One Room Challenge Week 5 Update

Okay, here we are week 5 already! One week to go until the full reveal! AAAHHH!

If you are just tuning in, I'm on a 6 week crazy and wild ride of transforming my master bedroom. Okay, so it's not really crazy and wild but it sounded good. You can recap on my past weeks here: week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4. The 6 week one room challenge is brought to you by the wonderful Linda of Calling it Home. Be sure to pop over and say HI to Linda.

I am excited to be done, and super excited to share what the room looks like. Am I done? Not exactly.
The room wasn't super hard to redo and really it's quite done expect for some zushing. That's a legit design word, right?

I also went a little crazy and added on a 2nd/3rd room to this "one room" challenge. I'm a rule breaker and an overachiever, what can I say? {If you know me personally, then you are welcome for the good chuckle}

The added rooms are the master bathroom and tub area/dressing area. You literally have to walk into this area to get to the bedroom, so I sort of HAD to do it too. Right?

Here's a little sneak peek of that area....

Before

 

After

Again... W.T.H???!! Was I on crack to think this gold color looked good? Man, I hope my taste is evolving for the better.

 Somethings I accomplished this week (other than painting the bathroom area!) :

A trip to Ikea and picked up the Ektorp Jenny Lund chair and ottoman.

 I ordered some of this soap because #1, I've been eyeing it for so long, and #2, it's super cute packaging and will look great displayed in my bathroom.

And I sent this idea of a slipcover to go over our chest at the end of our bed to my upholstery gal and I can't wait to see what she ends up doing. I hope it'll be ready by next week...crossing fingers and toes.

I ordered these towels and shower curtain from Serena & Lily.

Oh, and all this back and forth on ceiling light.. well I ended up nixing that idea. I just couldn't find one that was the right size for the room and I am afraid it would take away the airy feeling of the room right now. There were lots of pretty lights that I would love to have but in the end it just didn't feel right. I hope I am right on that one.

That's another wrap. Short and sweet.

This coming week I will be doing some shopping, cleaning and zushing! Please come back next Thursday, to see the whole room revealed! Yikes!

Now go and  check out the 20 designers' 5 week updates and my Thursday linking buddies. I really can't wait to see everyone's final reveals next week! There are going to be some really amazing ones I can so tell.

School Spirit and a Winner

My high school alma mater recently did a lip dub in spirit of celebrating the Seattle Seahawks Superbowl win.  I thought I'd share this fun video.

 Also, the winner of the Kari Gran starter kit is..... (drum roll) Pam of Simple Details. Congrats Pam! I know you will love it. I'll be sending you an email soon.

Thank you so much to everyone that entered and I really suggest you try these products out. Remember, I'm not being paid or anything for this endorsement. Just a fan.

Have a great weekend!

One Room Challenge- Week 4 Master Bedroom Update

Today's post will be short due to lack of progress made this past week on my one room challenge of redoing our master bedroom.

If you are just tuning in, you can see my past weeks here: week 1, week 2 and week 3.

What happened since my last post?

My art arrived but I need to find frames. They look better than they did online, and am so excited to get them up.

My tables arrived. Yea! Also, my pillow covers for some throw pillows for my bed arrived. You can see a little sneak peak of both of them here.

I found a new spot for this chair. More on this chair later. There is a great before and after shot of what this chair looked like before. (note, need to steam my curtains)

Sadly, that about wraps it up. On this list for this coming week: I need to find my chandelier or pendant light quickly since the electrician is scheduled to come out next week. I guess the permit is a quick fix and we won't have to wait. That is good news. I need to pick up my other chair and ottoman and frames at Ikea and I HAVE to organize my desk.

In other sideline news, we are doing a minor face lift on our master bathroom area as well, so that has slowed the progress on the bedroom a tad bit. I hope to show those photos as well at the 6 week mark.

Please come back next week and for now you can see other bloggers linking up today on Calling It Home, and the fab 20 bloggers updates from yesterday here. Have fun browsing around, I hope to get to them all eventually!

***Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends tomorrow night****

New to Me Product and a Giveaway!

I've mentioned before that I am sort of a product hoarder and I'm a sucker (sometimes) for claims and packaging. I am really trying to be good now and only buy things when I need them. I don't like the clutter and do I really need 5 different blushes at one time or 8 lip glosses? Some of you might say yes, and if so, maybe some of you may have a problem like me.

One of the blogs I follow and local blogger, Leslie from Around the Table had a post a few weeks back reviewing a product I never heard of Kari Gran. She was also hosting a giveaway. I was very intrigued about this new to me product. Then just a day or so later at a family dinner, my sister in law mentions she is trying a new skin care system... Kari Gran. No way! After hearing about this product within a couple days, I knew I had to give it a shot.

It's a local company, in Seattle and it is also an all natural, organic skin care line. All the ingredients are listed on their website.  I am big into cleaning without harmful chemicals and I am trying to move that onto my skincare needs. Did you know up to 60% of what we put on our skin gets absorbed into our body and bloodstream? Did you know there is very little regulation on products used in the personal care products and cosmetics we use? There are some serious chemicals being added to these products and they are not being tested on their safety at all.

That being said, I was anxious to try this line out and after the first use I was in love.
The cleanser is made of a blend of oils and vitamin E. You may have noticed the buzz around oil cleansing and believe me this stuff works. You could certainly buy your own oil but this is a blend of high quality organic oils that I don't think I could buy and make for any less. Nor do I have the time.
It pulls away all my makeup (every spec of mascara too), oil and dirt. It leaves my skin very clean and not tight or oily as you might think.

The Hydrating Tonic and Essential serum is to be put on after you wash off the cleansing oil at night and to use in the morning as well. It feels so fresh! I wake up and my skin looks really great. I swear my makeup stays on longer as well. Speaking of makeup, I also have purchased their mineral foundation and lip whip as well. Both super great products too!

I am really loving this product line so much and you know when you try something new and love it and you just want to share it with all your best friends? Well, that's what I'm doing.

I am very excited to announce that Kari Gran has graciously agreed to giveaway one of their starter kits (valued at $35) to one of my readers.

Anyone can enter this giveaway. But since I like to give back to my loyal readers, if you follow my blog on google friend connect, bloglovin or subscribe by email, or follow me on facebook, twitter, pinterest, or instagram, please give yourself extra entries per whatever source you follow me by.
Just leave a comment per way you follow me by. For anonymous entries and no-reply users, be sure to leave your email.

I will hold this giveaway open until next Friday, April 25 2014 at 12am pacific time and  will announce the winner April 26th. Check out all of Kari Gran's products here.

Good luck!

*photos are courtesy for karigran.com and I was not paid or compensated for this review or giveaway.*

One Room Challenge- Half Way Point

Week three people! That means we are at the half way point of the One Room Challenge of transforming a room in 6 weeks. If you are just checking in, here's week one and week two to catch up on my plans for my master bedroom.

Not a whole lot happened this past week. Painting is done. Hallelujah! Oh, yea, blinds and curtains went up. I love them so much. Well, you know as much as you can love window coverings anyway.
 More details on what they are and where I purchased them later.

I also put up my Serena & Lily mirror. I bought this awhile back during a big sale they were having and at the time I didn't know exactly where I was going to put it. It was just one of those things that I absolutely loved and knew eventually I'd find the place, and now it's in it's perfect spot.

Our new headboard arrived as well this week. The Lewis slipcovered headboard from Pottery Barn. It was on sale, yeah!

A little DIY tip with painting.. is this tool. Slip it under your floor moldings and painting goes so fast and easy.

