The Colorful Minimalist//Nursery Tour

I'm a minimalist at heart, so when we found out we were pregnant, I wanted to know exactly what was necessary and what wasn't. As you can see, Simon's room isn't cluttered with a lot of extras, but it's still bright and fun. This room actually used to be my craft room and I had painted the geo wall (tutorial here) long before we knew a baby would be joining the family, but once we found out, I thought it would be the perfect room for him. With a statement wall that bold, you don't need much else. I knew I definitely wanted to bring life into the room with plants, so one day while pregnant, I was roaming the isle at Michael's and I found these giant faux filadendron leaves and decided to make a mobile for above the crib. It's always a conversation piece when people come see the room. I kept the rest of the space bright and clean. It's so fun to watch him as his eyes find new things each time we're in the room. His current favorite is the world map print.

One thing I did learn quick, was that, while it's nice to prepare as much as you can before the baby comes, even the minimalist in me ended up with things I didn't really need. As I've mentioned before, we chose to bed-share with Simon, so he's literally never slept in this crib. I'm tempted to get rid of it, but I guess I may use it in the future--we'll see.

Did you end up with a bunch of extras? What am I missing that is a favorite of yours?

click on the links to shop the look:
crib//sniglar ikea (painted)

sheets//land of nod

crib pillow//themodboho

oliver mouse//hazel village

frog//blablakids

fox blanket//dwell studio

color block blanket//koko nest

shelves//handmade by husband @marcusnielson

mobile//handmade by me @ashleyanielson

floor pouf//themodboho

rug//urban outfitters

dresser//vintage

favorite all natural lotion//tubby todd

wooden teether//chewable charm

sophie the giraffe teether//here

photo board book//nowvel (use Rm1Cy8RLc for  $3 off)

trash can//ikea

world print//urban outfitters

linen curtains//h&m​

Acapulco chair//onekingslane

scenes from the weekend.

The black paper bats made a comeback. (just cut out of paper and tape on wall)

the girls from @mintdecor and @themodboho took over my house to shoot some of the pretties they have in their shops!

i forsook my hermit ways and went to dessert with an instafriend turned real life friend Sarah! (and she introduced me to some really great music I'll be sharing tomorrow)

more gorgeous pillows from themodboho--i seriously want that lumbar to live in my house with me!!!

Poppy wondering why there are so many new people in our house, we never have visitors!

picked up that pretty runner from the thrift store for $1 :)

and i leave you with the sexiest scenes of them all, husband doing house projects!

What did you do this weekend?

that wall!

As promised, I present to you my DIY Geo Wall instructions!

I used the sample size Behr paints from the Home Depot--these were the colors I started out with, but ended up changing my mind a few times as I got them up on the wall.

My final colors were:

Green//Garden Sprout

Navy//Velvet Evening

Dark Orange//Mesa Sunrise

Pink//Custom Color Match (LL-4 RL-13 VUL-19)

Light Blue//Custom Color Match (EL-41 RL-11 VUL-6)

Nude//Custom Color Match (CL-17 RUL-3 TL-1)

For the darker colors, like the green and the navy, I needed more than one sample size, so keep that in mind if you choose a lot of darker colors.

I stressed about how to make the perfect shapes for months, and then final realized I just needed to lock myself in the room and start taping--after all, in my mind, DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT when it comes to house projects.

So, I randomly taped off a starting point and as I got a few painted, I changed things here and there.

As you can see, I ripped off pieces of the paint chips and taped them where I thought the colors would look best, so i could keep a visual of my color plans. It also helped me not use too much of one color--i didn't want to end up with 5 green shapes and then not have any room left for my blue, I also didn't want one side of the wall to have tons of peach and one side to have none, etc.

I won't lie, it got a little overwhelming at times--so I had to take a few breaks.

It was at this point, i really wanted to stop. I was getting impatient about having to wait for each shape to dry before i could work on the shape next to it--as you can see, the tape has to go over the painted triangle in order to paint the next triangle without blending all the edges. In order to tape over it, it of course needed to by completely dry. I think the whole project took me 3 days.

p.s. I prefer the green Frog Tape to the blue tape--but i ran out half way, so I used some of both.

When it was all said and done, it was totally worth all the hard work--i get giddy every time i walk by this room--it's such a happy space for a my craft room and i'm really proud of how it turned out!

If you have any questions feel free to email me or leave them in the comments!

around the house, fall edition

jamie sent me a link to this halloween bat tutorial and i had to give it a try. i must say, i'm going to have a hard time taking them down, i like them so much.

my thrift store grandma was so pleased with me when i finally got some hooks to put away my trinkets. can't you just see the pride in her eyes?

 with the weather cooling down to a bone chilling 79 degrees at night, we decided it was time for some German soul-food--home-made knoodle with a mushroom cream sauce.

pumpkin from the ranch.

Do you decorate for the holidays? What's your favorite?

