New & Fun Living Room Additions

Remember when I said I was fickle? Well it has struck again. I have not been loving our living room as of late, so I decided to add some fun stuff. When we first moved into our house I wanted a comfy adult space, but then the matchy, matchy got out of control. I wanted everything symmetrical and the same value. I think that you should never seriously decorate a space until you live in it for a while. We tend to over decorate in order to make things feel cozy. And sometimes your taste just changes. I am more drawn to colorful, fun stuff now.

 So here is the before:

{ Please excuse Doc's blanket fort, he likes to hide }

I decided to update and change the two main features: the wall art above the couch and the pillows. Pillows have been a challenge for me. I have wanted something with a fun  pattern, but with a washable, removable cover since Doc likes to make forts (see above) while we are at work. And, I'm sorry, but I refused to pay upwards of $20+ for a PILLOW!!! That is madness. So I used the fabric I mentioned earlier and made these fun pillows. Both are removable and washable! 

{ The tie pillow exterior is fleece with Amy Butler's Polka Dots, and the woodgrain is cotton. }

{ Amy Butler with felt ribbon accent }

I got the idea for the tie-sided pillows from a pillow that is on our bed from West Elm. The beautiful bird fabric ended up not working so well with the other fabrics so I'll have to find something else to use it on.

Next is the wall art. I kept my painting but I gave it some friends. I love to make and see fun stuff on walls. I hate the modern aka "showroom prints" on walls. I think Art should be entertaining. I used a charcoal bone study from college and I made a fun collage about my favorite food, and I did a felt portrait of my little Doc. The owl, a mirror, and graphic G top off the collage.

Finally I swapped my candlestick lamps for an industrial touch that I love so much. I got these lamps at Ikea for a steal $8.99 and spray painted them a lovely pumpkin orange. They give a nice ambient light great for watching TV. 

So there is another change to the Grubbs' house. 

Let me know, what do you think?

© The Simple Wife

Present Wrapping

Today was a busy, first day of Christmas vacation. It started early with the gym, then grocery shopping then present wrapping. I love wrapping presents and I always try to have a theme. Not a literal one, I just try to make my presents match, so you know which ones are mine. This year I went with a monogrammed approach. I used these brown treat bags, some Christmas printed cardstock and pre-cut letters to adorn my little gifts. I think they are adorable and I'll be very sad when they are ripped into on Christmas. 

© The Simple Wife

Christmas Lights, I hate you.

{ courtesy of flickr.com }

I wanted to have all my Christmas decorating done over Thanksgiving break, but due to weather, we only got the inside of the house done. So since today has actually been the warmest day in the past week, I ventured out on the front porch to hang the icicle lights around out porch. I had to balance on the hand rail, maneuver the staple gun and keep the lights from getting stuck in my hair. After I had successfully made it all the way around the porch I jumped down to plug the lights in and revel in my job well done- well not so much. One whole strand was OUT!!! WHAT!! Who doesn't check for this stuff before risking life and limb hanging lights- that would be this girl. Crap. Now I have to take down the delinquent strand and purchase a new one. Or should we go with a whole new look? Maybe this is a sign that I should create a new design... I see a trip to Target's Christmas aisle in my future.

© The Simple Wife

Master Bedroom ReDo

Yes it has happened again. Mr. Grubbs is going crazy because I have once again been bitten by the design bug. As I have explained before, I am easily bored when it comes to imagery. I like fresh new things to look at, and my master bedroom is the new culprit. After our bathroom was done I craved more change. Currently our room is painted dark brown- can you tell I am into brown?- with ivory bedding and hints of a pale teal. We have a lovely golden, velvet-tufted headboard that I feel is not getting the attention it so rightly deserves. The windows are adorned with ivory and golden yellow plaid curtains. Pretty much everything is going to stay untouched in the room except for the walls and a few accent pillows.

I have chosen a dark navy for the walls. I love the warmth that a saturated color gives and it is perfect for a cozy bedroom. I picked Ralph Lauren Paint in Modern Loft. At Ikea today I also scored this awesome fabric that I am going to make new accent pillows from.

{ It has hints of bright orange, olive green, and slate blue. }

I am also going to use these bath towels I picked up for more accent pillows. Strange, I know, but I am all about texture and who doesn't love terry cloth?

I will get a 'before' shot of our room up shortly- it is in disarray at the moment. I also grabbed this modern light for our tiny hallway that connects our office, guest bedroom and guest bathroom. There is no light there and it is very difficult to see into the linen closet that is also there. 

These projects are now officially added to my To Do list for my week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Why I do this to myself I will never know, but it keeps me on my toes!

© The Simple Wife

Lots Going On...

It seems like busy is the norm round here lately. There is always something to do, paint, clean, organize, etc. I guess it is all in stride when you are OCD about cleaning, and organizing everything. Step 1- I have a problem! Just to let you in on a few happenings:

1. The master bath is painted and I am finishing up on some accessories. I have painted some mirrors that will go in a grouping over the toliet. And I have a painting to do to go next to our towel hooks. 

