Treasures Found

In my never-ending quest to find furniture, I scored a few treasures on Craig's List a couple of weeks ago. This wins top prize. A solid wood book case for 25 dollars. A little refinishing and it's going to be beautiful. My kids toys have already taken over.

And here's my new desk. From the pictures we thought it was solid wood, the lady said it was solid wood and it was really cheap for solid wood. Then the lady emailed back saying she had moved the desk and discovered it wasn't solid wood. I was sad. But it's still a great desk and it was a good deal if not a great deal. I'm really loving it now that it's in my house though and everyone who sees it loves it too.

Your suggestions are appreciated

So where would you shop for furniture and bedding? I am having a hard time finding things that I like that are also not over a thousand dollars. Why is it that all of the inexpensive things are ugly? Here's a bed from Anthropologie and I really like it although this is the one I would die for (from Pottery Barn). Here's a similar one from Overstock.com but I'm not loving the x's. And I love this cool one from Etsy. But a canopy bed may overpower my space so I like this one too.
So, tell me. Where should I go to find a great bed and lovely bedding?

Nursery Tour

I've been searching high and low for new furniture. I love planning new rooms. It's just so exciting! Handsome Face is over two years old now so I think it's about time he had a new bed. I've got a few months to plan the perfect space so it should be fun.

I officially finished decorating my baby nursery a few months ago (just in time for my baby to move out). Here are some belated pictures.

The centerpiece of this room is the crib of course. Grandma Crapo bought this for us when Cute Girl was born. The walls are are Skipping Stones green and Baby Bee Yellow from Disney. Unfortunately I could never find great lighting so the color is hard to see. I plan on using this room for all of my babes and I wanted it to be gender neutral.I am a firm believer that if you have something, you should use it. Keepsakes, heirlooms, souvenirs, etc. are useless if they are packed away in boxes and attics. They become junk and clutter. So here I used baby pictures of my husband and I for nursery artwork. I spray painted white frames from Target to match other artwork in the room. The Greg Olsen print came from an old calendar that I've cut up and framed.I LOVE these paper globes. I found the pattern at Hello, My Name is Heather. They weren't too hard to make once I started using a punch instead of cutting the circles by hand. Handsome Face loves them. They're a fun variation on nursery mobiles.I made the curtains and bed skirt myself. I originally wanted to use this fabric but The Rocket Scientist picked out the fabric on sale at Jo-Anns. He called it a Pride and Prejudice print (i.e. calico - a tan flower print on light green) and it is very pretty. I still like my first one and I'm sometimes sad I didn't use it but I love it when he helps pick things out for the kids rooms. He usually has great opinions and ideas. Plus, his fabric was a fraction of the cost. The book box is from Michael's and I spray painted it to match the frames. The shelves hold more personal items: Dr. Seuss book from Aunt Heather, doll cradle from my grandfather, pillow-case doll my great-grandmother crocheted, and my childhood teddy bear.A quilt rack from Craig's List holds my and my husband's baby quilts and afghans crocheted by my two grandmothers.

The artwork is from art.com. It's pretty generic but I used it to pull the color scheme for the room (not that you can see the colors in these awful pictures). Plus, the kids like it and that is what's important. Handsome Face points out what he sees while laying on the changing table.

A Day Off

Today I got away from my kids for an entire day. It was great! Granted, we were an hour late getting home and I was practically jumping out of my skin to hurry up and get back to them but it was still nice to get away. The purpose in hiring a baby-sitter and driving hours to the north was to go to the Temple. We haven't been since Sheri's wedding in June, unless you count our trip to the Louisville Temple in July where we got there just to discover the Temple was closed for maintenance. Bummer.
It was so nice to be in the Temple. Life is so busy that I almost always feel some level of stress but in the Temple all is calm and quiet. Maybe a little too quiet. Cute Girl woke me up WELL before the crack of dawn and refused to go back to sleep or do anything but eat breakfast with her mama. So I kept finding myself snapping back to attention, not remembering having closed my eyes. The Rocket Scientist had no problem - but he did get TWO more hours of sleep than I did.
Afterwards it was almost two o'clock and we were starving. We ate at a little diner place and I had the biggest cheeseburger in the world. It was super yummy but a bit more than my usual pbj. I think I ate a quarter of it - maybe a third. And there were great fries (no trans fat!) and so much Oreo milkshake with real whipped cream that I couldn't even finish it. And that's a capital crime in our household.
And since we were already in debt to the babysitter for a year's worth of paychecks we decided we'd hit Ikea on the way home. I was looking for inspiration for Handsome Face's room (he's still in our permanent baby nursery). And I found this: I am in love. I can't stop looking at it. It just makes me smile. You can't see them but there is a little blue bird and a bee on the other side of the shade. It's just so happy!
I've been having a really hard time deciding what to do with his room. My only inspiration previously was Handsome Face's sock monkey jack-in-the-box which has very similar colors to the shade. Greens, yellows, reds, and blues. What says "little boy" more?
So the real dilemma is what to do with the walls? I've thought about a shade of brick red with tan bead board, white with dark yellow-green, chair railing... Our other bedrooms consist of one entirely pink room and one room with three light green walls and one yellow. Those rooms were easy. This one's not. What would you do? I'm soliciting all opinions. Ready, set, go!

Your opinion is wanted

What do you all think about this? Should I get it? I think it's gorgeous and I love it but do I spend the money?

Look what I found!

Ok, I'm a day late. But here's my beautiful new table from Craig's List. It's solid wood, only two years old, has very little scratches to the finish, and only cost me $200. I love when I find something that perfectly fits my vision for my home and is also within budget. The color is just so pretty and the inlay on top is beautiful. I love it!

This table sits under the chandelier in the "library." Next I want to get two wing back chairs to sit behind it and there will be shelves under the windows and up the wall.