Living Room Wish List

Hi everyone! As most of my friends know, Dillon and I are currently living with my parents while we wait for a package with the Marine Corps to be approved and to receive new orders. Meanwhile, we are working/ going to school/ and taking care of the kids while planning and dreaming about our next chapter of our lives. A lot of the budgeting/ planning/ saving all falls on my shoulders so I have a lot of lists and plans going on in my head. I figured I have so many things in my shopping carts and bookmarks online, why not share a few of them here for fun? :)

So first I am going to do my living room! It is the room you walk into first typically, so its the first stop in my virtual shopping cart! 

I feel I should also mention that the majority of the stuff I want is from Target and IKEA. They're my favorites and typically close to most places, or deliver the things I want! I have also been looking on Wayfair and Overstock!

First, I imagine an entry way bench near the door, with baskets for the kids shoes, our running shoes, and a compartment for dillon's combat boots. I also imagine a stylish mirror, I'm definitely leaning towards a sleek, round mirror. I'll probably keep using hanging baskets like these for mail, keys, etc.  last but not lead, obviously some hooks for coats!

entry way sources:

Hillsboro Entryway Bench with Cushion - TARGET

ROUND MIRROR - TARGET
hooks - TARGET
JUTE RUG - TARGET
SIGN- JAXN BLVD
baskets - target

Our ever changing nursery.

 Opal and Oliver's nursery has been mostly used as a play room and storage for baby things thus far. Since moving here, Opal has been afraid to sleep in her own room, so we've just kept a crib in our room for her. But recently she has been more comfortable with her toddler bed, so we actually moved the crib to the nursery and the big girl bed to our room. So the bedrooms now look different, but I wanted to share some photos of her room BEFORE we moved everything around, along with links to wear I found some of the ideas for projects I've done.

I got Opal's bed from IKEA. It is called the MINNEN.

I really love this bed because it will grow with her. It starts out as

a toddler bed but can actually extend 2 more times and eventually be a twin size bed.

Peeking out from underneath her bed you can see the extendable mattress pieces.

This is super helpful for me, and will actually be a comfy bed for my sister to sleep on 

this summer while she visits. Way better than an air mattress. :-)

I made the "Scout Oli" banner before moving here. 

You can see the tutorial here.

My mom and I made the faux bear rug! It is my favorite of our DIY projects.

I first saw it on pinterest, and found a tutorial on a fellow Marine Wife's blog.

We ended up not following her's exactly and pretty much hand drew our own pattern.

We also gave our bear extra padding and what not. 

But for those that need a tutorial with step by step instructions THIS ONE is great! :-)

Here's a little close up image of our bear.

I got this bookcase and toy organizer from Target last summer. I think they've discontinued it, because I can't seem to find it online. I totally wish I could though, because I want another one.

I love this fabric bin so much. I use it as a toy box for Opal. I found it at home goods and plan to get another one for Oliver once we get moved into our next home. 

This is the other wall in her room. I got this chalkboard from IKEA. 

I will definitely have to take some photos of this room now that I have yet again changed it. 

It is now full with the crib, Oliver's little clothes, and I've moved around all of Opal's toys and things.

It wont be like that for long either though- because soon everything will be boxed up and on its way to our new home. Wherever in the world that may be. Hopefully I can let you guys know by the end of this month! :-)

XOXO- Chelsea.

Third home- third master bedroom.

 

Each of our master bedrooms has been pretty different. Our first started out the first 4 months with an air mattress on the floor of a one bedroom studio apartment. We finally bought a bedroom set that included a cherry wood slay bed and two dressers. It was dark in our room and my husband picked out a dark red comforter set that made it even darker! I hated that room, but we were newlyweds and didn't know how to compromise, honestly. 

Our second bedroom we mutually decided on changing the bedding to a bright blue comforter with orange sheets. I loved that set so much, but the bedroom furniture was still my least favorite. Our bedroom was my least favorite room. We didn't have a ton of money laying around to buy anything new, so we just made it work.

When I moved to California we decided that selling our furniture altogether was probably the easiest because we didn't know I would be moving back. We were under the impression that by December 2014 we would be at a new duty station, or that I would have purchased a home in California for us to begin life without the military. Well, things changed, promises were broken, and we had to pick up the pieces of our life and try to figure out a new plan. We found out we were pregnant, and not leaving DC until after he was due, so I moved back. 

wall decor- target. has 9 cubbies. $50 regular- but I got it on markdown for $20.

Moving back to DC was a big decision that took a lot of planning. We would need everything new.

Furniture, linens, etc. Along with a baby on the way and needing several thousand dollars reserved in savings deemed untouchable because military moves are sometimes all out of pocket upfront. So, we budgeted in a 2 month span and made it happen. I tried to be as thrifty as possible while out shopping for our new furniture. We had the living and dining rooms taken care of a month before our move, but still had no clue what to do about our bedroom or Opal's room. 

I tried to keep this room really bright and neutral in colors. I think it is my happy place in the apartment.

So, here is what we did with our tight budget. I'll include where I bought things, and I'll try to also remember the prices or deals that I got the items on. :-) I hope this helps those of you who want a revamp but are on a tight budget!

 

Excuse the somewhat wrinkled bedskirt! (I forgot it in the laundry hamper a little too long after washing it.)

