A Coastal Nursery - Mood Board

I started coming up with inspiration images for our baby's room. The room is already painted a beautiful blue/green color which we love. We want something gender neutral but nothing super babyish. Neither of us are really into themed nurseries. I do love coastal decor so we are going for more of a coastal feel, not necessarily a nautical or beach theme. Here is just a fun little mood board of items I've seen online that I like and think could fit the coastal vibe.

Sources:
Chair and mobile - Pottery Barn Kids
Light Gray knit ottoman - RH Baby and Child
Cribs - Buy Buy Baby
Square pouf ottomans and Lamps - Target
Dresser - Already purchased, Craigslist
Drapery and Carpet - Stock images
Dark Gray Knit Ottoman - CB2
Paint - Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green

Guess what...

We announced on Facebook today some very exciting news. I'll let the pups share the news with you. 

Ellie and Niah are going to be big sisters! We are so excited to welcome a sweet baby to our family at the end of December. We wanted to wait and announce until I was into the second trimester and we had a chance to tell close friends and family in person first. We are beyond excited and can't wait to meet our little one. 

Some questions we've been getting: 
How are you feeling? Great now! I had a rough first trimester, lots of nausea, zero appetite and lots of getting sick. I am past all of that now and feeling great. Starting to wear more maternity clothes and this little bump is starting to pop. 

Are you finding out the gender? Nope! We feel there are very few true surprises in life and this is one of them. I can't wait to meet him or her on their birthday. 

Do you have a name picked? We have a few in mind that we like, but we aren't planning on sharing name options with anyone. We don't want to settle on the name until we meet the baby and have a chance to enjoy a few moments with him or her to determine if the name truly suits them. 

We are just so excited! We'll be re-doing a few rooms in the house in order to prepare for little one's arrival so I'll be sure to update on all those plans and projects as they unfold. 

Home Tour: Craft Room

As I mentioned last week, there are two bedrooms on the second floor of our home. The other day I showed you our guest bedroom. Today I'm going to share my sewing / craft room. Just a note, this room is never this clean as I almost always have a project going on or a quilt laid out on the floor. I tried to keep the furniture to a minimum so that I would have plenty of floor space to lay out quilt blocks as I'm working.

The closet has a small shelf at the back that holds all of my paper crafting supplies - scissors, paper cutter, paper, stickers, etc. The hanging sweater organizer is perfect for holding all of my fabrics. The wicker basket holds my fabric scraps. One day I'll probably replace this with another method to sort the scraps by color or something, but for now this works.

In the built in cabinets I store quilt batting and miscellaneous crafting supplies. I store the items I use the most either in the desk or on the shelves below the cutting table. These would be things like fabric scissors, pens, quilting rulers, rotary cutters, thread, etc.

Now that this room is spotless, I think it is time for me to get started on a new project!


Source List: 
Paint - Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green
Desk - hand me down from family
Table - Ikea
Swivel Chair - overstock outlet
Wood Chair - hand me down from family
TV stand - Target
Book shelf - hand me down from family
Pink Chair - family heirloom
Artwork - souvenirs from our travels


If I missed anything and you want to know where it is from, please comment below.

Home Tour: Guest Room

There are two bedrooms on the second floor of our home. We are currently using one as a guest bedroom and the other is set up as my craft room. We don't have overnight guests often but when we do it is nice to have a place for them to stay. We use the closet to store our off season clothing and suitcases. Extra bed linens, toilet paper, paper towels, etc are stored in the built in cabinets.

Of course Ellie couldn't resist coming to help out for the photos. :) 

Source List: 
Paint - Sherwin Williams Friendly Yellow
Bench - hand me down from family
Comforter and dust ruffle - Macy's
Sheets - Bed Bath and Beyond
Lamps - Pottery Barn Outlet
Black Stacking Shelves - old from Bed Bath and Beyond
Vanity table and stool - Everything But The House Auction
Night Stand - hand me down from family
Frames - Michaels
Artwork - from our travels
Mirror - thrift store
Chest - craft show many years ago



If I missed anything and you want to know where it is from, please comment below.

Tiny Closets - DIY Bedroom Closet Makeover

Our home was built in the 1950s and like most older homes, it has lots of charm and very tiny closets. Exhibit A: our bedroom closet is exactly the same size as our hall closet. This means there is not nearly enough storage for both of us to store our clothing. We do our best to limit the amount of clothing we have and store off season clothing in the basement, but even with that, the storage situation isn't great. The closet in our bedroom holds most of my clothing. Todd utilizes a dresser in our bedroom and any items he has that need to be hung up are stored across the hall in the closet in our office. It isn't a perfect system, but it works for us. Hopefully in the near future we'll get new dressers that better suit our folded clothing needs. 

Our bedroom closet measures approximately 35" wide and between 30" and 35" deep.  

Unfortunately I forgot to take true before pictures. I was just so darn excited to finally get this closet under control and get some much needed storage, I had already emptied most of it out. Before the floor was covered in boots, a box of clothes and other nonsense. 

The two shelves up top hold two storage cubes each. The cubes on the top shelf hold Todd's socks and underwear and the shelf below holds mine. This system works great for us. Before when this closet only held my things the top shelf was wasted since I couldn't reach anything on the top shelf without a step ladder. These shelves were already here when we moved in and were perfectly spaced apart for these cubes I picked up from Target.

