Mom's Room Makeover

Guess what? It's time my mom got a room makeover! My sweet mom works incredibly hard and always puts everyone else's needs above her own.




This is why for her birthday I really wanted to give her something special. I decided a room makeover would be a gift that could help her relax long term, and so, I went to work. I did not get any before pictures, but here is what the room looks like after:

Here we have the room entrance view. White curtains and a new furniture arrangement to take advantage of the floor plan make the room seem larger and more airy.
(Sorry, the lighting in this picture isn't the best)



The bed now has an island-y feel. Lamps on each side give balance. I think it looks kind of "Hamptons".


I pulled off of the warm wood tones to add more natural elements into the room.


I snatched a few pictures from her wedding album and had them blown up and refigured to sephia. (Yay Walgreens!) I found four affordable picture frames at Gordman's and hung them in a grouping to add a personalized touch to the room.


It was SO rewarding to do this room for my mom. She deserves it more than anyone I know. I was so happy that she liked it!

God's Plans

I just had coffee with a beautiful friend of mine, Lindsey Sorenson. Lindsey is an inspiration. She is incredibly smart and an amazing woman of God as well. She is a Registered Dietitian with a Bachelors in Nutrition. She worked very hard to have those credentials, and yet she has been humbled by God and discovered working as a dietitian wasn’t what God had in mind for her, at least not for the current time being. Instead of using her degree at the expense of not fulfilling God’s calling, she has decided to sacrifice her four years of schooling to fulfill what God was calling her to do for this season of her life. She is currently working in missions. The job is not glamorous and she has had to sacrifice much of what the world would say is the “good life”, but her life with God is much better than anything the world could ever offer. Lindsey never saw herself as a pioneer of a mission’s school, but God had other plans for her.



Similarly, my ten year plan included being a high paid Psychotherapist, but currently God is speaking to me to enjoy my current lot in life of being a mom. I’m not saying I won’t one day be a Psychotherapist and I am still pursuing my Masters in Psychotherapy. What I am saying is that I’ve chosen to block out the social pressure that screams “hurry up and finish your degree so you can make more money.”

My current priority and God’s calling for my life is to be the best mom I can be. I don’t know what tomorrow will hold, but I have to enjoy what I’ve been given right here and now and stop living for the future. It is difficult trying to explain to the world that I have a view that is counter cultural- indeed our culture is constantly pushing us to work, work, work so we can have more money, bigger houses, and nicer cars, but at what expense? We sacrifice time with our family and even our health to have all these THINGS that we cannot take with us. The more money we make, the more we spend. So why not just step back and ask ourselves who we are doing it for?

God is speaking to me and He says “Slow down. Enjoy what I’ve given you in this moment. Quit trying to plan out your entire life. Just live one day at a time and leave the planning to me.” For me that is more difficult than I ever would have known. I am such a planner! But trusting God to plan my future instead of planning it myself is oh so worth it. That’s why I don’t understand how anyone could say life with God is boring, because it’s anything but. You never know where he will take you from one day to the next. You just have to hold on and enjoy the ride.

Master Bedroom Redo

I knew a little something needed to happen in the bedroom before I could love the space, but it turns out a lot of something happened and I ended up completely redoing it. Good thing I was on a break from classes. Through selling ALL old furniture, accessories, and bedding and shopping at flea markets and on craigslist, I was able to redo the entire room for practically nothing but man hours.

BEFORE



AFTER








In order to lighten the room we repainted the brown accent wall to match the other three walls, light aqua. We still had the paint so that was free. New drapery was added, bedding was changed out, and of course I exchanged my black furniture for this light cedar set, which I love. All that was left after that was accessories. Since I believe a room does NOT have to be done in all one style of decor, I married traditional accessories (antique mirror over dresser-repainted black, traditional furniture, traditional damask bedding pattern, candle sticks) with contemporary peices and colors (black and creme, zebra rug, a splash of aqua on the bed, hot pink candle sticks, and brush nickel finishes). I hope you like the room as much as we do now!

Another special thanks to my sweet Tom for all of his hard work. I sure coudn't do all of this without your help! Thanks for putting up with your design-crazy wife.