‘Tis the Season of Accumulation

adminOrganization

As much as I love Christmas, it can get incredibly overwhelming when I look around on Christmas night and see the massive piles of new toys, games, clothing, gadgets, etc. all looking for a new place to belong in our home.

A bundle of toys (in a Trader Joe’s bag) to fling on his back… happy Christmas to ALL, and to ALL a good night!

I’m of the school of thought that for something new to come in, something old must go out, so when my amazingly in-tuned husband came across the Lifehacker article, 
“Leave Old Toys Under the Tree for Santa to Deliver to Other Kids” by Meghan Moravcik Walbert, it became clear what we could do before the overwhelming feelings reared their heads!

My girls picking toys with care

When we explained to our girls how there are so many children around the world who aren’t as fortunate as they are to receive so much from both Santa and their parents for Christmas, they were immediately on board with wanting to give what they could to make another child smile. Though the scale in which their donated items will reach are far closer to home, I’m proud of the fact that they are learning (early) the importance of giving over receiving.  

My #beautifullypinned18 Intentions

adminGoals, Organization

Many of us have heard of vision boards. The visualization of goal setting is a wonderful way to provide the accountability some of us need, but there are some of us who are little more on the simpler side when it comes to goal setting, which is where “My #beautifullypinned18 Intentions” was born.

I recently took part in an amazing women’s event at Chapelstreet Church in Geneva, IL, and the session I presented on focused on organizing and simplifying your daily life. At the end of the session I challenged the women to make (feasible) short and long term goals for themselves/ their families utilizing the “My #beautifullypinned18 Intentions” sheet.       

My #beautifullypinned18
Intentions

I hope you can use this template and a few great resource links on the template or below, to build the visual breakdown of what you hope to accomplish with an easy checklist format.  I challenge you to even post with #beautifullypinned18 so that you can use the hashtag to document and follow your progress and the progress of those choosing to share it.

You might be sick of hearing the phrase “It takes a village”, but the reality is that this phrase is so true! We need to support one another in all we do, all we hope to do, and in all we fail in doing. I hope this intentions sheet brings you closer to accomplishing what you aim to do for yourself and your family!  


Book Resources
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up By Marie Kondo
The Boomer Burden- Dealing with your Parent’s Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff By Jule Hall

Online Resources
Simplystagedbyvanessa.com/blog
Ikea.com/us/en/ideas/
Cleanmamahome.net
Konmari.com/blogs/blog

Repurposing a nursery for under $200

adminDesign, DIY

3rd Baby’s Room – Redesigned all for under $200

I am a blessed mama of three beautiful girls, which means I have decorated, coordinated, and organized a nursery three times over the last six years! That process could have been incredibly expensive if I would have done each nursery from the ground up, but I quickly came to the realization that three children also means there’s money coming out of somewhere at all times, so ain’t nobody got time for unnecessary spending! Time to breakdown the art of doing a nursery on a budget!

1st Baby’s Room – All new everything!

2nd Baby’s Room

When I decorated the nursery for my first daughter, we went all out with brand new everything- brand new nursery furniture, brand new bedding and decor considering this was our first baby. However, by the time it came to preparing the nursery for baby number three, I knew that the concept of “new” was going to have to look a little different. The existing furniture had been deemed the nursery furniture with the expectation that one day the dresser and the night stand can be used in a guest bedroom (yet again, continuing to save us money on decorating a different space in the future). Seeing as I had the bedding from both my first and second daughters’ nurseries, I had some options of what direction the third nursery could take, so decided to add a little bit of a twist to update and refresh the look so regardless of what was chosen, it would appear new in style. Additionally, when we moved in nearly two years ago, we chose to paint all the bedrooms with Behr Marquis in Smokey Wings (eggshell), so not only was this a time saver at this point, but it was also a cost saver when it came down to it because we already had a beautiful base to build from.  

Crib with bedding from first baby and a special decal

I chose to use the Crate and Barrel’s (A.K.A. Land of Nod) bedding, “Not A Peep”, from baby number one for baby number three’s nursery decor. Along with that came a lamp, poof, and vases, and an area rug we had used in another bedroom at a different time that was just sitting in our basement. These ticket price items being accounted for meant that I would have some flexibility with my nursery on a budget bringing on a whole new look to the existing decor with some stops at local home decor stores, which excited me to my core!

New window treatments, wall decor and a recliner (on clearance!)

First stop was to Target (as if that’s even a question), and that’s where I began to hunt for window treatments. I needed to ensure that they were light filtering for a darker sleep-encouraging ambiance, but also needed to be the perfect color for my little girl’s room. I found exactly what I needed at Target in the beautiful teal- toned beauties you see, and was able to snag them for only $19.99 each panel (plus 5% off with my RedCard, of course!). After a trip to Home Depot for the corner shelves ($19.99 each), Hobby Lobby and At Home for the decorative accents you see for $40, a wall decal from Etsy for $28, a gorgeous navy ottoman that doubles as storage from Meijer on clearance for $46, and (for the piece de resistance) a gorgeous rocking recliner from BuyBuyBaby on clearance for only $230 (which was graciously gifted to me, so cost us nothing out of pocket).

Corner shelves and new decor

All of these amazing details brought our third little girl’s room together for just under $164! It might have taken a lot of planning, strategizing, measuring, researching, shopping, returning, and patience to get the nursery just right, but it was beyond worth it! By putting in my due diligence I was able to create a beautiful space for my baby without a tight budget getting in the way. It goes to show that some serious creativity and a whole lot of inspiration can always go a long way!

Blog Coming Soon…

adminDesign, DIY, Organization

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your interest in Simply Staged by Vanessa.

I will be posting organization tips, design inspiration, and all-around practical home improvement advice on my blog starting with  an upcoming article entitled:

How to re-do a nursery, for the 3rd time, for under $200

Please stay tuned for that and other articles.  In the meantime please follow me on Instagram and like me on Facebook.

-Vanessa