexpensive white cotton Ikea rug in this room that I painted stripes on under my craft table last year. Well, this white rug was close to impossible to keep clean with our black lab dog hanging out in this room with her muddy paws and black fur. So, rug be gone!

 

This was my home office two years ago (notice the previous owners bronze chandelier and coffee paint color on walls and ceiling):

 

 

 

 

Home Office Now:

 



 

 



There were many, many expensive options for rugs that I loved but we're on a budget trying to save our pennies this summer for a family adventure we're taking next month so I was super pleased to find a cheap (less than $100) rug option at Target that I liked.

 

 

 

 

Here's a run down on some of the projects I did in this room over the last two years......

 

 

 

 

 
I really wanted wide blue striped curtains and I couldn't find any anywhere so I made my own by painting wide blue stripes on white curtains.
 

 
I need a lot of storage for my education consultant resource books:
 

 

This shelf piece of furniture was in my parent's basement in the 1970s. It was made of a fake wood veneer. I painted it white and gave it a new life.

 

 
I bought these two blue and green small lampshades on clearance at a Pottery Barn store years ago and had them waiting in the attic for the perfect home. I guess I designed the room around these shades if I really think about:
 

 
I made the two square marine life artwork pieces from paper, modge podge, and art canvases. I bought the furniture that the printer is on (and it's twin on the other side of the window) both for $16 at the local Goodwill and painted them aqua blue then added the two paisley baskets for storage from Lowes:
 

 

 The two blue seahorses on the wall were a birthday present purchased on etsy.
 

 
I covered the two bar stools with green and blue striped fabric that I already had:
 

 
I found this beach glass mirror in a home store near the beach in North Carolina:

 
I gotta give props and credit to my husband for changing the paint color on the walls and ceiling from a coffee brown to 'Beach house' blue (kinda appropriate, don't you think? not that we live at the beach but obviously, we love the beach).

 
I replaced the heavy bronze chandelier that was in this room when we bought the house with an Ikea basket light that I found in their clearance section:
 

 
The four square blue and green art pieces were purchased from Target years ago and used to be in our dining room of our old house in Virginia:
 

 
I covered an art canvas with three dish towels (yes! dish towels!) from the Monterey aquarium in California:
 

 

 





I guess I'm so proud of this room because it evolved over two years and was very inexpensive to decorate. It's really my space in our house though of course I share with my kids and husband but I had the license to do whatever I wanted in here. I'm happy camper when I go in here daily to work or hang out.
 

 

 
One last time....BEFORE:



AFTER:

Before:



After:

Thanks for joining me today friends. Stop back by soon and I'll share with you how I repurposed the white cotton Ikea rug that I had in my room- it found a new use and home somewhere else in our home!
 
Have a great weekend-
Megan

A Love Letter To My Mom

Hi friends,
Thanks so much for joining me today.

Caution: Today's blog post has nothing whatsoever to do with decorating but who cares! It's my blog and I can write about whatever I want. I love it! I hope you do too!

This is a post that I've been mulling over writing for the past year. You might know that my parents are very important people to me and that we are very close. It was very difficult for my husband Steve and I to make the decision to move away from my parents when we left Northern Virginia for the Raleigh, North Carolina area just a little over two years ago. After all, in Virginia we lived less than 10 miles from my parents and they were a big part of our lives and especially our children's lives. But, we felt that living in the slower paced, less congested area was right for our little family of 4.  Imagine how thrilled we were last year when after a year of looking at homes near us for a year my parents bought a beautiful large home (their dream home really) in a lakeside neighborhood nearby. Imagine my surprise last summer when my parents had the movers booked, had spruced up their Virginia house in preparation for putting it on the market, and were getting ready to move when we learned that my mom had stage IV ovarian cancer. Well, needless to say, moving plans were put on hold to take care of my mom's health. If there is one thing that I continually seem to need to learn over and over and over is that we are not in control. We can make our plans but only God knows ultimately how it will all play out. Fast forward one year. It's been quite a year. Two surgeries and about 8 chemotherapy treatments later my mom's cancer is shrinking, her hair is growing back in, and her spirits (as well as ours) and strength are returning. Praise God! We still don't know if and when my parents will move into their beautiful home located 4 miles from our home but we do know that we are grateful for this time. Maybe this year of realizing how precious and limited time truly is is why I am feeling inspired to consider how special my mom is to me and to share it with the world and especially with her. Today I am especially grateful for my mom. Perhaps because I grew up in a military family living on three different continents I have always been especially close to my family and had to rely on them. Here's my love letter to my sweet momma.

