Simple Matters Makeovers for ME :)- Project #9

Alannah Vintage Rocker- Before

Mirror which will be painted white

Paisley Material to refinish stool and rocker














If you haven't discovered Simple Matters yet you definitely need to check out her website, blog and facebook page! I purchased a beautiful antique black headboard/footboard for our guest room and she is currently refinishing one of our antique dressers to put in the nursery (see previous post).  Well Jannet at Simple Matters finds vintage pieces and re-finishes them for others.  She has the business out of her home on the side in addition to being a stay at home mom. I applaud her awesomeness to refinish pieces others want to throw out. On top of that I love that it is green, and it is furniture that is quality furniture but yet antique, vintage, classic with a story that is going in our home.  Love it.. gushing sorry. Simple Matters recently posted a huge lot of new/old furniture that she was going to refinish to the clients taste.. I fell in love with the vintage rocker above Jannet calls Alannah. It reminds me of the chair my Grandpa used to sit in everyday in his den and my mom now has one in her living room.  Recently I spoke about the post Inspired Room did on making your home resemble you and living with things you love and have meaning. I am really striving to make rooms resemble us and our history. The crib is the same style Nate and I had as babies. The dresser is an antique and now the rocker looks just like my Grandpa Tom's.  I also thought it would be a nice addition and it could be used in multiple rooms other than just a nursery.  I went ahead and purchased it from Jannet.. paid the deposit to start the work(good thing because some other ladies had their eyes on my rocker Jannet named Alannah). She is going to paint Alannah's wood white to match the other existing pieces that are going to be in our nursery and to lighten the look.  After she is going to recover in my choice of fabrics. Ideally if it was going in our master room I would have done a linen with  blue ticking strip (PB inspired). But it was going in the nursery probably for a couple of years and will later take residence in our living room or master. The colors in all of these rooms are consistently shades of  blue, white and chocolate.  I needed to find a classic fabric that  wasn't too trendy but also with those colors and not to masculine or girly. I thought stripes first but I wasn't thrilled. I kept going back to the paisley design.  I bought the yardage and it is being sent to Jannet to refinish.  I think the paisley will fit the era of the rocker well and might even look like it was made for it.  I also found a stool on etsy that I am going to paint and recover to match the rocker.. perfect!  My mom's and Grandpa's rocker's had a matching foot stool and seeing how the chair will be in the nursery first and later in our living areas of the house I felt it needed something to kick up our feet. I am going to paint the wood of the stool white too and cover in the exact same fabric and the feet of the stool don't match Alannah but our beautiful Jenny Lind spindles from the crib.  Here is the bonus- Nate loves watching golf and rocking in  his office chair ..I think he will be watching lots of golf in our new addition of Alannah. Hoping Jannet will have Alannah and the dresser ready around Spring Break.  On top of all that goodness!!! I found an awesome mirror too! She is going to paint it white so I can put it in the nursery or it might find residence above the mantel for a bit.  I can't wait to see all the pieces in our cleaned out 3rd bedroom (cleaning out over spring break). I think it is going to be the perfect mix of vintage classic mixed with modern.. just my style.

Enjoy the before pics and I hope to post after pics soon!! Wohoo Spring Break is 6 work days away!!!! I can see the light..

Go Ahead and Pass your Judgement Now..

Jenny Lind Crib

Our Antique Dresser to be finished as the one below (without the glass knobs)

So you are probably looking at this thinking.. hmm did I miss an announcement?? No you haven't. But since I am more comfortable talking about the joys and pains of my life, I felt this is a safe place for me to share. In October of this past year I lost a child. I was almost thru the first trimester and clearing into the second and I lost the baby. We weren't trying to get pregnant, we actually had plans to wait. I wanted to finish my Masters in Education and get thru my first year of teaching. Nate and I also wanted to travel more..save more.. enjoy life prior to kids. But even with out a planned pregnancy it didn't hurt any less when I lost that baby.

That day they told me I had misscarried it all changed in a blink of an eye. My heart hurt in ways I wasn't sure it had ever hurt before. My mind and heart started playing war against each other. Placing blame on myself and just wallowing in the loss I had just lost. I had a hard time seeing other babies, seeing pregnant women.. it was hard for a long time. I am happy to say I am much better now than a couple months ago.

 So Nate and I soon decided after the loss, I would not take precautions anymore such as birth control and we would leave it in God's plan. Jump ahead 2 months to Christmas. I was majorly late (think 2 weeks late) and we started to think (get excited) that I might be pregnant again. But God had other plans and I am trusting in his plans that he knows when we will be blessed by a baby (whether it be naturally or adopted). I know God knows that I would love to be a mother and that he has plans for our family.

