SOCIAL MEDIA

November 30, 2015

Easy Plaid Ornaments & Our Family Room Christmas Tree

It's the most wonderful week of the blogging year!  Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday House Walk is always amazing and it starts today!!  I have been busy decorating our home for the last couple of weeks and I can't wait to share our Holiday Tour on Friday.  Today, I am sharing how I made some plaid ornaments for our family room tree and you just may get a few glimpses of our mantel too!
Easy Plaid Christmas ornament tutorial-www.goldenboysandme.com

November 27, 2015

Winterizing Our Gallery Wall



'Tis the season to change our gallery wall back to holiday/winter theme.  When we added the planking to this wall in our family room last year, I had a winter theme in mind and this is still my favorite season to decorate this space.  I think the loveliest gallery walls are those that reflect the interests of the people who live in the home.  We enjoy spending time in the mountains, especially in the winter, and I love how this wall reflects our lifestyle.  

November 25, 2015

Holiday Gift Ideas With JCPenney


Have you started your holiday shopping yet?  I like to start early in the season so I can put some thought into each gift, but not too early that I am not yet in the holiday spirit. I enjoy shopping when the stores are decorated and the holiday music is playing.   JCPenney challenged me to create a few gift ideas for some of my favorite people. I was happy to learn that I could buy a few of our most trusted brands at great prices.

November 23, 2015

The Smells of the Holiday Season & A Giveaway

*I am teaming up with Air Wick® for this sponsored post.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Even though it isn't quite Thanksgiving yet, we are in full holiday decorating mode in our house this week.  I look forward to this season all year long and I have been planning our decor for weeks.  Even before we bring that first box of holiday stuff from the attic, I begin adding scents to our home with holiday candles and wax melts.  Nothing gets me into the holiday spirit quite like the smells of the season do.

November 21, 2015

Our New Sofa {Birch Lane Montgomery Slipcovered Sofa}

I had planned to wait until after the holidays to post my review of our new sofa, but a few people have asked if I could give my opinion sooner.  So here it is!  It is the Montgomery Slipcovered Sofa from Birch Lane.  We absolutely love it.  It is always a bit scary to order a big ticket item like a sofa without actually sitting on it.  I have learned that the most important thing to do when ordering online is research.  I read all of the reviews, ordered fabric swatches ahead of time and measured.  I also exchanged a few e-mails with Birch Lane gathering more information regarding care of the fabric choices.  Then I placed the order and crossed my fingers.
Birch Lane Montgomery slipcovered sofa review - www.goldenboysandme.com

November 18, 2015

If Planking Walls Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts & words about the loss of our dog, Forrest.  It has been a tough year and although many of you started visiting here for home decor posts, you have all been so supportive of our family.  I really do hope to get on with more home ideas now!

So we've been adding a couple of walls of planks to our house because apparently it is my latest addiction.  I keep telling myself that someday a nice young couple will be cursing us out as they remove all of these planks, saying to each other, "what were they thinking?" much like we did as we removed panelling and wall paper from the 70s and 80s in our 3 fixer uppers :)  But I just can't help myself.  I love planks and the character they add.  Plus, they are super affordable and a relatively easy way to update a space.  
Planked gallery wall - www.goldenboysandme.com
Last week, I shared the planks we added to our dining area.  We also added planks to 2 walls in the living room - the one pictured above and the front wall where the big window is.  The big shared wall in our living/dining room is still painted Behr's Castle Path.  It will be staying that way - for a while at least.  My boys staged an intervention and made me promise to leave that wall alone.
Wall planking shiplap added to living room - www.goldenboysandme.com
And of course adding planks means taking everything off the walls and starting fresh.  Our living room definitely needed a refresh.  I like to keep things very rustic and traditional down in our family room, but I like to have a bit more fun with this level of our house.  I switched out the bold striped drapes for these Aztec panels I found at Target.
Ikea Billy bookshelf with trim added in front of plank wall with Target Aztec drapery panels - www.goldenboysandme.com
The entryway chalkboard is wiped clean right now but it will soon have some new chalk art for the holidays.
Wall planking in split level home - www.goldenboysandme.com
I also took everything down from the gallery wall that goes up our stairs and re-did it, keeping some pictures and adding some new ones too.  I actually think this wall looks naked without planks.  The struggle is real. :)
Gallery wall up the stairs - www.goldenboysandme.com
While I was at it, I added some numbers to these stairs on a whim.  I actually took the time to measure out the center of the stairs.  But I apparently shifted that measurement somewhere between the 3rd & 4th stairs.  Oops!!  I need to repaint each stair back (which really needed to be done in the first place anyway) and re-do the #s but my kids have been having a good time making fun of my mistake.  They walk up the first 3 stairs on the left and then cross over to the right.  Perhaps I will just leave them.  Their imperfection has brought us more laughs than perfectly numbered stairs ever could.
Numbered stairs and plank wall - www.goldenboysandme.com
  And that's what we're up to around here this week.  Are you excited for holiday decor?  I am in full holiday decorating mode so I am ready to share holiday posts just after Thanksgiving.  

November 11, 2015

Sweet Forrest

He held on for as long as he could, but we had to say goodbye to our sweet Forrest.  Our hearts are broken.  And filled with gratitude for 10 years of companionship & love.  So much love.  Just love...

November 9, 2015

Picking A New Sofa

I finally pulled the trigger and placed an order for a new sofa for our upstairs living room.  We have needed to replace the old Ikea sofa that is currently in here for years.  I know it doesn't look terrible in most of the pictures on this blog, but believe me when I say that that is just magical blog photography smoke & mirrors.  Here is what I can get it to look like after adjusting ALL of the pillows and then giving it a bit of help in Photoshop.
Living room with Ikea sofa and chair-www.goldenboysandme.com

November 4, 2015

November Changes

I don't know what it is about late October & early November,  but it sparks lots of projects around here every year.  Last year, we added a some planking to a wall in our family room.  And this year we are adding some more to the kitchen level of our split level home.  We love how much character it adds instantly.
DIY planking and painted sign in farmhouse style dining room - www.goldenboysandme.com