Preston's Bedroom Update: Some Before Pics and a Plan

Our oldest, Preston, recently turned 11.  I blinked and he went from giggles and diapers to a seven day a week athlete and superstar big brother.  And I am sure turning my attention to him for a day is a bit embarrassing, but come on, that is my job right?

To amp the embarrassment factor, here are some shots of my little, big buddy now...

Preston is an incredible kid.  I could be that mom that goes overboard on the proud factor and the bajillion-and-one reasons why I adore him.  

However, the organizing gene, he does not have.

Never has.

I always hope to give him the tools and systems he needs to make his life a bit simpler and easier to manage, but there are times where we see that he needs a little extra boost.  Papers forgotten, uniforms forgotten, scheduling snafus, etc.... 

When it comes to being helpful, this kid is just that.  He is always willing to help out with household chores and spending time with his brothers.  He really takes ownership of his daily responsibilities, and does housework without earning an allowance.  We have always explained to our kids that we all work together as a family, and our home is just that, OURS.  So we all do our part in taking care of our home.  By helping out, they earn technology time or time with friends... but I want to do something a little more for my big buddy.

I recently realized when I asked Preston to tidy up his room, that even after a quick pick-up, his room is one of the most neglected and really lacks any organization.  His growing and changing needs should be addressed, and finishing touches need to be put in place to make his room feel like a place he wants to spend time in.  A place to hang out with friends, to do his homework, to practice his guitar and to chill out with a good book or to some tunes.

Looking at the pictures I took today {yes, I hi-jacked his room without telling him and took "as-is" before photos that are very true to life, I didn't even straighten the bed}, I feel a bit awful that his room is so blah.  

I also thought it would be fun to go above and beyond, and do my first ever "before" video tour.  Just to give a good picture of the space, the layout, and why it just isn't working for him.

And for those having trouble viewing the oh so exciting room tour, here are a couple of pictures of his space in its current state:

The good thing, is it is a complete blank slate!  It is always important to focus on the positives right?

So, here is what I am thinking.  Just a quick Style Tile to give us some direction.

• We really want to DIY as much as possible in the space, so a giant chalkboard calendar to help with tasks and dates will be the primary way we fill up the empty wall.
• He already has a nightstand, he just needs some better lighting since he reads in bed every evening, so I am thinking of going with an oil rubbed bronze swing arm option.
• The bed frame and foot board I found at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $50.  Looking around online at similar styles, they typically run from $500 - $1500 so I think I scored pretty big!  I like the idea of doing soft gray plaid bedding to balance all of the blue in the room.
• Above the bed, some over sized letters sprayed in a vibrant red will be a jolt of color the room needs.
• The light fixture will be a basic drum shade that we purchased for my brother's apartment a few months ago, and never ended up using.  
• I am determined to learn how to sew.  And Preston's curtains will be the first project I tackle, and they will be done in a navy damask fabric.  His curtain rod will be updated to an oil rubbed bronze finish.
• Right now his desktop is just a piece of painted MDF that was a bit too thin for the project and now bows if too much weight is applied.  I thought it would be fun to DIY a dark wood stained desktop to make it more sturdy and manly {similar to this tutorial found here}.  The grey chair we already own.
• The second I saw this dresser makeover, I knew it was the perfect solution for Preston's hand-me-down green goblin.  I can't wait to get started!
• A few baskets to hold his sports apparel and some tweaks to his desk storage and we will be all set!

Let's chat about the "tweens".  What have you done to help your growing kiddo be more organized through all of the busy schedules and life changes?

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IHeart an Organized OlioHop!

A few weeks back I blogged about how I now use Olioboard as my way of creating room Style Tiles, which are also known as room design mood boards.  I shared how amazingly awesome, easy and free the program is and how it can really give you an idea of how a space can look, before actually taking the plunge and purchasing and assembling everything.

