Ideas for Lucy's Room

Before we moved, I had started to update Lucy's nursery to a big girl room. Her new room is massively bigger than her old little slanted space, so I want to take what I started at the old house and basically add to it. The bed, rainbow stacking toy, fawn night light, cloud mobile, wall dot decals, and baby animal artwork, and pillows were all in her former bedroom. It looked like this:

For the new room, we need new curtains (the ceilings are a lot taller on our second floor than at our former house), a new rug (bigger floor space!), a bigger dresser, and a few more accessories. We can thankfully fit the beautiful glider that we got from RH Baby & Child up our new stairs (the old ones were such a problem!), so that will be in the space as well. She's still (and will always be!) my baby, and she still loves to rock with her mama for a while before going to sleep :)

Here are a few things I would love to have for her space:

Pom Pom Curtains
Striped Rug
Cloud Pillow
"Love" wooden sign
Happy Place wall art
Vintage Dresser
Bunny Knobs
Farmhouse Light

Right now I'm trying to find the perfect warm white for her walls and scouring Craigslist for a pretty (and hopefully inexpensive!) vintage dresser. Wish me luck! xo, Lauren

Real Life on a Budget

I'm sharing my money-saving tips for home decor on Apartment Therapy. Pop on over if you'd like to check it out! xo, Lauren

An Update on Violet's Room

I've had a few people ask to post some updated pictures of Violet's space, so I had a few extra minutes the other day thanks to my parents (what would we do without them?!) and snapped some new pics. We've switched out the twin bed for a toddler bed, as I mentioned here, added a little stool/nightstand for her water cup at night, I'm trying to come up with a new rug solution because the old one had gotten pretty gross (it's REALLY hard to vacuum because it has raised areas. Remind me to never buy a rug like that again! There was definitely a reason this one was on sale), switched out the curtains (love the pretty tassels - thanks Serena & Lily!), and other than that just a few new accessories - sheets (purchased on super sale and being used in both Violet and Lucy's room), pillows, and artwork (mostly Violet's paintings and my DIY project). Just as a reminder, here's what it looked like when we moved in:

So without further ado:

I haven't done much to the dresser area, but I do have a few things I want to change, so I'll share that area after I spruce it up a bit. I have had my eye on this lamp from Land of Nod for like a decade now, so that will probably be in the mix, and I'm considering a pegboard project...stay tuned :) So there ya go. Maybe someday I'll finish up the nursery and take a few photos of Lucy's room too!
xo, Lauren

P.S. Violet's original big girl room + Violet's nursery

Sources
Tassel Curtains: c/o Serena & Lily
Pull-down Map: eBay
Wall Hooks: West Elm
Doll House: The House that Jack Built
Tiny Dollhouses: Lille Huset
Bed: IKEA
Faux Sheepskin: IKEA
Train Set: IKEA
Umbra Horizon Crunch Can: The Container Store
Stool/Nightstand: Serena & Lily
Basket for Books: Dunnes Stores
Letter "V": Anthropologie
Sheets: Anthropologie
Bench: IKEA
Bench Cushion: DIY
Bookshelves: IKEA
Star Pillow on Bed: Hello Milky
Colorful Pillow on Bench: Fine Little Day 
Gold Pillow on Bench: H&M
Mountain Poster: Fine Little Day
Blocks: How Now Design
Map Puzzle: Zulily
Alphabet Puzzle: The Land of Nod
Dresser: Craigslist Find
Star Garland: DIY

Ideas for Violet's Room

I have some credit to use over at Serena & Lily and was considering getting a new rug for Violet's room. The rug she currently has is completely annoying to keep clean - it has raised parts and lower parts and I just feel like our vacuum never gets down into all of the fibers. She's also obsessed with the colors red, blue, and purple - they're her "fave-wits," so I would love to pull some more of those colors into the room for her.

Since the last time I shared the space, we've switched her over to a toddler bed from a twin. We were trying to avoid that transition piece of furniture, but after many sleepless nights we caved and bought the toddler bed out of desperation. It was the best move we ever made! She's so much more comfortable in it - the sides give her a feeling of security and help keep her in the bed. (With the twin we ended up trying the mattress on the floor so she wasn't so high up, but she'd constantly roll out and end up laying beside her bed/half on half off/etc. What can I say, she's a thrashy sleeper just like her mama :)) She's got new bedding as well, which she LOVES ("wed, boo, and pupple" flowers - oh my!) - in fact she gets angry when I wash her sheets because she only wants to lay on her flower ones lol.

