decorating

A Growing Girls Bedroom Makeover

by Chavah Kinloch on May 24, 2011

It’s no secret that I have four children, one girl and three boys. It’s great! It really is but there are some huge differences between my sons and my daughter and they’re made very apparent through the state of their bedrooms. It only takes one glance in the door to see how different they are.

So first of all I’ll give you the rundown on how things work in our household.

We live in a 4 bedroom home, two boys in 1 room, 1 girl in one room, another boy in one room and then of course mine and Andrew’s bedroom. When we first moved in we just had 3 kids, the bedrooms were slightly dated but in great condition. I set each child up with plenty of storage and new linen. I especially loved my boys’ matching duvet sets.

Now we move on a couple of years and this is what we get:

This isn’t from lack of trying to keep it respectable. It’s just my boys. Love them to bits but like every family, we definitely have our moments.  Lectures, time out, removal of toys and other consequences just couldn’t keep this from happening. As soon as you take your eyes off them this was inevitable…. For example, see those doors in the photo? That’s the double wardrobe. The doors are tied up because Davis used to silently wake in the middle of the night, turn the light on and destroy the room by pulling out every single toy and book we owned; so they’re hidden away in there.

I’m praying they’ve outgrown this stage seeing as it’s been over a year and a half since we’ve had any major incidents. The wallpaper ripping is definitely an age thing with my kids. I only have one little person left to go through the ropes. I’m crossing my fingers that with just one at that young age now, it’ll be easier to handle. I won’t have to have my eyes and ears on three people at once. Or I could just get lucky like I did first time around and have another child that chooses not to destroy anything. I live in hope.

Now about this post. Yes, the title of this post does read A Growing Girls Bedroom Makeover even though it’s clear this is my boys’ room. The reason behind this is the room my daughter is in currently, is bigger than my two big boys room. It only makes sense that because my number of son’s outnumber my number of daughters – they switch rooms to make the living situation more comfortable. They’re growing so fast, those boys need somewhere to tumble around!

When I talked to my daughter about switching rooms she was ok with it. She’s a happy-go- lucky kind of girl. All she asked is that it stopped smelling like the boys lol. I’m with her on that!

My daughter has been promised a sleepover with friends for her birthday. She needs a bedroom for that. That gave us a time frame of 3 weekends to get the majority of the room done. Two weekends have passed & we’re on track. One weekend left! I’m going to have to haul butt this week to get furniture pieces finished so it looks half decent. I’m still working on the basis that I will reuse furniture we already have in the home and bargain hunt for the rest while throwing in a couple of higher (and by higher I mean more than $30 lol) priced feature pieces.

We won’t get it all sorted by the weekend; once again we’ll be lacking curtains that match the new style of the room and my idea for the wardrobes won’t be done, plus of course some accessories will be missing but I’m so excited to be done with stripping walls and seeing another room getting made over. What I’m most excited about though is getting into that closet and getting rid of all the excess junk that’s made it’s way into the house over the years. Nothing feels as good as purging things you no longer need and simplifying!

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I Knew I Should Have Bought One When I Had the Chance

by Chavah Kinloch on January 25, 2011

A few years back when we shifted into our home, my husband and I went hunting around town for an over sized mirror. It looks like we were ahead of the trend because I’ve been spotting them everywhere for the past year. Definitely love the look. We never did end up purchasing one, even though we eventually found the perfect mirror at a great price. We decided to reign ourselves in and seeing as it wasn’t an essential item, we decided we could live without it. Darn, lol. Some days I wish I were more spontaneous and carefree. Nevermind! I’m sure one day I’ll pick one up.

What do you think of the look?

Image from xJavierx

Image from love home

Image from rue

Image via Lonny

Image from Interiorsandallthingspretty

Image from thedesignfile

Image from decorpad

Image from deisgnwonderland

Image from Apartment Therapy

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Six Things I’m Loving Today

by Chavah Kinloch on January 19, 2011

Great clients – This is a photo sent to me from my latest client. It’s humbling to see my work being displayed and appreciated. It’s moments like this that make all the fear you experience when putting yourself out there, worth it.

