purple bedroom inspiration

Recently Kristin at the Hunted Interior revealed her daughter's bedroom:

Hunted Interior

I absolutely love the bed (and her daughter's taste!).  The bed is modeled on the Ikea Kura bed, but is taller, and the sides are decorated with fabric.

We are not handy and are unlikely to build this bed.  However, we do like the cozy hangout under the bed and enclosing the space with curtains, so perhaps we will do our best to come up with something similar.

I put together a mood board based on Princess's request for a purple bedroom.

I have been hoarding a roll of red/purple/pink Anthropologie wallpaper (discontinued) for years, and I think I finally have a chance to use it.  I won't be able to put it on the bed like Hunted Interior did, nor do I have enough to wallpaper the whole room, but I think we could frame a few panels and hang them on the wall.

rug / dresser / pillow / lamp / curtains / bed

teal carpet begone: wood floors and a persian rug

In the last post I showed you the master bedroom and living room with pictures from the house listing.  The master had delightful teal carpet, and the living room had a worn and stained berber. Both carpet were installed in 1994 when the addition was built, so they were 23 years old.  We replaced both with red oak hardwood floors to match the floors in the rest of the house.

The master bedroom:

after:

These are some fabulous quality pictures from the Mister's phone.  The good camera was unpacked recently, but not the battery charger, and now the rooms all have furniture in them, so....terrible phone pictures from a month ago will have to suffice.

The  living room before:

The living room after:

I also made my first foray into vintage rug buying on ebay.  I bought a 10x13 vintage persian rug, and it is beautiful.

It has the loveliest colors and design, and I think it will really make an impact in the room.

One caveat to buying a vintage rug on ebay: this rug is incredibly filthy.  When we rolled it out, we could feel dirt on the bottom, and a cloud of dust arose.  It got dust all over the floor around it in the room.  It isn't stained or visibly dirty, and it is in good shape, but I think that it was probably sitting in a warehouse (or outside?) for a while.  I'm having it sent out to be cleaned.  So...if you order a large rug online, be prepared to possibly pay $$$ to have it cleaned.  

The one where Lisa breaks her neck and buys a new house

Hey there.  How ya been?

Guess what?  We moved again! Three thousand miles across the country.  Back to northern New Jersey.  The three of you remaining reading this blog may remember my prior blog called Trapped in North Jersey.  Voila! Full circle.  

All three of our kids were going to be switching schools this fall, so we decided that if we were moving back to the East Coast, now was the time.  We found a lovely town not too far from the Mister's new job, and we found a pretty house which I would love to decorate, except I herniated two discs in my neck in July and had spine surgery in August.  

How did I do such a thing, you ask?  Well, long story short, dear reader, I did a somersault in jiujitsu class and felt very poorly, then a chiropractor finished me off. The chiropractic visit took me from being in pain to being in excruciating agony.  After a few ER visits, every front line narcotic drug known to man,  not being able to sit down or lie down or sleep in any position, being awake for nearly a month (seriously), and losing strength in my left arm to the point of not being able to open the refrigerator, I had a C5-C6 fusion surgery.

I injured myself a month after the Mister had already decamped to New Jersey and I was alone with three children in California. I was (and still am) unable to drive.   The surgery happened two weeks prior to us moving to New Jersey.  The poor Mister started a new job in June, promptly asked for a week off in July to take care of his ailing injured wife, returned to New Jersey for a week, then asked for another week off in August to take care of his recuperating from surgery wife.  I didn't pack a thing for moving, as I am restricted from lifting anything for a few more months.  (A few people have noted that I could have just paid the movers to pack, instead of breaking my neck to avoid this chore.)

Go big or go home, as they say.

When I woke up from the surgery, I felt a million times better.  I still have a radiating pain in my arm, but its a 2 on a pain scale of 1-10, instead of the 11 it was before, so perspecticles and all that.

insta

I feel much better now, except for when I use my left arm.  I am hoping this issue resolves itself in the next few weeks, as I like using my arm, and not using my arm makes daily life challenging.  I have SO MANY house projects I would like to do, and am unable to accomplish at the moment.  Soon, I hope.

Thank heavens for good friends who picked up my kids and drove them all around to summer camps and extracurricular activities.  And thank heavens for my wonderful inlaws, who took us in for two weeks, did a ton of activities with my children while I was lying in bed recuperating, and traveled with us to NJ while I was unable to wrangle luggage and children.  

Enough about me and my neck.  Here are some pictures of the new house from the listing (old owner's stuff in the pictures).  

Front of the house:

How about some teal carpet? 

Here we have the living room:

Pretty much every room in the house looks like this, with creamy white paint and miles of honey oak trim and windows and doors. 

I don't hate honey oak, but its not my first choice.  Eventually I will paint this house a brighter white and paint the trim.  When I regain the use of my left arm, most likely.  

The kitchen is not large, but has good quality (more honey oak) cabinets, and new appliances and granite counters.  

Last night I discovered little furry friends in the kitchen, and the upstairs toilet broke and leaked into the kitchen light fixture, so, YAY HOME OWNERSHIP.