Enjoying Your Space

I've heard Nate Burkus say that you should always decorate your bedroom first. It's supposed to be your sanctuary and a place that you love to be. I always end up doing it backwards. My kids' room get attention first and then the public areas. Even though I love my purple dining room, I sure wish that I had followed Nate's advice. 4 1/2 years of a yucky bedroom was too long. I'm soooo enjoying the space now.

Here are my last thoughts on decorating.

3. Give your "old stuff" a second look

Let's face it. Most of us don't have Nate's budget for a redecorating project! I had a list of more accessories to add, but I decided that I didn't have the money. I needed to look again at what I already had. The picture below shows a chair that I bought second hand about 7 years ago. I meant to have it recovered then, but it never got done. I dragged it out of the attic, and my mom and I went shopping. There is a store in Durham called Just Linens that sells most of their fabric for $7.99 a yard. The first time I went, I thought that it would be all seconds and out-of-date fabrics. I was wrong!! If you live close to one of these stores, it's well worth a visit. They have trims, pillows, etc in addition to a huge selection of fabric.

I also have a memory wall with old pictures. Our wedding picture is there with a current family picture. I included a painting of I Corinthians 13 that Barry gave me for our anniversery and another painting that we bought on our honeymoon. (Anson said, "That's a weird picture!" I explained that it was the only painting in the store that we could afford as newlyweds. We determined that we would become art collectors as we traveled through our marriage. Hilarious! Groceries are a bigger priority with 2 boys than artwork!) I found the wall-words in a local store, and I love the saying.

4. It's worth it to wait.

Dumb, Dave Ramsey! (Just kidding!) I hated that I read the article in our P31 magazine that he wrote. He said that when we go into debt that we're just like toddlers screaming, "I want it!!!" in the middle of Walmart. That graphic picture has stuck with me as I've been working on the room. Below is a picture of the shelves that will have to do until we save enough money to have someone do buit-ins. I wanted to write a check from the home equity line so badly, but Dave's picture kept popping into my head. (Thanks a whole lot, Dave Ramsey!!)

The last picture shows our still unpainted stairs. We have this funky floorplan with a loft in our bedroom. I love it, because it lets me talk to Barry at night as he works up there. (I'm guessing that he may not love it as much as I do. :) The stair well will be hard to paint, and the office needed some serious cleaning before we painted up there. Thanks to Barry's wonderful hard work last Saturday, we're ready! It will get done eventually...I hope it won't take another 4

years!