But accepting God's plan isn't as easy for me as it is for some. I had this huge loss and than each month I'd get my hopes up thinking maybe I am expecting,  to be told by my body I am wrong again. So not everyday am I focused on it but there are little reminders all that time that dig at my heart, dig at that pain of my loss each time. I know if you have lost a baby you know exactly what I am referring to.

Nate & I have been slowly preparing our house for a baby. One because it is time consuming, but two because it involves planning and money. Due to the fact that we are both teachers that means our budget allows for big purchases to be spread out and planned for because it is not in our bank accounts to purchase it all at once. We are really trying to not put things on credit cards and pay off all debts before baby too. So we have planned and planned. I love planning..lol.  Spring Break is right around the corner so we are cleaning the garage in preparation for the book shelves to come out of the 3rd bedroom. We plan on moving the kitties boxes and food out of the 3rd bedroom to the garage too. We are also planning on painting it since it is the only room in the house that hasn't seen paint yet. It will also be upgraded to a new fan/light fixture because fans are a must in Texas. As I said planning is my best friend. Nate & I have talked of all the changes that need to be made, alot of em involve things I couldn't do once I am expecting (paint, cat boxes, lifting), so we see it fit to be done over Spring Break when I can help. That way it isn't so many projects to be done once we are and relying just on Nate to do em. 

Even with all those changes being made I sometimes feel like a baby won't happen.  Though deep in my heart I know God has a plan, I feel as if I am not in control. If you didn't already know this about me I am kinda a control freak. With Nate around I can say truthfully this bad habit has calmed down a bit- but I am still a control freak. Guess what I am saying is we have to plan for a baby for $ reasons but I also wanted to feel as if I am in control.

The process for planning for a baby started when I lost the baby. I thank decided I was going to pro baby and get our lives in order for one. Slowly Nate & I have been doing this. I get free books online thru Scholastic and I have started collecting them for the baby. Kind of like a hope chest. My gf did a hope chest full of baby items for her little one. So I felt saving books is educational but also helps me realize that one day I will have a little one. Than it moved on to budgeting for furniture for the baby's room.

We needed a dresser for the nursery and Nate wanted it all wood. So in comes our antique dresser. I want the nursery to be all white. Nate hates painting wood.. but I want it white...lol. So he gives in and we have Simple Matters paint the dresser. The finished product will look very similar to the picture above but with out the glass knobs. I love the glass knobs but I am not sure they will work for a boy. The dresser is currently with Jannet at Simple Matters and is waiting to be painted. I can't wait to see it. So we have the dresser.. next big item to be purchased would be a crib. But we are on a budget and I have had my eye on one that wasn't.

I love Jenny Lind Cribs and since we chose the antique dresser I felt it would be a perfect tribute to the room and to Nate & I. Jenny Lind Cribs were big time popular when we were little. I had one as a baby but in walnut color. So I have sat and drouled over Jenny Lind cribs in nurseries all over blog land. Check our Holly Mathis Interiors to see a beautiful baby boy nursery.  Her website is http://www.hollymathisinteriors.com/.

I started looking online and couldn't find one that was in our budget. I thought about waiting to purchase one used but with all the recalls I decided I would purchase one new and be safe. If we were going to have to go thru lossing a baby and trying for another I wanted to make smart choices in what we chose for our future child..especially for safety of things.

 Well I ran across Jenny Lind Line at Land of Nod. You can find this beautiful Jenny Lind inspired crib here: http://www.landofnod.com/cribs/baby/time-to-turn-in-crib/f7006 . But with the hefty $600 price tag and it doesn't convert I couldn't rationalize spending that much on a crib to be used for a year. Plus it has a ton of feminine details and we aren't sure we are having a girl so I wanted it to be a girl or boys crib. Back to the drawing board to find an original inspired Jenny Lind Crib.   I searched tons of websites- some had them with drop downs- NOPE, some had em not in our price range and some had them but were out of stock.

Finally, I found one! This weekend it was 25% off and there was free shipping. I recieved the email between Friday and Saturday morning. DONE!! I couldn't resist free shipping and a sale. Plus with the sale and shipping the crib was now under 200 bucks (which means it is definately in budget)!! Hello the sale gods were telling me to order it. On top of all that goodness it is a 3in1 crib so converts to toodler and day bed. Horray!!

