Designing the Boys' Bedrooms

It's been a while since I shared what our rental is looking like since we moved in. We've definitely come a long way in the past year and a half and I'd like to share what we've done to the interior of the place.

This house is a rental, as I mentioned, which means we can't do too much to what it already is and we have to work around what is already there and done to the place and that's exactly what we've been doing. I've learned to leave the paint on the walls of a rental just as is because when it's time to move that's the last thing you want to be stuck doing or paying for. Unfortunately that means we're living with yellow painted walls to EVERY....ROOM... OF... THE ... HOUSE. I know, it couldn't be a more unflattering color for indoors. With that being said, I still want this to feel like our little place so I do have pictures hung up and wall pieces to make the place look better. Let's start with our recent redo in the older boys' room.

A little before pic of their room.  Simple. Minimal. but still it wasn't enough. They outgrew the beds too fast!

 We got rid of their dresser and decided to put shelves on the wall and have their clothes be hung up in their closet. I love how this turned out! We were originally going to completely diy the shelves but it was going to be $500 for all the piping! No thanks! So I found these pipes on amazon specifically made for these shelves. We bought and stained the wood and Tada! So proud of my Man for doing this!

Shelves after styling them

Thrifted jars and gifted pickle jars

So for their beds, we needed something that would last them longer than a couple years. Bunkbeds! I love having a kids room that isn't super well... kiddish. We found this awesome bed on walmart.com and bedding kept it fun and young from pillow fort from target. Rug was brand new from goodwill $70 but you can find it at target for I believe $129.

David spotted this bull portrait from Target too and said it would look pretty awesome in there. He was right! It was the perfect finishing touch! 

 It's a small room but I think we made it work nicely. They really enjoy it in there and they are now completely sleeping all night in there which is nice!

Onto the babies' room. Here's what we did to make Ethan his own little area in the room. This room is tiny. Like super short slanted ceiling and tiny closet tiny. Somehow we managed to fit two cribs and a dresser in this room along with a rocker/glider and it still looks good! I love this room so much! 

I took my time gathering items for this room and I kept it very cheap. Free finds, clearance and half off goodwill items made my dreams come true in here!

 a little behind the scenes action of Daddy putting together Ethan's crib.

I love how both these rooms came out! They are minimal but still cozy ! They are a little bit more grown up but still have touches of kids style in them. I absolutely enjoy finding ways to make our space work for us. I hope to someday make this my career because I truly enjoy designing and styling a space to feel and look good. 

One Year in Our Farmhouse Rental

November 17 2017, Thats when we moved into this little house on an Avocado orchard farm. I remember David and I always dreaming about living on some kind of farm property and having mountains and trees to look at everyday. It might have taken years to find just the right place in the right location but we waited in God's timing and now we're here! We've moved 6 times in the 7 years we have been married. There's many reasons for why that's happened but I'm glad we have made it through the toughest of the moves. One involved living with our parents for a few months and one involved living to a brand new county and David commuting 2 and a half hours for work. And the last little stretch before we found this little house, I lived with our three boys at my Dad's house for 5 weeks while David stayed with his mom so he could go to work. That was probably the hardest move to endure of all. Although we rent ( no shame in it) it opens our eyes to what a blessing owning our own home will be and it also helps us see the things we would want in a home of our own.

We are definitely in no place to purchase at the moment but we are taking notes and focusing on our goals of becoming debt free and having a good credit standing before we take on something so big and life changing. We talk about it all the time and even though the popular thing is to go into full debt to purchase a home, I want something more secure than that. I want to know we can afford what we are getting ourselves into.  It's something we pray about daily and we will wait on God's timing for. 

With every place we move into, it's become like a sort of project to me. I love to decorate and make our place feel like home. And although our budget is super tight, I find ways of managing to pull of a look I want for each space of the house. About 95% of our place is Thrifted, Hand me down and even Free! Yes free! 

I'll have to make a separate post showing this current place we're in and how we've decorated but for today I wanted to take a trip down memory lane at our past homes/apartments.

Bakersfield, CA 1940's house (lived there 7 months)

 

our room

My favorite was the updated kitchen. We've never had such a beautiful kitchen to cook in and I certainly appreciated have a dishwasher in it! Life saver when you have kids! 

Another favorite was the nursery. This room in particular had so much character! A fireplace, a door leading into the boys' room and a beautiful built in bookshelf with glass doors.

