Boys

How cute are they.

Tristen and his boys following the 1st of the year Portland Metro Middle School Dance.

a boy in a man's body

"don't hurt her Birrrrd!" 

 "be gentle Tristen!"  

"Bird.  Put.Her.DOWN."

Bird loves his Auntie Karley.  Like a sister, really.  Karley, my youngest sister, and Tristen are just 8 years apart; closer in age than Karley and I by 6 years.  And my lord, he loves her.  But his boyish love for his Auntie and the strapping tall, strong man-body that has recently engulfed his being has Auntie Karley's petite little frame in peril of being crushed when his little boy heart explodes with  love and a big giant crushing hug follows.  I'm constantly watching -  like how a toddler must be watched over their new baby sibling - making sure his love doesn't leave bruises.  And then I got a text from Karley last night .. "I just can't believe how big Bird is.  I love how he hugs me so hard every time I see him - even if it hurts!" Made me realize that those hugs are sooo precious, and as long as he doesn't topple her to the ground, it's all good.  :) 

DIY Cheveron Pallet Bedroom Wall

The Dream = 

+ sand and re stain the bed frame Espresso 

+ a cheveron pallet wall for the wall behind the bed 

+ dramatic floor to ceiling drapery for the closet wall

+ sand and re stain the dresser Espresso

"The Dream" seems rather simple when I put it like that.  But my laaaawd, simple is NOT how I would describe the past month.  It was one month ago when our bedroom make over dream was formed and we came home from Home Depot with a car full of wood.   Yessss, it took a month.  It was a long process. I had a few moments of thinking I'd bit off more then I could chew.  This is our second "pallet" wall, so we generally knew how to do it, but this time there was a pattern - which had it's own set of challenges - and Holy mother, sanding and re staining furniture, which is NO JOKE. We started with sanding and re staining the bed frame...

 

After the bed was re finished, we drew the wall pattern and Rhett cut all the boards.

after the majority of the boards were cut, we laid out the pattern,

measured, and filled in the gaps. 

And then we stained.

And I didn't take any photos.
(we brushed a bit of water on each board,
then applied the stain with a rag:
a custom mix of  1/2 Ebony or Black stain & 1/2 mineral spirit.
the goal was for each board to be unique
 a "finished look" was NOT desired)

One month to the day after purchasing the raw material,

the wall went up!

our neighbor is a fellow project junkie and spent the day helping!

and then, the moment I was waiiiiiting for:

putting the bed up

phew!!!

It was SHOCKING.

STUNNING.

OVERWHELMING.

And oh so amazingly beautiful.

Totally exceeded my expectations!

Next was putting up the curtain rod.

I'm incorporating an industrial vibe into the house

(recently put up an industrial shelf in Tristen's room)

so we went with the same galvanized pipe for the curtain rod

Three 70x144 oblong tableclothes from Bed Bath & Beyond

became drapes.  I used the round clip on curtain holders.

They are PERFECT.  Makes moving the curtains up and down

the rod so easy.  And looks cool too.  And the best part: NO SEWING.

(still have to sand and re stain the dresser, eeek)

I'm still in awe!

The wall is STUNNING.

The drapes are so glam.

it's love love love LOVE!