At first I thought kinda crazy to buy a crib before I am even preggo. But than I thought about people who have saved their own cribs for their future kids (wish my mom had my crib still), people who start buying stuff before hand, or getting stuff passed down from others and I felt it was justified right? In the end I don't feel guilty. We already have a closet full of baby items from friends just waiting for our baby. How is it any different than a crib. I feel like I am making a responsible planned descion towards our family's lives togeather. Especially since it was in our budget and I paid with cash!

I ordered the crib knowing it was in budget but that Nate was going to say your crazy! So I told him after I ordered it that I ordered the crib. It was on sale with free shipping. Suprisingly he was like 'oh great we'll be ready for a baby!'  I was shocked. I think after recieveing all the baby items from friends he is really ready too now that it is more of a reality with baby items in the house and not just in our imagination. He did mention that planning the bedding, paint, rug, curtains will be do much fun for me he is worried I might obsess a little once we know we are preggo and what it is..lol. Which he is right. I will prolly sit and plan our nursery for hours once I know we are preggo and what we are having. He knows me so well.

The crib is on back order now because I guess it is such a classic popular crib. I won't be expecting it at the house till May. Hopefully in May I will recieve the crib and be able to announce that there is a baby soon to sleep in it. Like my Mom says she is just as excited too but we have to Trust God and Pray.

Like the title reads- Go Ahead, Pass your Judgement Now.. I am okay with you judging me for preparing a nursery before I have the baby..I've been judged for worse things.   Like I said my heart is ready and I know God knows when the time will be right.. until than we'll wait with our beautiful crib :). So judge away- life has given me plenty of lemons already and I am choosing to make awesome pink lemonade with em. Happy Monday to all!

Aww Love

Guest Room Now I love the lamp & Night stand <3

Guest Room Now

 My painted side table with my lovely zebra chair







The New addition- full size black antique headboard & footboard

So I have been searching craigslist for a chest and long dresser for our master bedroom and also a chest for our soon to be nursery (third bedroom).  Our current dresser are malm dressers from Ikea from when I was in college and are falling apart.. we also need more storage. So I have been looking weekly. Nate insists on all wood furniture and we can't afford all wood chest and dresser for our room on top of furnishing a baby's room in the near future. Teacher budgets = craigslist.

Luckily yesterday I found a fabulous deal on a chest and long dresser that are all wood with dove tail drawers in excellent condition. I will post pics of them on Saturday.. I picked up only the chest last night because the SUV couldn't fit both of them. I pick up the dresser tomorrow. The wood is light cherry wood and our bed and nightstands are both dark espresso wood. So I am debating whether to paint the new dresser that are antiques an espresso color or leave as is. I hate to paint perfectly good antiques.. But leaving them not matching will drive me CRAZY! I also plan to trade out their handles from brass to bronze or silver to match our other hardware in the room. But enough on my sucess with dressers! While I was searching for a dresser for the third bedroom I stumbled on a post by Simple Matters. She lives in Katy (where I grew up) and she refinishes modern, vintage and antique furniture and sells them. She had just listed a black  full size headboard and footboard with rails. The wheels started rolling..

I fell in love.. debated buying it and just did it. Because we couldn't find a better deal on a all wood bed and on top of that it would look fab in our guest room.  The guest room mattress is practically brand new. I purchased it when I was living alone downtown slept on it maybe 7 months and than Nate & I moved in togeather. Since than it has been a lonely mattress without a headboard.. see the above pictures.  But it works great in our larger guest room and has been used by Nate's whole family basically when they come to visit  from Illinois & Missouri (brother, aunt, uncle, dad, mom and sister have all used it).

Because this room is basically completed and only used when we have guests .. I seem to put it off. The door stays closed so the cats don't get hair all over the bed. I felt our guests might prefer a cat/dog free room. So my intentions were to make a headboard or do a mirror collage above the bed to give some kind of focus on the bed. But I never got to it with the wedding, starting a new career and getting my masters.

  We got the mirror on the other side of the room off our registry and I wanted to add 3 or 4 more sunburst mirrors to the room. But the addition of this beautiful antique bed is perfect and I can't wait to put it togeather and show you the pics of the room completed!! I get to pick the beauty up tomorrow while Nate is still at work ( I have 1/2 days) and attempt to assemble alone.. haha most of my projects start alone until I call in the help of his guns!! I'll post pics of the finished guest room and our new dressers soon.

I think I might have a lead on a dresser for the nursery too. Solid wood selling cheap because it is painted in primary colors. I will have to repaint it white.. I see lots of primer in my future ;)

 Have a great thursday!! XoXo