Buy a painting: Starting from $50

Mayday by Shepard Fairey – A book published by well known street artist, Obey. The book talks about people such as Jean Michel Basquiat who he describes as revolutionary.

To quote Shepard:

They started out on the margins of culture and ended up changing the mainstream. When we celebrate big steps that were made in the past, it reminds us that big steps can be made in the future.’

Definitely one to add to the list of must haves, for me!

Buy it: US$29.95

Jun Arita Tees – A new line of t-shirts for men and women is out, created by artist Jun Arita. There are quite a few really great designs that it makes it hard to pick just one! So I didn’t hehe. My favourites are in the photo above: New York (in green) and New Zealand (in black).

Buy it: $35.00-$39.99

New Years Resolutions Printable – Created by Maddie over at lilmagoolie. Guess what, they’re free to download, so go get yours.

Download it

Hip Hop Documentaries – My husband and I are doco freaks. We love them, doesn’t matter the topic, we’ll watch it. However, lately we’ve been on a hip hop documentary overload, which suits us just fine. I love hip hop and my husband, well, he looooves hip hop. Hip hop plays a pretty big part in our lives, I’d forgotten just how much until we began watching these docos. It’s been so fun to watch and feel the excitement pump through our veins again. It’s sparked a lot of fun memories and made me realise just how ingrained the culture is in our lives.

One of my favourite quotes, from the documentary Rhyme and Reason:

Rap is something you do. Hiphop is something you live.

Crown Decor – In fact, anything with a crown on it. Some people like birds, others like cars, I like crowns. Our relationship goes waaaaay back and I still can’t get enough!

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Boston’s Room – A Photo Update

by Chavah Kinloch on January 17, 2011

He’s in everyone! It’s not completely finished, I still have to accessorise and add a few extra things but for the most part, the hard work is over. I’m letting out a huge sigh of relief.

We spent just a few hours on Saturday finishing off the paint job and moving furniture in once it was dry. It didn’t take long at all and with grey overcast weather it was the perfect temperature to work  on this room.

Boston is smitten with his new space. He runs around in it like a psycho, squealing with glee. In fact, the other children do the same thing. What’s even better is that we haven’t had any sleeping issues either, he’s adapted like a pro. I love my kids for always doing that!

Boston wanted to get involved. It’s as though he really understood that this was HIS room. He’d helped sand and put on plaster already (or so he thinks) and this weekend he thought he’d help paint and put the doorhandles back on.

I discovered that these new paint colours make an awesome backdrop for photographs (see above and below).

And now, without further ado, here are some photos to update you on this room. I’ve added the extra things to come, into the photos, to give you an idea of what will be coming into the space. We’re so close to finishing!

Also, I have come to a conclusion on fabric! Yes indeed, I have chosen something :D Now I just have to work out how much I need and how soon I can get it. Darn the start of the school year for taking all my money.

Because I’m such a great hostess here at Creating My Reality, I made sure to take some photos of fabrics that caught my eye while I was out hunting on the weekend. There were 2 major contenders but the one I’ve picked is actually one that has been on my mind for a few months. I spotted it in the store on a previous visit and have brought it up in multiple conversations. When we were back at the store on the weekend I had to have my husband dig through masses of fabric to find this specific roll again. He’s so good to me. Thank you honey.

All this time since I’d first spotted the fabric, I’d been trying to figure out if I could use it in this room or not. I was leaning towards not but after seeing all of the furniture in the room, I believe I can. There’s still plenty of visual space for me to clutter up with colours and patterns so I’m going for it. The whole concept behind this room was to create a space that entered into my mindspace; stylishly quirky, full of colour, love and art.

The fabric I’ve chosen is also a lot kinder on the wallet than it’s runner up. Strangely that didn’t come into the equation this time around but I’ll count it as a huge bonus.

Can you guess which one I’ve picked?

I do love all of these fabrics and hope to get my hands on each of them but the fabric I’ve chosen to use for the curtains is….

