the mud

Even though it's after Thanksgiving and all of my decorating energies should be directed toward Christmas, I thought I'd take a step back and talk about the kid's bedrooms.  When we first moved in one of our priorities was to make sure the kids had special spaces.  We loved our old house and simply outgrew it, so it was not an easy transition.  Annie's old room was the perfect little girl room, with "All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all..." stenciled around the ceiling.  I knew that we would have to step it up for her big girl room so for her birthday we painted and refreshed the little girl look. Here are the pictures: Here is the bed we ordered from JCPenney almost 8 years ago.  The circles are chalk-ready - just three coats of acrylic paint!  (No, you don't need special chalkboard paint :)  ) We moved this chair into the room when my mother-in-law visited during the hurricane and it has stuck! This chandelier is from ...

A year ago, almost to the day, we found a new house completely by surprise and it has changed our lives.  We were not looking for a new house - really it found us.  My husband was out running and a few days later took me for a drive (actually we were on our way home from the store).  When we pulled up out front, I looked past the barren yard and broken windows and envisioned the home of our dreams.  I think even our realtor thought we were crazy.  It has been a long year and when we finally moved in last May, the real work was still before us, literally.  Now, almost 6 months later, we've had the plumbers, the electricians, the carpenters come to do their work, but now it's our turn.  I am working to make this house a family-friendly home, the kind you see in movies where all the kids come home for Thanksgiving.  Check out the set of It's Complicated .  (Thanks to Julia at Hooked on Houses!) I don't quite know if we'll ever get there, (I'm...