Creating A Colorful Playroom

November 28, 2021November 28, 2021 decorandadoreLeave a comment

When you have a little one that starts to roll and become mobile, the small activity mat that you’ve used for the past few months suddenly becomes ridiculously small! A larger play space is a must. Living in a cape-cod-style house, we don’t have very many open spaces for Wyatt to move around and play in. Luckily, we had a guest room that wasn’t getting much use so we decided that converting the room into a playroom would be a much better use of that space. It took me a bit to agree to give up our guest space, but it would be another room for me to decorate — yay!

Unlike Wyatt’s neutral Woodland Nursery, I wanted this space to be colorful and fun. I first started looking for a play mat with the colors and look I wanted for the room. I found this adorable reversible foam mat on Amazon (I purchased the large size). The quality is amazing and it is very easy to clean. One side is filled with colorful animals and letters, and the other has a pattern on it similar to a trendy rug. Both sides of the mat look amazing in the space — it’s fun AND classy, all in one!

For the windows, I wanted a sheer, neutral curtain. I added these sheer white and beige curtains from Ikea. They have a simple pattern on them that matched our neutral walls, and they set the stage for all of the other colorful items.

Storage

For all things kid stuff, I purchased the white FLYSTA cube shelf from Ikea. For the bottom row toy storage, I found these neutral cube storage bins. To match, this cloth basket was a great find for all of Wyatt’s stuffed animals.

Art

I’m a big fan of finding digital wall art through Etsy so that I can customize the size and frame, or hang them how I’d like. I chose this adorable set of wall art because it matched the colors and style of the play mat. The digital download includes art for the days of the week, shapes, the alphabet, numbers, weather, and the continents. I printed two larger poster prints (20×30 inches) for over the cube shelf and two smaller poster prints (16×20 inches) for a smaller wall space near the door.

My original plan was to purchase magnetic poster frames for each print, just as I did for the woodland print in Wyatt’s nursery. However, I could not find the exact stain/color that would match the darker handles of the cloth basket and cube shelf bins. Yes, I’m a perfectionist! So, I decided I would make my own.

I found small wood trim that I cut into 20 inch and 16 inch pieces (the lengths of each poster size). Four pieces were needed for each poster, so I cut eight of the 20 inch and eight of the 16 inch. I found a wood stain (Honey Classic Wood Stain by Varathane) from Home Depot that matched the handles of the basket and cube bins, and I stained the wood and some twine for hanging. Once the wood was dry, I used craft glue to adhere two pieces to the front of the posters. I glued the bottom-back piece on and used a clamp to make sure the front and back were secure. The top-back piece looked a little different; I cut small grooves on the inside, about 2 inches from the edge, so that the twine could fit nicely between the wood and back of the poster. After letting everything dry in the clamps, they were ready to hang!

Ruler Growth Chart

To fill some empty wall space, I created this DIY “ruler.” When I saw this idea online, I thought it would be a fun and usable piece of art to track Wyatt’s height over the years. It was such an easy DIY and I loved that I would be able to customize it to coordinate with the rest of the play room.

I bought an 8 inch x 6 foot board that I stained with the same shade (Honey) that I used for the poster frames. After the stain dried, I used these ruler stencils to paint on the numbers and hash marks with a shade of white acrylic paint. It’s such a fun addition to the wall art in this space!

Teepee

Of course, no playroom is complete without a teepee! To personalize it for Wyatt, I bought a blank wood sign from Hobby Lobby, stained it with the Honey stain, and used my trusty Cricut to create Wyatt’s name with white vinyl.

I also wanted to add some accessories to the teepee to add some color and to coordinate it with the rest of the room. For inside the teepee, I placed a white fuzzy blanket for comfort. I also added four throw pillows with pillow covers from Ikea that matched the colors of the animals and letters on the mat perfectly (gold, teal, polka dot, rust).

