Our master bedroom

I have a design principal I like to share with others and that is when decorating your home, begin with the first place YOU enter your house on a regular basis.  That means, whatever room or space you enter from the outside (like maybe a mud room off the garage, or perhaps your laundry room, etc.).  When you get home each day, whether from taking kids to and from school, or coming home from work, you want whatever room you walk into to make you feel at peace or at the bare minimum, happy to be home.  More on this at a later time.

I have a second theory.  Ready?

I believe that most people ignore their master bedroom when it comes to decorating.  Shocker, right?!  Maybe not.  It's a room guests rarely enter so most of us think this:  "I'll get around to it eventually.  I'll buy a cute bedding set and it will be good enough."  I'm guilty of this, are you?

When Aaron and I designed our floorplan, we designed the master bedroom to be full of light and have an overall sense of peace and calm.  Historically, we don't spend much time in our bedroom (obviously outside of the normal 6-8 hours of sleep we get), so when beginning to decorate, I wanted to make the space feel comfortable and inviting.

Here is what the room looks like without any fluff - and yes, I'm posting pictures of windows covered with paper blinds.  Aaron bought the gray ones and somehow they are different colors - different dye lots I guess.

There is nothing wrong with the way the bedroom looks - it's just lacking love.  But we are still in the process of piecing things together to complete our room.  The chair will be replaced at some point with something slightly less bulky and more stylish, but for now, it's what we have and it will have to do.

Here is a picture where I added a few pieces of decor onto the bedside tables, and as little as they are it makes a big difference is the mood of the room.

There is a little color added with the aqua vase and the bird planter, and the vintage book bundles.  Here are the bedside tables up close.

And then here is a couple shots of my bedding which I love but is totally not practical.

So that is the current state of our master bedroom, it will change over time, of course as all things do.  But for now, I'm happy with the way it looks.

A feel good free printable

My son Oliver is in the 2nd grade (this may sum him up for those of you with boys who are in the 2nd grade).  He loves recess, PE and math.  He also loves to talk.  A lot.  He's had his fare share of struggles in school due to his incredible ability to befriend anyone and everyone.  This is a gift he has been blessed with, but with him, it also is a bit of a curse.  That boy's lips don't ever stop moving.

Since moving into our new house he has switched schools which is never easy for a kid (we were driving upwards of 80 miles a day between his school and Eli's preschool - that had to change).  He's taken to the change like a fish to water, surprisingly.  Probably mostly due to the fact that he has friends that live behind us and one of them is in his class (thank goodness).

Oliver is a kid who can dwell on the negative if you aren't careful, so lately I've been placing "happy" quotes around our house for him to see.  I figure a nagging mom can only help so much and if he sees and reads the quotes, it will be just another positive message for him to be reminded of.

Also, in the mornings, on occasion, I've been writing messages on his breakfast plates just to make him smile - and it works!  Today's breakfast inspired me to make a free printable for anyone who would like it.

 It's quite fun, isn't it?

 ---------->>>CLICK HERE for a printable version!

"be the good" in ketchup - not blood, I promise!

Oliver's 2nd breakfast of choice, a scrambled egg and cheese sandwich.  His first choice is a scrambled egg and cheese burrito.

These sandwiches really are good!

Our wall of clipboard quotes.  I love the "be the good" quote.  I printed it on a pale green scrapbook paper that had a linen texture on it.

Will you choose to "be the good" today?

What quotes inspire you?  Do you hang them up in your house?

Plants and flowers do a home make

Take a look at this picture...what stands out to you the most?

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Okay, how about this one?

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If you couldn't guess from the post's title - its the plants and greenery.  It is my goal in our house this year to add some plant life to our spaces (without killing them).  I have such terrible luck when it comes to houseplants, that I've always gone with fake florals and, let's be honest, as good as some look, there is just something that breathes life when you see real plants.

So, its not much, but I have a couple little (and I mean little) ivy plants in the main room of the house.  So far I've kept them alive and it's almost been a month!  I do hope to add some more fun potted plants over the next few months.