11.07
2013

Plans for the Upstairs

Now that most of the painting is done in the downstairs, (I still have the laundry room and a weird little hall that comes in from the garage but other than that all of the major painting downstairs in finally done!) I am moving on to the upstairs. You can see a recap of the downstairs here. I still have more decorating  I will be doing downstairs but that’s the fun part that I am excited about. The painting is not so fun and I can’t wait to have it behind me so I can get started on some more fun projects. Seeing how with the exception of Lillie and Lola’s room I haven’t shown any photos of the upstairs or  really talked much about our plans for them I thought it would be fun to show you them again and tell you my thoughts on what I am hoping to do in each room.

First let’s start with the hallway. This is pretty much finished now I am just looking for a little piece of furniture to go in the spot to the right of the right doorway in this photo. I actually took updated photos of all these rooms with our stuff in them so I’d have better “before” shots (these were all taken really quickly with my phone before we moved in) but now I can’t find them so these will have to do for now.

Anyway, in the hallway we started with a really shiny textured wallpaper (although it’s hard to tell in these pictures. That came down first and then once that was down I started painting. I primed and painted all the trim and spindles Simply White about ten days (or maybe even a little longer) ago and then when my sister Jamie was here last week she put the first coat of Moonshine on the walls for me and then I finished that up with a second coat this weekend and then Monday I got all the doors painted Mopboard Black. It’s nice now when you walk in the front door to see the downstairs hall match nicely with the upstairs and not have a glaring stopping point at the top of the stairs. As soon as I replace the light fixture and find a little storage piece I will photograph the hall updates!

For our master bedroom we are planning painting the trim Simply White (which we will be doing throughout the upstairs) and painting the walls Moonshine. Yes, that’s my new favorite color. I love how it looks in the entryway and upstairs hall so I want to use it in an actual room. We have our queen sized bed from our old house in here right now, but this weekend plan on moving that to one of the guest bedrooms and we will put king sized mattresses on the floor for a month or two and then hope to get a gray upholstered headboard and then of course we will add some blinds and drapery panels. I’ve also been on the hunt for some other furniture pieces for in here on Craigslist and our local thrift stores (either some chairs or a bench for the end of the bed, nightstands and possibly a dresser). I’ve also been keeping my eye out for a rug and light fixture. We are working on the guest rooms first though so this room will probably take a while. As far as inspiration goes I am really drawn to the color and overall feel of these rooms here and here. (Although we will definitely be having a much more budget version of those – haha!)

 

And here is the master bathroom. Most of the rooms we will just be
making cosmetic changes but in this room we will be doing a total gut
job and moving the wall back four feet into one of the extra bedrooms so
that we can add a tub and also considerably expand the shower. Our original plan was to do that this winter and save the other upstairs bathroom for down the road but we’ve changed our minds and are going to hold off another year or so on this one and focus on fixing up the other bathroom and getting the other rooms more finished before we tackle this (and don’t worry, we are not going to be attempting moving any walls or plumbing on our own – haha!)

Next is Lillie and Lola’s room! I still plan on upholstering or slipcovering the headboards and adding little benches to the ends of their beds and possibly moving that mirror to another spot in the house and finding a cheap mirror that I can paint a bright color to pop on the wall a bit more but all of the big projects in here are finished:

And here is the main upstairs bath. We are hoping to get to this in either December or January (with help because plumbing and those kinds of projects are not things I plan on in any way attempting). We already replaced the toilet and now the plan is to replace the flooring and then add a vanity with a double sink. Although it doesn’t matter now, when the girls are older it will be nice having the double sink and for right now I know our family will appreciate it. We’ve had family members here (parents, siblings and their significant others, nieces, aunt, cousins…) pretty much every week or weekend in September and October and now November! It has been so wonderful having space for them and it will be really nice to get this bathroom fixed up a bit. I am still making my decisions on the color direction in here but you can see all sorts of bathroom inspiration on my Bathroom pinboard.
This will be the main guest bedroom. We’ve had some e-mails asking about why the girls don’t have their own room seeing how we have plenty of space for that here in our new house. They love sharing a room and wouldn’t even consider being split up. We have even gone in and found Lola sound alseep and snuggled up to Lillie in her bed together which always makes me heart melt. So until they are older and request their own rooms it’s nice having the extra space for all of our family that regularly comes to visit and plus I will finally be able to set up my sewing machine and silhouette machine and other things like that. In our townhouse I had to store those things in the garage and bring them in each time I try to use them.

