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The Mom of the Year

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Popping Up Color

By 37 Comments

My pop of color. Gorgeous, I know!

My pop of color. Gorgeous, I know!

Almost thirteen years ago, we rolled into our marriage on a hope and a prayer and a lot of those wooden box crates that can be used for everything from endtables to economical planters (in a pinch). Today, we’re still praying and hoping a lot and yup, those wooden crates are still the epitome of our fashionable home decor.

You see, money has always been somewhat of an “issue”.  While my husband is now rocking an actual income vs. a government schooling stipend, we now have silly things to pay for, like chicken nuggets and new Spiderman socks because my son’s feet persist on getting larger.  So things like making our house look pretty have never been a priority.  Making it worse, my husband flat-out just doesn’t care.  I honestly don’t think he has ever seen the curtains in our bedroom, much less care what they look like.  So…decor-ing in our home has gotten ignored, to put it mildly.

The only sticky wicket is that I have started to care. At 34 years of age, I’m not only expending undue amounts of awareness to negilent underwear supply, I am realizing that parts of my home are ugly, and I’m not so into this.  So when Wayfair invited me to be part of their Homemakers program, I was all, “Ooh yes!  Me, PLEASE!” Desperate much?

Now I had a reason to do some fixing up around here!  When Wayfair gave me the assignment to create a pop of color in one area of my home, I couldn’t have been more giddy!  So many nooks and crannies I might attack, but I quickly settled on the bay window in our living room.  Two reasons: 1) it’s an incredibly prominent part of our home and 2) it looks like crap.

Dark. Dingy. SCARY.

Dark. Dingy. SCARY.
Also, I decided for authenticity to leave the area in its natural state for my Before Picture–picture frames perpetually knocked over by rambunctious kiddos.

 

Shockingly, with this whole fatherhood/I-have-a-job gig, my husband has not had time to refinish this.

Shockingly, with this whole fatherhood/I-have-a-job gig, my husband has not had time to refinish this sad wood situation.

Ew, gross!

Ew, gross!

So I dove in.  Bring on the pretty!  I was ready to make this window nook a place I could be proud of.

I knew new curtains were a MUST. I shudder still thinking of the dirt residue that lingered on my hands while touching those old nasty curtains after a washing.  Since the windowsill does not allow for any excess fabric to hang, finding a length that would work was a bit tricky, but Wayfair’s super-efficient search specifications helped me narrow it down quickly.  And I settled on these sweet delicate sheer curtains:

Then, realizing it will be another eon before Dr. J has a spare moment to refinish the windowsill itself, I thought it time to invest in a nice table runner.  Also knowing that my grandmother’s African violet plants had to stay in this spot since it’s the only space in the house they get light, I wanted a way to incorporate these plants better.  After poking around Wayfair for a few minutes, I saw burlap, and was instantly taken.  The fabric seemed a gentle way to bring together the plants with the colors and feel of our living room.  

Then it was time.  Time for my POP OF COLOR. My mind was spinning.  I didn’t know where to start.  A colorful lamp? There was no outlet. A festive fruit bowl?  My children would throw the fake apples at each other until someone landed in the ER. No, I decided a large flower was the thing.  This could help brighten up the space and work to further incorporate the smaller plants I already had. And this is where it got fun; sorting through pics of flowers trying to pick the prettiest one was the coolest job I’ve had in ages!

The end result; of which I'm thrilled.

The end result; of which I’m thrilled.

So in lame effort to convince my son that an afternoon of redcorating while his sister napped would be fun, this is what we came up with:

Yes!!

Yes!!

 

Oh, YES!!!

Dramatic improvement!

You see, I’m not a home nor a decor blogger.  I will never be.  But Wayfair knew what they were doing when they brought me on board.  My home is a disaster, terribly in need of some make-over lovin’.  This bay windowsill?  It’s only the tip of the iceberg.  So stay tuned.  More pretty-ing up is on its way!

