A Magazine Cover Life Inspires this Mom

As you all know having a baby is a lot of work and sometimes the home gets neglected.  I don't know about you, but my home was a lot more organized before I had a baby.  My closet was sorted out by color (still is, but less clothes hanging in it), shoe closet was organized, no mail piling up on the desk, laundry was always done before it spilled over the hamper, and I even mopped the hardwood floors every single day!

If you haven't noticed in our "blogs we love" section, one of the blogs I personally enjoy reading is A' la mode by Shelli Knoch.   She writes about how she attempts to live that magazine cover life while being a mom and wife.  Reading her blog inspired me to start focusing on the home especially with these pics of her Master Bedroom!

I don't think I need to explain why I fell in love with her bedroom

      So simple yet so elegant

Love the different patterns here.

             Here's a close up of that Ikat pillow which started this whole redecorating for me!

What did I tell you?  Isn't her Master Bedroom dreamy?!

I fell in love with those Ikat pillows in her Master Bedroom, so I got them too!  I also heart that Moroccan pouf too!  What's great about Shelli's site is she actually includes where she got all her furniture, accessories, and decor so anyone can go get them too!   Shelli has a lot of inspiring photos of her home. You can check it out here and here, but don't blame me if you end up redecorating your home too! Oh...and she even adds pics of how her style evolved and what she learned along the way.  This is SO helpful especially to people like me who are trying to figure out what to do with their junk furniture.

I am SLOWLY trying to improve the look of my home.  I probably won't even come close to what her house looks like.   This is what I've done so far:

MY LIVING ROOM or what's left of it since furniture had to be rearranged for a crawling baby:

This is the before pic

•  The four wall prints are from my father in law.  I think he got it from a relative who visited China
•  The 2 blue pillows with the bamboo buckles are from Pottery Barn
• The 2 red pillows were made by my mom.  I picked up the batik prints from Malaysia (visiting in-laws)
• The sofa is really really old!  I got it when I got my first house.  It has survived abuse by 2 cats who used it as as scratching post.  I don't plan to change it because I know it'll get abused by my daughter and dog.

This is the after pic.  Yes I know the wall color and the prints kind of blend together.  Need to contrast them more so it doesn't look so blah.  Painting the room will take a lot of convincing, so I am thinking of changing the frames and adding matting.  What do you think?

The lumbar Ikat pillow I got from Trendy Pillows on Etsy

I got this pillow from Pop O' Color on Etsy

• I decided to keep the blue pillows from Pottery Barn.  Hey need to save some $ right?
• I didn't want to much design on the pillows so I chose a lumbar Ikat from Trendy Pillows for the middle of the sofa.  Figured my sofa already has prints why add more.
• I paired up the Ikat pillow and blue pillows with the Chartreuse Trellis pillows from Pop O'Color. I chose this color so the prints hanging above the sofa would tie in with the sofa.  

Isn't it amazing how pillows can change the look of a room?  These pillows probably would cost at least $100 if I bought them in a store.  I got these from Etsy which saved me money!

Thank you Shelli!  Keep on blogging because you inspire moms that it is possible to live that magazine cover life!