Designing Is Not In My Blood

*Go over to Mormon Women and tell them why you have chosen to be a Mormon woman!

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No pictures of the new-ish table and chairs, yet (why? Because I forgot and now I'm too lazy to go up and snap the photo and download it. Too much effort, man), but here's what I've been doing to our master bedroom! Aren't you so excite!? I am, I am!

Slowly, I've tried to make our room a beautiful place. Having a very limited budget meant I had to get kind of creative. Which isn't really me at all! So, it's been interesting, trying to come up with things that work.

When we moved back (almost three years ago!), I still had the green curtains I had hung in this room before. We also had some coupons for Bed, Bath, and Beyond, so the pillowcases and pillows were purchased there; the quilt on the bed was made by my Grandma (paternal) and given to us on our wedding. The painting in the background? Of the mother and baby? My awesome friend Ruth painted that for us when we had #2. I love it so much! See the cat on the bed? Yeah, he's 11 years old and been with us for almost 10. He's a permanent fixture on our bed:

Okay, the next thing I did was put up a wall border. I had originally thought I would strip off the old border (that our rental agency painted over) and repaint the whole room. But after nearly 3 years of looking at the mess, I decided a wall border to cover it up would have to happen! I've had this particular border for years (literally), and I measured it out about 6 months ago. I figured I'd have enough for the whole room, right? Right?

Wrong.

Sigh. I ran out just two feet from the bathroom door! Argh! I should have started on the opposite wall --then the bare part would have been behind the bedroom door; nobody would be able to see it. But nooooo --it's right there. I tried to find this border online; it looks like it's discontinued. Figures. The saddest part? It still looks ten times better, even with it unfinished. Or maybe that's a good thing? Hmmm...

I realized we desperately needed something to cover our closet. There have never been any closet doors in the upstairs of our house. I wasn't sure how I could get something that would match --and then I had an epiphany! I took an old sheet that matched our quilt, ironed it, unstitched the top sides, and hung it up on an old (but beautiful) golden ivy curtain rod. Voila! I need to hem the bottom (it's too long), but it works! [Please ignore the white metal bookshelf with the crazy myriads of books on it. This is Brandon's school shelf --I have a feeling it will remain until May. At least. ;) ]

The inspiration for the border and the curtain actually came from some fabulous art that was given to me by my buddy Emily. I figured if we had nice art, I should at least attempt to make the room nice, right? Right.

And just yesterday, I came across this amazing find on KSL! It's an almost brand new cedar chest! It matches our furniture, and is just gorgeous. I immediately put my wedding dress and all the kids' baby blessing outfits and blankets in it. It also doubles as a bench, so it's just perfect! I should have taken a better picture of the chair (an awesome find Brandon got at a garage sale in California), because the cedar chest matches it so well, too...


Which room should I start on next?

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This is for my mom. #5 walking!