B&A: nursery

Hi all! Today I'm going to share the before&after of Melrose's other guest bedroom! As most of you know, this guest bedroom started off as a gender neutral room with two twin beds, and now it is officially a nursery for Baby Owens (due in 9 days by the way). If you missed it, here is the post of how the room took shape with the twin beds, sans the rest of the furniture, and my inspiration for the room. I knew it would eventually be a nursery so I wasn't in too big of a rush to finish it up. Along the way I updated my inspiration boards with the nursery additions and just recently shared a sneak peek of the room! Now, all the decor is in place and we are patiently awaiting Baby Owens' arrival to make the room complete! 

Here is a quick, not-so-great-quality before picture of the room so you can see the full transformation. The room was a pale yellow with a super fancy frog and bug fan (the previous owners loved silly, kid fans if you remember seeing the hot pink flower power one in the other guest bedroom!). 

The wall color didn't change too drastically, but I chose Benjamin Moore's Elephant Tusk for this room. I thought it was a nice, soft cream that would set the tone for a gender neutral room. We replaced the fan with a simple, white ceiling fan. 

And, here is how the room looks now! 

I decided to keep the gold task lamps and I am pretty happy with them now! They don't take up too much room and I like the directional lighting they provide - it saved me from having to take up more space in the corner with a reading lamp. 

One of my favorite additions - a sweet ultrasound picture of Baby Owens at 18 weeks. See his cute little legs all curled up!?

I decided to use a simple, sitting chair instead of a rocker or glider due to the amount of room in the corner and I think it is going to work out perfectly. We actually have a recliner in the den that we can use for rocking, if needed. I was immediately sold on this soft orange velvet chair and love the color it brings into the room. 

The mobile that kicked start all of my inspiration for the nursery! It is handmade by a super talented Etsy seller and I'm obsessed with all her hand knitted animal mobiles. She is definitely worth checking out!

The glass box on the shelf will be used to collect all of Baby Owens' special momentos. The brass shoe bookend is made from one of Brandon's first pairs of baby shoes! 

I love these black and white striped canvas bins from the container store! They helped me organize everything in our tiny closet and they even match the room decor. 

So, what do you think? I'm so happy to have it "ready" before his arrival, but now I am so anxious to meet our sweet baby boy! If you want to see all the sources from the nursery, check out my inspiration board or feel free to email me. Hope you all have a great rest of the week! 

UPDATE: melrose guest bedroom2

I took some quick pictures to update you on the status of Melrose's second guest bedroom. It is no where near done, but I thought it would be fun to share the progress. If you remember, I posted some inspiration images revolving around twin beds and these mock ups here -

Since then, I have purchased the bedding and bed frames, installed the gold curtain rod, hung the olive curtains, purchased the jute rug, and found a few other odds and ends.  I've been heavily debating on what type of dresser to get to fit between the beds (this one picture is no longer offered) - full of drawers, an open shelf, black, wood stain, cream or white?!?! So many choices! I think I have finally settled on a black stained piece with two small drawers on top and an open shelf for easy storage (baskets would be perfect) below. The wide dresser on the opposite wall (the awkward blank space is the above layout) is still up for discussion and seems like the never ending search. Here is an updated front layout -

Don't you love the clouds in the windows!?

I have also decided to go a different direction on the lamps. The original cream ceramic ones just seemed too big for the room, so I found these gold adjustable desk lamps that are much more size appropriate. Here is a sneak peek at the guest bedroom is real life so far ... 

So obviously the tan wicker tall dresser will be removed and I'm still waiting to purchase a natural cow hide rug to layer on top of this chevron jute rug. The only section not featured in these photos is the opposing wall that will have a wide dresser with a mirror above. So, what do you think so far!? 

It sorta reminds me of this boys' room I spotted on pinterest recently - 

I love the antlers and natural elements used in this room. And those are definitely RH iron beds I spot too! 

