Making Madison Manor

Troy and I have been slowly working on the mudroom (again), and it is coming together quite nicely. We got this couch last weekend at a resale shop, removed the skirt, and changed out the legs. I love how it looks much more polished now. Also, the couch pulls out into a bed (which by looks of it has never been used). We can have even more company now! The armchairs were found at a garage sale last summer for only $5… total. Can’t beat that!

Troy and I have been collecting pennants for decor since last summer, and we got the pennant pillow from our shop. It really fits the vintage/industrial “school” type feeling- especially when you add in the lockers/locker baskets that we have for storage.

The entire wall of curtains only cost $120 (and a labor of love, of course). It is so much cheaper to do them yourself. I still have some finishing to do on them, but I tried to pick really great textures/prints that were still airy for the light to come through. It provides just the right amount of shade, I think. really tried to document some of the details & textures of the textiles in this post. We stole some items from other rooms (pillows, rugs, etc.) in the house, but I think that is good that our stuff is so interchangeable.

The lamp was made out of an old bushel basket that we hung with a lighting kit. The centerpiece on the coffee table is made out of vintage test tubes/beakers and filled with white beans. I hope to have fresh flowers in these during the summer.

The cubby on the wall was a gift from Pottery Barn. We filled it with small treasures & special pictures of my family. It is kind of hard to fill something like that without having it look cluttered, but I think I am happy with it for now.

As usual, Harper wanted some attention, too.

Hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as we enjoyed decorating!

Oh, ps. make sure to actually click through the pictures… in order to post more, I had to combine some into one picture :)

This weekend, Troy and I worked on a table for the store… it is 98” long. Thankfully Auntie Di was able to help us get it to Holland. We cleaned, sealed, and extended/stained the legs on this beauty. I am proud of how it turned out, and I wish we had a place for it in Madison Manor. Hopefully it will make somebody else just as happy. I had a collection of fun chairs in the basement that I curated to go along with this piece. It kind of reminds me of a set I saw in “Flea Market Style” by Emily Chalmers- love that book.

Coming Soon: mudroom updates (I am making a wall full of curtains tonight. yay!).

Last week, when we tried to redo our master bedroom (remember the headboard idea?), we decided to move our current headboard into the guest bedroom. This small move turned into an entire night of redecorating. We even ordered some dog prints (just like the ones I sell in the store) from an artist in the 1940s. I love rooms that highlight a picture collage (as I have featured in other posts of the living room, dining room, and small guest bedroom). I have been wanting to feature a room around dogs for a while, so when the soft colors of the prints matched with what we had going on in the room, I knew it was time. I also made a new set of pennant flags to go up above the headboard. The ones we used to have were from our wedding and were a little too “springy”- especially when paired with the cheap white headboard. I feel like the room now has a little bit more depth and sophistication. What do you think?

My friend Katie and I planned a birthday party for our dear friend Adam. He has been talking about a wine & cheese party for a while, so we decided to give it to him. We played a fun a wine-tasting game, as well. Guests were to bring bottles of wine in a paper bag (so it would be a secret). The guests also had to include a description of their wine (funny or literal) on a piece of paper in the bag. The descriptions were all written on a chalk board, and guests were served rounds of wine (one at a time). The guests then had to try to match the wine round with one of the descriptions on the board. There were prizes for first and second place winners. Troy and Eric tied for first, and after 3 failed attempts at a tie-breaker, we settled the dispute with some “Adam Trivia”. Troy ended up winning… I didn’t think it was fair since he lives here, but so it goes. haha. We also had a special “ADAM” stamp made and stamped all of the score cards, napkins, and plates. It was such a fun night for a special person. 

Troy and I had big plans of making this metal lockers shelf a headboard for the master bedroom. After trying for 4 hours to get it up the stairs, we realized that using this as a headboard was definitely not an option. BUMMER! Defeated, we rolled it into the dining room temporarily for storage until we figured out what we wanted to do with it. We realized that it made the perfect open storage unit for our dishes… not 100% sure if it is going to stay this way, but for now, here it is!

Katie, Steve, Adam, Melissa, Troy, Harper, and I all got together on Tuesday night to make cookies. What started as a mis-read text from Tim on Monday turned into a cookie decorating party on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Tim couldn’t make it, but I just HAD to get my creative cookie decorating on with my friends. This was my second day feeling especially festive/in the holiday spirit (next to putting up the Christmas tree), and it was nice to relax and spend time with some of my best friends. Check out some of our creations!

For those of you that know me, I really do not like to do anything “simple”. Case and point- Thanksgiving. We hosted Thanksgiving while having our house under construction… yet I couldn’t sleep until I handmade all of the centerpieces and festively decorated while working full time and opening a store day and night… another example- when we had that impromptu BBQ in our backyard and I brought all of the dining room furniture outside and made a fabulous spread. I am an over-achiever, so that’s just what I do.

I had some grand plans for our house for the holidays- two trees on the front porch, a huge wreath for the door, and a 10-foot Christmas tree in the living room. Unfortunately, though, with the opening of the store, working, and some financial stress, it was already December 14 and NONE (not even one) of those things were happening. I was feeling really bummed out and like a Christmas Grinch. I even said “Maybe we won’t even have a tree this year” and “This is going to be the worst holiday ever”. No joke. To which Troy obviously said, “Your worst Christmas is the one when we are first married? Thanks a lot.” I tried to dig myself out of that one by saying, “I spent the last two with you, and they were glorious”. Yep, that didn’t help. I was just being a mean, Christmas Scrooge.

Last night, after church, Troy and I came home and decided that we were just going to put up our tiny tree that we had in my apartment last year. It was already 11:30 at night, but we both had such a surge of energy/excitement. (Side note: A 3-foot tree looks even smaller in a house with 10-foot ceilings). As soon as we set it up, though, I had so many joyous emotions that I almost cried. We put on Christmas music and reminisced about the ornaments we received last year/as wedding gifts. As a wedding gift, my mom put all of my family ornaments in an ornament box with little descriptors about each one. It was so fun sharing these with Troy and remembering what is really important.

This may not have been the most “festive” of holiday decorations so far, but this past year is one that I am extremely thankful for- a husband, a loving dog, a new home, caring friends and family, clothes to wear, health insurance. I need to think about these things when feeling hurt, stressed, and lonely. Thank you, Troy and Harper, for reminding me of these things.  

I still haven’t bought one Christmas present yet, but I am feeling thankful, reflective, and at peace with this Holiday season. I mean, wasn’t that what Christmas was supposed to be like, anyways?

The new store opens in 3 days. So much to do, but so excited.