master bed and bath makeover!

So excited to show off the products of all my hard work and much patience on the part of my husband and kids. Yippee! Here is where my room started. It is a nice room and I have always loved the layout, size and features.

Our "bedspread" is 2 Mexican blankets I sewed together right after we were married. We both had one before we were married and I find it symbolic that they were joined shortly after we were! My husband sleeps hot and this blanket set up was the perfect weight for those warm St. George nights. We have used them ever since. But I was ready for a change. 

The room always seemed dark and messy with not much color.I wanted to make it into a space with good vibes that really represented my husband and me; I envisioned a fun hang out for us.

It transformed into this:

The Mexican blankets we've used as our bedspread for 14 years have a special display spot in the corner. We still use them all the time.

Moving into the bathroom...

The bath looked like this after I painted it. I didn't like it but couldn't bring myself to paint it again.

It was so stark and cold. I saw a plant shelf on the blog Vintage Revivals and knew it would go perfect in there! Adding wood, plants, and color warmed up the place.

I modified an Ikea rug to fit perfectly outside the shower.

And I still love the paint above the shower!

Other details:

Eagle string art I rescued from a thrift store and repaired

2 Ikea RAST dressers my husband and I built and modified for our nightstands

A really fun thing to search online is Ikea Rast hack. There are SO many cool versions people have made!

This pillow cover I made at Relief Society was my spring board for the whole project.

Love my mid-century dresser from Craigslist and reversible wool blanket from DI.

 Here is the checklist for this bedroom makeover:

• deep clean: floors, windows inside and out, scrub shower, wipe down closet shelves and light fixtures
• fresh paint !!!!
• built/modified Ikea RAST nightstands, sanded, stained, installed handles
• assembled platform bed (found on KSL classifieds)
• made throw pillow fronts, sewed pillow covers
• found new white woven blanket for bed
• designed, cut out, and hung wood diamond art over the bed
• painted vertical red-orange stripe 
• gutted and organized his and her closets
• hung different art and rearranged decor
• replaced vanity rug
• built plant shelf, hung shelf, painted pots, potted plants
• painted art above shower
• altered bath rug
• repaired Eagle string art

Other things will still be added when the time is right. I would like to add a hanging plant, make new curtains, hang up Dax's Elk head and add a little more wall decor. I don't like too many decorations, but I think the bedroom could use a few more things.

This project morphed into something wonderful and different than my original plan. It captures the feeling I wanted in there. I call the vibe in my bedroom Desert Romance. It's earthy and vibrant. I love it.
One more before:

AFTER:

 Before:

 AFTER:

Project Master Suite and a sweet new baby!

My husband went hunting for 8 days. So naturally it was time to do a home improvement project. Because the schedule and demands of 5 kids and a new church assignment aren't enough when I'm by myself. It's my way of dealing with stress: just add projects. (Which equal more stress.) BUT. IT WAS AWESOME. I painted my guts out for 5 days. That is how long it takes for one girl to paint an entire master bedroom and bath.

Here is my bathroom. (There is a door that closes on this part and the sinks are outside the door.) I got it all painted and it was just so WHITE. I love white but it was cold and un-inviting. Dax told me it just needed a little color to warm it up. I got this cute shower curtain hoping that was the ticket.

It was okay. But still too eh. I took it down and tried a different shower curtain. Still not it.

Enter rug of wonder.

Saw this rug on CB2.com and fell in love with the colors and lines. Reminds me of a desert sunrise. Like the St. George sunrises that accompanied the blossoming love story of 2 college students 14 years ago... I had to paint it in my bathroom.

 The minute the orange paint touched the wall, I knew this was IT.

I got to this point and my husband came home from his hunting trip after 8 days and no cell service. I left him and Preslie and took my 3 younger kids to meet their new baby cousin! We fell in love!

Meet my new niece, Audrey. She is the sweetest little chompy baby!

The kids gushed over her for an hour after we left. She IS really wonderful.
We went and saw my people in WJ, and went to church with my bro and his fam. Tyrel and I both got the memo to wear rust to church. I love my little brother! A dude approached him in Elder's Quorum and asked who that lady was he was sitting by in sacrament mtg. Then asked if she was single. NOPE. Ha.

Back home and back to my project. I started working on the stripes, which took the most time because I had to wait til the previous stripe was dry before I started on the next one. I used the yellow frog tape (for delicate surfaces-cuz it is freshly painted) and this technique for getting crisp, straight paint lines.

YAY! It warmed it right up in there. Now THAT's the ticket. And Dax is happy the ladder is out of the shower.

Inspiration: Transfer rug from CB2.com

Inspiration is everywhere. I am learning so much and I have more projects to go! I love the creative process; how ideas come and how I can transform and translate them into something that fits my vision. This is therapy for me. It sure beats paying a shrink!

NO! vember

Seriously NO. Why is it another month?! The time racing by makes my heart race with stress that I'm not getting my projects done fast enough. I DID make massive progress today, though. I got half my bedroom painted and it is so much brighter and fresher in there already.

 I had the cutest helpers! My room has a lot of angles and it is really tall at the highest point. Here is me sitting at the top of my closet. That dark wall to my left went bye bye.

 For the color I chose, I went 2 shades lighter on the paint strip. It is also the color of my ceiling, so that makes for some easy cut in (none). I am happy with the change already! More work to be done, though. So much more.