2. Front porch staining is in progress. Yesterday I pressure washed the whole porch for a good clean slate. I started the staining today and got the front of half the railing done. I couldn't have imagined it would be as hard as it is. Here is a before shot of our porch from the front of the house:

{Yes, Doc is guarding the porch, Keep Out!}

That's it so far. I hope that after these projects are done, I can take a vacation for a bit, but I'm sure that I'll come up with something to do! Stay tuned...

The BEFORE:

Here is my current master bathroom in its celery green glory. It has been nice for a while but it has to go. The semi-gloss finish was a HUGE mistake. My mother-in-law Anita gave me a "painted bathroom" for my birthday so I can't wait to see the finished results. Today I'm going to Ikea to use Ashley and Scott's giftcard to pick up some goodies to help with the new bathroom. After pictures to come...

My Desire...

I love decorating. I always hate it when people say that. Only because most of the time it is someone who goes to a showroom and says "I want everything here." So they "shop" for a room that is pre-set and grossly matchy matchy. Don't misunderstand, I love things to match and am quite OCD about it, and I love to shop chain retail stores, but you can do both of those things and still have unique and personal spaces. 

I am steadily growing towards the minimal/vintage/quirky type of style. The quirky is hard for Mr. Grubbs as he LOVES craftsman, worldly type design. I long for a home that is, of course, simply decorated, but in a way that any visitor can understand exactly why each piece was chosen. 

My daily dose of Desire to Inspire has given me these luscious interiors to dream about:

I love how the simple, clean lined furniture is accented with the large, non-traditional artworks. Neutrals highlighted with bright accessories like the flowers and the color photographs.

The oversized lighting balances well with the low coffee table, and the repetition of paired objects brings a sense of stability. B-E-A-UTIFUL.

Dark paint, how I love thee. Charcoal is my new obsession, paired with white, it is stunning.

Check out the rest of the interior spaces at Desire to Inspire.

Updating the Nest

I hear that when a woman becomes pregnant she feels an overwhelming urge to "nest". Well I'm not pregnant but I have this feeling constantly. It may be the design instinct I have, but I am always looking for new and exciting things to accessorize my home with. Whether it's new annual flowers, changing out pictures in frames or just getting new pieces, I always want change. I'm a visual person and am in constant need for something interesting to look at. Mr. Grubbs is slowly beginning to understand this OCD part of my being, and he is a good sport about it.

So here are the latest additions to the Grubbs' house:

A new rug for the living room. Our previous one was soft and fuzzy on your feet but it caught tons of crumbs. So we have added this gorgeous brown rug with orange and gold vintage inspired designs. P.S.- Orange is my new favorite color!

I have also added a new arrangment to the floating shelf above our TV. I found these fun, coral frames at Pier 1 (a place that isn't always my favorite, but I find some funky stuff every now and then). Again, Mr. Grubbs has a great sense of style himself, but I think I scare him sometimes with the items and ideas I come up with. Compromise, compromise, and more compromise. Along with the frames I added 2 vases of colorful fruit since our walls are a dark bronze they needed a pop of color. Then my father-in-law's flag is fittingly paired with a gold sailboat- he was a Naval Seal.

Your home should be another expression of you, and we are always evolving, so your home should too! I feel a renewed love for my home and I can't wait to add more stuff, sorry Mr. Grubbs!

Mrs. Grubbs' Room

School is in it's 3rd day in the City of Marietta and things are starting to calm down. New students are finding their way around, parents are learning the procedures and teachers are finally used to getting up early! As another year starts I get the opportunity to re-decorate my classroom. This is the first year that I am returning to the same school and classroom so I got to really think about how I wanted to set everything up- in the past I had to throw everything together a week before school started. So all summer I planned out exactly what I needed and how I could make my room the most fun to look at- hopefully inspiring my students to be as creative as possible. Elementary school is so fun to teach because you get free reign to use lots of fun, colorful things! Since I have the pleasure of teaching every student in the school, I have a large room with lots of storage. Which also creates a problem- how to organize it so I can store every student's artwork and get to any supply when needed. I got some great ideas from other Art teachers and I think I have finally put everything in its place!

Here is my Art room! The lanterns are from my sister-in-law Ashley. They have a wonderful glow when the lights are out. The small lanterns serve as table numbers. I have 6 student tables. The back of the room is a reading area that I use with the younger students. I also have bulletin boards that showcase information about the different artists we discuss.

These are my wonderful storage cabinets. The cards at the top of the wall display vocabulary words that the students have mastered. The Art Prints showcase common themes in art. Everyday supplies are located in the cabinets and drawers. I am also lucky to have two sinks to wash the dirty kids in!

These are the bins that I put the supplies for each grade level project in. With 450 kids coming through the door you have to be organized or you'll end up with a dirty, cluttered room. And anyone who knows me, knows I can't breathe with clutter around.

This is my desk. I found this adorable print fabric at Ikea and made the curtains. Our school colors just so happen to be blue and yellow!

Close-up of my reading area. One bulletin board highlights an artist each month. The boards on the right show artist birthdays for the month and a map of where different artists were born.

I love my room and my school. I work with wonderful teachers and am supported by the best PTA and parents ever! They are there for us, supporting us at all times. School is a huge part of our little one's lives and making it as fun as possible is my goal. Thanks for visiting Mrs. Grubbs' class!