Nursery Makeover: Styling your home for less with Home Secret

I get so many fantastic opportunities through this little project of mine and the latest - a nursery makeover with the help of Home Secret, sure was exciting to put together. If you're a follower of any of my social media accounts, you'll know I am a huge fan of Trade and Home Secret so jump at any chance to work with the lovely team.

Before

Most people will look at these before photos and think that the room looks pretty good as it was. I had started the makeover before this mini project so the room was on its way to looking pretty darn cool but needed some extra 'stuff' to really make it a feature room. Oh, and it is unrealistically clean and tidy - silly me tidied up before Shannon from Harth Photography showed up to take these before shots. Normally the cupboards would be open, exposing Trainee Daddy's unkempt wardrobe {because there is no room for his clothes in my walk in wardrobe}, there would probably be a dirty nappy or two just sitting on the desk and without a doubt a whole pile of toys and clothes would be strewn over the floor.

When I arrived at Home Secret with my voucher I was bombarded with ideas because there are just so many options and beautiful products for almost every room in your house. I was a bit conflicted about which room to spend my time and money on but boy I am glad I stuck with my original plan to makeover the nursery.

After

The special items that helped make this amazing room from Home Secret are the fabulous bird cage {filled with Alimrose dolls}, the super cool Rhino, a pack of ten beautiful picture books, the super cute armchair, the beautiful canvas above his cot as well as some pillows in the cot and of course I couldn't resist a pair of Walnut shoes which matched in with the colour palette. 

Huge thank you to:

- Home Secret for yet again trusting me to share your lovely goodies

- Shannon from Harth Photography for capturing the space {and of course Ned} so beautifully

- Dad for being such an awesome all-round-handyman and ensuring everything was hung perfectly

- My father-in-law's partner Rhonda for drawing the palm tree and toucan and trusting me to colour it in

I LOVE IT {and I think Ned does too}

what do you think?

Mama Lesson: Keys

I often use the excuse that the baby won't go to sleep as an excuse to get in the car and head to the shops. Minutes before leaving I posted on the trainee mama facebook page the following: 'MUST.AVOID.MID.YEAR.SALES' and I genuinely thought that I could. I had planned to head to the Salvation Army family store in Maroochydore to try and pick up some toy animals to spray paint gold after I fell in love with an awesome idea on the honeyandfizz instagram account. I wasn't ready to go home yet and just thought I'd pop in to Rebel Sport to check out what they had on sale. That then turned in to the idea that I needed to visit Coles as I had forgotten a bottle {and formula} for Ned {and he was starting to get a bit restless} and then the lure of the sale signs beat me. I visited a lot of shops but avoided most sales - only a half price 'teen home' quilt cover from Target and a pair of tiger print Adidas sneakers for Ned (for $19.95!) ended up in the ample pram storage compartment ... oh and the current 3 pack BWS special on sauv blanc. Ned and I were more than ready to head home just before 6pm and we headed to the car. When we got there I could not find the keys.

And so, one of the worst three hours of my life began.

I headed straight to the Myer baby change room to see if I had left the keys there. No luck. Panic and stress appeared. The staff there were AMAZING. So sympathetic when I let them know I had lost my keys ... that those keys were the only keys we had for the car ... and that my husband does not have a baby car seat in his car. Special mention to Annette, a team leader in the menswear department who genuinely offered to drive Ned and I home in her car as she had a baby car seat in her car for her granddaughter. She even tried to underplay the offer by saying that the seat wasn't top of the line, and that unfortunately she couldn't just loan it to me {to put in td's car} as she had to pick up her granddaughter the next morning. I seriously could not believe the generousity.

I knew I had to retrace my steps into every store I visited, plus customer service {who weren't overly customer service-y} and police beat where Mr senior constable told me that 'generally keys don't get handed in' ... FIRE TRUCK. The uber fabulous Katy Potaty came to join me in support after a long day at work and I'm sure enjoyed her Ned time even though I probably wasn't the best company. We even visited Mr Minit and he was the unlucky one to deliver the news that a new key could be in excess of $500. Perfect.

