Changing up the decor

Over the past few months....

For Easter I got Bryan a huge painting of the Bountiful Temple. It was something I'd been thinking about doing for awhile. But especially after he started working there weekly as an ordinance worker, I thought it would be even more meaningful. They are not cheap....so I'd been just looking and waiting for a long time. But when Easter rolled around, I remembered back to our first Easter together and how I had the guys in the framing department of the store I worked at in Logan help me pick out a picture of Christ and pull it all together with a custom frame and mat. It was our first picture of Christ in our new apartment and it started our family tradition of keeping Easter basket gifts of a more spiritual kind. All of this went through my head as I stood in front of this temple painting at Deseret Book. And I decided to bite the bullet and spent the wad of cash. It was worth it. Originally I had thought we'd hang it in the front entry of our house as you first walk in the door. But Bryan preferred it over our bed. And I have to say, I've absolutely loved having it there. It changes the whole feeling of our bedroom.

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After:

I also added this vinyl just inside our master bathroom door. It's a place where I've had vinyl sayings before....but this one is especially meaningful because it was a gift from my friend Stephanie from my singing group Higher Ground. We did a whole slew of Relief Society programs through the month of March. One of the songs we sang in the program, and the one that became the most meaningful to the five of us, was called "Come to Jesus." So this vinyl on my bathroom wall reminds me every day of the lyrics to that song and the feeling I always get when we sing it.

I've also just recently added some vinyl to the hall bathroom that was being primarily used by Lilian. I'd recently changed up the decor as far as towels, rugs and shower curtain...but hadn't put anything on the walls until now.

(Side note: If you haven't noticed already, I have a thing for birds. It's no secret that I'm rather obsessed with owls. We have 5 parakeets as pets and also 2 ducks and 3 chickens waddling around our backyard. And now the bird motif in the bathroom? I have a friend who has teased me that rather than being a "cat lady," I am a "bird broad." haha)

After Christmas I decided to change up the mantle decor. I liked the look I'd had before...but was getting a little tired of it and was hoping to add more color and maybe some simplicity.
This gives you a bit of a before picture...it was November, hence the fall leaves, pinecones and pumpkins.

Here's the after pics. Hobby Lobby was having a big sale on all their huge wall hangings and I picked up this big canvas for 50% off. I added the plant and changed out the candle colors, but Julianne added the antique bottles. I wasn't sure I liked them there at first seeing as I was going for more simplicity and less knick knacks, but then they grew on me and now I love the look of them there. Bryan's mother found these 100 year old bottles in a dig of an area that used to be an old dump in Park City. We'd had them displayed in the hutch in the kitchen up till now...
I also decided that maybe the hearth needed something. Normally it sits bare unless I've got some sort of holiday decoration there.

The clock that used to be hanging over the mantle is now just moved over to the side wall. I used to have some paintings of Jerusalem there but the clock filled the space better. The paintings will find a new home in the basement eventually.

The downstairs mantle needed an update as well. I wish I had a before picture for you. The wall used to be covered in historical stuff...a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence, a painting of the WWII air craft carrier my Grandfather served on (The USS Savo Island), and that well known picture of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. The basement is in flux right now. We got the pool table in January. Next up is built-in shelves all along the side wall and window seats. So those pictures will go back up eventually. But as far as the mantle goes, at least...here's how it looks now.

And last but not least...Lilian's room. We took down the bunk bed. The novelty long since worn off, that top bunk was more of a collector of stuffed animals and other such toys than anything else. Plus, taking it down brightened up the room considerably. Also, we picked up a little desk at Office Max at Lilian's request. She's a crafting machine, that girl...and churns out art projects and drawings by the dozens. She wanted a specific place in her room to work. And I was happy to find a desk that had a drawer and a couple of shelves to hold all her supplies...

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