Spring cleaning

I have been pretty busy these past few weeks - and, yes, Brent and I are still holding true to our Lenten promise - no TV in the bedroom!  I will admit, I did chose a pretty easy thing to give up - at least in the sense that it would take A LOT of effort to break our commitment.  (EX: Lifting a gigantic TV onto a 6 foot tall armoire and then detangling miles and miles of wires to plug in on the other side of the room.......not really an easy fix!)  I am still on Book #2 (Max Lucado's Cure for the Common Life), and I have recently gotten back into my magazine addiction (Martha, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens - and a recent US Weekly {gasp} that had my fav, Reese Witherspoon, on the cover)  But I am dedicated to reading, and we have really enjoyed the quiet that the absence of TV has brought.

On our list this month is major home improvement.  Something about spring really makes you aware of your clutter and decorating needs.  We have made a lot of improvements on our house and yard over the last 4 years (and mostly when I say "we," I mean Brent!)  I love our home, and I am so grateful for all Brent's hard work.  Here is a snapshot of some recent improvements that were of minimal cost, and made a HUGE difference in our house!

I saw this pillow cover in Pottery Barn (new summer collection) and had to splurge!  For summer, I put a cream matelasse duvet cover on our red comforter.  It is a bit of a pain to keep clean (I think I have washed it 10 times so far!), so if you do go the white route, make sure you get a quality cover.  This one is from Pottery Barn, but was super on sale last season:)

This is the new set up - and I am still loving it every time I walk in.  Putting the bed in between the windows made a world of difference - so much light!

I even spruced up our guest room - these shams were once on our couch, but worked perfectly here.  That is one thing I am learning - if you coordinate right, you can mix and match things from each room when you need a change of scenery.  Pillows are the easiest and cheapest way to add new color and dimension to a room.

This bureau (once in my grandparents house) was in our bedroom, but there was not enough room when I rearranged everything - now it serves as a linen chest at the bottom of our stairs - and a handy place to collect mail:)

I make wreaths for every season - my husband laughs at me, but I don't think he knows how expensive wreaths are!  I use either grapevine forms, or straw - which can be bought at any craft store.  I then hot glue flowers into the form. 

I am so proud of this room!  A year ago, Brent painted the entire trim white in the kitchen and dining rooms (it was dark wood stained and very 80's).  We then painted the walls a robin's egg blue/grey - which I love.  I recently bought these black and cram toile print curtains at Lowes (yes, Lowe's!  and they were only $19 a piece!)  I love the way they frame the room, yet still brighten it up.

You may be wondering why I have posted a picture of our shower head - well, it's new!  We desperately needed a new one - the old head had water stains and all sorts of yuckiness on it.  This one was very reasonably priced and has several settings - in case you want to blast yourself out of the shower of pressure wash your hair.  It did make a huge difference - just make sure you have enough water pressure to support the type of shower head you are getting.  Luckily, we do - otherwise 15 E Bayberry would be on the market:)

I have several other projects we are working on.....but my camera is dead after last weekend's trip to Washington, NC (pics on Facebook)...so I will spare yall until the next post!  Happy cleaning!!!