This photo has been my main source of inspiration even though there’s not actually anything on here I plan on copying it’s just the overall feel I like – the black and white look that still feels cozy and not too modern. This one is a bit more modern though and I love it too. The wallpaper came down a few weeks ago and then this room came to a halt until last week. One thing I knew I wanted in here was a four poster bed seeing how there will be upholstered beds for sure in two of the other bedrooms (and most likely in all three of them) so I wanted at least one of the bedrooms to look completely different. I put the metal four poster bed together yesterday (that was a nightmare) and will share more about that soon! Last week I also got the trim and windows painted (and had help from one of the girls on the basketball team priming the baseboard and door trim it!) and then my sister painted the doors while she was here last week and then I primed the walls and then painted them Monday. I ended up going with a medium gray called Bone Black but it’s not going to be there long. I am going to put up the beadboard wallpaper throughout the entire room – that may sound a little crazy but I will explain why when I do a more detailed post on this room. So, ultimately this room is going to end up mostly white with touches of black, some wood tones and probably some mirrored pieces as well. I am most likely going to move the mirrored dresser that was in the dining room of our last house in here. Right now it is in our bedroom but I think it will most likely end up in here along with our huge tree photograph that right now is in our study.

(You can’t see it in these pictures but this was actually a very small mauve tiny print floral wallpaper that was on these walls – very 1980’s).

And here is the fourth bedroom that will also act as a guest bedroom but
will probably also as an office too (I still haven’t decided which of the two extra rooms I am going to put a desk in). Lillie can’t understand why I want to take down
the “house wallpaper”. She LOVES it. =) This is the room I am most torn on. I know we are going to move our queen size bed into this room this weekend so we will have that white tufted headboard to work with. I can’t decide though if I want to go a little more fun in here with more color – maybe some navy mixed in with some bold patterns (not quite a bold or bright as Lillie and Lola’s room but still something a bit brighter than my usual taste), or if I want to go in more of the creamy tannish direction like this here or here.

So, that’s my update for now on our plans for the upstairs! I should have some photos hopefully soon of the hallway and the first guest room we’ve made progress on. I did take some photos of some other things finally today so once I get those pictures edited I will have some new things to show you including our faux roman shade, some new additions to our sofa and some new Christmas items for our shop!

I also am excited to introduce to you our newest sponsor, smboutique!
 They are a chic children’s boutique and have some darling outfits at great prices! I love this little gold collar pom pom dress:
Be sure to check out both their website www.sweetmelange.com
as well as their facebook page.
Pink "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Thermal
Recap of our Before and Afters So Far and TODAY ONLY SALE
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21 thoughts on “Plans for the Upstairs”

  1. Liking your plans and what you have done so far, Jenn!

    I am so happy you have enough space there, it's never fun to have to lug your work out then put it away – keep up the good work.

    You know I, like you, have a bit of an aversion to colour too – but your girls room is precious – and THEY like it, and that's really important.

    Pop in and see my natural and white fall stuff I posted about today if you get a chance.

    Hugs.

  3. Changes in girls´ room are so fresh and beautiful – love it! Also liking your other plans and looking forward to seeing the end result of hard work – enjoy the journey towards it!

  4. OMG, Jennifer, I LOVE all of the bathrooms that you've pinned!!!!! Cannot wait to see the upstairs progress – your blog gives me so much motivation!!!
    Wish I could go shopping with you..: )
    xo Leah: )

  5. We have five bedrooms and my 12 yo twin sons choose to share one:) I love that they want to be together, I'm sure the same goes for your girls. And anytime you feel the desire to decorate a boys room, just let me know:)

  6. Jennifer, the home looks lovely! You're extremely talented! I'm a new follower, if you're interested you may follow me as well, in the meantime I look forward to reading more 🙂

    aclassystateofgrace.blogspot.com

  7. I'm drooling over your inspiration photos! The amazing thing is, I know your rooms will turn out just as gorgeous or better !!