With a heavy heart I have to report that I won't be getting the South Seas Side Carts from Serena & Lily. I am so completely bummed because I loved them so much. Just as I was about to place my order, I began thinking if my heavy  (15lbs) lamps would be okay on these tables, if maybe they might not hold them well over time. I sent an email to the company and asked what the weight capacity was and they had a vague answer of that it might hold up to 10 lbs. I informed them my lamps were 15, and was told that might work. Well, I certainly couldn't go off it "might" work.
So I had to look for alternatives with sad remorse.

Serena & Lily

I found this one, the Laguna Side table from Pottery Barn that had a similar look.
It states right on the website it holds up to 50lbs on each level. 50! Yes, I was safe.
It's not the same and I'm not in love like I am with the S&L table but it will be a fine substitute and I will not be worried about if it will hold up over time. Plus, I had a coupon to use so that's a plus.

Pottery Barn

Another change I made is deciding to get this Ektorp chair from Ikea rather than the Pier One chair I showed in week one. Reason for this switch is #1 it's cheaper and #2 with it being a solid white it will have longer longevity in my room if/when I decide to ever change up my bedding/curtains, etc. The other one was a striped white and blue and I'd be stuck with the pattern, while this one I can play around with different throws and pillows.

Ikea

Speaking of throws and pillows, I went to my local Restoration Hardware outlet store yesterday and purchased a great big linen throw and this pillow for the chair. They are having a 40% off everything in store sale, so if you are close to a RH outlet... RUN! That is 40% off already discounted items. Great deals to be had.

Restoration Hardware

 I also purchased two of these pillows for my bed.

Etsy/Oh My Pillow

And I will be ordering these prints for the room.

Etsy/Vintage by the Shore

 My plans for this week, is to organize my desk area and accessorize the top of the bookshelf. As you can see I am off to a slow start. I want to find some large white and blue vases and maybe some other lanterns. Wish me luck.

Also, for this week hopefully we will get an electrician out here to look at our ceiling light situation. My husband spoke to our contractor friend and was told we will more than likely need a permit to have the wiring done to install a light fixture in the ceiling ( there currently is no ceiling light in this room, or any of the bedrooms!). So... if we have to get a permit that might take awhile. Ugh. Hoping it all works out and is an easy and quick process. If it's a huge hassle we might just forget about it. We've gone 13 years without an overhead light so I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world.

If you haven't seen what the 20 bloggers are up to for this challenge on Linda's blog, Calling it Home, you MUST go over there and see what everyone is up to. Serious design business happening over there. Also, be sure to check out my fellow linking partners with today's updates on her blog. You are certainly going to find some great inspiration over there.

Hope you'll come back next week, and I'll be able to share some more progress.

One Room Challenge - Week 2

Week 2 is already here for the One Room Challenge I'm working on. See here for week one.

So what have I accomplished this week?

While I am so dying to show you what we've done this past weekend to our master bedroom, I'm going to try and keep a little suspense going. I will tell you this was involved....

A saw was used and the dehydrated urine color yellow paint color was banished. Also, very happily the brown drapes were removed as well. Nothing wrong with brown drapes, but tip: don't ever decorate with brown and yellow, unless you are drawn to the poop & pee color combo. Sorry for the visual there but it's a really really bad color combo. Anyways....

Even though my bedroom is a complete pit right now and it's like a dangerous maze trying to get around things, I can't not help get giddy already with how the room is looking. Loving it!!

What am I working on this week... finishing painting and sourcing ceiling lights, and bedding/pillows.

Can you believe we don't have a ceiling light right now? So, we will have to have to hire an electrician to come and climb in our attic space to install wiring.

Here are some of the lights that I am pondering...

serenaandlily.com



westelm.com



serenaandlily.com



worldmarket.com

I'm pretty sure I know which one I'm getting but haven't purchased it yet. What one is your favorite?

In my last plan I showed you this one.

worldmarket.com

Unfortunately, it's not available right now, and won't be until late April I think. Bummer.

I will be getting my headboard delivered tomorrow and I am super excited to finally have this installed. A room just isn't finished without one.