That house was a dream. Just in the wrong location. =( 

Camarillo, CA 1970's 2 bedroom apartment  ($1,250 a month)

Looking back at this little apartment, I think we didn't appreciate it as much as we should have. We moved in with just Noah and it was perfect. The location was amazing! We were in the heart of Camarillo and we did and could walk to literally anywhere. It was fun. 

 I think the turning point for me came when we miscarried, just months after moving in. We were so happy and so excited to be here and when we miscarried, this apartment felt like a cluttered dark hole and I couldn't breathe comfortably in it. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but that's just how it felt after going through such a traumatic experience.

I did however find my passion for refinishing furniture here and turning them into something new. I would do all the work in the little dining area space and I'd make a good little profit for us. Couch was a free find as was the coffee table. (now currently in my mother's apartment.)

The kitchen... Oh the kitchen. So outdated but still functional. I just remember it feeling so cluttered all the time.  We also welcomed our little Levi while living in this apartment.


Fillmore CA, Restaurant Apartment ( 1 Bedroom $750)

$750 a month with utilities paid?! How did we leave this Luxury?! hahaha. Oh to be young and scared . This little place was the perfect opportunity for us to become financially independent and ahead and and and... If we could go back in time we would come here and just deal with life instead of running and thinking we could not afford it. From here we gave our notice and moved into my in laws because after I quit my job to stay home with Noah, reality hit and we could not afford to live here on one very low income at the time. We did however manage to pay off both of our cars while we both worked and lived here and we really should have just stuck it out and handled it. Oh well. 

David's dad and stepmom were gracious enough to let us live in their home for 7 months until we were able to get caught up and find a place of our own again.

Theres definitely nothing to brag about decor wise, but it was very organized and clean all the time... I mean.. pre babies, that's easy. We welcomed our first born son Noah into this apartment.

Fillmore, CA "The Yellow Cube" ( 1940's studio apartment $625 a month)

Our first place together! Oh my goodness. It was the tiniest studio I had ever seen! Maybe barely 400sq ft all together on the upstairs left side of that yellow house building. Originally, David had moved into this studio all on his own. He was making minimum wage at the time working part time. Things happened at home and I couldn't live there anymore and he offered for me to move in only one or two months of him living there. At the time I was doing great financially, making good money working a good job and going to school full time. 

This place was tiny but it holds a special place in our hearts. A lot happened here. We got married, got a dog and began our lives together in this teeny magical space. We planned our future here and it was so fun! It felt like a sleepover with my best friend every single night. 

I'm not even sure how we lived here for as long as we did ( I think it was about a year here) but we made it work with the space.

I didn't include the two times we lived with our parents since it was just one room but I hope you enjoy a trip down memory lane of where we've lived and grown. I can't believe how blessed we have been as a couple and as a family. Just when it feels like we can't or we won't make it, God provides. And although we are now living in a bigger place with bigger bills and it is terrifying at times, God has and will always be here to make sure we are okay. We are never left in need.

October Goodwill Finds (home edition)

  I know what you're thinking... "Susie, I thought you were going to not Goodwill anymore to save more money..." I did not keep my word with my strict budget BUTTTTTTT, to be fair, I made some good sales on my selling apps this month and was able to snag a few goodies at the Goodwill.

  I'm in full nesting mode here and I just want things to look like I envision and I want a space I can feel comfortable in. Excuses? Probably but here's a look at the stuff I found: ;)

The two faux cacti on the right were Target Clearance finds. I've put those in Noah and Levi's room.

The faux cacti on the left in the grey pots were Goodwill finds. $3.99 each

Childrens books are always my number one thing to look for when I set foot in a Goodwill. They are .79 cents each and even half off on 50%off day. I often look for books that we've recently seen at Barnes n Nobles and I do often find them!

 This Black and off white small rug for Noah and Levi's room $7.99

Target Clearance find. 

And my absolute favorite find is this little bench. Scored at $30! David actually found this dazzling piece to go perfectly in our room. Since we don't have Benjamin's crib taking up my side of the bed now, this little guy makes the perfect accent in our room. I found the pillow for $2 there as well and we love how it looks! The bench is made from Indian wood and I believe a burlap twine material on top. It's very sturdy. Retail price at Target is $99.

To me, making my home is my pride and joy. Finding the perfect pieces whether big or small make the biggest differences and bring it all together to make our place feel and look good.

Now I've got a few other Goodwill finds but baby stuff I've found that I will share next.