If you caught my instagram news from over the weekend then eventually the room is going to look something like this with the addition of a you know what! Stay tuned ;)

If you want to see all my options for the guest bedroom, check out my pinterest board! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and weekend!

B&A: guest bedroom

As I said, I have been slowly working on a reveal post for one of Melrose's guest bedrooms and I finally have all my pictures together! It really isn't that special, but I still wanted to show some before and after photos. Maybe you will think it is special! Here is the room when we first moved into Melrose ... very pink-i-licious, right!?

Can you believe I sold that fabulous fan in our yard sale for $15!?

And, here is the new room! Awhile back I hinted at a project using an ikat stencil, well, that project got vetoed once I saw these curtains. I had been eying them for awhile and they eventually went on sale - plus I received an awesome gift card from my SIL so I was sold! I think they really tie in the colors in my painting and the soft mauve on the walls. The antlers are from etsy and believe it or not, they are from Alabama!

I ordered the John Robshaw quilt and shams from One Kings Lane and paired it with a coverlet from Pottery Barn. Again, the gold bedding picks up the yellow tones in the painting above. I found this deep teal bolster pillow at World Market for a perfect accent pillow.

I love this pretty little dried arrangement from floresdelsol. It adds texture to the room, but is neutral enough to not overpower the bold, floral drapes. This etsy shop has a lot of great options and even some bright colors!

I don't even remember where I initially saw these rustic swing arm sconces, but I fell in love with them from the start. I knew they would be perfect for this room because the bedside tables are so small and don't leave much room for table lamps. Hanging them was very tricky, but they haven't fallen off the wall yet! If you are interested in purchasing some, search around on the web because I found a Nashville dealer that shipped them to me for an amazing price!

My revised work area where I create all my the good stuff designs! I love the gold picture light above my inspiration board and I hope to get a brass desk lamp to match. I posted a long time ago about this work area, but it has evolved since seeing other inspiring offices. I promise you, it doesn't stay nearly this tidy!

Some fun pictures of friends and family, calligraphy inspiration, beautiful design pieces, and my most recent project - the backyard design!

I am on the lookout for a rug to add and possibly 2 stools to sit under the large window. I feel like the window seems so empty and needs something, but maybe once I get a rug it will look more "complete". Any suggestions? Please share! 

B&A, 1/2 WAY: KB's guest room

I finally have my desk area setup in one of the guest bedrooms and I wanted to share the progress. Remember my desk inspiration post? Well, it finally all came together and "the good stuff" is up and going! In the future, this room will house my grandmother's beautiful bedroom suit (that I currently use and have since college) and I will update you on those additions. But until then, this is the guest bedroom before:

As you can probably guess, this room previously belonged to a little girl - check out the hot pink fan too! And, if I am not mistaken this is just about the same exact color my room was when I was little - pepto bismol pink! Yikes! That color was quickly gone and replaced with Benjamin Moore's portland gray. It is a soft mauve with just enough gray for it not to look purple. I love it! I have to admit, after the first coat of tinted primer I was a little nervous, but I am completely happy now!

I wanted to choose a color from this landscape painting that I did that was not too powerful or strong. It will hang above the bed so I think the subtle mauve will accent it nicely. I hope to also bring in lots of white and golden yellows. 

And here is the room after:

A simple white fan can do a ton to a room! Now, here is where all "the good stuff" takes place:

[click on all images to enlarge]

I waited to share the final setup because it took me forever to find a simple white upholstered chair! I finally found one at Pier 1 and it is their Parson's slipcover chair bare. Such a good price too! A sweet friend, Sarah Robins, picked up the Ikea filing cabinet for me - gotta stay organized - and I purchased other desk accessories at Wal-Mart and Anthropologie. 

I am still deciding if I should do a shelf of framed pictures and prints like in my inspiration post. I believe I would shorten my inspiration board and mount the shelf about the height of the boards now. What do you think? I will probably do a mock up first and share for you to examine...