What DIY project is complete without a good supervisor?

We decided to leave the top shelf as is but wanted to increase our storage functionality in the lower half of the closet. Originally the closet bar hung directly below the lower shelf. In order to add drawers at the bottom and still keep space to hang longer dresses we decided to cut the bar into two sections. Todd was the mastermind behind the structure of the new support boards. We measured the width of two cubes and cut the shelf and rod to fit. We then measured and cut a new vertical support board. 

This support board is mounted with angle brackets to the wall and shelf. The rod is mounted using standard closet rod brackets from the hardware store. We may have gone overboard on the angle brackets, but they are mostly hidden and we wanted to be sure that they would support the weight of the shelf and any clothing hanging from the rods. We then mounted the brackets and rod on the right side of the new support board. After everything was installed, we painted the support board white.

We used parts of the Ikea Algot Wall System to increase our storage in the lower half of the closet. This system was super easy to install. You simply attach the long vertical brackets to the wall and snap in the brackets that hold either the shelves or drawers. The vertical brackets were too tall for our space so we cut them down to fit.

We opted for one large mesh drawer on the bottom with two smaller drawers above. We also added a shelf above the top drawer. The shelf isn't really functional for storing things since the hanging clothing is directly above it. However, it is functional for preventing the items in the drawer from getting caught on the articles of clothing hanging above, allowing the drawer to glide easily. I really liked that the Algot system brackets are easy to adjust and maneuver. If we ever tire of this system or decide we want shelves instead of drawers, it is easy to swap out parts and adjust their placement on the  track system.

On the door of our closet hangs a key rack and a picture frame, fitted with window screen. I made the frame by stapling standard window screen material to the back of the frame, and a decorative ribbon to hang it. These two pieces are perfect for storing necklaces and earrings. Just inside the closet Todd installed a couple hooks so that I could hang belts and my purse.

So there you have it, our itty bitty master bedroom closet. I found the Ikea parts online ahead of time and drew out the plans before making the trip to the store to purchase everything. We completed the entire project in a weekend. We started out Saturday with a trip to Ikea and the hardware store to pick up all the materials and Sunday was spent doing touch up paint to the walls and allowing the shelving paint to dry. We are both hoping this new system will help keep things nice and organized.

Do you have any tips for organizing a small space?

well hello there

This post was updated in January 2015 to include our daughter. 

I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time. In hindsight, I really should have done this a few years ago when we bought our house as a way to keep up with all our projects and the changes our home has undergone. At the time we were so busy and then time kept passing and it seemed silly to start one after the house was "finished." Well, any homeowner knows, a house is never truly finished, especially when you have two project loving people living there. So, I have decided to start blogging as a place to share a little taste of our life. I hope to share lots of fun DIY projects and everything that goes into making a house a home. There is more to making a home than pretty decor, good cooking and having everything spotless, it is about sharing a space with those you love and making that space uniquely yours. I'd like to provide a little snapshot into what it means for us to make our house a home.

Why the name "Anchored Living"?

In the Bible, in Hebrews 6:19 it states: "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." I strive to be anchored in all aspects of my life: in my faith, having a good balance between work and play, making family a priority and maintaining a sense of stability. Of course, I am not perfect and sometimes life is messy, but when my focus is on the Lord he helps me stay strong in the storm, much like an anchor does for a ship at sea. Living an "anchored life" does not necessarily mean you are stuck or that something is permanent, but rather that you have a sense of security in who you are and whose you are. When change happens or life's storms arise you will be able to stand strong. I believe that when you are anchored in faith, you have hope for better days and greater things to come. 

Here is a little more about me and my family:



My husband Todd is truly my best friend in the world. He is probably one of the most talented and silly people I have ever met. It is so much fun to be able to share life with this amazing man.

We met in high school through a church retreat, but didn't really become friends until 4 years later. We became close friends and the rest as they say is history. We were married in May 2011. I may be biased, but our wedding was so fun! I'll be sure to post more of our story soon.





Meet our family:

Ellie is our miniature labradoodle. She is always
full of energy and ready to play but is also
a big snuggler, she is definitely a "momma's girl."

Niah is a mix, though we aren't sure what breeds. She came to live with us in March 2014. She is one of the most gentle, sweet dogs I have ever known. She rarely leaves Todd's side.

It is so much fun to watch these two girls play together and then snuggle up together on the couch for a nap. They really are best buddies.

Our daughter was born on Christmas Eve. She is such a blessing to us. We love watching her grow and discover the world around her. She has such a sweet and sensitive personality already, we can't wait to watch her grow up and see the little girl she becomes. 








Our home:

Three days before our wedding we closed on our house, a 1950s cape cod style home that needed a lot of work. We have spent the last 3 years renovating our little house and making it a home. We did some pretty intensive renovations for the first 6 months of owning it, including completely gutting and re-doing the kitchen, adding a bathroom, replacing the flooring and so much more. My degree is in interior design and Todd has a background as an independent contractor. Needless to say, we both love remodeling and home decor and have a list a mile long of things we want to do with our house. 

So, this is my life in a nutshell. I'm looking forward to this new adventure and seeing how this little blog develops and changes over time.