Monday, April 20, 2015

Our Home: Mini Makeover Plans

Update: 
You can check out the dramatic transformations when we completed the rooms i the following posts.
Dining Room Reveal & School Room Reveal
 
We moved into our home almost exactly 3 years ago to the date. After loosing our first home to a tornado in 2011 we were able to do something we never imagined doing. We got to build our realistic dream home.


I've shared my home tour before but if your new and want to "snoop" around, go for it.

Three years later and I still love our home. There is a small list of things that I would do differently if I had the chance. But that list is definitely small. 

However, as our family has grown up our needs just aren't the same as they were 3 years ago. The "play room" that so nicely sits off the kitchen really isn't used anymore. I have also discovered that if it takes 3 years to finish decorating a room. You may end up hating the color of paint you originally chose.

So here I am three years later finally ready to finish a project and make another room a more usable space. 

The Dining Room Before

For the after check out the room reveal
Dining Room Reveal 

The first stop is the dining room. Here lies the paint color that is starting to bug me. I originally chose a green that ended up looking like guacamole so I repainted with this sea foam green.


Now I am envisioning something a bit lighter. Something like this.


Behr 'Wheat Bread' What I am considering the best color of "graige" for us. 

The paint isn't the only thing I want to change. Those paintings were supposed to just be a quick, temporary art project until I did something more permanent. I am ready to take them down and do some kind of small gallery type display. 


Wall decor ideas could include:


Little Brick House: Reclaimed Wood Project: DIY Wooden Arrows

An old radiator shell

Or a sign like this.... only with Missouri instead.


Or anything else. Who knows what we will come up with. After all we do have a back splash made with license plates

I would also would like to add some mirrors to the back wall (the wall with the door). I am hopeful it will bring in a bit more light and make the room feel larger. I am thinking something similar in style to this, only in white.

Full Length Barn Wood Mirror For hallway DIY with cheap mirror and repurposed wood

The Play Room/ Future School Room

This is the current space.

For the after check out the room reveal
 
School Room Reveal




Plans for this room would include getting rid of the love seat, desk and entertainment stand.
Empty that room out! I still have to decide if I want to paint the room.

What do you think paint or don't paint?
 
Then we are going to need a desk. I drew up this plan a few months ago.


Here are a few Pinterest finds I have used for inspiration.

This desk
How to Build Your Own Desk Tutorial and Plans for under $80, great for that first apartment after you move out of your dorm

And this desk
DIY craft desk tutorial (I would love to have a whole wall in my garage of these cabinets!)

As for what material we use for the top. I am not quite sure yet. I can't imagine it would be easy to write on laminate flooring. 

Some form of storage for the top of the desk is a must.

a smaller version for the bedrooms/bathroom to keep cotton balls, etc in… 15 Creative And Useful DIY Desk Organizers

A chalk board would be fun.

See how easy it is to make a giant chalkboard using DIY chalkboard paint which can be used in a home office, play room, or kitchen! MountainModernLife.com

Mount the TV on the wall. Maybe add a books shelf area, A couple bean bag chairs maybe?

DIY Kids Bean Bag Chair (in 30 minutes!) - no fancy sewing skills required! #DIY #playroom

I'd also like to add some new art or art displays.

Like these frames

Easy Change Artwork Frames. Holds 50 pieces of kids artwork. Only $8.95. These are at JoAnn's. awesome!

Or these clipboards


You can follow me along on Pinterest as I find more ideas for these rooms.

Follow Our Pretty Little Girls's board Inside the Home on Pinterest.

Follow Our Pretty Little Girls's board Homeschool Room on Pinterest.

The most exciting part about these mini makeovers is getting two finished, more defined spaces. 
We have been doing school work in our dining room for 2 years now. Being able to separate those two rooms is going to be awesome.

I can't wait to share them with you when they are done!

Update: 
You can check out the dramatic transformations when we completed the rooms i the following posts.
Dining Room Reveal & School Room Reveal

Are you working on an home improvement projects right now?

post signature


45 comments:

  1. I'm loving all of your ideas! I will definitely be pinning some!

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  2. Love them all! I feel like I shouldn't put any money into the house we are in now because I know it's not our forever home! Can't wait to have a house we can update and really LOVE

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  3. oh gosh so many ideas! I love those arrows, those are lovely. And I am excited to see how your school room turns out!

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  4. I love ALL those ideas- the radiator shell, desk, and chalkboard in particular. That room will be a perfect little classroom.