I also wouldn't mind freshening up her room with a few new accessories - some artwork to add a little more color into the space, and maybe a shiny lamp? The current print from Fine Little Day would look pretty nice in mama and papa's room. Maybe something like this:

Of course, we're on a budget with me being off of work right now, so no plans to do a big update at the moment, but hey, a mom can dream, right? So what do you think of the rug? Yea or nay?

Sources: moose rack, love you artwork, daisy print, dhurrie rug, gold dot pillowcases, poketo mobile, nosegay sheet set, wooden fox, gold lamp, heart print, floral painting, popsicle print

Life Lately

Pregnancy is one crazy ride. I was feeling great in the second trimester, and suddenly when I hit the third trimester the energy disappeared and my hormones went crazy. I was feeling so incredibly down and blue. It helped a little to know that it was a pregnancy thing, but I was at the point where I just couldn't stand feeling so blah any more. I was depressed about every ridiculous little thing and just wanted this pregnancy to be over. Thank goodness my body is finally starting to even out again and I'm feeling a little more 'normal' (or at least as normal as you can feel with a person doing flips inside of you!) I've even felt like taking some belly pictures, so you may be subjected to a few these final six weeks.

And for you other pregnant ladies out there, Old Navy currently has some of my favorite maternity tanks. They're super comfy, come in a bunch of cute colors and patterns, and can be dressed up or down. I seriously want to wear them all of the time.

In other news I feel like the nursery is really coming together now that I've gotten the fabrics:

I'm keeping all of the same furniture and probably the paint, but I wanted to freshen things up a bit with the accessories. The dhurrie rug is from West Elm - on the site it says it's "earth red" but it's really closer to raspberry pink in my book, which I love. I also got these Anthro pillowcases and am planning to sew them together to recover the window seat cushion. Serena & Lily just had a kids' bedding sale and I picked up these pretty patterned crib sheets at a bargain, and the faux sheepskin is one we've had for a long time now from IKEA. I'm so excited to finish up the space!

And last but not least I've been getting some questions about Violet's toddler bed. We went with the SUNDVIK from IKEA - great price and looove the look. Violet loves that it is small (like her) :) and has sides so she feels nice and secure. We didn't have the best experience in purchasing it (I won't get into all of that. Let's just say words were exchanged.), but I'm really happy with it in the end.

We made a few other small changes in Violet's room, so I'll probably do a full update on it soon. I just need to find time to snap a few 'real' photos (AKA not on my phone). And the best news of all is that Violet still isn't 100% but seems to be feeling much better today so fingers crossed for a speedy recovery - thank heavens for modern medicine!

xo, Lauren

Favorite Projects of 2012

Looking back at 2012, we got a lot of DIY projects (big and small) accomplished here at the H-Haus. Here are a few of my favorites from the past year:

1. DIY 'Confetti System' Ornaments

2. 10 Easy Steps to Create a Silhouette

3. DIY Play Kitchen Knobs

4. DIY Colorful Yarn Pom Pom

5. Fringed Banner DIY

6. Glitter Geometry Garland

7. Violet's Big Girl Room

8. Living Room Update

9. Dining Room Update

Looking ahead to 2013, I plan to tie up a lot of loose ends around the house before diving into anything new, but on my list would be:

1. DIY Upholstered Headboard

2. Wood floors in the master bedroom

3. Updating the nursery for the new baby

4. Painting the kitchen cabinets

5. Wood floors in the kitchen

6. Painting the entryway

And probably a few other little odds and ends along the way. Our house may be tiny, but we are hoping to spread a little DIY love to every single square inch of it - after all, it's where we spend most of our time. Here's to a happy, lovely home! xo, Lauren

Three Things

Just wanted to pop in to share a few things I'm excited about...

One: Violet slept through the night - hooray! We're trying out a reward chart to see if it helps her keep it going. More on that later.

Two - I think I felt the baby move for the first time yesterday. So much earlier than my pregnancy with Violet, but this time around I guess I know what it feels like :) Just those little flutters are making me feel so much more connected with this baby.

And Three: I wanted to thank West Elm for featuring Violet's room on their blog, Front & Main! Check it out here.

Happy Friday all! xo, Lauren

Violet's Bedroom

We've been working for what feels like ages on my daughter Violet's big girl room. It was a slow transformation from what I've dubbed a 'zebra bordello' to what we have today. (If you're curious you can see the before's over on my personal blog here). With a toddler running around we don't have much time, and our budget was tight, so we did things slowly and over time.