I also made a cute felt ball garland for the front of the teepee. I found an awesome Etsy shop that sells custom felt balls in almost any color! I ordered 100 felt balls in the colors terracotta, mustard, mint, and almond. Using a thick needle, I threaded string through the felt balls to create a 10 foot garland.

Ta-Da!

The finished teepee looks so comfortable and cozy, our pups seem to think so too! This space has been such a bonus as Wyatt has learned to crawl and sit up on his own. The bright, coordinating colors are so fun, and it’s a space that he can grow into as he gets older!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you found some inspiration!

Woodland Nursery

February 8, 2021November 3, 2021 decorandadore17 Comments

Choosing Our Theme

At 16 weeks pregnant, we found out that we were having a boy. We were so excited, but I had no clue what direction to go for things like names and nursery theme. I was sure I was having a girl! So, right away I started to look for nursery theme inspiration online and in some of my favorite decor stores. To include my husband in the decision, I took him with me to Hobby Lobby one day to browse the kids’ room decor to see if something would spark his interest. We were in and out after a quick five minutes, but I did notice that he stopped to stare at a picture of woodland animal tracks, said, “hmm” and moved on. It turns out that’s one way for a guy to show interest in something! I decided to look at more ideas related to the woodland theme, and after showing him more photos of woodland nurseries, he loved the idea – a woodland nursery it is!

Wall Stenciling

One of my initial ideas for the nursery was to paint a mural or design on the wall where the crib would be. After making the woodland theme official, I immediately recalled a post I had seen on Instagram of a bedroom wall beautifully stenciled with evergreen trees. We thought that incorporating various shades of green trees on one wall would be perfect for the woodland theme. It would be a fun project for me, and would also be appropriate for a boy’s room beyond his first few years.

The evergreen tree stencils that I used are from Cutting Edge Stencils. The kit comes with 5 different tree stencils, each a different size. For the tree colors, I chose four shades of green from the same spectrum to create some depth among the different size trees across the wall. We used the following shades of green from Lowe’s: Sea Salt, Geyser Stream, Retreat, and Woodland Lichen. We also repainted the whole room with a white/gray color to be cohesive with the shades of green. We used the color Sincere White.

I do not consider myself extremely artistic, so thankfully I found a blog post that explains the simple technique used to create the forest look. The trick is to use a mini paint roller with very little paint on it. This helps to create a faded look near the bottom of the tree or on some of the branches. When the stencil is removed from the wall, the tree then looks farther away and as if some parts are covered with forest mist. I used the lightest shade of green with the smaller stencils at the top of the wall, and gradually used bigger stencils and the darker shades of green as I worked down the wall. I painted full trees across the whole wall first, then filled in the open spaces with treetops using varying shades of green to help transition the colors down the wall. Once completed, we had a beautiful “forest” fit for all things woodland!

Furniture

For furniture, we chose white pieces to give the room a calm, neutral look. I especially love how the white crib looks against our forest wall! Of course, the popular Hemnes dresser from Ikea was a must for all of Baby Boy’s clothes and accessories. Lastly, is our comfy glider in the corner near the crib.

Book Shelves

A fun, space-saving way to display books in a room is to use picture frame ledges instead of a bookshelf. Displaying Baby Boy’s books was important to me, so we chose to add two ledges to one of the more open walls in the room. These ledges from Ikea are super affordable and beyond easy to install!

Decor

Since my husband liked the look of the animal track picture he’d seen, I wanted to find something similar that would be perfect for above the dresser (which would also function as a changing table). I found this beautiful print from Little Folk Printables on Etsy and placed it in a light gray hanging magnetic frame.

Next to the animal track print, we hung two white shelves to place decor and other functional items. These shelves were actually an easy DIY! We bought wood shelf brackets from IKEA, some wood, and painted everything white before assembling the brackets to the wall, then the wood to the brackets. On the shelves, I have another woodland print from Benji and Bear on Etsy, some wooden trees and sign from Hobby Lobby, and a few other “woodsy” items that I found around the house.