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  5. Love the look of your rooms!!! I love the organizational idea for all your markers and such.... are those round baking trays?

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  6. Great ideas! I especially like the double desk idea. Just out of curiosity, what would you do differently if you had to build again?

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  7. I like the yellow in the playroom/ school room! All great ideas, I can't wait to see progress.

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  8. Thanks Jamie.

    #1 I would have splurged on granite.
    #2 I would have made our bedroom a teensy bit smaller making the living room larger
    #3 I would have done some can lighting in the dining room.

    That's really the main stuff. My biggest of those regrets is not doing granite. Sure it can be changed but I don't see us ponying up that money anytime to soon.

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  9. Thank you! I like the cheerfulness of the yellow too. It's hard to imagine that gone.

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  10. I believe they are! Finding all the stuff to put something like that together may be a bit tricky. But some kind of organizer is a must!

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  11. Thanks friend the arrows are a lot of fun.

    I am too!!!! The idea of having a school room makes me a bit giddy!

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  12. Well I do have an Ikea trip planned... and it's only about a month away now! New dishes and other fun stuff are on the list too!

    Your house is looking pretty fabulous. That room really needs some lightening up and graige seems to be the perfect color to do that and flow with everything else just fine.

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  13. Oh girl I know that exact feeling. Then we decided we were going to be there long enough to justify some renovations we GUTTED a bathroom and our bedroom. Less than a year later it was destroyed by a tornado. *palm to forehead*. At least I got my forever home sooner though :).

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  14. Oh man! What a terrible feeling! I guess God works in mysterious ways!

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  15. Thanks Emily! It was so nice to see a comment from you on this post. I saw your picture and thought, I really know her! Lol, I'm a dork.

    YES you are so, so, so right on that one. Which is what has led me to the graige. I don't want to paint the blue in the kitchen but I may end up doing the school room in the graige to.

    I think I may dig that radiator shell out of the attic today!

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  16. Those look like some fun changes. The desk looks awesome! Keep an eye on Pick Your Plum for that galvonized organizer. I got one from them a while back.

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  17. Oh my gosh - the mirror with the wood around it is stunning! I might just need to make something like that for my husband and my bedroom - we love the rustic look :)


    www.lovinglifemoore.com

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  18. Oh I definitely will do that! Thanks for the heads up friend. If I can't grab one there surely I can find something when I make my trip to IKEA right?!

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  19. Isn't it beautiful! I just adore it. Such an easy project to. You should get on that one soon girl :). Completely unlike me. I have had the mirrors for my project laying under my bed for 2 years now.... #FAIL. Haha!

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  20. Desiree @ Macke MonologuesApril 20, 2015 at 4:40 PM

    The Love sign - YES! I'd need one for Iowa and Kansas. :)
    I can't wait to see how you pull your dining room together, and what fun ideas you have for the kids area.
    We are THISCLOSE to wrapping up Marcus' big boy, nautical themed, room. I'm just waiting on one more item to be shipped. COME ON UPS! And, I think I'm almost done with all the ideas to bring together Baby Girl's room.

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  21. Oh my goodness that is so exciting and awesome. When I drop the tornado card if your at all familiar with the area it's pretty easy to figure out just where I am. I know another blogger who lives in the area but I knew her before I started blogging so she doesn't count :). I am still in Missouri, still in the same spot that I was before. Thank you so much for the recommendation, I just filled it out! Can't wait to get to know you more.

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  22. Loving all the ideas for the playroom/school room. LOVE them all! The arrows are my favorite for the dining space. , Although, I could totally see ya'll doing the MO love sign or the radiator. In fact, I kind of what to see you do the radiator!

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  23. Your home is darling!! I love the idea of making a home school room. We have rearranged furniture a few times to make things work for us right now. I love having the flexibility to use a room in ways that best fit your purpose for your current season. Great advice :) I love that state Love sign - never seen anything like it.

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  24. I LOVE your house! Seriously. It's gorgeous. I think the outside is perfection. As for the inside, I love all of your inspiration! I love your table and how it has 4 chairs and a bench. I've been dying for a table like that for forever. Do you remember where you got it? I also love the bean bag idea. I've been wanting one for Mason's room but haven't found a cheap-ish one, so if you find one, let me know!

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  25. Love your home! I didn't know you lost a house to a tornado! Wow- all that decor is so lovely. We recently repainted things so all is lighter and love it! Those arrows and that chalkboard in the kitchen are amazing

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  26. I love that paint color! It's going to look so great in your dining room. Oh and another gallery wall is a great choice!! I think you should paint the playroom too. Idk if it should be the same color as the new diningroom color but it would be cohesive if you did. Loving the idea of using cabinets for the desk as well!