What I Learned From My Mom

Disclaimer: Though I have 'learned' these things below that I am about to share from my mom. I have by no means 'learned' all of them. Maybe I should have titled this piece, "Things My Mom Tried To Teach Me" because anyone who knows me, knows that some of the characteristics below are not traits that I especially possess. Makes me wonder what my own children will reflect back on and say they learned from me! Definitely makes me think about what I model for my own kids. Yikes! What pressure!

1. Having a relationship with God: This is by far the greatest gift that both of my parents gave me. My wish is that I give this gift to my children as well. Having a relationship with God has meant to me that I am really never alone and I will always be okay. I am able to handle all things because of these two facts. Words cannot begin to express how grateful I am for this gift. My mom always answered questions about God as honestly as she knew how and if she didn't know an answer she'd tell me. My parents always provided a church home for my brother and I as we grew up. 

2. Love of reading: My mom read to me from as early as I can remember. Nursery rhymes, Beatrix Potter stories, library books, to Guidepost stories when I was a teenager. We always enjoyed reading together. Reading is a pastime that I treasure so dearly now. Our house is filled with books. My husband and I made the conscious decision not to have a television in our bedroom so that we can have the luxury of a quiet room to read in at night before we fall asleep. I am so grateful that I married a reader too. My children have literally hundreds of books and I have no guilt about that at all. Thanks mom for reading to me! I have continued the tradition and read to my children every night. Oh, the joy of reading!

3. Love of walking: I remember living in Germany in the late 1970s when I was in elementary school. About this time my mom started walking. She walked, walked, walked, and walked some more. Maybe it was to stay fit. Maybe it was to deal with the stress of raising my brother and I. I don't know why she walked but she walked. She would invite me on her walks through the neighborhood and sometimes I would accept. This was uninterrupted time when we could enjoy nature together and talk. My family would go the beach in South Carolina every summer for two weeks. My mom and I would walk, walk, and walk on the beach and through the beach neighborhood. Even today, when my mom has the strength, we take a walk together. I love being outside and walking so much. Probably just as much as I love reading.

4. Love of music: My mom always had music playing when I was growing up. She also encouraged me to take piano and voice lessons. We have enjoyed many concerts and musicals together. Music brings me much joy! This love of music has definitely been passed down to my daughter Bryce. As a toddler, we would have dance parties to disco music in her room and today she's blaring her Pandora station from her mini ipad dancing around the house.

5. Importance of family: My mom is the most selfless person I know. She was always thinking about how to support my dad, brother, and I. I am definitely not this selfless. I do try to let my family know how special they are to me: from 'Family Date Nights' to family dinner to family trips or even just time together in our backyard hammock talking. Time together to make memories.

6. Discipline: My mom is the most disciplined person that I know. In fact, I'm pretty sure my mom is the most disciplined person that anyone who knows her knows! Whether it is her dedication to her prayer/quiet time or working out (walking and lifting weights/stretching), she makes sure her routine gets done. She always gets it done! Not to mention healthy eating! My mom reads up a lot on nutrition and nutrional foods. She is very disciplined about eating right. This is one of those traits where I 'learned' the trait from her but I haven't really 'learned' it if you know what I mean.

Recent pictures of my beautiful mom, Deborah Law, and I:

Mother's Day weekend, my house, 2013, before we went to see the musical, The Drowsy Chaperone-

Mother's Day weekend, 2013, my house, before church-

July 2012, my parent's house in Virginia, celebrating my birthday-

Thanksgiving, 2013, my parent's house in Virginia:

March 2013:

April 2013:

 

May 2013:

 

May 2013:

Friends, I hope that my words touched in you the remembering of how special someone is that is close to you. May you find the time and the words to share those thoughts with them. I am so grateful that I am able to share these thoughts with my mom today. None of us know what tomorrow will bring which makes today even more precious and special.

Thanks again for joining me today. I hope you are well.
Blessings to you,
Megan