This last full week before school starts has me vacillating between I’m so ready for school to start and get back to some semblancy of law and order again!! and Noooo, it’s not long enough and I’m gonna miss James soooo much when he’s gone all day! Can you believe we start back so soon? Most schools in Houston start around August 22, but we start on the 10th!
Until school starts, I’m not beginning any new projects, just recapping some of the most popular posts of 2016 so far. After all, there’s still 5 more months to go and a list a mile long of things I still want to accomplish before the year ends. Looking back provides such a sense of accomplishment though. It’s easy to feel like you’re always spinning your wheels, but when you add up everything you have done and see it in one place, you might amaze yourself!
Click the title (in pink) to see the full blog post:
Home Styling Tips – Kitchen
marble bowl | similar bone inlay tray | similar S&P shakers
Although it doesn’t necessarily happen every day, it sure feels so good to wake up to a clean kitchen. To keep everything nice and neat looking, but still functional, we consider what small appliances we need to keep out and those that can be stored away for more occasional use stay hidden. I prefer to keep the kitchen clutter at a minimum, especially since so much tends to accumulate there anyway! A few pretty decor items like this decorative tray and marble bowl keep things corralled and still pretty to look at. I shared our whole kitchen and kitchen styling tips in this post.
Home Styling Tips – Reading Nook
Continuing the home styling theme with a couple more posts, this reading nook is rarely used as such, but it does make a pretty pass through on the way from the master bedroom to the bathroom. I still love seeing some of my favorite books on display and do watch tv here sometimes!
Home Styling Tips – Desktop
desk (similar, for less) | gold pineapple | botanical pencils | gold initial mug similar here & here
I spend so much time at my desk, which by the way is the Z Gallerie Jett Desk I’ve had for 6 years and still love, and I like to keep the desktop all styled up with lots of colorful pens and pencils ready to use. I’m sure the 14 year-old girl in me never left and if they still made Trapper Keepers, I’d probably be first in line to buy one! In fact, at Target last weekend James asked if we could get his school supplies, but our school offered an online bundle this year that I already ordered to be delivered directly to his first grade classroom. At that moment I realized, that was really convenient for me, but not that fun for him! We’ll have to pick him up some “school supplies” for home!
One Room Challenge – Home Office Reveal
Desk | Desk Chair | Victoria Rug | Buchanan Etagere | Large Abstract Art by Melanie Severin | Desk Lamp | Marble Pillow | Ceiling Light Fixture
Last year, the biggest decor update in our home was Jordan’s nursery during the One Room Challenge. I was honored to be invited back to the challenge and this time, Sita Montgomery and I redid my home office. I was longing for a change from the black, white and bright pink colors I had in there before and this new color palette of soft green, pink, white and gold was exactly the sophisticated and feminine feel I was going for. I’m often in here during Jordan’s naptimes working away or in the evening when she’s sleeping.
Office Updates
The One Room Challenge – office edition wrapped up before the chairs we ordered arrived and when they came, they were worth the wait! In this post, I shared some tidbits about the ORC reveal and how the office has changed to accommodate the practical over the stylish.
Metz chair | table | abstract art | palm tree art | rug | wall vases | chandelier
The One Room Challenge – office edition wrapped up before the chairs we ordered arrived and when they came, they were worth the wait! In this post, I shared some tidbits about the ORC reveal and how the office has changed to accommodate the practical over the stylish.
Stylish Decor Finds at an Unexpected Place
With such a pretty nursery for our baby girl, the nursery bath needed a few updates too. I have the curtain, rug and lights up, but the lights are way bigger than I thought so the scale is off. I need to add in the art and we’re just about set there. I’ll show you the final space soon!
crib | dresser | glider | art | rug | mirror
A bargain hunter at heart, I’m always excited to pass along good deals and sales and when I found so much awesome decor at WalMart of all places, I had to share! Not only is our nursery furniture online at WalMart, so many other things we have in our house are there too, and I showed them all in this post.
