Magical Growing Rooms

As you know, we like to work on a minimal budget. And by minimal, I really mean free. If you talk a walk through our house, you will find furniture we have found on the side of the road, some we bought from thrift stores, and others we have made ourselves. Our artwork is usually free/under ten dollars. I like to hunt for a bargain. I like to wait until I find the best deals.

That being said, it takes a while to finish a room at this pace. The office is slowly but surely becoming the room I want it to be, but we still have leaps and bounds before we're anywhere near "finished." The rest of the house is coming along very slowly, if at all.

A week ago, before J left for New Mexico, our guest room consisted of a bed, a dog bed, a dining room chair, and a tub filled with bedding. With the exception of the tub, which is now put away in the closet, it's still the same. But it's bigger. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have discovered the secret of making ordinary rooms grow.

Now, I did not take any before pictures for you, so I cannot really prove I expanded the room with nothing more than my own muscles. The problem was, my brain and hands were moving my quicker than my camera. It was not a planned extension; the idea actually hopped into my head as I was washing my hands in the bathroom across the hall, so I walked right into that room and made some magic. Forgot to take a picture. Whoops.

If you're really interested in seeing a before, you can revisit this home tour of yore, and skip ahead to 1 minute and 35 seconds in. It looked a little something like that. Plus a tub and a chair. Please feel free to mute me.

Now, while this room is no closer to being finished, it is bigger. I swear it. Check it out.

 

As these pictures were loading, I suddenly got embarrassed. This room is nowhere near done. I can't believe I'm showing it to you in this state. Technically, all it is is a bed and a chair. How lame is that?

But then I remembered that this blog is about our life. And our life is not always perfect. It is not always finished. It's far from where we want to be. So this is like a metaphor for our life. Take it or leave it.

Things I still need to do for this room (besides everything): make a headboard out of the door we found on the side of a house that was being torn down, make curtains, get a dresser (and probably make it pretty, because any dresser we can afford probably won't be pretty), stretch and hang some paintings I have in the closet, find a real side table, get a lamp, maybe a desk? (non-dining room) chair? armoir?, figure out the artwork situation (aside from the aforementioned canvases that need stretching), new bedding (new sheets, new comforter, possibly borrow the duvet from our bedroom, and get a quilt for our room), aaaand break down Duke's cage and move it out to the garage.

Not bad. Lets bring this post back to the positive... I can grow rooms! Don't you agree the room is so much bigger now than when we first moved in? It is, I measured. Its at least 10 feet longer. At least. 

Also, I would like to add a disclaimer that the reason for new bedding is that we are using a big chenille blanket with a quilt over top it. Not that I don't love the quilt. The quilt was handmade for us for our wedding, and I love it. It's just a little too small for that bed. I usually use it while watching movies on the couch. The chenille blanket on the other hand, I do not like. Thus, new bedding.

Here is a closeup of that awesome quilt. Side note, does my guest bedroom look like a prison cell to anyone else? If someone is going to come visit me, it will give me a reason to fix this room. Just saying...

Map This.

You may not have realized he was gone, or that I was unsure of when his return would be, but J got home last night, just as planned {originally}.

I don't like to blog about trips away from home, weather one of us or both of us until after it happens. Never know who reads this thing. Even if we do live on an Air Force base.

You see, this weekend, he flew to Texas. Then New Mexico. Then back to Texas. Then back to Oklahoma. And before he left, they told him to be prepared to be gone until Thursday. Right before he left. Like 1 hour before he left. So needless to say, there was some moving and shaking happening in the Recor house this weekend.

{One wife left to her own devices - one loving husband = home changes.}

And the good news is, one of these changes actually pushed the office a little closer to the finish line. Not too close. More like closer to the halfway point. More like closer to the halfway to the halfway point. But the point is we're moving people! {not literally}

We now have touched on the office before. Once or Twice. Maybe I mentioned this awesome loveseat?

Haha, so funny. This is a long project. But Rome wasn't built in a day! And this office will be the new Rome. It will be powerful. Beautiful. Inspiring. Home of great minds. It might even be a superpower one day. Someday. When it's finished. Baby steps.

Let me just say now, if maps drive you crazy, if you find yourself lost while staring at one, if you literally get lost in one while trying to fold it back up, if the very thought of your GPS {gasp} breaking gives you the hives, turn off your computer. Just do it now. I don't want to be responsible for this.

Still here? Okay good. Hopefully that means you will understand my love affair with maps. I like them, I love them, I can't get enough of them. I don't own a GPS. I believe my phone will act as one, but I have not attempted. We are the people who buy the maps at the convenience store. There is always someone. It's us. I believe we have three maps in our glove compartment right now. Yep. Three.

