Growth Charts

Here are some great DIY Growth Charts.

I really like this first one as it can be folded up and stored as a keepsake.

Love2Create

The Stir

Ohdeedoh

Do you have a growth chart in your home?

It's a Bird, No, it's a Plane!

Happy Monday, everyone! 

I've told you how out of control I am lately, right?  There is a sense of urgency lined in everything I do, it seems.  This weekend we had arranged to meet with some friends for a bbq.  I arrived at their door with a warm dish to share, and my lovely friend, Kristen greets me. 

Kristen: "Hey Deb!  You look great!"

Me: "Ah, thanks.  I feel like I'm going to explode."

After chatting for a little bit, Kristen says, "So I think you're a week early."

{Imagine the embarrassment on my face-- my face turns bright red}

Me: "Really?!  Could my prego brain get any worse?"

Seriously.  I feel like the biggest ditz walking the planet right now.  I can't remember a darn thing {obviously} and apparently my sense of urgency has taken over my social life too.  After visiting a short time with my friend, I asked my husband why he wasn't giving me a hard time.  Because we really, really like to make fun of each other.  It's what we do.  He said, "I'm going to give you a pass on this one."  I think he could tell how embarrassed I was because my face didn't turn back to a normal shade for about two hours.

On a decorating note, I am so, so close to having my son & baby's room all decorated.  Here's one of the fun things we've added to the room in the process, and let me just say that my son is ecstatic. He won't go to bed without saying goodnight to his plane about a million times.

If you're curious, we purchased the vinyl sticker here.  They made it a custom size to fit the wall- 96" x 77"- we wanted the plane to appear like it was coming out from the bed.

I promise, more pictures will be coming soon.

And no, I couldn't love my cute, cute son & husband any freakin' more.

DIY Time

Have a little time on your hands this summer and want to do something fun with the kids?  Here are a couple ideas:

Ashley Ann made these great paper bird paintings with a couple canvases, scrapbook paper and Mod Podge.  Don't you just love the paper she used?  {Of course it's Amy Butler}.

One of my favorite parenting blogs is Made By Joel.  He's amazingly creative with his children and I can't believe what he comes up with.  What an amazing dad!  He whipped up this paper city with vehicles for his children to play with.  He has downloads available with his graphics, but you can always have your children help you create your own unique city too.

{Picture via}

Want to make your own disco ball?  CraftBits.com has a step by step tutorial that is kid friendly.

How do you keep your children happy and productive over the summer?  What projects are you working on to keep your children involved?

City in a Bag Blocks

I am absolutely loving these City In A Bag Blocks from MUJI!  If I had children I would definitely get these!  They even ship to the US!  They are available for many different cities including:



London

and Paris.

And the Country In A Bag which include:

Italy



and Germany!

Shared Room

{Sixx Design}

How do you feel about shared bedrooms?  The current discussion at our home is: Where is the baby going to sleep?  And the most likely option seems to be in their brother's room.  He will be 2 1/2 when the baby is born.

Am I crazy?

Cause I sure feel like it.

{Cottage Living}

I keep having visions of late night feedings waking up the toddler (he's a light sleeper) and then having to get two children back to sleep during my zombie-like state.

And to be honest, none of it sounds like fun.

{25 Beautiful Homes}

I know there are shared bedrooms happening everywhere out there.  Would you mind sharing your stories?  What has worked for you and what hasn't?  I would love to hear them.

Thanks for your help!

Monday Redesign- Children's Bedroom

Today's room redesign was inspired by the new Renate Bloom bedding from IKEA!  It's such a fun happy print with a great color palette.  I've added to it the gorgeous modern sleigh bed for a playful, yet stylish child's room.



1. Modern Childrens' Sleigh Bed from Spacify.

2. Renate Bloom Bedding from IKEA.

3. Renate Pillow from IKEA.

4. Glorious print from CrimsonPeachArt.

5. Lamp from Heathfield & Co.

6. Manning Side Table from Target.

Children's Rugs

Melissa recently asked us in the comments where we go to find great children's rug at a friendly price.  I went out on a hunt, and here are some great finds.

{notNeutral $260}

{Betty/Honey by angela adams $349}

{ikea $25}

{Buttons by Oliver Yaphe $980} --  so cute I had to include it!

