Major Changes at Our Place

When we purchased our humble abode all of 7 years ago, the plan was to live here until we had our first child and then look for something a wee bit bigger. But over the years (and countless renovations), not only have we become attached to the area we live in, but we have fallen in love with our home.

 

There has been a lot of blood sweat and tears over the years let me tell you! We have renovated every single room, painted every single surface and replaced nearly everything that was here when we moved in. We also extended the once small house to add on an extra living area and a small study nook (my little office) before the kidlets arrived.

 

Yup I have lived through a lot of this! Image Source: My place!!

Buy boy just when we thought we had done everything and had everything, kids came along... For those with bambinos of their own, you'll understand that you just have no idea just how much space you are going to need for all of the bells and whistles that come with kids - namely toys!!

 

So here we are all of 7 years later making plans for our next and final (it better be!!) extension. The plans are being drawn up as I type, and my nails are being bitten in anticipation of what is going to be a crazy few months once the work starts mid year.

 

So what's in store?

Well firstly we are extending our existing lounge area to incorporate a play area for the kids at the rear. I am imagining additional toy storage, large play/craft table and enough room to be able to set up larger play items such as a tepee and kitchen etc.

 

Next up, we are adding on an extra bedroom (it will be a 4th bedroom) to use as a study area for the kids down the track (and probably a dumping ground for now!)

 

We are also adding on a storage area/mudroom (only realised I needed this once I discovered Pinterest mind you!). This will run off our new entrance hall with new entry passage.

How is this for a mudroom/storage room?! Image Source: Pinterest

And finally I am fulfilling my lifelong dream of having a walk in closet (at the moment I have a walk through type scenario - not quite the same!). This part probably excites me the most, as right now I have a big double door wardrobe with two rails that is bursting at the seams. In addition to this I have a wardrobe full of shoes (you can read about this here) and another wardrobe with clothes all residing in our garage - cannot wait to organise everything inside again.

 

I wish!!! Image Source: Pinterest

This had better be it because I just don't think we could live through (or afford) another extension. It will be interesting to see how we survive this one with kids in the picture. Anyone done any major work with kids/babies? How did it go?

 

So that is it, hopefully we will be creating our complete dream home. What about you? Are there things that you wish that you could do differently at your place? What would you love to have? A dream closet? A craft room? Love to hear...

 

Have a dream renovation or extension of your own to plan? Why not see how Yes Loans can make your dreams come true.

Where to Buy Items for Mr B's Toddler Room Makeover

Firstly a BIG thank you for all of the kind comments I received on Mr B's Toddler Bedroom Makeover post. I received a number of emails and comments asking for further information on items in the room, so I hope that this post addresses everything!!

 

 

Bed and Bedding

 

Our Bed is a Single Size. We purchased this through Captain Snooze and the style is  called Drover Bed Frame. They always seem to have a great sale on these every few months, so definitely worth waiting til it rolls around (if you can!).

 

 

The single bed mattress is from Sleepmaker and my goodness me it is so comfy (I can say that because I spent a few nights on here while I was pregnant and B was in our bed!).

Sleepmaker really do take the tough work out of selecting mattresses, with their fabulous online mattress selector tool. It is a fabulous  resource for selecting the right mattress for your body, needs and most importantly your budget.

The bedding is from Olli Ella and the design is the Poppet Single Bed Set. I purchased this online through the Linen Nursery and the lady who runs this (Drue) is absolutely gorgeous to deal with.

 

Soft Furnishings

 

 

The bunting and cushion (and little Easter rabbit on the ladder shelf) are from Milly Molly Mandy. If you haven't seen Shannon's creations, do yourself a favour and check out her page, I am a HUGE fan! I have worked with Shannon twice now and she is just fabulous to bounce ideas off to create the perfect space.

 

 

The letter B (on the door) is from Cheekee Monkeez. Nicole is another Aussie Mum with a fabulous little business.

 

The Chevron mat on the bedside table is actually a placemat from good old K-Mart for around the 3 buck mark. When I saw it I knew it would fit perfect with the navy chevron theme.

 

Small Furniture

 

The Ladder Shelf and Tree Coat Rack are from Mocka. K-Mart also have a very similar Tree Coat Rack that retails for $15 - bargain!

 

 

The Train Table is from K-Mart and it is an absolute steal for $39. It includes 60 pieces with the table and has made a brilliant present for Mr B - what a clever and thrifty man that Santa Claus is!

 

 

The Bedside Table and Slim Tallboy Chest are from the Ikea Hemnes Bedroom Range.

 

I really found it hard to decide between their 3 drawer chest or the 5 drawer chest (which we purchased in the end) and deliberated on this for weeks. In the end I decided that the slim unit would allow more play space for the little man, and it ended up being a great decision.

By selecting the slim unit, we now have the space for the ladder shelf and the train table where the wider unit would have had to live. The slim unit we managed to fit at the foot of the bed - it was meant to be!

 

Artwork

 

 

The Digger Canvas was selected by Mr B himself from Adairs Kids. We nabbed it just prior to Christmas at 50% off for $12.50 - bargain! I haven't seen this design around for a little bit, but they have other super cute designs for little boys (and girls), so be sure to check your local store.

