Vintage Revivals Room Makeover Submission

Okay, before we get started with this post I need to clarify one thing -

 

SOURCE

 

It's true, I promise.  I SWEAR! 

 

See my For the Home Pinterest board?  Awesome right?

 

Before I cause you to doubt it let me explain a few things.  John and I got married our senior year of college and we just needed to live on love so we didn't have much more furniture than a few dumpster dive finds and hand me down junk.  We graduated and moved across the country to Alabama where John went to graduate school and we bought our first house and had two great kids.  But it turns out that houses and kids are expensive and we never got around to buying real furniture.  My decorating budget is $0 annually and my house reflects it.

 

Mandi from Vintage Revivals is doing the most incredible giveaway in the history of blog world and I am here to beg for her to come to my place and wave her Mandilicious wand, and magically transform my living room.  So today I show you my shame in the hopes of a grand reward.  Don't judge me when you see it.  Okay, you can totally judge.

 

So let's rip off the band aid and get on with the embarrassment, shall we?

 

When you get to my front door you see my herringbone door mat and think, "Oh, that's a bright fun little mat.  The inside must be cute and crafty too."

 

 

And then you step in and see this...

 

 

And think this...

 

I know!  It's terrible!

 

But imagine how I feel!!

 

This is probably the saddest first world problem there is...

 

{yeah.  i totally made my own meme's.  i want this that bad}

 

 

 

"Wait... was that a BED in your living room?"

 

 

 

Uh.... yeah... let me explain...

 

When Jackson was born {2 years ago} we brought the mattress up from the basement for Grandma Cutts to sleep on.  We realized how nice it was to have an extra "couch" to sit on and it stayed.  For two years!  It's so hard to let go of extra seating even if it looks like an eternal slumber party and since I have no $$ I haven't even been able to try and disguise it as a day bed.  So instead everyone who visits says with squinty suspicious eyes, "A bed... who sleeps there?"  And then I have to explain the whole second "couch" thing so they don't think that we aren't in love or something because we totally are, we just love our couch/bed.  So embarrassing.

 

 

This is our kid corner.  The kids have completely taken this space over and while it's nice to have toys downstairs for when friends play I would love to have adult space that doesn't include a million Polly Pocket parts and dinosaur figurines.  Of at least not have it all on display.

Here's the view looking back at the front door.  The skinny door is a small coat closet that is jam packed with games and puzzles.  And there is Maggie deciding whether she wants to scatter Littlest Pet Shops or dominoes all over the floor.

There is this random part of the ceiling that I think holds an air duct.  It's covered in popcorn texture and for the life of me I cannot figure out what to do with it so I leave it alone in the hopes that it will blend in.

Here is our glorious entertainment area.  The Huggies box is acting as a secondary toy box. 

Take a good look at this vintage coffee table.  And by vintage I mean, fake wood laminate, smokey glass topped, gold trimmed giant piece of crap from 1985.

And check out this classy leaning tower of DVD's.  It's the 8th wonder of the world.

Now, let's get onto the decor...

 

Here is my little shrine to Maggie for her birthday.  Pictures are stacked on top of each other because she likes to take them down and look at herself.  You may think this is sweet that I decorated a little shrine for her but not when you realize that her birthday is Leap Day.  In February.  Over 6 months ago.  I just had nothing better to put there so it stayed.

Get your "pin it" buttons ready because you've never seen a gallery wall like this before!  It's basically the saddest gallery wall in the world.  Four pictures?  Wah wah...

Oh and look at my amazing ability to put appropriately sized pictures on the wall.  Those proportions are spot on right?   Gah!  And if you're wondering, yes, the heart garland IS from Valentines Day.  It was Maggie's first sewing project and again I haven't taken it down because I needed something to distract from the world's smallest picture frame.

 

To illustrate the proportion of the wall better here's a view from the kitchen.  And trust me when I tell you that I am sparing you're innocent eyes by not showing a better picture of our hideous green couch.  And I won't force you to look at my disgusting carpet either.  Is it sad that I've always dreamed of someday owning a rug?  The thought of it makes me feel super fancy.

So there you have it.  My shame out for the whole world to see.  On the bright side, at least I make cute kids even if I can't make a cute house.

 

So here is the part where I beg -

 

Dear Mandi and Hailee,

 

You've seen the sadness which is my living room.  This is only the tip of the iceburg in this house.  {My clothes are kept in plastic storage bins, but that's another makeover for another room.}  Clearly you can see that I am in desperate need of your genius.  Someday soon my husband will be graduating and getting a job and my budget will go from $0 to more than $0 and I need not only your makeover but your knowledge for when the day comes that I am left to my own decorating devices. 

 

Please come fix my house and show me the light that only you can.

 

You won't just be giving a girl a fish, you'll be teaching her how to fish and she'll be able to decorate for a lifetime.  {Okay that sounded weird but you get the point.}

 

Just think of how satisfying it will be to usher us into this new adult phase in our lives by teaching us how to use grown up furniture.

So please, please, PLEASE come to Alabama and fix this disaster so I no longer have to hang my head in shame.  Oh yeah, and if you come I have at least 5 thrift stores by my house and I'll totally take you to get real Southern BBQ, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, banana pudding, the whole works.  No one can resist southern food!  I'm not bribing or anything I'm just sayin'.  Okay, yeah, I'm bribing.  Can you blame me?  I'm desperate!  And the beach is pretty close by too.  Okay!  Sorry!  I had to sweeten the deal a little.  I'm done now.  I promise.

Thanks Vintage Revivals and their sponsors for such a great opportunity!

Next week the general voting starts.  I hope you, my readers, will feel moved to pick me as saddest room so I can win.  I have a bed in my living room afterall! 

Wish me luck!!!  I need it!