Potterybarn.com

I think I will love this since it's so casual and the white crispness of the white twill will be just the right touch in this room.

Oh, and a little change in plans. I wasn't planning on buying any new furniture for this room other than the headboard but as I was looking at my mess of disorganization near my desk area I knew I needed more storage over there. The new plan will be that  I am moving my nightstand over to the desk area and adding 2 of these beauties from Serena and Lily, as our new nightstands. I love them so much and have been having my eyes on them for awhile now. I think they are going to look SO good. Crossing fingers.



Serenaandlily.com

Speaking of Serena and Lily, I got some new pillows for my living room. What do you think?

Well, that's a wrap on what's happening here this week. I got to get back to it.

Be sure to see what Linda and the other 19 bloggers are up to from yesterday's check in, and what the other linking up bloggers are up to today. There has been some major progress going on with other bloggers, and I'm feeling a bit lazy with just the little I have got accomplished.

Thanks for checking in with me, hope to have more to share next week.

One Room Challenge: Round 2 Linking Up

Spring is here and Linda from Calling it Home is hosting another round of her One Room Challenge.

She and 19 other major talented bloggers will be revamping a space in 6 weeks, check in on her blog every Wednesday to follow along. If you want to take on the challenge yourself you can too. Just link up your space every Thursday to Linda's blog.

I will be linking up once again. This challenge is fun and it helps put a little kick in my butt and holds me accountable to start and finish a project. So thank you Linda. Thank you for letting us all join in on the fun.

Last time I did a very tiny space. I didn't want to jump in without testing the waters you know. Baby steps. Now I am taking on a much bigger project.

Drumroll..... My Master bedroom.

I am totally going to keep it real here for you. I thought I'd clean up but no... this is the way I have been living for awhile now, and yes it's pitiful. No getting around this. This is NO sanctuary I can tell you that.

I have no real excuse but I will try a few out on you.

Oh my gosh! Really? Why? Why have I let this happen? Kind of like looking in the mirror every summer in a swimsuit and thinking "how did I let it get this bad?"

Please make me feel a little better and let me know I am not alone.

I know master bedrooms are definitely rooms that are put on the back burner the most, and since no one else comes in here other than me, my husband and my kids, no one sees it. Thank God!

But that shouldn't be an excuse. We need to make our rooms special and make it a place that we long to retreat to after a long day, not a dumping ground and a forgotten waste land.

Just to save face a little here.. yes, the wall color was a super bad choice but it was painted with a different bedding that we had. This blue bedding is new, so are the lamps. We have no headboard because we went from a queen to a king mattress and didn't buy a headboard yet. When we bought the new mattress, we switched the layout of the furniture and things just kind of just got thrown around, hence the cord mess by the dresser, and the desk area.. oh please let's just throw a sheet over that and call it good.

So, what is my plan?

Things that will change:

• Lighten this room up with paint
• Add some "character" to the space
• New drapes (and yes, they will be hung higher.)
• New headboard
• Create a sitting area for reading
• Change up the bedding a little
• Add art above bed
• Mount tv to wall above dresser
• Slipcover made to put over chest at end of bed
• Organize, organize, organize

I know I am breaking some major rules here in the bedroom for they say you shouldn't have a tv or work space or exercise equipment in you room since they all can disrupt sleep and none of them promote a "zen" type feeling.  Yup, I have the trifecta here.

Unfortunately, I have no other space in our house for our desk, nor the treadmill (unless we move it to the garage) and we aren't getting rid of the tv, so there! Ideally, in a perfect world I would love to have a separate office and a gym in my house but I do not, so I have to deal with it.

Here are some inspirational ideas of what's ahead.

 

 As you can see it will hopefully have a lighter, airy, coastal type vibe going on when I'm done with it. You can see more ideas on my Pinterest board, here.

Hope you will follow along and see how I change this room.  I will be back every Thursday with a progress report but you can also follow me on Instagram in the meantime.

Crossing fingers it turns out as good as I see it in my head.