{Urban Outfitters $68}

{Overstock $470}

{bellacor $64}

{Overstock $403}

{Dash & Albert $238}

{ikea $20}

{Avalisa $310}

{west elm $99}

{Momeni $129}

So what do you think?  Have any favorites?  Fresh Nest readers, where do you shop for children's rugs?  Let's help Melissa out! 

One Fresh Nest: Danyelle's Cozy Brick House

One Fresh Nest is a new feature that we're doing on the site where we highlight a home that is beautiful and inspiring. 



 

Our first Fresh Nest is Danyelle's home.  Danyelle is a mother of five, is a genius creative and kind.  She blogs over at Dandee Designs and My Favorite Things.  She lives in what she calls the cozy brick house and she makes it just that. 

 

 



What is your favorite room in the cozy brick house & why? 
I really love our master bedroom.  It's actually funny to call it that.  Our home was built in the fifties and at that time most houses didn't have what we now consider a master.  Our bedroom doesn't have it's own bath or even a walk-in closet, but it gets great afternoon light.  It has enough space for the furniture we need and the squeaky wood floors are a reminder of simpler times.
 
When you are designing and decorating your house, where do you get your inspiration from? 
I find inspiration everywhere!  The conventional places like magazines, design blogs, home stores.  And some  unconventional places as well.  I love wandering around office supply stores, the ribbon section at a local craft store, or an antique shop. 
 
What is your favorite piece in the cozy brick house? 
I created a wreath out of book pages a couple of years ago.  It adds a bit of whimsy to a more traditional space in our home.  It's also sculptural and I really love it. 

How did you decide on a color palette for your home? 
I naturally lean towards colors that are found in nature.  Browns, greens, oranges...sometimes a little too much.  Recently, after having my fifth child I was sitting in the living room nursing and began to feel suffocated by all of the brown.  I hadn't really ever taken the time to sit and notice how much color was missing from that space.  Currently I am in the process of adding more color through paint and textiles.  Spicing it up a bit.

What color of paint is in your master bedroom & dining room?
"Pecan" Valspar paint from Lowes.  Valspar is the best coverage paint we have used, and we've tried them all!  This is the same color as the dining room.

Where did you find the chair in your daughter's room?
I found the chair at goodwill before my oldest daughter was born. I painted and distressed it, then had it re-upholstered just in time for her birth almost 8 years ago. It's still in great shape and is the best place in the entire cozy brick house to rock one of my babes.

Share your favorite DIY project in your home.  Tell us a little bit about it. 
My current fave DIY was one that I just completed.  You can learn more about it here.

Since it's Back to School week here on Fresh Nest, would you mind sharing some pointers?

1. Start implementing your school bedtime NOW!  We started a week ago.  We still have two weeks before school starts here, but I wanted the children used to our old schedule BEFORE the big day.  No more of this 10:30 business!


2. Menu planning.  Summer has wreaked havoc on my dinner schedule.  With BBQ's and vacations I'm dying to get back to a regular weekly menu.  This is a great tool.


3. Inventory.  We are headed out on our final vacation this week.  We're going to the ocean on the Oregon Coast and doing the bulk of our back to school shopping while we're visiting that lovely sales tax free state.  To prepare, I've been taking inventory of my children's wardrobes.  What they need, what from last year will still work, etc.  I'm also using this opportunity to get rid of ill fitting, stained or un-usable items. 

Thanks Danyelle for sharing your cozy brick house with us and for the bonus back to school pointers!  I am amazed at all you are able to do.  It truly inspires me.  Consider your house Fresh Nest approved!

Children's Study Spaces

When planning a study space for your children, remember that everyone learns differently!  Keep this in mind as you plan your space.  Maybe they like studying with music on...make sure that there's some type of music source close by so that they don't have to get up to switch out music or adjust controls.  If they get easily distracted make sure it' s in a quiet place and not looking out towards a window.   Even if you don't have a whole room to devote to a study space a little section of their bedroom will work just fine!

Color theory is another post altogether so don't worry too much about what color you choose to have in the space.  If it's already in an existing room you're probably going to go with colors already there.  If you'd like to add some color, and make it more of a personalized space for your child, go with their favorite color!  They'll probably want to stay there longer because of it!

Make sure that you've got enough supplies close at hand so their train of thought doesn't get broken too often as their looking for more paper, pens, staplers, etc.

Here are some inspiring study spaces I've found!

