Blog Parade of Homes~

Happy Monday everybody! Today, I'm really excited to be partipating in a Bloggy Parade of Homes sponsored by Poppies at Play!

If you've never been to the Shabby Nest...WELCOME! I'm Wendy...a busy mother of four who loves all things home! I aim to make my spaces beautiful and livable and to create those spaces without breaking the bank. I hope you enjoy this little tour of my home, and if you like what you see, I hope you'll stick around!! I always love to meet new bloggy friends!



For those of you who are regular readers of the Shabby Nest, the first three rooms I'm going to share will probably look quite familiar...but, at the end of the post, I've included a sneak peak at our in-process living room that I hope will pique your interest in what is to come for that room!

Boys' Sock Monkey Bedroom

First up, my boys' sock monkey bedroom. I used my collection of vintage sock monkeys as the inspiration for this room's color scheme, and I just love the result. To read more about the process I used to create this room go here.

The Princess' Vintage Cottage Bedroom

Next up, the Princess' bedroom. For the centerpiece of the Princess' room, I used a beautiful old wrought iron bed that I inherited from my sister-in-law. You can read more about the Princess' room here.

White and Gray Master Bedroom Retreat

Ah, my master bedroom. I can honestly say that this is the first time in my married life that I have LOVED my master bedroom. The gray and white palette, the luxurious bedding, the custom headboard. All of it. It is really a retreat!!

You can read more about it here.

A Sneak Peak at our In-Progress Living Room

And here is the sneak peak of our living room that I promised you! It's starting to really take shape and I'm excited!! I put a fresh white slipcover on the sofa and sewed up some pretty throw pillows in a chocolate brown and cream trellis pattern.

We painted the buffet white (which I l0ve!) but are still looking to switch out the accessories and add a colorful lamp. The console under the large charcoal print (by my father-in-law) is still waiting it's coat of paint. I'm currently debating between a dark taupe - a color found in the area rug - or an olive green...you'll have to stay tuned to see which color wins out. The lamp on the console also needs replacing...

Do I spy painter's dropcloth drapes? Why yes!! They're perfect in the space!!

Here's a view of the opposite side of the room. We're hoping to replace the mismatched chairs and add a coffee table. The large black mirror over the mantel is going to receive a fresh coat of cream colored paint so that it matches the trumeau mirror propped in front of it. I'd also love to paper the back of the back of the built-in bookcase to lighten up the color a bit. Because we are renting, we can't paint out the bookshelves nor can we do anything about the discolored stone on the fireplace or the "lovely" brass fireplace grate, so the best I can do is camouflage them. Exactly how I'm going to do that remains to be seen!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my home! To continue on with the Parade of homes, click the #2 below!

If you weren't able to tune in for my FaveCraftsRadio interview last night, you can click here to listen to an archived version of the broadcast.

Have a great day~

FaveCrafts Radio Segment~

Hi Everyone! Just a reminder that I'll be LIVE on FaveCrafts Blog Radio tomorrow night at 7:00pm EST. I'm super excited and hope you'll all tune in! Here's a link!

Frugal Friday is still going strong...over 100 entries so far...if you haven't had a chance to look through all the Frugal Goodness...scroll down and enjoy!

Happy Saturday~

A Bedroom Fit for a Tween~

My oldest son is about to turn 10 in a couple of short months. And since we've moved into this house, he has his own bedroom for the first time in years. So you can imagine how excited he is to make the space his own. He has been very patient as he's watched me decorate every other bedroom in this house. (Okay, not that patient...he has asked repeatedly when it was going to be his turn...poor kid.) And now, his day has finally come!

His room poses a couple of challenges. First, it's in the basement with only one small window, so it gets very little natural light. And second, his room has no storage at all. (This house is closet- challenged as you may remember from this post.)


Here is my proposed layout for his room...

In addition to the the challenges of the space itself, we are facing a serious furniture drought. Mr. One is going to need some major clothing storage, a new bed, bed side tables, and a desk and chair for homework. That's a tall order, and although you all know how much I love thrifting for furniture and giving new life to the "previously loved", we decided to take a more contemporary approach to the space. So with that in mind, and the fact that I am on very strict budget, I saw only one solution. And it is spelled I...K...E...A.

Here's my wish list...

At first, I considered getting Mr. One a large dresser to hold all of his clothing folded up. But then I decided that a wardrobe or an armoire might be a better solution.

Image from IKEA

Enter the Hemnes wardrobe. With this armoire, Mr. One can hang his shirts, use baskets for his underclothes, socks and miscellaneous items, and use the drawers for his shorts and pants. Not only that, but placed across from the bed, it will visually balance out the high window.



Next up...a homework desk. I love the Expedit workstation. The bookshelves will be perfect for all of Mr. Ones stuff. He is a bit of a packrat, so using storage boxes that fit in the shelves will create a clean/uncluttered look with TONS of storage.

