Master Bedroom Before & After Reveal!

With the addition of our king size bed last month (soo much space!!), I can officially say that I have "finished" our bedroom to my our liking ;). What started as a practically McDonald's looking contrast of a yellow-y manilla color and a burnt orange accent wall (see below), is now our bright & airy space of relaxation. It took all of the two years that we've been in our house for the evolution of this room but with a mix of DIY projects and items bought over time I think we've now got a room we look forward to getting back to at the end of a long day. Without further ado, here are the BEFORE pictures of the room from June 2013 just after we had moved into our house. 

BEFORE: Circa June 2013

And now for the finished product!

AFTER: Circa Now!

Sleigh Bed: Scott's Furniture 
Ottoman: Target 
Sunburst Mirror: DIY
Duvet Cover: Pottery Barn  
Wall Color: Martha Stewart Heavenly Blue 

Remember that time I spent 22 hours stenciling that back wall?? No? Well here yah go. I still do love that the trellis pattern is intricate up close but is actually very subtle from farther away so it doesn't clash with any of the other patterns in the room.

X-Leg Side Tables: Target 

Kate Spade Inspired His & Hers glasses: DIY

Gold His & Hers Signs: DIY 

For the end tables, I DIYed the Kate Spade inspired His & Hers glasses, and DIYed the gold wood His & Hers nightstand signs. I also color blocked the baskets we already had from Wal-Mart by just taping and spray painting them. I wanted a simple tray for earrings and jewelry at night and love the look of the expensive acrylic ones but didn't want to pay the expensive prices for them so I improvised by picking up an acrylic frame from the craft store like this that I just took the cardboard out of. Works like a charm!

B & A Pillow: Cover Love on Etsy

Dresser: Ikea Hemnes Dresser
Grey Curtains: Target 
Love canvas: DIY
All You Need is Love canvas: DIY
Owl Hook: World Market 
Scarf Ladder: Carolina Pottery

One of my favorite things on the dresser is the frame with three of our photo booth strips in it. Two of the photo booth strips are of us from college, one from when we were first dating and the other later when we were doing long-distance, and the third is from this past year. I love how spontaneous photo booths are & yet how fun they can be as decor! 

Tripod Stool: Southeastern Salvage 

Faux Sheepskin: Ikea

I hung the Owl hook so I can easily hang necklaces before bed and my camera when I'm not using it and the tripod stool is good for throwing clothes on for the next day. I also love how versatile those faux sheepskins from Ikea can be! Here I'm using it as a small accent rug. 

The small square frames hold two Instagram pictures I had printed out from our wedding day that I just adore. Its simple things like this that make me extremely happy when I come back to our room because they're small reminders of some great memories. 

Tree Painting: DIY from High School
Silhouettes: DIY 
Grey Pull Curtain in Bathroom: DIY Ikea Hack Fabric Covered Tupplur Blinds

These DIY silhouettes of Brandon, Rhiley, and me are still one of my favorite DIYs ever! They were so simple & cheap and yet I love how they've captured us at this point in our lives and will serve as a reminder to our old, seasoned selves one day. 

Mirror: Hobby Lobby

While I'm Alive canvas: DIY 

Overall, I love how everything turned out! It's not only much more bright & airy but it's filled with things that are so very "us" which I think gives it great character and quirk. What do you think? Could you incorporate any of these projects into a room in your house?

Peace,

Allison 

Woven Bench for Guest Room

I had been in the market for some sort of bench for our guest room as a place for guests to place their luggage or take a seat to put on shoes. The requirements for said bench were that it needed to be thin & long to fit in the space across from the end of the bed and have some added storage on the bottom. I really like the woven bench look like this and this but the $100 price tag for such a small bench that I honestly thought I could make myself just wasn't cutting it for me. Thankfully, after some perusing I found this tutorial for a woven bench by The Merry Thought.

I kept that tutorial in the back of my head all through the holidays until I finally had some time and motivation for a DIY project after we got back from our late honeymoon cruise in January (a post soon to come). I followed the tutorial to a tee except that instead of buying pre-made table legs I actually just picked up a 4th 2x2x8 Furring strip which I cut into 4 16" legs. This change alone saved me about $18 making my total for the entire project come in at just under $30. So much better than the $100 I could have spent! 

Follow Your Passion sign- Hobby Lobby
Triangle Wall Hanging- DIY from an old pool table triangle

This DIY came together pretty easily up until the weaving part where I had to go back through and re-tighten my jute multiple times due to the wood bowing slightly in the center from the pressure. Don't let it get you down though cause the finished product was well worth the monotony and the cotton cord helps make the center much sturdier than just the jute alone (FYI I have sat on it and it can hold a good amount of weight!). I attempted a smaller aztec pattern than The Merry Thought for the center of my bench only because I was running low on upholstery tacks. 

Overall, I am smitten with the final product! It totally goes with my modern vintage theme for the rest of the guest room! Now I just need to paint the room and I am calling it done-zo. For the tutorial on how I updated my grandparent's vintage bedroom set to white & brass check out here. 

Do you love it as much as I do?! 

Peace, 

Allison 

One Little Word, Choose.

Choose: verb // to pick out or select as being the best or most appropriate of two or more alternatives. 

It's practically 2015, can you smell it in the air? The chance to restart, refresh, learn from 2014, & really move forward with a clear direction. I most certainly can. I unknowingly started the One Little Word in 2013 with the word BRAVE, a word that fell into place after a year chock full of huge, life changing milestones. In 2014, I felt inclined to make my OLW TRUST, at a time in my life where I needed to learn not to question as much and just trust in my plan. 

This year I am choosing the word, CHOOSE.

After a year of trusting (often times not willingly) I am ready to plant my feet firm and make my own choices. 

In 2015:

I will CHOOSE to enjoy life to its fullest extent.

These are the days! The days I will look back on many years down the road and realize I didn't take enough advantage of the freedom of time I have to read great books, drink good coffee, sleep in late, & spend quality time with those I love. 

I will CHOOSE to be present in my every day. 

This means cleaner eating (possibly trying a bout of Whole30 to get me on track), exercise (getting more active in road biking and running // hopefully a Half Marathon this year), quality time with my husband (less tv, phones, electronics) and basically all of the things that make me feel giddy & refreshed.  

I will CHOOSE how I let things affect me.

Rather than let my emotions get the best of me, I vow to accept the responsibility that I have a choice in how I allow things to affect me in my daily life. There are things and people, I've learned, that I cannot change no matter how hard I try, but the one thing I can be in control of is how I choose to respond (or not respond) to them. This year, I am going to CHOOSE the people in my life who make me a better person, CHOOSE to allow those who don't bring something positive to my life to get packing & above all else, I will CHOOSE myself. 

I will CHOOSE myself. 

This means taking care of myself first & foremost (healthier eating, exercising frequently, and maybe even a massage every once in a while!). I am also choosing to stop being so dang hard on myself & instead focus my efforts on how much I have to offer the world with my God-given skills and abilities rather than second guessing myself. 

When you think about it, it is amazing how many choices we make on a daily basis. While most of these are essentially unimportant (what to eat, wear etc.), some decisions can have much greater effects on our lives & well being. I hope that 2015 will allow me to CHOOSE those options that make me a better person both inside and out. I hope you'll be a part of this journey. 

Peace,

Allison

It's a Fitz Christmas

We had a very Merry Christmas, the second one in our home & our sixth since Brandon & I have been together. After Brandon & I exchanged gifts in the morning, we hosted a Christmas dinner at our house. Our delicious spread included spiral ham, some bangin' homemade mac & cheese I made, Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad (my favorite!), grilled pineapple with cinnamon, & green beans. After we stuffed our faces we headed out and played a round of Frisbee Golf. All in all it was a beautiful, fun day with family. 

Hope you all had a happy Christmas & cheers to 2015 (and my 25th Birthday eek!!) in just a few days! 

Just for fun here's some pictures from Christmas' past. 

2013

2012

Peace,

Allison 

life lately: december edition

still excited about my new haircut. 

making Christmas jars & deer pillows to round out our Holiday decor. 

thinking constantly about my sweet sister-in-law and her husband going through a terribly hard time after losing their sweet angel boy. Prayers requested. 

eating homemade lasagna, my first attempt that turned out delicious! 

drinking hot coffee and Caramel Brulee Lattes (my favorite!) at Starbucks.

reading Still Alice & just about to start Me Before You.

watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix & any and all Christmas movies on tv. 

wanting a Polar heart rate monitor watch. 

looking through pictures from our Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh & looking forward to our first annual Ugly Sweater Christmas party. 

planning our outfits for the Ugly Sweater Christmas party (hoping they'll be epic!)

playing Cards Against Humanity & Loaded Questions (especially loaded when played with the Housholders!) with family at Thanksgiving. 

enjoying my new Schwinn road bike (Follow my rides on Instagram at #allisonrides) & our Christmas decorations & Tree that are up! 

feeling anxious for Christmas shopping because I haven't even started...

loving our Christmas tree all decorated & the Buffalo Plaid Hello sweatshirt that I got with their Black Friday deals. 

Check back in at the middle of the week for our Christmas Card this year! 

Peace, 

Allison 

with every christmas card I write...

Merry Christmas friends! This Holiday season has taken us by storm but thankfully I was on top of my Christmas card game this year and was able to order our cards at the end of November and got some great promo codes and discounts including one for free address labels that I personalized with our girl, Rhiley. 

I went with Shutterfly again this year (here's our cards from last year) because I really liked their cute designs this year and I know I can always scrounge up a good deal by combining multiple promo codes. For packaging, I added some red & white baker's twine to the middle even though it is already printed on the card, used our personalized Rhiley inspired address labels, and the leftover buffalo plaid washi tape from my Simple Washi Tape Clothespin Christmas Card Display. 

Overall, I love how they turned out! On the front, I used a picture from our Valentine's Day pictures last year and on the back, I gave a brief update on our 2014 year. 

Hope this Christmas Card finds you all well! I will be back later in the week with a little roundup of some of my Holiday DIYs from this year! 

Peace,
Allison