To say trainee daddy was less than impressed was an understatement. When he arrived at the plaza after completing a longer than normal work day, he nearly drove me to tears trying to act as if it would never have lost the keys and would never give them to the baby. We did more walking. By then I had lost hope. I reckon I would have easily walked 10kms back and forth, in and out with no luck. Some shops {honorary mentions to Best & Less and Kmart} were fantastic; others were less than sympathetic. With about fifteen minutes left before the shops shut, we walked out of Target and a lady dressed in a lovely denim shirt named Lee from Katies {where I tried on two really awesome jackets *see instagram} asked whether I was the lady who had lost the keys. I don't think I actually gave her a yes ... I instead asked in disbelief whether she had them. Had them she did. Discovered them while vacumming under a rack.

Holy Guacamole.

Both trainee daddy and I couldn't believe our luck. Yes, we high fived and the tension between us disappeared and the mood instantly brightened.

I insisted we go back to Myer to thank Annette for her kindness and received the most genuine, heartfelt hug I've received in a long time. She was so happy that the keys had been found ... and that Ned had finally given in and gone to sleep. Now I'm in no way religious, but man, that was a miracle.

Trainee Mama Lesson I: do not give the baby the keys

Weekend Adventures - Airlie Beach

Last weekend we attended a wedding of two of our dearest friends in Airlie Beach, in the beautiful Whitsundays. As you might recall, Cyclone Ita was in full swing and the poor bride and groom had more than a few people text or call them (more like eleven) the day before the wedding (who had already RSVP'd their attendance) to let them know they weren't coming and yes, some of the people cited the cyclone as an excuse. Bloody hell, one of the bridesmaids hitchhiked from Townsville to make it there ... you do what you gotta do! Anyway, the wedding day was beautiful - there were a few moments where it looked like it was going to pour but the rain held out and everyone had a fabulous time. The bride seriously had THE best smile walking down the aisle and during the ceremony that I have ever witnessed. It was infectious.

Sunday, however ... WOW. We were laying in our glorious king size bed (I think we need to get one) at Whitsunday Martinique when my phone rings and the lady from the shuttle bus company questions 'did you know your flight has been cancelled?' ... My reaction, 'are you serious?' ... The weather seemed beautiful outside and there didn't appear to be any reason why it shouldn't take off - especially when a Jetstar flight left as planned before lunchtime. Come midday, the weather turned NASTY and it seemed to make sense that our flight was cancelled, even with my lack of aviation knowledge. So, we were stuck for another day and I spent a painful hour on the phone to the Virgin Airlines (overseas) call centre to reschedule our flight. We received NO notification from Virgin that our flight had been cancelled so they better get prepared for Cyclone Peta!

There is not much to do in Airlie Beach itself - full of pubs and clubs and perfect for the backpacker, not so much for the young family (sidenote, I wonder if we fit in that category?) ... however, it is the gateway to the Whitsundays. If we knew we were going to be there another full day we might have tried to visit Whitehaven Beach or something but oh well. We had good company, okay food choices, and the best weather (and pool) on Monday to relax before flying out.

Ned was a busy, busy bee (or should I say social butterfly) on both the flight there and home - just wanting to touch and play and interact with anyone who would interact with him. He did fall asleep both times about ten minutes before departure. Perfect timing, NOT!

Happy travels xx

Nursery Tour

I think the nursery is finally ready to be revealed. Singlets, onesies, blankets, socks and a plethora of other items have been washed in preparation for our little dude's arrival. He won't be sleeping in here until he has outgrown his moses basket OR we've outgrown our patience with having him in our room but it's nice to have it ready all the same.

I didn't want the room to be too cutesy or babyish so centred the theme around travel with some vintage elements thrown in.

details

vintage hospital bed from gumtree

declan cot from incy interiors {here}

target quilt cover set with matching pillow

you are my sunshine prints from etsy {here}

 framed baby shower cards

roo dude artwork from etsy {here}

various vintage items collected over the yeara

The room is by no means perfect - If I could be bothered I would get a new light and some new curtains but they will do for now. What do you think? What is your favourite thing in the room? 

p.s. the lighting in this room is terrible!