 

The 3 frames are Ikea Ribba Frames.

 

The Shine like the Stars print is from Billy and Scarlet via Etsy.

 

The Birth print was purchased from Mosie Posies via Etsy (way back when I did the nursery).

 

The Places you Will Go print is from Olli Ella and is designed to perfectly match the bedding range.

 

I truly hope that this covers all of the questions and items that you all wanted details for. However if I have missed anything, please feel free to comment below or contact me. I am still making 'tweaks' to the little ladies room, but I do promise that this will be up very soon...

 

Mr B's Boys Toddler Bedroom Makeover

This post is another one that has been loonnnggg in the making! You see I actually have given Mr B's room not one, but two toddler makeovers in the past twelve months - talk about crazy (and a little bit expensive!).

 

Toddler Makeover Part 1 incorporated the items that I blogged about here. This room featured a colour scheme of pale grey, aqua and a hint of red - such a gorgeous little colour scheme for a little man.

Unfortunately this mini makeover was a bit short lived, as soon after completion, we found out that I was pregnant (yay!). This meant that the gorgeous cot bedding was made redundant a little sooner than planned, as we needed to transition the little man to single bed.

 

Although I absolutely loved the grey, aqua and red colour scheme of the room, I fell in love with this gorgeous bedding set when I started hunting around for quilt covers...

Once I saw this gorgeous little linen set from Olli Ella I was just sold on this whole colour scheme.

So for Toddler Makeover Part 2, I decided to change it up to a navy, pale blue and grey scheme. I also felt that this was a bit more 'classic' and might see me through a few more years without changing too much - though we all know that I do love to change my colour schemes up!

 

And this is how the room looks now...

 

You will notice that the only constant in my colour schemes is the grey. The reason for this is that I don't really have much luck convincing hubby to paint over the grey feature wall (from nursery days that you can read about here), so for now it stays!!

I would like to remove the 'Brodie' sticker decal as it was originally placed over the cot, so it kind of looks to be in a weird position now.
 

If you are interested in me posting about the Stocklists, have any questions, or want any further information on anything in the room, please let me know by commenting below or contacting me, and I will pop it up in a blog post.

I really do love the way that it has turned out and so does Mr B - every time we have a guest come and visit, the first thing that he does is take them to show them his room - he just loves it to bits!!

Though this hasn't been the only space I have been madly trying to finish... Miss C's nursery is also almost done so I will be sure to get my act together and blog about this very soon...

So what do you think?

This post was brought to you in collaboration with Cordell.

My Easter Decorating Buys

As a self confessed sweet tooth, I am one of those people that doesn't mind too much seeing those Easter Eggs hit the shelf in the middle of summer! Easter is definitely my thing and I look forward to my Lindt Bunny and Humpty Dumpty Egg (I will never be too old for these things!) all year round.

 

Even though I am a bit of an Easter fan, it has only been the past few years since having bambinos that I have gotten in to the swing of Easter decorating. I don't go too mad, just a few pieces here and there around the home and I am a big sucker for the Bed, Bath and Table Easter range - isn't it the best?!

 

As with Chrissie, I try to limit myself to a few new pieces to add to the decoration collection each year. And I also try very hard (sometimes failing) to resist buying much more, and then buy a few things once the big 50-70% off sales inevitably kick off a few days post Easter.

 

This year I ended up picking up a few buys from the Pottery Barn Kids range which is just divine. If you haven't checked it out in Australia you can do so here.

 

This is what I picked up.... 

 

 

In blue, grey and navy for Mr B

 

And is soft pink and white for Miss C

 

These Canvas Buckets from Pottery Barn Kids are available in Australia for $24.00 each. Unfortunately you cannot get them personalised unless you are able to make it in to their Bondi store - boo! I purchased mine from the US as I really, really wanted to have them personalised and I think we will have them for years to come. I purchased them in colours that match the bedrooms of Mr B and Miss C, so I can also use these in their rooms year round for storage.

 

 

I couldn't resist this sweet little bunny tail garland also from Pottery Barn Kids. You can also purchase this from the Australian Site.

 

If you are a creative type, I think that this would be a super easy thing to recreate yourself at home using some pretty pastel fabrics don't you think?

A large Peter Rabbit Decoration. Unfortunately this one is only available from the US Pottery Barn Site, but a different variation can be purchased through the Australian Site if you are not too fussed about it not being Peter. Mr B still adores his Peter Rabbit soft toy (it goes everywhere with us from shops to swimming and bed!), so I knew that I had to get this. It is a lot bigger than I thought (20 inches apparently), but so very cute!!

 

 

If you follow my Facebook Page, you will have seen me post this picture over the weekend. These cuties are from Target and a bargain at $6.00 (chicks) and $4.00 (bunnies) a piece. When I saw them, I instantly thought that they must have been made for me with the taupe polka dot and aqua perfectly matching our décor!

 

So that is it... for now... I am trying very hard not to even go within 500 metres of Bed, Bath and Table until post Easter!

 

My next dilemma is when to actually pop these Easter decs up. Do I go a month before Easter? The start of April? When do you plan to start decorating this year? Have you seen any great Easter buys?