They are just so beautiful! The lines. The colors. The shapes. The North. The South...okay I'm done. Now remember, I am sharing this office with a boy. A pilot boy. And when I told him I was setting out to make this office "Aviator Chic" he thought I was crazy. But I found a way.

Aeronautical maps. Who knew they were this pretty?? {I did.} So these puppies have found a home. Above those bookshelves {who, by the way, are just dying for a makeover... in fact, they don't know this right now, but I have two pallets leaning against my house right now just waiting to meet up with those ladies}. Am I crazy? Maybe. Am I sentimental? Definitely - the orange map is of Colorado, and the green is Michigan. Next we'll have to add an Oklahoma to the mix.

I like love them. They are perfect for what I am wanting in this room. How are you feeling about them? I apologize for the glare. That huge, obnoxious glare. We have lots of windows. Which means lots of natural light-yay! But it also means lots of glare. {And please don't mention how cluttered my bookshelves are. We're all overly embarrassed about that.}

Also, if you could just keep my friend Amy and her husband Aaron in your thoughts and prayers. They have had quite the day.

Love my Seat.

Well, after a balmy 75 degree day Saturday, it's only right that we are snowed in today. It's crazy how different the snow storms are around the country. I've lived in Michigan, where the snow keeps coming down, and turns to a slushy, brown mess the next day. I've lived in Colorado, where the snow all comes at once and stays pristine and white for weeks. And now I've lived in Oklahoma, where we get a few inches of snow that later blow around like crazy, producing blizzard like effects, as well as patches of visible road and grass feet from drifts of snow 2 feet deep.

But I am another year older. {More on that tomorrow} I have gotten some awesome presents this year. Some things that I really, really wanted. So thank you SO much for all my fun new gadgets and toys. And loveseats.

Yep, you heard that right. I was putting away dishes yesterday morning when I heard a knock on the door.

"Here's your couch!" said the UPS man.

My what?!

Yep. The loveseat of this post of yore. One of my loyal, wonderful blog readers agreed with me {in thinking this couch was a fabulous and chic seating option for my husband} and sent it to me for my birthday! Thank you, THANK you!!!! :-)

So are you dying to see it in it's rightful place??? After a little sweat and tears putting it together {not really... well probably a little sweat. But as soon as the man of the house let his little wife help, it went together no problem... funny how that happens} it is ready to be sat on. And Calvin has tested that out.

Seems like his jaunt on Desire to Inspire has gone to his head a bit.

Love it. Do you? I think it is perfect for that space. Now husbands and wives can both sit in the office. At the same time. Not on the ground. :-)

PS. A special thanks goes out to Sandy who keeps an eye on the blog and gives fabulous gifts.

Stay tuned this week for a birthday recap. And perhaps you spotted another post just ASKING to be written in one of these pictures?? Yeah, stay tuned for that too. 

Another Office Redo

I started my new job today, and although it was just a day of training, I am beyond excited to be working for Style Me Pretty! To sum up my first day of work, I sat in my office, on my phone, eating grapes, and trained with two other new girls. And it was a lot more exciting than that sounds, believe me.

While I was sitting in my office for 6 hours today, I realized (again) that this office is b o r i n g. Not just boring, plain. Not just plain, ugly. Not just ugly, hurts my eyes to look at anything in here. I love this room because of the amazing light we get from the north and west facing windows, but that is about all it has going for it. It is a box. A box with a closet. A box with a closet that a boy has been using as his office for the last five months. The only feel/theme/personality this room has is "Undergraduate Pilot Training." Seriously, I have a model of an air plane sitting under the lamp my lovely pilot hubs has had since before I knew him (the lamp, not the plane. We got that a few moths ago from the toy section at Walmart.)

Yes. I know. Horrendous. Tremendously horrendous. Not pretty. So my next step is to redecorate. As we all know, I'm cheap as a little robin, so it will probably be a while before I have enough time to collect everything I want to complete this room. But little by little, it will become the office I will love to work in everyday. It will become pretty and it will look like it belongs to a girl.

Now, I have to make my first decision, and I want your opinion. We all know the rest of my house is Pottery Barn (the look, not the price). It's neutrals, it's a little coastal, it's a little traditional with a teeny, tiny modern twist to it. The question therein lies: Do I do my office with the same feel? Lots of neutrals? Navy blues? Or do I go completely out of the box and style it real pretty and feminine? Or maybe somewhere in between (lets not forget that the man of the house will still be using this room in the evenings for study time)?

Some things to consider. The desk, computer, printer, and probably bookshelves all have to stay. I'm going for low budget here, and that means changing out the decor, hanging curtains, finding the perfect rug, not replacing all the furniture. So think about it. And let me know what you come up with.