The metal animal heads (fox and bear) were something I knew I had to have for our woodland nursery when I first saw them at Hobby Lobby. I wanted some darker metal items in the room to match the dark dresser drawer pulls. These were perfect to hang on the wall space between the bedroom and closet doors. We also bought three wall hooks that matched to place under them.

To hold some of the baby items throughout the room, such as blankets and laundry, I chose black metal baskets for blankets and laundry to continue the black metal detail throughout the room.

Lastly, the curtains we chose were also from Ikea and perfect for our theme as the curtains have a subtle wood grain print on them. To finish the room, we added a 4’x6′ beige/gray rug from Rugs USA.

Closet Organization

To organize all of Baby Boy’s adorable outfits, I purchased clothes dividers so I can hang all of them according to size. I also repainted a cube shelf that we had (white of course) to match the rest of the furniture, and I purchased some green bins to store all of the crib sheets, extra diapers, and accessories in.

And that’s a finished nursery! It was a process, but we love how it turned out! We hope it’s a fun, peaceful place that our little one will love for years to come. Thanks for stopping by!

DIY Stocking Tags

November 28, 2020November 3, 2021 decorandadoreLeave a comment

As a child, one of my Christmas morning memories was seeing our stockings overflow with several tiny, wrapped gifts. My family’s red and white striped stockings had our names embroidered on them, and each year my brother and I would excitedly take them out of the Christmas decor box and hang each of them in their own special place. On Christmas morning, we ran toward our stockings of goodies first before opening our other gifts.

Now that I have my own home and Christmas decor to deck the halls, I’ve discovered I love to add details to stockings to incorporate them into my decor themes and to personalize them for each member of the family like I had as a child. Yes, even the dogs get their own stockings! These simple red and white stockings that I purchased from Hobby Lobby would fit perfectly with a variety of Christmas decor styles, and are simple enough to go with any personalization you choose.

While searching for inspiration for my own personalized stocking tags, I had seen several varieties of wooden name tags with the names written in beautiful calligraphy. Although I loved the look of those, I am not a calligrapher by any means and I wanted to create something with a similar wooden look myself.

Instead, on one of my many Hobby Lobby runs I stumbled upon and purchased these little wooden letters for $1.49. Unfortunately, the specific ones I used have been discontinued, but here are similar wooden letters for the same price.

To add some Christmas flair and dimension to the stocking tags, I found tiny Christmas floral stems with berries and pinecones. I also picked out some neutral, rustic-looking ribbon to attach to the top of the letters so they can hang from the stocking hooks.

To achieve a darker wooden look, I used some of the wood stain we had from other DIY projects (Varathane Premium Fast Dry Wood Stain in Dark Walnut). To apply, I dipped a small section of a rag into the stain and spread the stain over the front of each letter. To give the letters a more rustic look, I intentionally used a lighter hand with the rag so that some of the areas are uneven and unstained. If you are looking to make a tag with a pop of color, acrylic paints would work great with these letters as well.

When the stain was dry, I used a glue gun to attach the floral to the top of each letter. Since the floral stems have wire in them, they are easy to bend over the top of the letters and maneuver the stem down the back. It’s okay that the back looks unfinished and messy, the tags lay nicely against the stocking so only the front is seen.

Lastly, I added a small loop of ribbon to the top so that the completed letters could hang near the top of each stocking.

Now, each person and pup in the family has their own personalized stocking. These were so affordable and easy to make that it will be quick to add a fifth one for our Baby Boy next Christmas. I love how easy, functional, and cute these are!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy decking your own halls and stockings for the Holidays!

DIY Entryway Bench

August 3, 2020August 3, 2020 decorandadoreLeave a comment

I have always strived to have nicely organized spaces in our home, and our entryway is no exception. Since we’ve been in our house, the space by the front door has been a hot spot for piles of shoes and guests’ belongings. Some of these things have even been “toys” for our puppy, Leo! To resolve that issue, I had been searching for a piece of furniture that could help organize shoes, and to be a place for guests to set their belongings. Anytime I’d shop, I always kept my eye open for a bench or storage cabinet, but I didn’t see anything that I loved that could fit in our cozy entryway space.