What I really love about Olioboard is that you can also use it as a way to help with your organizing projects, and to show you, I was personally invited to be part of a super sweet bloghop {a.k.a. Oliohop} being hosted by Olioboard!

I sway from time to time on my favorite spaces to design and organize.  Some days I may say playrooms, others I may lean towards craft rooms and office spaces.  Maybe I am drawn to both types of spaces since they are often times considered "creative" zones and also because they require additional organization and storage due to all of the items that are typically packed into these multifunctional spaces.

Since I already shared my "Playroom Must Haves", I thought today I would share my Organized Office Must Haves.  Then, for fun, I will share how I used Olioboard to help me whip up an example of an uber organized and stylish home office space {because the two should totally go hand in hand right?!}

So without further ado, my home office must haves:

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The basic foundation of any office is a proper workspace, which should be sizable enough to handle basic bill paying and everyday office duties.

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Whether sitting for a couple of minutes to check up on a few emails or for many continuous hours telecommuting, some cush for your tush will ensure you are left smiling at the end of your work session.

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Working in poorly lit spaces can cause strain on your peepers, so I always recommend some sort of task lighting both on the work surface and also overhead.

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One of the main functions of the home office is to manage all of those family and personal papers and documents.  Everything from bills to "To Do" lists, paper piles can stack up quickly.  Proper paper storage, whether wall mounted, a filing cabinet, or a combination of both, will keep the workspace clutter free.

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Not every home office is intended to host a variety of crafts, but many do by nature.  From fabric and sewing materials to scrapbooking and wrapping supplies, every last function should be considered.  Larger armoires and cabinets are a great way to stash away craft materials of all sizes, and adding in baskets and jars for the smaller items gives you the perfect combination of great crafting storage.

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Some of my favorite workspaces come with a pop of pattern and color.  Whether on the floor, on the wall or brought in through chair upholstery, pattern will ensure that the space where you "work" will leave you feeling inspired and cheerful.

So now that we know all of the items I am sure to consider and incorporate when working on any home office, I thought I would turn to Olioboard to go through the checklist and create the ultimate functional and organized workspace!

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A fabulous desk combined with two super soft office chairs sets the stage for the space.  Task lighting doesn't have to be specific to swing arm lamps, a pretty table lamp can be equally as effective and bring some style to the room.  To manage paper clutter, a combination of wall mail sorters and a colorful filing cabinet should cover both current and archived paper piles.  Let's say this space is also doubling as a small studio, a tall armoire with glass doors, wire baskets and glass jars, allow the craft supplies and fabric swatches to remain visible and inspirational.  To bring in the pattern, the lovely wallpaper on a focal wall {or lining the back of the craft cabinet}, would be sure to be the icing on the organized office cake.  And never forget the fresh flowers!  No space is complete without them.

Isn't it neat how the moodboard covered all of the essential office requirements?  You could even go down to the specifics of pencil cup holders and drawer dividers if you wish!  Love.

Interested in seeing how other super creative and talented bloggers used Olioboard to conquer clutter?  Check out the links below!

Chaotically Creative 

Dabble in Chic 

Design Magnifique

Go Simply Savvy

Focalpoint

Frugal Finds

Homestyling101

Urban Eclectic Interiors

Pinklet and C

Push Interiors

Seaside Interiors

Selma Hammer Designs

Stacy Naquin Interiors

White Linen Interiors

Wisteria Home

Olioboard wants you to join into the fun as well!  Create an Olioboard to conquer one of your spaces and leave a link in the comments below!  I can't wait to see what you come up with!

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A Sweet and Simple Style Tile Tutorial

An extremely frequent question I receive is how to create room Style Tiles, similar to this one:

Style Tiles are a great way to get a visual idea for a room before you begin to give your space a facelift, or even if you are starting from scratch.  And because I highly recommend going into those types of updates with some sort of a plan, I knew I wanted to address the question and answer it on the blog.  However, thinking of how long it takes me to create one Style Tile, made me realize that trying to explain it may be a twelve hour post.  Ish.