•  Bed skirt is from Target. 
• Bedding is Threshold- also from Target.
• Sheets- lime green/yellow are Nate Berkus for Target.
• I found this awesome headboard at Ross for only $120! Love it so much- & it actually isn't as short as it looks. We have a 4" memory foam mattress topper on it that makes our bed appear taller.
• 4" Sealy gel-memory foam mattress topper is form Big Lots- $85.

At the foot of our bed we have Oliver's crib. Opal is currently sleeping in this during naps and half of the night. I'm not sure when she is going to be in her big girl bed, especially with teething keeping her up all night. 

• Crib is Jenny Lind in gray from Babies R Us. $200.
• Laundry hamper was $20 from Marshalls. I love it so much.
• Banner is currently in the One Spot bins at Target for $3. 

 Another view of the crib area, sleeping baby included.

• Not sure if you can see the crib sheet, but it is gray and white stripes- from Target. $10.
• I like the mesh crib bumpers a lot. You can buy these pretty much anywhere that sells crib bedding.

Dillon's nightstand.

•   Instead of purchasing traditional nightstands that can cost on average $100 each, we chose these small dressers from Ikea. They were $100 a piece and work so much better for us. We love to hang all of our tops, so these work well. Holds our socks/ undies, pajamas, and jeans. Pretty much serves its purpose.
• Bedside clock is from Marshalls. Opal bought it for Dillon for $12.
• Wolf figurine was a gift from my grandparents on a cross country drive.

My side.

 Our lamps were from Marshalls. We spent $24.99 on each of them.

Our bedroom doesn't have a light, so they were a NECESSITY for sure.

All of the picture frames are from Target clearance.

 Another view of my nightstand.

• Jewelry tree is from Target. I got it on clearance for $5, but I think they still sell them for $20.

Check out that photo of my grandma- such a hottie.

•  The wire baskets on both nightstands are from Target's One Spot section. They were $3. I use them to store diapers and wipes while keeping the flow of the neutral colored room going.

On my side of the room is our walk in closet- totally closed the door because the floor was destroyed by Opal exploring before this shoot. I wasn't even trying to bend down that much. :-)

To the right of that is our bathroom. I've kept it pretty simple in there with peach and gray tones.

• The laundry basket and shelf is from Target. Around $40. I have a bunch of the One Spot metal buckets and large jars storing my little things (nailpolish, makeup, hair ties, etc).

 Here's a somewhat view of my walk in closet. That big bin right there is full of Oliver's teeny tiny baby clothes!! I can't wait to unpack all of that stuff and dress him in it.

• Paris/ France sign from Kohls. Don't remember how much I snagged that for.

And then a quick bump selfie in my bathroom. Hair a mess and all. :-)

Hope you all enjoyed my little tour.

My Craft Table & Art Room Makeover!

For the past year and a half I was dreaming of having my very own art studio. I grew up with my mother and grandmother having their own, full of sewing machines and craft supplies. Heck, my grandmother had one room for DOING the crafts, and another room that was just storage for all of the supplies.. Talk about a hoarder! (ha-ha!)

  Well, I was going to ask my husband for a craft table that was $300 online, but after searching Pinterest I decided I would just ask for a home made one. We built this table for around $90 total!! We found these bookshelves at Target for $21 each & we got this tabletop at Ikea for $45. I found my stool at the thrift store for $10 (what a steal!) ...thrifted some baskets, and I got a ton of jars at the dollar tree!

The boys putting it together. :-)

 

This room was our "storage room."

We didn't have much in it but bags and boxes of my art stuff, and baby items.

 

It feels a lot better having furniture in this room finally! I can't wait to save up some more spending money to not only expand my storage space, but to fill it up with more fun goodies!

For now, I will show you what I have done to organize a lot of the little things.

I found all of this stuff at the thrift store, and decided I was going to paint it.

I found those really cute jars (they look like mini candy jars) at the dollar tree.

I LOVE THESE JARS SO MUCH NOW!

We spray painted the tops with chalkboard paint and labeled them

with chalkboard paint - pens. They're so darn cute now!

I got this basket at the dollar tree, painted it pink and added a cheetah bow..

because cheetah everything is okay in my world.

I got this file organizer for a buck, and I found really cute organizer folders at Target (not pictured). But these Seventeen brand folders were on clearance for 75 cents at Michaels.  I plan to use the folders to hold some scrapbook stuff, and misc items. (Things like my random idea doodles, lists, and whatever else I can think of.)

This cute sewing basket was originally blue and had an old poodle on it.

(Well, I'm not a poodle kind of gal.)

So I ditched the poodle, and added a skull and crossbones to be more fitting!

Not much is in here at the moment! 

I still have some bags and boxes to empty, but this will hold as 

much of my sewing things as possible. For now, it has threads and random stuff.

This cute wooden tray now holds all of the jars I bought at the dollar tree. :-)

They hold pencils, scissors, rulers, markers, paint brushes, glue sticks, etc. 

I will need more soon.... ha-ha!

So here is the top of my table :) I can't wait to make it all messy with some projects!

And here is the side! I use memory boxes to hold things, and ignore the blue basket.

It is getting it's second coat of paint soon :) We ran out of paint... lol!