From Italian Furniture Manufacturer Berloni

1. From Pottery Barn 2. Roxxn 3. Elfa Storage Options 4. Minimalist Desk 5. DIY Ideas

Room Redesign-Boy's Room

Tammie needed a new design for her boy's room.  On Friday she let us know what her goals were with the space.  Here's her new floor plan and furnishings!

1. White Bunk Bed.  This is a steal at $689 and includes free shipping!  This one has great style and will work well in your space.  Later as the boys are older you can separate them and they will be fine in two separate rooms.  These would also look more like a teenage boys' room if you repaint them later in a nice blue or green.  These should last you the entire span that your boys live at home!  :)

2. The Ikea Tullsta Chair with round pillows made from Fabric Worn fabric:  Dottie Porch. Super durable chair and very reasonably priced.


3. Downloadable Illustration:  Download it or make your own at a larger scale for a little DIY project.

4. Large Round Floor Pillows made with this Joel Dewberry fabric.  Stack these by your chairs so there's plenty of fun seating options for both you and your children!

5. Table Lamp from Target on top of end table, also from Target.

6. Rotating Bookcase and Storage Unit.  Love this piece!  It takes up a minimal amount of floor space and provides lots of places to store books for bedtime as well as special toys and a board for special messages to your boys!

7. Keep your closet wall painted the Benjamin Moore Grecian Green, but paint the rest of the room a warm blue, Benjamin Moore  704 Del Mar Blue.

Thanks for letting us assist you with designing your space!

Room Redesign-Before

Tammie's Room is up next-well, her boys room actually!  Here are some pictures of her boy's room:

Here are the things she'd like us to keep in mind as we redesign the space:

If I could shop anywhere:

It would be Pottery Barn (for furniture) and Ikea (for accessories).  But I can't, so I shop Target and Craigslist!  We are big DIYers, and love projects revamping second hand furniture.

What 3 words would you use to describe yourself and the feeling of the space you'd like?

clean, comfortable, relaxed.

What is the most important thing you ’d like done with the space?

The boys' room is very dark and seems cold.  We would like to replace the dim ceiling fan(but keep a fan) and try a different paint treatment.  I want the room to be a place the boys' can share successfully for at least 5 years.

What are two of your favorite and least favorite colors?

Favorites - Pale blue and yellow  Least favorite - purple and royal blue
The lighting in this room is odd.  We have an earth contact home and this room is on the northwest corner.  It was yellow when we moved in, but we painted it blue and still aren't happy with it.  The room needs warmth.  The closet wall has been painted in Benjamin Moore's Grecian Green, and it works pretty well in the space.  We hadn't committed to the entire room yet though :)  You can see the original yellow where we removed the baseboards. The yellow had a greenish cast, which we didn't like.

Room dimensions:

We are currently in the process of replacing all the unfinished knotty pine "trim" with white baseboards, crown, window and door trim.  The room has 9 foot ceilings.  The room is 15' x 15' with a 3' x 8' closet.  The window is not centered on the wall, it has 4'3" on the left and 3' on the right.  I only mention this because a twin bed won't fit on the right side without overlapping the window.

We'd really like a twin over twin white bunkbed.  I'd rather not do an entire theme room, but cool boy accesories are fine. Dressers are optional, if you have a creative idea for that go for it!  Toy storage isn't a huge priority, they have a playroom.  I would like to see a reading area, with a comfy chair or floor pillows.

Check back Monday for the redesign!



Also, don't forget about our current giveaway!  It's for this awesome clock from Pilot Design:

Spray Painting a Wooden Chair

I've been very busy around the house with spray paint.  Everything that is wood, or metal, or ceramic has taken a hiding place in the corner for fear of getting a new color.  We just announced our 2nd design challenge and this is where some of the inspiration came from.

This project was very simple.  I sanded the entire chair down with a 100 grit sandpaper and then used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Wood spray paint {in cherry red}.  Make sure to do this outdoors on a good day with no wind, away from the house {the smallest wind can pick up the spray paint and start decorating for you- not good}.  This paint dries in about 10 minutes so I applied a couple coats back to back.  After I let it sit overnight, I sanded it down with 320 grit sandpaper, and applied a Lacquer gloss spray paint to the chair.  I also did a couple coats of this.

Don't you think it adds a nice color pop to the room?

Go here for more details and to enter the design challenge for a chance to win a toddler bed.  For this challenge, you can change the color of anything in your house, using whatever you want.  Paint a wall, change out your pillows, hang a new picture, or frames so it adds a different feel to your room.  If you have any questions, be sure to let us know.