The starting point for the room was actually the rug. I had purchased it years ago on clearance from Anthropologie, and while I still love it, it no longer worked in the space for which it was originally intended. So rather than wasting a perfectly good rug, we decided to use it in the one unfinished space in the house - Violet's room. Working around this rug was a bit of a challenge for me. It definitely limited my color palette, as there aren't a huge amount of colors that go with chartreuse green. I was saved when I came across this lovely color palette over on Creature Comforts.

I was actually pretty excited to use pink, as I definitely did not use traditional girly colors in her nursery.   I knew that I didn't want the walls to be pink just in case she got a little older and decided she hated pink, so we went with a creamy neutral. That left me with the bedding and dresser to douse in as much pink as I pleased. I originally scoured Craigslist in search of an inexpensive antique dresser to paint like this one over on Making it Lovely. But when I finally found the right piece, I just couldn't bring myself to paint over that beautiful wood. Despite that I still felt that the space needed a pop of pink, so I painted a color block behind the dresser instead.

On the other side of the room I went in search of pink bedding. I hit the jackpot when I came across this lovely polka dot bedding over on House 8810. I gave Violet a billion pillows, because she loves to have pillow fights and make pillow beds on the floor. (Thanks to her Aunt Nikki and Nonny) I made two of them myself from linen that I purchased at a local fabric store. The sheets were purchased at Land of Nod and the larger sham came from Restoration Hardware (on sale). The smaller pillows were from Land of Nod, Etsy and Pretty Little Things by Lori Marie. At that point the room was starting to feel really traditional, and I prefer a combination of traditional and modern, so I mixed things up a bit with a modern bed from West Elm and bench (actually part of a closet system) from IKEA. I made the bench cushion myself - I purchased two-inch foam (on sale at 50% off!) from Joann Fabrics, used some left over fabric from my daughter's nursery, and pinned it all together. Eventually I'll get around to sewing it, but I ran out of time before we left for our vacation. It's holding up fine for now! :)

On the largest wall I went with a pull-down map that I found on eBay for $5. I had originally purchased it with the plan to paint over it, but the Mister convinced me to save it. (Luckily the colors happened to go quite well in the space). I'd been coveting this Up poster from Fine Little Day for quite some time, so that went up on the wall as well, as well as this Adventurers screen print from Fifi du Vie. These removable wallpaper decals from Love Mae jumped out at me on Pinterest and I thought they'd be perfect in the small space above the bench. The last wall that needed something was above the bed. I really wanted to use this Daydream wallpaper by Julia Rothman for Hygge & West, but I had hit my budget limit at that point. So I decided to freehand a similar mural myself ($2.80 for a paint sample jar from Home Depot) I went with a minty color for the simple fact that I'm completely obsessed with it at the moment.

I didn't have any particular theme in mind for the space - I just put together things that I love and that I thought Violet would love as well. Overall I'm pretty happy with how the space turned out, and Violet loves playing in there until we make the move out of her crib. (Very nervous about that!)

This post got a lot longer than I had planned, so I'll list all of the sources below and if you have any questions let me know!

xo, Lauren

Narrow Leg Bed - West Elm
Dottie Quilt - House 8810
Dresser - Craigslist
Bench - IKEA
Bench Cushion - DIY
Bench Fabric - Jo-ann Fabric
Zinc Letter 'V' - Anthropologie
Gray Sham - Restoration Hardware Baby & Kids
Pink Polka Dot Sheets - Land of Nod
Striped Pillow - Urban Ecology
Floral Pillow - Skinny LaMinx
Star Pillow - Hello Milky
Large Round Pillow - Land of Nod
Small Round Pillow - Pretty Little Things by Lori Marie
Linen Pillows - DIY (Fabric from Joann Fabric)
Doll - Pretty Little Things by Lori Marie
Dancer Bear - Lieschen Mueller
Map - eBay
Adventurers Print - Fifi du Vie
Bear & Antler Hooks - West Elm
Christy's Cottage Dollhouse - Melissa & Doug
Bedside Shelf - Michael's Craft Store
Umbra Horizon Crunch Cans - Container Store
Up Poster - Fine Little Day
Book Shelf - IKEA
Star Pillow - Colette Bream
Swallows Wallpaper Decals - Love Mae
Curtains - IKEA
Large Rug - Anthropologie 
Faux Sheepskin Rug - IKEA
Eleanor Frameless Mirror - Pottery Barn
Star Garland - DIY
Tissue Paper Tassel Mobile - FleurLux
Squirrel Lamp - Anthropologie
Gold Mushroom Lamp - Mokkasin
Handpainted Blocks - How Now Design
Gnome - MOMA Store
Terrarium Postcards - Quill and Fox

