My New Digs

So I've been meaning to put up pictures of my new landing spot for a little while, but I was having troubles getting it organized in a way I enjoy. But I remember my lessons from the School of Barlow:

• Lesson 237: If you're going out of town, make sure the house is clean. At least, have your bed made, so in case you die, the police who come to your home later won't think you're a slob. You don't want to be judged poorly post mortem because you didn't make your bed.

So I made my bed. Then I finally moved my room around so it wasn't quite so ugly and odd. Now it's still not quite finished, but the furniture is at least placed. And actually, I'm quite pleased with the results. So I wanted to share:

*Please note, I give most of color scheme credit to super sister-in-law, Jodi, who helped me out mucho before coming out here. Thank goodness for good taste and patience :).

 This is the site you walk into (sorry, it was really sunny when I tried to take this picture - that's a dark brown dresser on the side). My bedspread is really lovely, with a cool pattern of light blue, light green, cream, and touches of lavendar and dark green. I found the picture above the dresser at Kohls almost right after purchasing the spread at Marshalls and I almost died, the colors and pattern were almost a perfect match! And the flowers on my table are wood, and really pretty. Those are probably my two favorites accents to the room.

 This is the other wall, with the door to my room. Yes, I do realize that crocheted Elephant (that's what's in the frame) doesn't match my color scheme at all, and it definitely too small for that wall. It's currently a very temporary, undersized fix to my indecision about what to do there. My eventual plan is to take a lot of my pictures and get some cheap salvation army frames (or make some) and make a sort of sophisticated wall collage. We'll see when that actually happens, although I've started gathering my pictures of choice together, as though it might actually happen soon...ish... Also, that blue bookshelf thing? That was a find from my first week at church. We were walking out and the poor thing was sitting in the hall with a sign, "Please Take Me." I felt so bad for it, sitting all by itself, lonely and sad, and I needed something to hold my stuff, so I made this boy from our carpool carry it out the car for me. It's a work in progress, but perhaps one day it will be something beautiful. For now, I'm content with it being something functional.

 This bedside table gets an honorable mention. It's potentially my favorite item of furniture ever. I saw it at Marshalls and really liked it - it was a steal, too! - but the color was this darkish, kelly green, which I didn't know how to make work with the bedspread Jodi found that I was loving more every minute. Being the balloon full of talent she is, Jodi explained how quick and easy it would be to paint it and maybe even distress it a little and give it some character. I think of those ideas, but I never know how to get the ambition to make it work - and to actually do it. Turns out, Chris and Jodi's bedroom walls match my spread exactly, so we took the leftover paint and painted over the green, then sanded the newly light blue table where we wanted the stain to stand out, and then lightly stained it brown. The result was a table of weather light blue, that looked like it had been in the family for awhile. The stain and the effect of the dark green that came out a little in the sanded areas look great, and I'm so pleased with this table that I helped bring to life. It was a great feeling. I still get giddy about it when I look at it!

 This is my new, makeshift garbage can. There's not much of a good place here for a garbage can, but I needed something, so I took my hairdryer's box and converted it into one. Not gonna lie, I was really impressed with my creativity and innovation on this one. It's amazing what you can do with stuff just laying around your room. Maybe if I ever come across some paint, I'll paint the box, but for now, I think it works perfectly as is, tucked away in the corner.

 Speaking of using what you got, this room is pretty small, and it's rather filled up already with furniture. My closet is super duper tiny, and the floor is filled with boxes and shoes, so I had no idea where I could possibly put a laundry bag/basket. BUT, I happened to have brought 3 ottomans/storage containers, and one was still empty, so I decided to use it as my laundry basket for now. It's hidden away so my laundry isn't in anyone's face, and the basket is functional as my seat for doing my hair and makeup (my bathroom's very tiny as well, so nothing fits in there...). I can be rather creative when I need to be.

Finally, I gave this a shoutout just because I really love it. This picture sits on my bedside table, in front of my lamp and wood-shaved flowers. The frame was given to me by my good friend Carly Roberts during our middle school years and says, "Friends...are for sharing." This picture is 1 of 4 pictures Ben, Abby, and I took at a photo booth in the mall, just before Ben went on his mission to Brazil, back in the day. I love, love, love this picture, and I've taken it with me everywhere I've moved in the last few years. Thanks for good memories, family, I owe you all a lot for making me the photogenic girl I am today.

So that's my new place. Or at least, my new room. Or, what's done of it. I still have a shelf and a decorative metal thing with hooks to hang on the walls, but it's basically done, as far as I'm concered for the moment. The rest of the place? Well, you'll just have to come visit me and see it all for yourself.