Then, I recently discovered Olioboard, and I can say with confidence that it was a huge Style Tile time and sanity saver!

I know there are probably 101 blog posts out there on the subject of Olioboard, so add another to the list, but when find something that I love, I feel that it is my duty to share.

What is Olioboard?

Very simply put, it's an online moodboard creator.  I call them Style Tiles, but same difference.  And it's FREE! 

So here is my Olioboard story and "How To"...

I have a bestest friend who has a little boy, Nash, and he is one of my most favorite people.  Nash is turning three and is getting a "big boy" bedroom, so I was asked if I would offer up some ideas to pull it all together.  She already has the bed, dresser and bedding, so that is what I had to work with as a starting off point.  And the kid LOOOOOOOOOOOVES "diggers"!  And trucks, tractors, firetrucks... you name it, if it has wheels and is loud, he is a major fan.

Everything else is pretty much a blank slate of a room. 

I typically use Photoshop to create my Style Tiles, and because I am completely self taught and not super swift with it, it takes me a really looong time to put one together.  Saving all of the images from the web, opening them, cutting and cropping them, pasting them into a board, sizing, layering, etc.... 

So, with this new project, I thought I would give the Olioboard site a try.  I had heard so much about it in blogland that I figured it must be pretty awesome.  But for some reason I was putting it off, probably because I have a fear of learning curves and the time it takes to get used to something new.  Now that I have played with it, I wish I would have tried it months ago! 

When you sign up on the site, it's as simple as clicking a button to create a new moodboard.

Once you get started, you have a blank board to work with.  On the right side of the screen there is an online catalog filled with endless amounts of items to browse and include within the board itself!

Since I already knew a few of the items being used in the room, I did a quick search for those products, but came up short.  Since I knew they were from Target, I went to the Target site and found them, and then using the Olioboard button on my Firefox toolbar {just like a Pinterest "Pin It" button}, I was able to basically pin the item to my Olioboard account.

It creates a link back to the original site too, which is great for future reference.

If you still can't find what you are looking for, you can also upload your own images to the site:

So, I started adding a few items to my board.  It was as simple as finding it in the catalog and dragging it onto the board.

Once on the board, a circle appears over the object selected.  Using your mouse, you can hold the orange lever and rotate, enlarge or shrink.  You can also click the object itself to move it around on the board, or use the menu above to flip, move from front to back, crop, etc...

I started adding the items I had already come up with in my brain {am I the only one putting rooms together while laying in bed trying to fall asleep?}

Once of my favorite features can be seen within the green lamp above.  See how it is hovering the other images, all nicely cropped around the entire lamp?  Yeah, Olioboard did that automatically.  It cuts the objects out for you so you can nicely layer them and really get a good idea of how things play with one another. 

I just kept plucking away until I had this {only minutes later!}:

So far things were going swimmingly.  As I added new items, I could easily move and size ones I already had placed.  Piece of cake!  Now, the room still was far from feeling complete, but my brain dump was done and I needed some more inspiration.  Off to shop the Olioboard gallery!

I knew I needed to find a nightstand of some sort, so I started there.  A simple search by category gave me a boatload of fabulous results and ideas! 

And because there were so many results, you can narrow things down even further if you would like, you can even search by color scheme:

Once I had my nightstand selected, Olioboard provided me with a link to the product's website, along with the cost of the item as well:

So using Olioboard's catalog, I found the remaining items, which included a pendant light fixture, fabric for DIY roman shades and some additional storage and accessories!

I also like that along the way, Olioboard was reminding me to save my project so I wouldn't lose any of my work.  And once I was done, it was simple to save, publish, share and even create an image file of the project!

So when all was said and done, I was able to take this:

To this:

{product sources can be found here}

Pretty sweet eh?  And now I can pop over an image to my pal Erin and see what she thinks!  Easy peasy!