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  27. Thank you! I think another gallery wall will look great too. Especially in that space.

    I really like the idea of carrying the dining room color in there. I think even with the blue kitchen, which I don't wan to paint, it will look really nice... I just don't know yet. If he wants to stain the desk I am going to paint for sure. Yellow with wood colors can be tricky.

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  28. Thank you so much Liz. I looked for a table like that FOREVER too. Seriously I shopped around for a table longer than everything else combined. Most options were just so cheap and rickety. We ended up going to Oak Expressions (part of Furniture Row) Do you have those out your way? They BY FAR had the best dining room table options and it wasn't that expensive. It is HEAVY to. It takes both of us to move it. Plus it has a built in leaf #winning.

    I will definitely keep you posted.

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  29. Thank you so much! I do too, we are already spending hours a day working on school Having a more permanent place than our dining room table to do that would be great! Especially seeing we have a room that is just sitting there not really being used. Isn't that sign fun! I would love to make my own take on it.

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  30. Thanks friend. I love the arrows too! I want to figure out a way to incorporate a few different elements into the dining room. We will see what I come up with.

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  31. And California too ;). That would actually be really fun to incorporate something like that with different states into a larger gallery wall. I am excited to make my own spin on that piece.

    I absolutely can not wait to see Marcus' room. I bet it is going to be so cool. Plus I got a HUGE grin when I read Baby Girls room. So happy for you friend.

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  32. Thanks Keri. Lighter is so nice, nice and open feeling.

    I forget sometimes that not everyone knows, SURPRISE :). Hehe. It's one of those things that is easy to think only happens on TV. Then it shreds your town apart and leaves you homeless. Crazy. Here is a link if you want to read a bit more. http://www.ourprettylittlegirls.com/2014/05/may-22nd-3-yeas-later-oh-how-he-loves-us.html

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  33. That is so true! I never really thought about it but when I watched an episode of Sarah Richards on HGTV she said that yellow and brown belong only in the bathroom. It's stuck with me ever since and I thinks it's hilarious. I would definite paint it. I mean since you're already prepping and getting everything out and done might as well as do one more room.

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  34. Your home is so cute! I am so sorry about the tornado! I love the plans for your playroom/school area! Hoping to create a reading nook this summer myself! I am a big fan of that wheat color. All of my walls are that color with splashes of accent colors.

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  35. Thanks Jen! I did SO much color when we moved here, except the living room?! I guess I figured it couldn't be every where. Switching things to be more neutral is going to be really great. Adding a reading nook would just be so fun I think. Hopefully it would get them even more interested in reading than they already are! Does your first grader love to read? Marissa is a HUGE Junie B Jones fan.

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  36. Yeah the brown builtin desk would just look gross with that yellow and Russ REALLY hates to paint furniture. So I am thinking I will be painting the walls instead. Oh yay, I just LOVE painting. #sarcasm

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  37. Thanks Jenny that is so nice to hear that my ideas aren't just cool in my head :). I really like that bar. At the time it was perfect to display it but I didn't have to worry about them ripping it off the wall by trying to hang on it. Baha ha! I would like to stack two shorter bars down lower now that they are a bit older. We will see what I end up doing eventually. It just needs to be finished by August!

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  38. Love your plans!! I can't wait to see how that school room takes shape...I'm a sucker for homeschool rooms!

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  39. Thank you so much! The thought of having a designated space for our schooling makes me a bit giddy :).

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  40. I adore your home!! It’s beautiful, friend. And I sure did
    just click on the home tour link. I love those wooden arrows and would love them
    in our home.

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  41. Thank you so much! I am always a sucker for a home tour. It is so fun to "snoop around' someones house :).

    Maybe you could add some to you gallery wall :). They can't be that hard to make?!

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  42. Love it!! I love all the art supplies, and your plans for that room especially. We have completely flipped our current house, and are preparing for a big move. We are working on remodeling part of that home too. My mind is spinning with ideas! Love these!! <3

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  43. Thank you! It will be so nice to have a permanent spot for our school supplies. Being able to leave things laying out without having to worry about dinner later and such. I CAN NOT wait!

    We did a lot of work in our old house to. Pretty much gutted the entire thing over several years. It is a lot of hard work! So thankful to be married to someone who knows how to swing a hammer :). Good luck on your remodeling!

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