Violet's Room: Before & After

We've been working on Violet's big girl room for a loooong time now. For those of you who've been following this blog for a while, you know how long! I'm happy to announce that it's finally 'finished'. I'm sharing the zebra bordello before's and the lighter and brighter after's with you today on A Lovely Life. If you'd like to see more photos of the space as well as sources, head over to A Lovely Lark!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

To see more photos and sources visit here.

xo, Lauren

So Close

We're so close to completing Violet's big girl room, I can smell it! I just need to break out my (nonexistent) sewing skills and tweak a few things. Here are a few little sneak peeks for you in the meantime:

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! xo, Lauren


P.S. Featuring a new lovely little room over on A Lovely Lark today - head on over to check it out!

P.P.S. You can follow along on Instagram @withtwocats

Reading Corner + Giveaway Winner

I've been working for the past few days on a cozy little corner in V's big girl room. I wanted a space where we could read books, but there isn't much space to spare! So it's cozy for sure, but still really functional. Here's a little sneak peek:

Also, the winner of the Printrunner giveaway is Katy! Congratulations!

xo, Lauren


P.S. You can follow me on Instagram @withtwocats

Friday Favorites + True Love

We had a special delivery to the H-Haus yesterday thanks to the lovely Lori Marie. She sent us one of her beautiful dolls, Merriweather, and Violet is IN LOVE. She took that doll everywhere with her yesterday - to the park, down the slide, on the swing, in the stroller, she fed it her snack and snuggled her and lovingly stroked her hair. I love seeing her start 'mothering' her own babies, it's so sweet. (I also have one of Lori Marie's medallion pillows and daisy chains. Yep, I'm an addict.)

We're so looking forward to a LONG Memorial Day weekend and I'm really excited to take Violet to the parade - she gets so excited about them. Having a child really does make everything fresh and fun again, doesn't it?

I also want to say a special thank you to a few heroes in my family: my Papaw, Uncle Tim, brother-in-law Randy, and cousins Donny, Shanna, Justy, and Tim - Thank you for your service to our country!

And without further ado, a few favorite links to kick off your holiday weekend:

Pretty printable envelopes

Custom constellation artwork for your little one

Can you be in love with a paper cup?

How to replace backgrounds in Photoshop

The sweetest wedding

Is the American Dream changing?

I so want to wear this crown.

Happy Friday!  xo, Lauren

P.S. I've opened an Etsy shop where I'll be selling custom silhouette portraits - check it out here!

P.P.S. Follow me on Instagram - @withtwocats

Progress

I made some progress this weekend on Violet's big girl room. A few little projects left to do and it should be just about finished! She loves to play in the new space but we're keeping her in her crib for the time being. (P.S. I'm really proud that I hung those hooks myself - anchors and a drill and everything!)

Around Here

I've been in party crafting mode this past week - trying to pull off a pretty party but on a budget. We ended up moving the party date (to this coming weekend - eek! ) to make sure that Violet's Grammy could be there. Since it's Cinco de Mayo I think we're leaning more towards that as a theme, especially since I'm going to a Cinco de Mayo work shindig on Friday and she's lending me some of her loot (free stuff - score!). And who doesn't love a good fiesta? Not going to go too crazy theme-y but maybe some fringe, some pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey action and a couple of sombreros thrown in there. Ole!

In other news I'm still working on Violet's big girl room. I hung the hooks in the above photo myself (well, with my Dad's supervision lol). But power tools and me have never been best buds, so I must say that I'm pretty proud of myself.

I've been doing pancakes on the weekends now so that Violet has a change from her normal eggs, toast, and cereal routine. She gobbles them up - so excited that she has something new and tasty to eat. And speaking of tasty I was so worried about her birthday cake being horribly inedible (baking is also not my thing - especially not a dairy and soy free cake!) but I found out that Duncan Hines cake mix is dairy free and mostly soy free (it has soy oil which Violet can have) so she's going to have a tasty birthday cake after all - hurray!

Other than that I've been finishing up a few projects that I've been procrastinating on around the house. Nothing like a party to get your butt in gear. I painted Violet's silhouette, am sprucing up the art wall in our back room, and we got half of the wallpaper up in the living/dining area. Unfortunately the Hubster seems to have been struck by some sort of plague (he normally doesn't get sick, like ever) so we'll see if he's up to another round of wallpaper cutting, pasting, and hanging before the party. Anyway, I'm off to  dive back into my world of crafting craziness. Wish me luck! xo, Lauren


P.S. Follow along on Instagram - @withtwocats