In anticipation of hosting our entire family for Ava’s birthday this spring, I am trying to update the house just a bit. Thankfully, the grandparents are making my job pretty easy: Mom and Dave gave Olivia some new furniture for Christmas, and Karyl made her a sweet new quilt.
(I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here before, but the cross stitch you see in the above photo is one my mom made for me when I was a baby. The colors are still beautiful, even though it’s been THREE DECADES.)
I think this quilt is called “Strawberry Limeade.” It’s gorgeous!
The first quilt Karyl made for Olivia is hanging outside her room in the hallway outside of her room. The photo just does not do it justice.
Doug contributed some adorable bath photos, which I put in floating frames and hung in the girls’ bathroom.
Two rooms down, many more to go. I’m working on the living room now, which aside from a couple of new couches, hasn’t seen a real update in about 10 years. Neither has our bedroom, despite the fact I’ve been looking for a new bedding set for approximately 16 months.
Interior design is not something that comes easily to me–I’m terrible at coordinating colors, I can’t made decisions and I usually just end up painting the walls and calling it good.
I’m trying to approach this very thoughtfully, and with a very small budget. It’s driving me crazy. Any tips?
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by Katie on February 4, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Have more cute kids to decorate the place!
Posted by Laura on February 5, 2009 at 10:24 am
Rebecca, the changes look beautiful! What on earth do you mean it doesn’t come easily to you?!
I echo Katie’s suggestion!
Here’s an idea I’ve been flagging for a while now: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-make-fabric-panel-wall-art.html. It seems like a simple and easy way to create a focal point on the wall. And those swatch portrait bulletin boards I just did were seriously super easy and inexpensive.
Posted by Jessica on February 5, 2009 at 11:12 am
Laura, that is such a cool suggestion…I want to do that as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rebecca, I think the house looks great!
Posted by smithfamilyweblog on February 5, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Great idea, Laura. I really like decorating with quilts–that’s a nice accent.
Posted by Laura on February 14, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Here’s another post about using large swatches of fabric in decorating, if you’re interested: