Can't leave Noah's big boy room out!

I haven't posted Noah's finished big boy room and i would hate to leave my lil man out. Noah's room was our VERY first project in the house. We decided to start in his room so that way we could move his old furniture out and into the nursery which we planned on being our second project. I really just wanted a place that was fun and reflected Noah's bubbly personality. I've had SO much fun decorating kids rooms that i am kinda sad now that we are done with both his and Isabelle's room. Here are some pics of the room before, after, and then the total cost of the makeover.

Noah's room before was very plain since we had just moved in about 6 mos before starting on it. It looked very similar to how it was set up in our town home, and i really didn't want to dive into it until i looked around and started getting some inspiration.

I originally didn't want the color to be this bright, but it has really evolved and goes well with the blue bookshelf and blue in his bedspread. I think it turned out fun and perfect for a 2 year old boy!

I loved his dark nursery furniture he had, but wanted to do something completely different for his big boy room which is why i chose lighter wood for his bed.

That train table is one of my favorite things in there because it really makes it a boy's room. Not to mention train tables happen to be a HOT item for little boys and really pricey but i scored ours on Craigslist for $50! And it came with a TON of wooden train pieces. When i called the lady she said she had gotten SO many phone calls from people, but that i was the first that wanted to buy it and pick it up THAT day. Thank God we did!

His art work shelf is another one of my favorite items in his room because i feel like it really makes the space his.


The alphabet banner was something i had seen done online in a few different rooms and think i even talked about it in one of my other posts. Noah has a ton of number and letter flashcards and i had some leftover ribbon from another project so all i needed was some clothespins. Noah LOVES singing the alphabet and George and i show him all the different letters. It worked out perfect since i didnt have a clue what to put on that big empty wall at first.

Both that bookshelf, mirror, as well as the furniture can be seen in Belle's new nursery and i absolutely love how much money we saved moving all his furniture from one room to another. I guess just another perk of having our kids so close together! :)


Those green hanging bookshelves (there are 2) looked funny against his green walls, and we had bought some red ones for Belle so at the last minute i suggested to George that we switch them and it ended up looking FABULOUS! The green complimented her curtains in her nursery and the red tied in his little storage ottoman and red train wall peg i repainted.

So one of my favorite things to do since i am such a bargain shopper is keep track of every little thing as we make over a room to see the grand total of how much we spent. So here is the lowdown on Noah's room:

Bed: George’s parents for Noah’s birthday

New twin mattress: My parents for Noah’s birthday

Headboard for bed: $130

Wall cubicle shelf: neighbor

Standing lamp: neighbor

Frames and prints: $12 Ikea

Hanging cubicle shelves: from neighbor

Paint: $36 Wal Mart

Toy Story bedding: Great grandparents for b-day

Blue bookshelf: $100 Ikea

Train table w train: $50 craigslist!

Art Shelf: $14 Ikea

Hanging mesh rocket: $7 Ikea

Red storage ottoman: $17 Wal Mart

Painting: done by me!

Closet crates: $9 Wal mart

Closet clothes organizer: $13 Target

Shoe rack: thrifted $2

Alphabet banner: had flashcards/clothespins $1.50 Wal Mart

Train w/ pegs: garage sale (repainted w/own supplies): $0.25

Total: $388.75

That's about $100 less than Belle's nursery!!! Not too shabby if you ask me. Some of the things were given to us from our neighbor (a perk we get for living near someone with a little boy 2 years older than Noah), were gifts for Noah's b-day, or found at garage sales, thrift stores, or on sale. I love the way it turned out and i hope Noah knows how special he is and how much time we took to make his room so extra special.

Now that the children's rooms are completed we get to *gasp* actually start working on our own space! We are finishing up a few small projects in the living room that i will be blogging about soon, and then next weekend it's paint time in our own room! It felt weird yesterday as i looked at paint swatches for our room to actually be choosing something George and I will both like, rather than what our kid's will like. I cant wait to blog as our room comes together!! We have lots of ideas in store!

And then there was a chalkboard

I cant help but DROOL everytime i see someone painting something with chalkboard paint in all the blogs i follow. Walls, cabinets, lamps, baskets, you name it. I have been dying for a chalkboard in my house, but like most things i either forget or start on something new. I'm learning to address the small things that annoy me in my house and once i do, i find that i love my house SO much more than i did before.

This little wall has driven me crazy since we moved in. I really didn't know what to put on it so i stuck a painting i did about 4 years ago in hopes that it would be a good entrance into our kitchen. But it wasn't. And that table! It KILLS me. Not only does it need to be re-done with some new hardware i never knew what to put on it as well. So it caught 2 random things that i had no where else to put: a picture and a candle.

I always knew i wanted to put a chalkboard there i just wanted to actually find or make one. Everytime i went to the Goodwill i searched through all the frames looking for the right size or the right one that i could paint and turn into my beloved chalkboard that would solve all my problems. No such luck. Until one night after looking through some chalkboard inspiration i looked over at George and said, "We should paint that entire WALL into a chalkboard." He said, "The whole wall??? NO." And continued doing what he was doing. He then said what i had been planning before, that we could just make a chalkboard and hang it up there. It was one of those things that i knew would NEVER happen unless the perfect frame or chalkboard jumped out at me.

So when i woke up tuesday morning i knew EXACTLY what i was going to do. I had to run to Lowes anyways to return some extra hardware we had bought for Belle's dresser and i thought to myself, if i BUY the chalkboard paint then maybe that will speed this process along. George is finally starting to learn throught this pregnancy that once i get an idea in my head, it aint going anywhere till it's completed. i figured George wont be able to say no once the paint is sitting in our garage. So i set out to get the paint and saw this. It was then i KNEW i had to not only paint the whole wall but i had to make it a magnetic chalkboard as well. That wall was destined for so much more and i was going to help it reach it's purpose. So after throwing the primer in my basket i got my chalkboard paint and a few other things for a mirror i'm working on and headed to the checkout. I waddled out to my car and decided right there and then, i'm not going to wait on George, i'm too excited.

Ok, so let's freeze a minute, i know most of you are thinking that George probably had a heart attack when he came home and found a chalkboard, but let me tell you, i called and warned him first. Well maybe not warned, but basically blamed everything on my pregnancy and told him don't worry he is going to love it and to trust me. So i headed home and that is where my 9 month pregnant self prepped and primed my little devilish wall with magnetic primer. I couldn't stand the excitement and as soon as i woke up Wednesday morning i prepped and coated the wall with chalkboard. And here is the final product. Loving it is an understatement and George has complimented me on it about a dozen times as well. I am so proud of myself and now i'm thinking i might have to add some of this chalkboard upstairs for Noah and Belle because after all this is MY chalkboard not theirs.

Dear little table, i have plans for you dont you worry but for now you hold our keys and mail and smile and be happy.

The nursery is FINALLY done!

Well it took us exactly 6 mos since the day we started taping the nursery to be painted for it to be completed. I honestly can say i had no idea it would have turned out this way, but i am SO SO happy it did. It really reflects mine and George's personality and we had such a good time working on it together. I really have to give him most the credit because although i came up with the colors and most the decor, he did the labor such as painting the stripes and redoing the dresser we scored on Craigslist. So here it is!

LOVED the poms poms in this nursery, which by the way is my dream nursery come true, so i had to duplicate them. I have received so many compliments on them that i here is the tutorial i followed to make them: HERE

Isabelle's shelves are pretty empty for now but i like them that way because i know how quickly babies and kids can accumulate gifts and what not from friends and family. I would rather have space to add stuff to then no space at all. I'm in love with that little white ceramic lamp though that is SO old and i scored at the Thrift Store for $5! The details on it up close are beautiful.

That is a poster i had hanging in my own barracks room in texas when i was in the service. I had NO plans of putting it in her room and was going to attempt a different theme until i found it in our garage. After that the colors of the room kind of came off that one poster. And there is the dresser that my husband redid for me as a changing table!

THIS my friends is the before shot of the dresser. I found it on Craigslist for $30!!!!! I had been looking for an old dresser we could use as a changing table because i figured we could still use it once Belle gets potty trained in the future. I thought it had lots of potential.

My husband chose the colors which i immediately LOVED and i chose the hardware which has such beautiful detail up close and will be perfect for a little girl. This was our FIRST big project and it has now started an obsession with us and a hobby that we both enjoy. I am excited for the other projects we are currently working on!

The big brother playing with something in there. He has had so much fun playing with her things and helping me set up. He is such a good helper. That is actually his old toy box and of course his old crib and dresser are also in there as well. I will have to do a post on his new big boy room. It is just as amazing as Belle's nursery.

I initially bought Belle those green bookshelves in red and those green ones were in Noah's room but then i suggested to George that the green would go so well with her curtains and the red would actually look GREAT in Noah's room so we did an old switcharoo. That little lamb swing was another one of my great Craiglist finds. It was only $50 which saved us about $70! I love Cragslist.

So here is the total of the entire room makeover that we worked so hard in. This is the best part, seeing how much it cost us and how much we've saved doing it ourselves:

Paint/paint supplies: $115

Crib: had

Dresser: had

Crib mattress: had

Changing table (refurnished an old dresser): $30 for dresser $45 for supplies TOTAL: $75

Curtains (made myself) fabric/supplies/had rods: $70

Bookshelf: had

Wall Art: ABC $20 Clearance TJ Maxx, poster had, frame $15 on sale at Joann’s TOTAL: $35

Mirror: had

Heart peg shelf: thrifted $3

Closet tags: $5 Wal Mart

Closet crate: $3 Wal Mart

Light fixture: Ikea $40

Red bookshelves (traded with Noah’s green ones): $12 Ikea

Little Lamb Swing: $50 Craigslist

Toy Box: had

Fluff ball mobile: tissue paper $3

Organic sheets: $20

cribskirt (made myself): $1 for fabric at Yard Sale

Total: $432!!!!!!!

That's not so bad if i dont say so myself!

So now we wait for our little girl to arrive and although she wont be sleeping in her room for awhile once she is born, i am still excited she has a room to call her own. I cant wait to see her in it playing with her big brother and really making it her own. Now George and i are off to tackle more projects in our home. I started one today which involves chalk :) Let's just say i've been drooling over certain chalkboards i've seen lately and just HAD to have one before this baby is born.

Happy birthday to the Merritt Casa!!!

I get a little emotional when i think that just a year ago all our dreams came true and we moved into our first house. I dont think alot of people realized how much we had struggled since i had chosen to get out of the military and be a stay at home Mama. We spent many sundays driving around looking at houses and talking about the day when we would have a yard to play in, and could take on as many projects as we wanted to to make our future house a home. Looking around all i can say is the God is good. I give him all the credit because George and i worked hard, stayed optimistic and He not only blessed us ten fold when George landed a great job that he LOVES, but He also blessed us with a wonderful home.

We had no idea that 5 months after moving in we would find out we would be expecting another baby. Alot of house projects were put on hold as we prioritized other things, specifically getting Noah settled into a big boy room and deciding what we wanted and needed for the new baby. This pregnancy has been different because with Noah we didnt have the luxury to be picky with baby things, we got what we needed and most everything else was just something we figured one day we could get with our next baby. And you know what, Noah turned out just fine, so i have to keep reminding myself that when i tell George i NEED another double stroller now haha.

I thank God we never jumped into mistakes like most couples do with little money and start racking up more debt. We already had a little and thankfully got rid of it when God blessed us with our home. We were going on 4 years of marriage and knew there were more important things then the NOW phase of racking up debt. So the past year we have slowly taken our time getting things for our home, most of which has been for Noah and Belle and i have to say we learned 2 VERY important lessons since moving in.

1. Don't rush. When we first moved in, George and i both had SO many ideas of what we wanted to do and buy and paint and colors and all that jazz, but i thank God other things got in the way and we took the past year to really live in our house to get a feel for it. I cant tell you how many times our minds have already changed since the day we moved in, and i do agree that people should live in their house for at LEAST 6 mos before deciding on what they want to do. Houses that are rushed to be put together end up looking cheap (unless they rack up tons of debt which will be in my point #2), or they end up hating it and wanting to change it by the end of their first year. I think we are FINALLY starting to see and learn what we really want our home to be and i am excited to see it all unfold as we take our time on projects.

2. Dont accumulate ANY new debt for your home. This one i am STRICT about since i started following Dave Ramsey last summer. And this SIMPLE little step has opened a whole new world and hobby that George and i LOVE! Re-furnishing furniture! More into that in a second. Staying debt free in regards to your home kinda go hand in hand with my first point because it gives you time to save up for big ticket items and that time makes you see if you really want it or not. It gives you time to research certain brands and products and make sure you're getting your bang for your buck. These 2 things George and I have pretty much lived by the last year and i couldn't be happier that we did!

As we take on more projects in our home i cant help but DIVE into reading and researching anything and everything on interior design. My all time favorite are DIY blogs. I have a ton that i follow and they inspire me much more than those pricey interior magazines. I've always been OBSESSED with thrift stores, antique stores, and yard sales since i was younger and both my grandmothers would take me. I have a deep appreciation for things that are old and i cant say it enough, that they just don't make things the way they use to! I hate the newer cheap stuff that LOOKS like wood but is the furthest thing from it, and plastics instead of glass and ceramics, it really is terrible. So the last few months alot of blogs have inspired me to get out there and start hunting and anything is possible! i have found some of the BEST deals and with some sanding and painting we're giving Pottery Barn a run for their money because the old pieces we have found are SOLID wood and instead of $100's or $1000's try under $20 for most of it.

So as our house celebrates it's 1 year birthday, George and i celebrate a new hobby that will not only bring us closer and give us joy, but help us build our house into a home that we love and have created ourselves.

Thriftin' and a craftin'

I know i'm one of a kind but my obsession for Thrift Stores and Yard Sales has come to an all time high and I think George is confused. Let's rewind because George didn't know me back in Junior High and High School. From about 8th grade till about 11th grade i would ONLY buy my clothes at Thrift Stores. My best friend Christine and I were obsessed. My mom tells the funniest stories of how she always thought i would never grow up to be "normal". Whatever that may be. So now that i have this beautiful house to fill, and a itching crafting heart the ideas are endless! On top of finding inspiring blogs and DYI sites everyday, i just cant keep up! Here are a few of my treasures i found this week and i'mlooking forward to so many more. How come when you find something unique, different, AND cheap it means more to you then something usual, typical AND expensive? Just something to think think about.

With fall around the corner i'm bringing in some more neutrals and darker colors into my kitchen. I scored these green place mats at the Goodwill for a whopping $1.25! I absolutely love the texture it adds to the table and then i found the cute little wooden circle with engraved flowers at Target on clearance for $4! Changed the look of my kitchen completely! And of course, that is Noah being cute and showing me his breakfast before school in the morning.

This is a little train peg shelf i scored last weekend at a Yard Sale the Navy threw outside of base. I got it for $0.25! I instantly knew it would go amazing in Noah's room with a little paint.

Here it is primed and painted. Ready for fall where it can hang his sweaters!

For now it is hanging the, oh so true, sign that i got Noah in Texas for 50% which came out to be $2. Noah's room is full of little treasures i've been finding for the last few months.

This is a little jar i found just this past weekend at a Yard Sale where the old lady was selling the most amazing antiques. I instantly pictured it on my window sill with some wildflowers in it. For $0.50 i couldn't pass it up. And then one of my friends recommended that when i'm not using it for flowers to use it as a money jar for Dad when he says bad words and then mom can go shopping. More Yard Sales here i come! What a fabulous idea!

Ok so my biggest project has been Belle's nursery. I've been trying to find cheap easy treasures to make her room come together much like i did Noah's, but it's hard when you have no idea which way to go with the nursery. I started off wanting an old fashion hollywood theme but after months and months of looking at inspiring nurseries online i was LOST on what i really wanted. It wasn't until i found an old vintage military poster that i use to have in my barracks room that the ideas started coming together. So here are the curtains i made for her room Labor Day weekend which tie in the colors from the poster perfectly. I followed the post from Young House Love ( which i LOVE) and it turned out SO easy! On top of that i originally had different curtains picked out from Urban Outfitters which would have cost me $120 total but with Joann's Labor Day sale i scored the fabric for these for $50! I saved $70!

So my next project was making Belle's crib skirt which again i followed the lovely Young House Love (their tutorials are SO easy to follow)! I was mostly stumped on the fabric i wanted to use. I KNEW i wanted a dark shade of blue to compliment the curtains and possibly some SMALL detail to not override the flowers on the curtains and stripes on the walls. So at the SAME yard sale that i scored my little mason jar i found THIS fabric. Can we say PERFECT?! It was almost like it was made to go in her room! For $1 i got about 4 yards and only needed 1 1/2 so i will have to find something else to use the yards for. Maybe pillows?

The colors coordinate a LITTLE too perfectly.

Coming along pretty good!

My main source of inspiration at this point :)

And for your viewing pleasure, here i am at 30 weeks pregnant. What would a little thrift store shopping be without some fashion? Like my outfit? I received more compliments on it then anything else in my closet, and it cost me a total of $7! Gotta love the Goodwill. The funny part is that my $40 sandals cost more than my whole outfit! And the BEST part is that i'm still not wearing maternity clothes!!!!!

They've decided to retire.

I spoke too soon like i knew i would. I swore i would run my whole pregnancy and i really did put up a tireless effort. You don't realize how many things you SWEAR you're going to do when you're pregnant and the second the line turns blue and the aches and pains set in you throw in the towel. Well i didn't throw in the towel until now at exactly 7 mos pregnant. I ran the LA Marathon while i was 2 mos pregnant although i hate to even say i even ran it. My time was HORRIBLE and at this point i'm just glad i made it because the sharp pains i had in my lower abdomen would have been enough to scare anyone to stop. But i made it, took a month off, checked in with my doctor that it would be ok to continue running, and then i continued. But at 3 mos pregnant i had to use some very tricky methods in order to get me in those running shoes. All i wanted to do was lay on my couch and eat Top Ramen like i did my whole pregnancy with Noah. So the first thing i did was make a STRICT schedule on when i would run. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday's worked best for my schedule so i literally had to co-erce and make myself go those days. And i did. I have to say i did not miss a beat! And I always felt like a million bucks when i would finish a 30 minute run. I didn't even set mile goals for myself anymore, i told myself 30 min of running and that is it. So whether that amounted to a little over 3 miles or 2.5 depended on what type of day i was having and whether or not Belle wanted to cooperate with me.

So how come now that my running shoes have retired and my body has told me enough is enough do i want to run more than i have ever in my life? Probably because when i started running 2 years ago there was a distinct reason that has stayed with me today. Alot of people don't know why i started running, but i can remember the day like it was yesterday. Noah was 3 mos old and i was sad. Very sad. I spent my days crying all day and i didn't know what was wrong with me?! I was trying to adjust to this new life as a stay at home mom, and after 3 years of being on the go and working in the Air Force it was a big adjustment. Suddenly i started thinking maybe this is what people called post-partum depression. I never once had a bad thought towards my baby, if anything he would make me stop crying when i would see his precious face, but i just had this overwhelming feeling of sadness. I remembered one of my good friends telling me how she was a runner and practically ran everyday. I figured i needed to get out of the house and i really wanted to start exercising again so what a perfect opportunity. I called her up, asked when her next run was, and vowed to meet her there. I can still remember that run as clearly as i am typing. It was at the good ol Savannah Rapids, next to the river, and i told her i didn't think i could go far, but i ran 2 miles that day. I cant describe the feeling i felt all i know is i had to come again. And again, and again. By the end of the week i was on 3 miles and i will never forget as we were doing our cool off walk my friend looking at me and telling me that she could already see a difference in me. That meant the world to me because i felt like a whole new person. After that day i couldn't stop. There was the Georgia marathon, and then the LA marathon, and here i sit 7 mos pregnant dreaming of day when i can race again once this baby is born.

