a {Decorating} bug...

For the last few weeks I have been working on my parents house re-decorating a few rooms. It seems like this time of year...every year...either my mom, or I, get the bug and re-do a few rooms. We decided since there are getting to be more and more babies (no, that doesn't mean anyone else in the family is pregnant, just me!) anyway, that there should be someplace for the kids to take naps, as well as, a place for my Grandma Kunz to stay. I had my mom clean out her old sewing room (she never used it anyways!) and I got to work on a the NEW and IMPROVED NURSERY...I wish we had before pictures, but once the woman got started cleaning out the room there was no stopping her!The lighting is terrible...Im sorry!First she cleared EVERYTHING OUT. I didn't re-paint the room because we painted it only a few years ago. The lighting is bad...{sorry}... but the back wall is a dark brown, and the rest is a light cream. Very monocromatic. I used a teal-blue and golden yellow as accent colors, (strange? I know, but it worked!) The biggest key to re-doing a room is starting with a clean slate, if you only take a few things out and try to re-arrange it will never feel different, you'll just end up with the same thing, only with a few things moved around. We then went to Target and we got this Crib for $150 and the bumper. I had my mom make the curtains and bought the fabric at Home Fabric's in IF. We also bought the bedding at KMART for less than $100...cheap! And it worked perfect with our colors. The frames we bought at Porters, I just bought some Scrapbooking alphabets and made each grand-child their own frame. I am in the process of printing off each babies newborn picture black and white to put in these frames, these turned out so cute. The twin bed was an old one they had in storage. And my mom made most of the pillows with left over material from the curtains and we even threw in a few that weren't to matchy-matchy to liven it up...not everything needs to match perfect!I did all the frames different and all I used was pre-cut alphabets and chip board cutouts that matched my color scheme. I then just went around her house and picked up a few odds and ends to tie it all up. So Simple...I think the overall effect turned out so chic...it reminds me of a Pottery Barn Room...love! The only thing I want to do now is hang a old quilt on a rod above the crib, my mom is in the process of making one with her old scraps.{OK...and now I guess the Cat's out of the Bag- so to speak! We have decided to name our baby Carmen. That is why the 4th frame says Carmen! Hopefully it fits when we actually see her for the first time, because we are pretty set on that name. Randall picked it out and it stuck, I must say it has grown on me. The more I say it the more I love it. I think its pretty classic and unique too. So if you dont like it, or know someone named Carmen that you dont like, just keep that tid-bit to yourself!! We are happy at the moment with this name!!}Anyway, so what did I do with my mom's sewing room? Well, last fall my parents built a new office for their business and were able to move their office out there, leaving this room unused. So once again my mom got everything moved out and re-organzied, then I had her and Melinda paint the room a fresh new coat of tan, and the trim and ceiling a darker brown. We also had new formica put in, put new hardware on the cabinets, and moved out some filing cabinets. Then I found these fun wire baskets at Porters and I hung them on the walls, this way she is inspired by her fabrics, seeing things on display like this always motivates me to do projects! This is just one side of the room, Scott was doing homework so I didn't take a picture of the other side, but you get the idea. For such a simple change it was a lot of work. I think for the moment I am done with the big projects I have wanted to do before this baby comes...well, nevermind, I still havent finished re-doing the cradle I bought off craigslist! Im so excited! Ill post some pics as soon as its done! Its so cute.So there you go, I told a few of you I would post some pics of what I have been doing... here you go!