{For Fashion's Sake} Saturday: Red Lips/White Stripes

lately we've been getting stuff up on our walls and it's amazing how much more of a home it feels like!

i can't even handle how much i love this shelf that marcus built for me. every time i walk in the door i get excited to look at again.

and folks, if you want to save 15% or more on furniture, make it doll furniture for your living room.

it's all the rage.

outfit details:
striped top and rhinestone bracelet: jcrew sale
vigoss jeans: nordstrom
sperry top-siders: online
gold bracelet: c/o a beautiful heart

{For Fashion's Sake} Saturday: Fall meets Winter (and our house floods...)

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 When I took these pictures yesterday afternoon I was feeling a lot more carefree than I am today. 

You see, when I took these all I had on my mind was a weekend off from work, dinner at my favorite pizza place with some of my favorite people, then some snuggling up in bed in our new place with by beau.

Yes, it was a nice time throwing leaves about and thinking the wonderful days ahead of me.

It was a wonderful evening with friends. 

It was a good movie that kept us out til after midnight.

It felt nice walking up to the door of our place after being away for a few days. 

We were so excited to sleep in our new bed for the first time since we set it up. 

Oh, it was a grand idea, but an idea that was dashed as soon as Marcus opened the door and half whispered, half yelled, "OH my gosh..., oh my gosh."

My stomach dropped out as I rounded the corner and saw him with his pajama pants hoisted up as he tip-toed through an inch of water that covered almost our entire living room and kitchen.

The blood from my face drained out as I listened to the downpour of water from upstairs, running down our walls.

I stood there paralyzed as Marcus ran upstairs to find a busted valve and then ran outside to turn off the water. 

I floated in like a ghost, soaking my non-levitating slippers as I assessed the damages.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the stark contrast of emotions from now and just two minutes prior.

Instead I did neither, just choked down a large knot in my throat.

I text my sister for comfort, which she quickly provided with a phone call and an offer to help, but it was now well past one in the morning and Marcus decided that anything that was ruined was already ruined and a few more hours of wetness wouldn't change anything. 

So disheartened we drove back to our in-laws to try and sleep. Upon arrival, it was confirmed that we had not yet gotten insurance on the place and would have to swallow the costs on our own. And that was that.

Now it was time to think of the things we could be glad about.

1. Our just-installed, beautiful upstairs carpet was fine.

2. We weren't as far along as we had hoped to be at this point, but that meant there were less things in the house, which meant less things were damaged.

3. Earlier that week we had moved tons of our boxes from downstairs to an extra bedroom upstairs that was untouched by the water, so none of that was wet.

4. Our downstairs was tiled, so it was mostly only the walls, ceilings, and cabinets that would need tending to.

5. We hadn't installed baseboards yet, so we wouldn't have tear those out.

6. We were still teetering on the decision of whether or not to get new cabinets, so now if they were damaged beyond repair, our decision would be made for us.

7. We had just come from a good meal and a good night with friends, so at least we weren't already in poor spirits about anything.

8. We have a great support system of family and friends that have offered to help in anyway they can.

While the situations is still frustrating, it is what it is, we can sit around and complain and cry, or we learn from the situation (like to always have insurance!) and get back to work fixing the place up. We'll be just fine.

The Breakdown:

Gold Coin Necklace: gift from Stephanie via Emersonmade

Top: J.Crew Sale

Skirt: gift from Reachel via Anthropologie

Hunter Green Tights: c/o WeLoveColors

Leopard Shoes: c/o Wanted

getting things done.

Sometimes you just have to yell to your husband to be a man and impress you and then suddenly he can lift really heavy furniture from your IKEA cart into your car and again all they way up the stairs into your bedroom. 

Then you kiss him real good and tell him how strong he is, and then everyone feels happy. 

YIPPEE!

real beds > inflatable mattresses*

p.s. last chance to enter this $35 giveaway!

a life update.

It has been a crazy few weeks. I'm sure I've felt more stressed out at some point in my life (like when i was taking 30 credit-hours, planning a wedding long-distance, and freezing to death in Idaho), but if feels like this is the tops.

I've been working long hours, making endless house decisions, and trying to get our place done so we could move in before Thanksgiving because we will no longer have a bed at the in-laws. 

Leaving me feeling bummed that taking time out to celebrate my birthday like i would like to is just not going to happen this year. 

I even went so far as to beg Marcus to let me change my birthday to March 21st (first day of Spring and official day of the Unicorn) but he wouldn't budge. Apparently he thinks the day in which one enters the world is sort of a final and definite thing...Bah!

I can feel the stress lap over me in a fierce effort to drown out my carefree spirit. 

And frankly, I hate it. 

I know can't let it win, but I'm having a hard time fighting it when my hands are full of everything else. 

Is this what adulthood looks like?

Perhaps it's just something I will grow into and learn to handle better. 

Perhaps 23 is the age that you really do have to grow up and except that life isn't always smooth sailing. 

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, i just need to take a little time to count my blessings...

I'm also open to any of your suggestions.