Maris' Big Girl Room Tour

My baby girl is going to be 18 months old this week!  And along with that came a few changes in her bedroom.  I've felt during the last few weeks that her room still felt like a baby's room, and she wasn't a baby anymore.  Being on holidays from work at the moment, I took the opportunity to do some shopping and rearranging to transform her bedroom into an oasis for a toddler girl.

The first thing to do was to dismantle the crib and assemble her new toddler bed.  We purchased the vintage looking Minnen bed from IKEA.  I love that it (and the mattress) is extendable to three different lengths, so it can grow with her.  We currently have it at the shortest length, which is as long as a crib but as wide as a twin bed.  Some new toddler bedding from Target completed the look.

We also bought another IKEA Trofast toy storage unit.  This one doubles as her night table and has a nice surface for playing and displaying her pretty toys.  She also chose the cute owl lamp from IKEA.

We kept the Hemnes (also IKEA) chest of drawers and change pad as we are still using diapers...she's not that grown up yet!

I took the armchair, lamp and side table out of the room to make more space for her to sit and read and play with her toys.  She is such an avid reader and loves taking books off her shelves to sit in the rocking chair or on her bed and read.

And that's her new room!  It's the tiniest room in the house, so we'll see how long she's happy in a small space, but I love that it's updated now to suit her growing needs.

Master Bedroom Makeover for Under $500

I'm so excited to finally share our master bedroom makeover!  I hadn't touched this room since we first painted it olive green when we moved into our house in 2009, so it was in desperate need of an update!  Since I am currently on maternity leave I am on a pretty tight budget, so I could only spend $500 to make this room over.  Scroll through to see the before and after and a breakdown of my costs!

The olive green was super popular back in 2009, but I was very tired of it and it no longer matched the paint in the rest of the house, which is all shades of white, grey and navy.  To save some money, I used the leftover white paint from our basement renovation on three walls and made the one wall behind our bed a feature wall with a striking black paint colour.

I also changed around my wall art and removed a lot of the clutter from my tabletops.  Fresh white sheets, a cotton/linen duvet cover and breezy white curtains help refresh the space.

I was going to try to DIY a woven wall hanging, but rather found this stunning piece by Lisa Terry on Etsy for about the same amount I would have spent on craft materials.  No brainer!  I also love the addition of a plant to the room and will probably add more!

Painting the room white has made it feel so much brighter and spacious.  I'm so happy with how the room turned out!  Thanks SO MUCH to my mom who helped me with the painting and watched the kids so I could shop in peace!

Breakdown of makeover costs:

Paint:
Benjamin Moore Paper White - leftover from another project $0
Benjamin Moore French Beret - $85 (with a lot leftover!  I could have made do with a 1L can)
Misc. painting supplies - $15

Bedding:
Sheets - $50
Duvet Cover Set - $80, both from HomeSense

Window Coverings:
Blackout roller blind - $45, IKEA
Panel Curtains - $90, Bed, Bath and Beyond

Decor:
Framed prints - from another area of house $0
Macrame wall hanging - $100, Lisa Terry Etsy
Potted plant - $19, Anthropologie and local greenhouse

Total: $484

40 Bags Update

This is a picture of my hallway linen closet AFTER I cleaned it up and removed FOUR bags of clutter...probably my biggest daily haul yet!  I've been thoroughly enjoying this decluttering challenge and have been faithfully keeping up to cleaning my daily area and making minimum one bag of disposal/donation/garage sale items.

In fact, it is only 11 days in and as of today I have removed 19 bags of clutter from my home already. I will have much more than the 40 bags by the end!  If you've never done a decluttering challenge before I highly recommend it!

40 Bags in 40 Days

Last month I participated in the 28 day indoor garden challenge.  It was so nice to have something to focus on other than the normal routine!  This month I am going to start the 40 bags in 40 days decluttering challenge with White House Black Shutters.

I did a big declutter two years ago when Ari was a baby and a small declutter last year when we renovated our basement, but, there always feels like there is continual build-up of STUFF.  Am I right?  Ann Marie has organized this challenge with a printable list to keep you on track, a huge list of ideas for areas to declutter and motivational support to get you through the 40 days.

I'm wanting to gather items for:

• Disposal (old papers, medicine, make up, etc)
• Donation (books, clothes, etc)
• Garage sale items

Find all the info you need to participate over here!

2017 Calendar

Now that January is nearly over, I finally have my 2017 calendar up!  I wanted to share because this calendar is a FREE PRINTABLE that can be downloaded from This Little Street.

Audrey of This Little Street designs the most beautiful fabrics and the calendar features many prints from her new line.

(Above image/This Little Street)
The calendar can be printed out onto cardstock and displayed however you please.  Since I don't have access to a colour printer at home I had mine printed at our Staples Copy and Print Centre for about $5.  An inexpensive way to have a beautiful calendar to enjoy all year long!

Download your calendar here!