  9. I know it will be simply gorgeous!!! You said you'll be hanging blinds and draperies. I am stuck on that right now. What's your opinion? I just bought the Ritva Drapes. Do I leave my blinds up too? There wood plantation blinds not shutters. What do you think? Both or just drapes? I want to take down the blinds, but I'm worried about privacy. ;). Thank you Jennifer!!! Kim

    1. Thank you, Kim. I plan on doing some kind of matchstick/bamboo type blind (not sure exactly what) behind my Ritva panels upstairs for privacy reasons. I guess it's just personal preference and where your room is located and how much privacy you need.

      Have a lovely week!

      Warmly,
      Jenni

    2. Thank you Jenni! I truly appreciate your advice and taking the time to help! 😀 I am thinking I'll leave the blinds downstairs up due to privacy and just the drapes upstairs. I so wish I could take the blinds down, but privacy is important! :).
      You are truly a worker bee!!! Everything looks open and clean!! ;). Just a breath of fresh air!!!! Enjoy this beautiful season The Lord has blessed us with!! Much prayers your way!! :). Kim

  10. Do you have any idea which gray upholstered bed you will use in your bedroom yet? Is the Moonshine paint you use in a Matte finish? I can really tell the exact shade in your photos . Does it look a little bluish. Is the Gray owl( I think you used that in your dining room) is that darker than the Moonshine? I also noticed you said at 75 percent. Does that make it lighter? Sorry to ask so many questions. I love grays too and need to paint my house inside. Just trying to decide. Thanks .

  11. It's like waiting for Christmas morning… the anticipation! I can't wait to see your upstairs finished. I adore your inspiration photos. The inspiration photos I use are of your beautiful homes and ideas! Happy Weekend~Enjoy!
    How's Jason's home coming along? Any new pics?

    1. As far as I know the only progress he's made since I left him back in July was to paint his bedroom – haha! I am hoping to make a trip up there soon though so we shall see if anything more has been done. He promised me he would do a little painting before I returned so that my next visit we could actually do some decorating!

  12. Jennifer,
    I am a loyal follower of your blog and love everything!! I ran across your Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake recipe. I made it today and to my dismay, it did not turn out. It baked for 55 min., and my cake tester came out clean, so I removed it After 10 min. when I returned to dump it out, it had dropped and I realized it wasn't done. It was too late to return it to the oven and it continued to flatten. Although it tastes great, it looks sad and there was way too much icing for my low profile creation. Does your cake actually bake in 45-55 minutes? I checked the recipe thinking I missed a leavening agent. Any suggestions? or just bake it longer? Judy Goodhart Lancaster, PA

    1. Dear Judy,

      Thank you so much for reading the blog! Yes, I am pretty sure I cook mine for right around that time. I don't recall ever having cooked it any longer than that and I've made it quite a few times! I know all ovens cook a bit differently though so who knows. =( I am sorry I can't be of more help.

      Have a blessed holiday season!

      Warmly,
      Jenni

  14. Seems by the look of it you have a ton to do upstairs,but when you finish Im sure you will be so happy when it is done. The girls room looks adorable.

  15. Can't wait to see everything! Tan-ish would be lovely in your guest bedroom. I vote "no" to color; everything looks so much cleaner and inviting in whites. The inspiration photos are beautiful!!

  16. Oh, Jenni, it's fun to see what you've already done and what you've got up your sleeve! I predict that your finished rooms will be even prettier than your inspiration photos. 🙂

    I was thinking of you the other day when I was looking at my bathroom and realizing that I really need to paint it. I may end up going with Revere Pewter in that room. I have to say, though, that Ben Moore's Fieldstone may be my new favorite color! Have you used it?

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