So i've come to realize that i am an emotional runner. I run when i'm sad, when i'm mad, stressed, overwhelmed, you name it. Its a place i can escape to and the miles keep going by and all my thoughts can rearrange themselves. Another run i can remember clear as day was probably about 10 mos ago when i found out my cousin Lucy was about to start chemo treatments. The sadness i felt couldn't be expressed as i laced up my shoes and headed out. Tears fell down my face that entire run. And here i sit wondering how that was just a short 10 mos ago and now my cousin is dead. The pain and sadness makes me want to do one thing, but its something my body wont let me do right now. I want to run. The last 7 mos i've had to manipulate and lie to my body to get those shoes on and right now all i want to do is escape to my running place.

My cousin Lucy was such a beautiful person and i could go on for days on what an amazing mother she was, but all i know is that God wanted her home with Him. So thats where she is at, and i cant wait for the day when i can head out again on my familiar paths because i know now that i will have a guardian angel looking over me. I will no longer be alone with just my thoughts, but she will be there with me also. So maybe my running shoes aren't retiring, but rather taking a leave of absence. They will be back and so will i.

Fall=winding down or starting up?

Every year around this time i feel like a deep breath in is needed as the summer comes to an end and everything winds down. But theolder i get, and more kids i pop out, i realize that the summer IS me winding down for what is yet to come in the fall. Fall semester has officially started for me and i am in my first block of classes in my education program. Not only am i taking my very first FULL load, ever, i also have to do 120 hours in a classroom outside my school work. I'm looking forward to the challenge and the strange looks i have gotten from all my professors when they see my 7 month belly hasn't deterred me!

Noah is talking more and more everyday and George and i just LOVE it. He has also started potty training :/ I have officially refused to change, or put diapers on him while he is at home, so he has basically started his very own nudist colony here with Chloe. He goes easily in the potty at school because he sees the other kids, but here at home he has been very weary. Today was day 3 of no diapers and for the first time he went in his potty. Of course i danced for him and offered him some fruit snacks so i'm hoping he'll start catching on better before Belle makes her grand entrance and then that will mean double diaper duty if he hasn't caught on by then.

I am going to need EXTRA discipline when i am at home and supposed to be studying because not only do i need to maintain my 3.0 gpa but my mind is constantly wandering to the fact that we're still not done with the nursery! Belle will be here in a little less than 3 mos and me being the systematic person that i am, i do not want to dive full force into finishing her room until Noah's is completely done. All we have left are some wall prints to hang and install his ceiling fan, but the ideas keep turning in my head. Do i want to just go the easy way out and buy some cute, fun art or prints or do i want to indulge in my inner Martha and make and or create my own? I think i'm leaning towards the latter.

Here are a few pics of what his room looked like when we first moved into our home last winter.

Here was the beginning of the big boy transformation. Besides moving the crib into the nursery, i was SO excited to find Noah this train table for his room on Craigslist for $50! And it came with the train which has many more pieces than what you see here.

Our little fam took an ikea trip about a month ago to stock up on some big boy items for Noah's room. As you can see, he left the decisions on what will go in his room up to us.

Here is the beginning. We've painted since and i've hung up a few things but you can slowly start to see a lil man room emerge!

Here is my inspiration right now. Noah has a ton of alphabet cards and i found this picture online and i am debating whether or not i want to re-create it somewhere in his room. Will keep you posted on what i decide!

And here is how Belle's room has been left. Until Noah's room is done i am swearing off of it. It shouldn't be but a few weeks and then i can start on all the fun projects i have for this one!

Will post Noah's big boy room fully done hopefully next weekend! :)