Fabirc #2. Obviously…because it’s yellow/black and white. *blush*

My runner up was the colourful polka dot fabric next to it; which costs about 4 x the price.

And that, my dear friends is where I’m up to. So far, so good! It’s all worth it.

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Decorating For Christmas: Simplified – Like, Really

by Chavah Kinloch on December 14, 2010

Alright, get ready! The countdown is on, we have 11 days left until our friends and family gather. I’m actually having a quiet Christmas with just my family and one of our friends but I’ll still be decorating. I love a nicely set dining table and put one together for most special occasions, I guess it’s like crafting or putting a painting together for me. So here are some super easy ideas for you to use to make your home feel Christmasy this holiday season.

Classic colours: Classic colours for Christmas consist of red, green, white, gold or silver. In the place setting above they’ve used a mixture of red and white crockery to set the theme.

Baubles: This is a really affordable option. You can buy packets of baubles for about $2 or use some extras from your tree. Place a large bunch of them in a few bowls on the table and a single bauble on each dish.

Place Cards: If you’re having a small-medium sized gathering around your table, why not add a little sophistication with hand written place cards? There are so many fun ways to hold a place card (think fruits, veges, pegs or miniature photo frames) and to make them all you need is a bit of card and a pen; although you’re welcome to get creative with what you write on as well.

Buffet Style: If you’re having a large gathering then set up a gorgeous buffet station with a vase of fresh flowers on display but out of the way. Everybody’s going to be huddling around here at once so make sure there’s a clear path. Stack the dishes to one side, the wine and glasses to another and don’t forget the cutlery.

Contemporary Glassware: If the classic colours don’t do it for you, use a colour you love. These turquoise wine glasses are stunning. Everybody needs some glassware for special occasions. Even those of us that don’t drink! Sparkling grape juice tastes just a little better in one of these.

Presents: Once again, if it’s a small gathering, you can put out individual gifts for your guests at their setting. Maybe it’s a small box of mint chocolates to eat after dinner.

Wrap it up: How simple, yet effective is this?  A length of ribbon to wrap up individual settings creates real wow factor.

Christmas Crackers: This is the little tradition that our family does, we inherited it from my husbands family. Each place is set with a Christmas cracker on top then at the beginning of dinner, we crack them open and wear the silly hats. Wait just a few days before Christmas and you can get the really pretty ones for half/a quarter of the usual price.

Pine cones: What could be simpler? It’s also free. You could spray paint them a certain colour, the ones above are gold or leave them in their natural state. Line them on the table or place a few of them on a tray as a centrepiece. Or just do what they’ve done above!

Decorate your chairs: I love these slip covers, they’d work perfectly on my dining chairs but what I’m wanting to show you is the simple decoration on top of them. The pine twig and cone look great but you can make it even more basic by just using ribbon and tying a huge bow. Keep the lengths long for a more dramatic look.

Indulge the senses: Adding a bunch of cinnamon sticks is bound to make it feel like Christmas. Find them at your local supermarket and tie them together with brown string to create a really casual feel.

A touch of elegance: Forget the paper and embrace the linen. Not only does a napkin made of material look stunning and feel so much softer than the regular paper napkin, it’s better for the environment.

Nature and bling: The perfect mix! Bring in some greenery from outside for the table and put it next to your crystal, good china and grandma’s cutlery.

Celebrate Outside: Obviously this is for my southern hemisphere readers, I wouldn’t expect people in Scotland or the US to venture out into all the snow they’ve been getting lately but it’s quite normal for us down here to celebrate outdoors with a BBQ, hangi or umu. You don’t need to do much, I love how the image above has gotten very original with their decorating style by using a large branch over the table and dangling a few baubles off, while using a white table runner for a buffet styled tablesetting on the porch.

Don’t forget the candles: Everyone has candles. All shapes, sizes and scents. Use them! They create an intimate atmosphere and some candles, like vanilla scented candles, can help prevent overeating. Although dim lighting does the exact opposite and it’s Christmas so really, just enjoy yourself.

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