With such a pretty nursery for our baby girl, the nursery bath needed a few updates too. I have the curtain, rug and lights up, but the lights are way bigger than I thought so the scale is off. I need to add in the art and we’re just about set there. I’ll show you the final space soon!
Getting Organized in the New Year
These kinds of organizational posts are always among the biggest hits on my blog. Y’all love organizing as much as I do! In this post, I shared how we got our house back in order after the holidays (which took a couple days!) and how I keep the trouble spots in our house organized. I also recapped some routines that are big life savers and keep things from getting out of control. This is a good one for you organizational lovers!
After looking at that messy spice drawer for far too long, I finally gave it an impromptu overhaul and the biggest difference was made by not only labeling the top of the jars with the spices, but the bottom with the date too. What took me so long?!
Sunday Night Planning for a Productive Week
round table | tray | coffee mug | similar lamp
With a new baby in town, I find myself struggling with a brain that knows there’s so much I need to do, but can’t even remember what the priority is unless I take a few minutes to decompress and make a plan for the week (usually on Sunday evening). The week tends to go much smoother when I do this. It’s the best way to wake up on Monday morning feeling ready to take on the day and week!
On My Master List
My MASTER LIST post is still one of the most popular posts of all time on my blog! And you know what? It’s just as applicable today as it was when I first published it almost three years ago! Has it really been that long?? This post shows what’s on my Master List lately and it’s good to do a big check in once in awhile in that regard. These awesome colored pens are erasable! I use them in my paper calendar too!
How I Taught My Kindergartener To Get Himself Ready for School (Without Nagging)
This post might be particularly apropos with school about to start for many of us. I know we’ll need a refresher to get back to the (mostly) well-oiled machine that was our morning routine last year.
This post might be particularly apropos with school about to start for many of us. I know we’ll need a refresher to get back to the (mostly) well-oiled machine that was our morning routine last year.
Preserving Memories with Legacybox
One of the rooms I’m currently working on is the playroom/media room. We got it painted, put a big TV in, and have now organized all the toys. Seating is still an issue, but the boys don’t seem to mind the current bean bag situation. I’d prefer we get a small couch, but it’s still on the list of things to do . . . . after school starts!
If you’ve got photos for days and even video footage you need to get organized and preserved, check out this post about Legacybox. It’s a service that will put your images and video on a thumbdrive so you have it all organized on your computer. Genius!
One of the rooms I’m currently working on is the playroom/media room. We got it painted, put a big TV in, and have now organized all the toys. Seating is still an issue, but the boys don’t seem to mind the current bean bag situation. I’d prefer we get a small couch, but it’s still on the list of things to do . . . . after school starts!
This is my last week before heading back to teaching so we have ALL the organizing going on at our house! Hope you guys have a great school year!
Allie agalnamedal.blogspot.com
Love this roundup! It's fun to look back at some of the posts I really liked.
SO our teachers here in Atlanta went back JULY 25th and my 1st grader started school YESTERDAY. WAYYYY too early. We basically do year round school unofficially (they refuse to call it that but it is that). We get 5 1-2 week breaks through the year, get out before memorial day and then get 8 weeks off for summer. It's chaos.
This summer flew by. Seems like yesterday you were worried about getting through it with two kiddos. Congrats…you did it!
Elie reported back today 🙁 and some kids here started last week, with the majority staring next Monday. IMHO, they should all go back AFTER Labor Day!!! It is so hot here, and with the dress code, half the kids (and teachers alike) are sick by the end of the second week. They go from hot outside to air cranked to the max inside. CRAZY.
Enjoy your last week. And, be proud of how much you got accomplished while pregnant and with a new baby at home.
Trapper Keepers!! Omg.. I haven't thought of those in so many years! I even remembered how they smelled… a plastic smell. Isn't that weird? That "back to school" smell!! My baby pics look exactly like yours- same size, shape photos. We were born in the same year!! I had never seen your post on Legacy Box so I am looking into that today. What a great idea!! Love this post, thanks Megan!!
Well you planned and achieved a lot of things in the years, Congrats you've done a great work:D
Golden chairs and white table …. what a nice combination and looking beautiful and very good idea of both colors. renovations vancouver