Images from IKEA

I love the idea of using the Jules chair in a contrasting light wood. It looks clean and modern with a touch of whimsy.

Finally, I love the Lillesand bed. It's metal with fairly clean lines and looks both traditional and contemporary at the same time. Perfect.

Image from IKEA

The bedside tables are currently just a vision in my imagination...but I hope that with the Hubby's woodworking skills, we'll be able to make them a reality. So you'll have to wait and see...right along with me.

Now to nail down the color scheme. I have already made the window treatments in deep indigo denim and blue ticking fabrics. And Mr. One has picked out his first piece of "art" for the room. A poster of Percy Jackson : The Lightning Thief. (He's a huge fan.) I actually really love the colors in the poster...primarily dark blues and grays, so I'm going to try to work within those paramaters...adding a touch of something brighter for punch...maybe yellow? That remains to be seen.

Image: Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

I hope you'll come along with me on this decorating journey as I create a room fit for a tween!

My interview on FaveCrafts radio is coming up this Sunday at 7:00 EST on BlogRadio. I'd love it if y'all would tune in!!

Have a great day~

California Dreamin~

Seriously, I am one of the only people I know that could go spend time in beautiful sunny Southern California (we're talkin' temperatures in the mid-80's people) and come home with a wicked head cold. I mean seriously, how does one do that?

I'm pretty useless right now...so I'm just going to leave you with these fun pics the hubby took of me and my beautiful sister.

A true depiction of our quirky personalities.

Behaving ourselves for the camera.

Gotta get some rest so I can look half-way human...as opposed to having a red nose and weepy eyes...when the Princess and I get our pictures taken at our Thirty Strangers photo session this Friday.




But before I go baby myself, a couple of notes...

A double-size version of Linky Love is coming soon, I promise...

And just a reminder that you can catch my interview on FaveCrafts radio coming up April 25th.

Have a great day~

Painted, Facebooked, and Ohdeedohed~

First up...I painted my green buffet white. I know...I know. Some of you are going to be very mad at me. I tried to live with the pretty green in our new house. Honestly I did. And it simply did not work. I couldn't take it anymore. Well, that, and the fact that if you saw the piece up close, it was looking very worse for the wear. We purchased it with the green paint job, and the man who had refinished it? Well, let's just say that he didn't do the best job. It was chipping like crazy.

BEFORE (pretty in our old house):

So the hubby gave it a good sanding, then I pulled out the white paint and set to work. I'll be honest with you. I don't really like to paint that much. But what I do like is the almost instant gratification I get from it. The furniture (or room) transforms so quickly right before my eyes...like magic.

AFTER (pretty in our new house):

And now that this pretty piece is white...it is like magic! It brightened up the space...and it looks so clean and fresh and spring-y. It makes me happy! Now for a little accessory tweaking...but that's another post.

Next up, you can now find The Shabby Nest on Facebook!! And I need some fans! Yes I do. I've placed a Shabby Nest fan box over on my sidebar. If you feel so inclined, I'd love to have you as a fan on Facebook!! Yes I would!


Finally, for those of you who haven't seen my mini-mudroom, (there are some of you out there right?) Ohdeedoh ran a fun feature on it yesterday. You can find it here.

With the busy Easter weekend, and now spring break upon us, I'm still making my way through all the fabulous Frugal Friday links from last week...so look for Linky Love comin' up soon.

And don't forget to go vote for the week 6 challenge at So You Think You Can Decorate! I can use all the votes I can get. ;-)

Have a great day~

A Busy Month~

April is shaping up to be a crazy busy month for me. But crazy busy in a good way...

Tonight I am giving a presentation on Interior Design and Making Our Homes Inspiring Places to Be for the women in my church. I'm really excited...and a bit nervous as well.

Next week is Spring Break for my kiddos. Actually looking forward to a little down time with no chauffering to and from school...no homework...no alarm clocks...oh! it's sounding better all the time.

Then for some really fun news...the Princess and I were selected to take part in Justin Hackworth's 30 Strangers photography project! I've wanted to do this since he started the project a couple of years ago, and was lucky enough to be chosen for this year. Can't wait to see the fabulous images he comes up with...

Also on this month's calendar...a blog radio interview with FaveCraftsRadio. My tummy does little flips every time I think about this, but I'm really excited! I hope you'll all tune in and hear what I really sound like. I'll be talking about this here l'il old blog as well as some of my plans for the future...should be a lot of fun!

Oh, and next week...I'll be announcing an exciting venture and having a great giveaway...gotta love a giveaway!

Whew! Told ya it was going to be a busy month!

MckLinky goes up tonight at 12:00 EST...can't wait to see what you all have up your sleeve for this week's Frugal Friday.

Have a great day~

Chalkboard tales~

Just found this link to an article on chalkboard ideas...and I'm included. Got to love a little press. ;-)