If she doesn't love something, it's super simple to access the project, make a switch and re-save it.  But lets just hope that she adores it...

So there you have it, my super exciting, fun, free, easy, time saving find.  I know I have already mentioned about 2,467 reasons why I love it, but one of the best features is that you don't need any special or expensive program to do this {cough cough, Photoshop}.  Just the internet since it's all web based.  And I am quite positive there are all sorts of other cool features that I haven't found yet, but I can't wait to dig in more and keep learning. 

Writing this got me wondering, what one thing have you or did you put off, just because you thought it would take too long to learn?  Who else has fallen hard for Olioboard?  Feel free to leave a comment linking to your favorite Olioboard projects, I would love to see what you all are coming up with!

Pssst!  I wasn't paid or swayed to write up this post.  In fact, Olioboard has zero clue who I am.  I just wanted to share something awesome with you fine friends!

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Catherine's Birthday Surprise Bedroom Makeover

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been working on some spaces with a local blog reader, Becky.  She and I had such a great time making over her dining area and living room, that I was blessed to be invited back to help her in surprising her daughter with a bedroom update as well! 

Seriously?  A little girl's room?  I. Could. Not. Wait!  And the fact that is was a birthday gift was the icing on the cake!

The room was previously being used by their son, but it was soon going to be Catherine's new personal haven.  Here is the blank slate I was given to work with:

Catherine already had a lovely white bed frame and I was given some fabric swatches her incredibly talented grandmother was using to make her new birthday quilt, which is what I used as inspiration for the entire room.

The plan was to paint the room a super light and airy neutral {I selected Behr's White Truffle}.  This was beyond my comfort zone as I typically want to add boatloads of color to a space.  However, my goal was to give her a room she could grow with, so neutral was the name of the game.  To give the walls a little extra interest, I proposed a stripe focal wall {painted in Behr's Ocean Pearl}.  A simple valance would have to do the trick, since the window would be tightly framed with furniture due to the overall size of the room.  A gallery wall of frames filled with the fabric swatches would add some life to the walls, as would a large tree decal combined with 3D wallflowers.  She already owned a desk and chair, I just proposed the desk legs be softened with some twine.  The light fixture was still builders grade, so I envisioned a simple drum shade to replace it.  Finally a decorative mirror, floral pillow and baskets for the closet would finish things off.

Here is the kicker.  Because we wanted to surprise Catherine, the whole project was going to be done in a single day.  You read that right.  ONE DAY!  To make this happen, I gave Becky some homework, like getting the walls painted with the solid color and priming these pieces of furniture that I planned on reusing in the space:

The hubs and I showed up on Saturday morning, goodies and tools in hand, and went straight to work.  Bryan started taping out the stripes on the wall...

While I quickly gave the furniture a coat of paint {which was already primed for me}: 

Once I was done painting the night stand and storage cabinet, it was time to tackle the striped focal wall:

While the paint dried, Bryan began installing a new closet system, very similar to the one we used in our boy's bedroom here.  I took the 14 cabinet knobs outside and stuck them through a piece of cardboard to be sprayed:

Still lots to do!  Like dress up the owl lamp shade with ribbon and the desk legs with twine:

And install that giant tree decal:

Once the knobs were dry, they were a little too bright pink for my liking.  So, I just used a craft paint dobber to add a softer rosey pink dot to the middle:

Bryan finished up the closet, installed the hanging drum pendant, valance, picture ledge, mirror and a surprise chalk board feature.  The sun was starting to go down and we just finished in time to snag a couple of photos before the big reveal!

So what did Catherine think? 

The reveal went wonderful.  She entered with bright eyes and after a solid, "Wow!" she was basically left speechless!  I loved watching her sit on her new pouf and just take it all in.  You could feel her delight and it was a very touching and amazing experience to be a part of!

I had so much fun working with Becky and her family on their spaces, a huge THANK YOU goes out to them for letting me invade their home and play with paint!

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