Moving backwards through the month of October... Halloween:

(the girl on the end on the right was Katniss..notice the bow. She looks like her! I love when people dress up as characters they look like. I always love a creative idea/ homemade/ made up costumes)

Totally thought of the boys' costumes day before...Mack was a zombie clown (did his own make-up) and Hunter was a greasy mechanic. The "greese" wore off. He unpicked the name tag from the coveralls. For some reason, he didn't want to be a mechanic named Elvis.

I got a new niece named Audrey! Can't wait to meet her! Dax got to already! Yay for babies.

 I made this roman shade for my friend's daugthers' room! It turned out way fun. I can't wait to go over and see it hung up in the window.

Hunter was awarded his Arrow of Light. Hard to believe that little Wolf in my scout den has graduated to boy scouts!

Hunter joined his school's Math Olympiad (which I think is a club for smart kids). I am way happy about it!

We really enjoyed Preslie's choir concert and her Halloween dance show. It is fun to see my kids develop talents.

We went deer hunting with my family. My Dad, brother, bro-in-law, husband, and I all had tags. We camped with my aunt, uncle and 2 of my cousins. A couple of my brothers came up to camp for fun. The kids liked the gophers that popped their heads out right in camp.

 It was Hunter's birthday while we were out camping. I surprised the pants off him and brought his long lost bud from Salt Lake out to spend a couple days with us. Hunter blew out his candles atop a dutch oven cobbler.

Opening morning I rode with Dax and we hiked around looking for deer. We saw a cow elk, a porcupine, and a blue jay. Also a doe or three. We didn't get a deer but had fun. I really don't enjoy shooting animals. I do love to camp, hike, and visit my family. Many of my extended family hunt and that is when I get to see them. I took a selfie of us out hunting. Later I saw how weird it turned out and noticed my camera was on fish eyeball setting. WHY is that a setting? Not useful.

My Dad brings pumpkins for the kids to carve every year at deer camp. They love it. My Dad is a great host and always shares his trailer, food, and supplies with us. He is the biggest kid of all and wants everyone to have as fun as he does.

I gave Hunter a chess set for his birthday and he is getting way into it. He played Dax and beat him. Dax got so frustrated. It was so funny/sad. Hunter felt all bad and guilty for winning his dad. Dax is really mellow and easy going but once in a while, his competitive streak shines through and he looses that warm fuzzy vibe that we all love about him. Playing games with my in-laws makes me think competitive-ness may run in the family! Ha!

 I took Mack with me to go back to deer camp a couple days later to see Trent and Kenzi who had driven in from Seattle. It was fun to visit them but Mack got a fever right when we got there and felt crappy the whole night. I drove him home the next morning.

 My littles ran the Spook Scoot race. They were awesome! They ran their hearts out. I ran along with Quinn and cheered her on. She was a delight. I was so impressed with their good attitudes and perseverance. A mile is far for such short legs.

 I took Mack and Quinn with me to Salt Lake for a funeral. On the way we saw this rad Moose. I pulled over and snapped some pics. It was SO cool to see. We were very close. Mack and I loved it.

 The funeral we went to was for my little nephew's Mom (Matt's wife). Seriously, people write movies that are as crazy as Matt's real life. It was really sad and hard. I feel sad for Matt and his son. The only thing worse than losing your wife, is losing her twice (3 times, actually). It was bad for a week or so there. My whole family mourned. My little Mack cried and cried that his cousin didn't have a Mom. Things are going to be ok. Life is hard sometimes.

I am sorry to write about such crappy stuff on my happy little blog but sometimes life isn't fun. A person's choices affect so many more people than just them. The more I get to know people, the more I realize that no one is exempt from hard times. So many people I love are dealing with so much. People that seemingly have it all together. I've learned time and time again to never ever judge someone; you never know what they are going through or struggling with. So many people that I think have everything going for them are carrying heavy burdens. This month I went to visit a friend in town who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  I have served in cub scouts with this rad girl and she is one of my sewing buddies. She went from an energetic mother of 5 to losing her breasts and her hair-plus other horrible side effects of chemo (and cancer in general). It is amazing to me how people recover from the blows life dishes out. I just want to reach out to people and lift them a tiny bit to make things a little easier to bear. Here is a quote I read in the Nov 2014 New Era that hits home:
"We came to mortal life precisely to grow from trials and testing. Challenges help us become more like our Father in Heaven, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible to endure those challenges. I testify that as we actively come unto Him, we can endure every temptation, every heartache, every challenge we face." Richard G. Scott

Ok, here is a weird thing- I got released from primary! WHAT?! I'm now the Relief Society meeting coordinator (Enrichment leader). I cried about leaving primary. Mack sobbed. It has been an emotional month! I will attend Relief Society tomorrow for the first time in a year. I have come to love primary. It isn't just babysitting like I thought it would be. Miracles happen there. The kids are so bright and know so much about their Savior and His gospel. I never thought I could feel the spirit in primary with all the wiggly and loud kids but I was so wrong. I've loved being in primary with my own kids, too. I will miss them! Our Primary program in sacrament meeting was this month. So cute. Quinn sang her heart out. Also at one point she walked up on the stand and grabbed a microphone and started singing into it. Little diva wanted to be the star.

Among lots of these other things, my master bedroom project is constantly on my brain. I wake up in the early morning hours and immediately my mind starts racing with lists and ideas and plans. Then my heart starts racing. Then my eye starts twitching. I have GOT to get this baby done. I need to sleep and feel content in my own bedroom! I know that sounds so crazy but it is real and exciting and annoying. Having my room done will add quality and years to my life. This is happening. Watch me do it!