Another One Bites the Dust

Another project I did almost a month ago and just now got around to posting about is Air’s nightstand. I’m not typically one for furniture with curvy lines but I got it for free as a hand-me down when I was a poor college student struggling to make ends meet, can’t complain about that. I left it as-is at the time as I was far too busy to even think about doing anything to it. It sat in my living room as an end table for a while, then it became my nightstand, and after the boytoy and I built our new nightstands it got moved, yet again, to Ariana’s room. But the dingy wood finish had seen better days and the stain wasn’t jiving with the style I was going for in her room (I forgot to take before shots but imagine a dark cherry wood color with a few nicks and scratches). So I simply sanded it, painted it white, slapped some poly on it, and called it a day! Super easy and just what my beautiful girl needed.

You can see I decorated it with this cherry blossom tree lamp that I had been eyeing at Kirklands for a while. My friend Sara brought me to Kirkland’s for the first time a few months ago and I was in heaven. It’s like Pier One, just not as expensive. I only go there when I’m prepared to spend money because I’m terrible at “just looking.”

You can also see the photo of me and her from when she was only a few months old, I popped it in a frame I bought a few years ago at Target during Valentine’s Day.

And on the bottom shelf is a cute little textured/canvasy basket filled with some of her many books. She absolutley loves reading, always has, and she likes to read before she goes to sleep so almost every night when I check on her before I go to bed she’s knocked out with a book open beside or on her – it’s so cute.

And since she is such a little avid reader I bought her this white reading lamp from Ikea. 

It’s been sitting in the box for almost three months because since it’s wall-mounted I’m waiting to mount it until I get her headboard done since it’ll be going right next to her soon-to-be-made headboard.

Her room is coming along slowly but surely. Watch, as soon as I finish up in here I’ll find out that I get to PCS with Seth this Summer, which is exactly why I’m not painting any walls. Ce la vie!

Lorri

Art in Ari's Room

As I mentioned last week, I’m in the process of re-doing Ariana’s bedroom. I began with painting her dresser, which makes such a huge difference in the look of her room already. And next on my agenda was hanging some art above the dresser since it was looking a little bare. I really love photographs and art and frames and assymetry so I simply filled up frames and got to hangin.  Typically I can hang a grouping of frames fairly quickly, but I planned to put a somewhat tall lamp on the dresser, so working around the lamp was challenging. Finally, I found a grouping I was satisfied with.

Here's a breakdown of the few of the things I framed:

The big ‘A’ is made up of jewel-thing-a-ma-jigs I bought for an unrelated project.

I simply traced an 'A' onto a piece of cardstock and broke out the glue gun. I used my fantabulous Martha Stewart punch to make the fancy, colorful yellow border to break up the white frame and the white card stock.

Next to the 'A' you may notice good ole Texas. She was born in Texas and developed a little twangy accent when she says certain words. When she was younger she loved strawberry milk and would call it “pank milk” instead of ‘pink’ or ‘strawberry.’ Too cute. Again, I simple used cardstock in colors that coordinate with her room and cute out a silouette of the Lone Star State and put a heart in the middle.

I also spelled out ‘Bella,’ which is a nickname she’s had since she was a baby. It means ‘beautiful’ so it’s fitting because, well, she’s a beaut. I just used sticky letters on, you guessed it, card stock.

This was one of the pictures from her 2011 calender that I simple cut out and framed:

And this is, perhaps, my fave:

It’s a twist on a Winnie the Pooh quote. I just put my own little spin on it to make it personal and fitting for my sweet baby girl. Well, I guess she's not technically a baby since she'll be 10 in a few months!

Oh, and on her dresser is a handkerchief that I folded up and framed. The colors go with her room and the bandana was worn at her pirate-themed bday party a few years ago so it has sentimental value. There’s also an adorable little owl I got at Kirklands (Ari loves owls and I love ceramic animals so it was a win-win) and a teal vase I found at Ikea. She handpainted a ceramic trinket box and she handpicked this bamboo plant. What can I say - the girl’s got style!

We’re making progress in here - slow but steady. Next on my list of things to do in here over the next week or two is make a headboard (I have a feeling it’s gonna be a-w-e-s-o-m-e), tweak her curtains, and refinish a nightstand. And that’s just half of it.

Xo,

Lorri