Then, while browsing Pinterest, I found pictures and plans for the perfect DIY wood bench! My husband is extremely handy with woodworking, so I was excited that we would be able to make that a project of ours. The best part is that the materials are super affordable!

The plans for the bench came from Cara, from @neverskipbrunch. You can find her original blog post and detailed YouTube video with instructions for assembly here.

Keep reading to see how we finished our bench, and how we styled it in our home!

What You’ll Need

Assembly

My husband is the real handyman around here, so having me articulate the specific assembly instructions would be quite comical and unproductive. As I mentioned above, specific assembly instructions can be found at Never Skip Brunch Blog.

Finishing

Once all of the bench pieces were assembled, I sanded all sides to eliminate the rough edges and make the wood smooth for the paint. I used 120 grit sand paper with an orbital sander.

Next, it was time to paint! I used a standard paintbrush and applied two coats of paint. I used the shade Snowbound, a primer/paint from Valspar. I chose this paint color over a wood stain (used in the plans I found) because the wall decor in our entryway are all distressed beige-white colors.

After the paint dried, my favorite part was next – giving the bench a distressed/antique look! I distressed it by hand using 40 grit sandpaper so I could control the amount of paint that was sanded off.

Ta-dah!! She’s finished! I love how the distressed look turned out and how it fits perfectly in our entryway space. Next up styling!

To fix the shoe pile, I purchased a pair of wicker baskets to place under the bench. Now, shoes are put away and can’t be destroyed by the pup! On top of the bench I added a 12×20 pillow and an 18×18 pillow with decorative neutral pillow covers. I plan to switch up the pillow cases to match the seasons and holidays. I can even envision a small Christmas tree beside the bench during Christmas! Our guests not only love the look of this newly styled space, but love the functionality of it while entering and leaving our home.

Thanks for stopping by to read about our latest DIY project! Until next time, friends!

Elevate your Kitchen Decor with Risers

May 19, 2020November 3, 2021 decorandadoreLeave a comment

A kitchen can be one of the busiest rooms in your house: cooking, socializing, and often a central hub for family’s everyday essentials. So, for those with smaller kitchens like us, decorating kitchen surfaces isn’t the most practical way to go. We have some year round wall art, but that’s about it. I wanted some way to incorporate seasonal items in the kitchen, but how?!

I’ve had my eye on the popular tiered trays for a while, and I wanted to mimic some of the great seasonal decor inspiration that I’ve seen online. As I searched for the perfect tiered tray, I noticed they were all too wide or too tall for our kitchen counter space. I could hear my husband saying, “Honey, WHY is this necessary? This takes up too much room.” He would be right!

I was about to give up on finding the perfect counter space decor. Thankfully, during a Home Goods run, I stumbled upon a set of two wooden risers. PERFECT! These are such a great alternative to a tiered tray if your short on space. The ones I purchased have a diameter of about 9 inches, so they won’t take up too much room. I decided that one would be used for decor, the other for dish and hand soap.

Since it’s spring, adding a small eucalyptus plant to each riser was the perfect touch. On the decor riser, I also added a spring Rae Dunn candle. The other riser holds our hand soap and dish soap (in a cute dispenser of course). In the future, I can see myself using other candles, small wood signs or letters, florals, or a reed diffuser to change up items with the seasons.

I LOVE the look of these risers in our kitchen and how they provide a sophisticated, but functional space for seasonal decor and everyday items. My husband who cooks even approves, so it’s a win for everyone! I definitely plan to find more risers to use as centerpieces, on shelves, or as a focal point on other surfaces throughout our home.

Continue scrolling to view similar items for your own home.

Inspiration for Your Home

I hope this post gives you some inspiration to use risers or tiered trays in your kitchen and home. Who knew that adding a designated surface or two to a space could create so many possibilities for interchangeable decor?! Happy decorating!

Decor and Adore

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