And in the meantime, the real score is ALL YOURS.  You see, Wayfair is letting me giveaway a $100 giftcard to one of my readers.  Yes, you read that right.  One of MY readers.  So if you enter through the Rafflecopter below, your chances are HIGH of scoring $100 to spend at Wayfair.*  Since this site basically has everything you could ever want to spruce up your home, this is a total win.

***TO ENTER YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT WITH LINK TO AN ITEM ON Wayfair.com THAT WOULD ADD A POP OF COLOR TO YOUR HOME. THIS IS A MANDATORY OPTION AND YOUR ENTERIES WILL BE INELIGIBLE IF YOU DON’T FIRST COMPLETE THIS OPTION***

I hope you’ll hang out with me, friends, as I explore the depths of Wayfair and what they can do to make my home look more pulled together.  In the meantime, go love on this site yourselves, look around and find some fun ways to add pops of color this spring!  And treat yourself below to a chance for $100 towards sprucing up your own home!

* All rules defined by Wayfair.com: No purchase necessary. By leaving a comment you agree to the rules of this sweepstakes. Each comment to this post equals one entry and must include a name and valid email address to be eligible. A comment must link to a product from Wayfair.com to be considered for this sweepstakes. One entry per household. Limited to entrants over 18 in the US and Canada, residents of Florida, New York, and Rhode Island are ineligible to enter. Contest begins as of the time of this post and ends on 4/15/14 at 12am. The winner will receive a Wayfair gift card/promo code, a retail value of $100 US. The number of eligible entries received will determine the odds of winning. All comments will be numbered in the order they are received and the winner will be chosen randomly by The Mom of the Year using the Random Number Generator at random.org.  Winner will be notified by email at the address given in their entry and must respond within 72 hours to receive their prize. If the winner does not respond within that time, a new winner will be chosen. The prize will be provided by Wayfair.com. The Mom of the Year is not responsible for any problems with receipt of the prize. This contest is governed by the rules of Massachusetts, void where prohibited. This sweepstakes is sponsored by Wayfair LLC, 177 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, 02115.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*******I was compensated for this post and my participation in the Wayfair Homemakers Program with a giftcard to spend at their website in purchasing above items.  I selected the items featured in this post by myself and all opinions remain 100% my own.**************

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Meredith

Meredith blogs at The Mom of the Year, where she dedicatedly earns her title one epic parenting fail at a time, offering quick, relatable laughs for fellow parents and all their empathizers. She has been part of several best-selling anthologies, featured on prominent sites such as Huffington Post, In the Powder Room and BlogHer, and loves her role as the Executive VP/Operations Manager of The BlogU Conference. When she's not breaking up fights over Legos and juice boxes, she remains fully committed to sharing a less serious look at the world of parenting.
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Comments

  13. Chris Carter says

    OHMYGOSH how I am drooling over their rugs!! Since our basement flooded and Derek had to pull up all our flooring and now we are left with a nasty fermented cement floor. YAY! Not.

    I would dream of having this in the biggest size- to cover a big portion of our basement floor! Derek said he isn’t going to lay more flooring down again- it’s too much to do. 🙁 Our plan is to lay a carpet down that can be rolled up asap if needed!

    http://www.wayfair.com/Company-C-Argyle-Rug-18042-MULT-JXX1601.html

    Reply

  20. Cynthia Gabriele Sprouts Consignment Boutique says

    The white entry way set & hanging unit would pop in my foyer with the darker wood.
    Rubbermaid Rubbermaid Pull Down Spice Rack for a starter this would help to organize my spices which would also spruce up the kitchen cabinets but, mostly the Dolphin vase!! I have white cubbies with many water related accent pieces & Womar Glass Dolphin Vase (http://www.wayfair.com/Womar-Glass-Dolphin-Vase-GD083083-WGS1133.html) would be a great finishing touch to brighten up this area.

    Reply

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