My Favorite Bath Bombs: Sugar + Spruce | Fredericksburg, VA

 

I love a good bath. And for me, the key to a good bath is a great bath bomb. It wasn't until I became a mom that I realized the amazing relaxing powers of a bath. It is a simple form of self care that I can do at home - while my children sleep or at the end of a long day.

There are a lot of little things I miss about living in Virginia. But luckily one of those little pieces included a local shop, Sugar + Spruce, that sells my favorite bath bombs and ships nationwide! So every time I take the time for a luxurious soak, I have these beloved bath bombs and a little bit of Virginia with me.

I have tried other bath bombs before and they truly do not compare. It is tempting to pick up a few small ones at TJ-Maxx but then I would need to use two in order to get the same amount of aroma and foam. Plus these are all made small batch in their shop which makes them free of a lot of the chemicals and fillers you might find in products from big box stores.

I have shared my love for this shop before on social media but just realized that I could share a link with you to save $5 on your first order! Shipping is flat rate $7 and totally worth it in my opinion. You also save money when you buy a bundle, so be sure to order five bath bombs for a reduced cost and a quick way to stock up.

This makes such an easy gift for yourself or for others. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Use this link to get $5 off your first order!

Kids Shared Room: Brother And Sister

We recently transitioned our daughter out of the nursery and into a shared room with her brother in preparation for our third child to be born. I will admit I was pretty anxious as our daughter was only newly two years old and we weren't sure how she would respond to the change. So we planned to give it plenty of time to transition before the baby was born (about a month and a half). 

Surprisingly it only took a few days for her to get comfortable in the new shared room and then a few weeks for us to figure out a new rhythm. 

Our son was very excited to be sharing a room with his sister. We had been talking about it for awhile and had the second twin bed for a few months before moving her in. But he is pretty responsible and has helped guide his sister as to stay in bed. 

Though most days they are chatting and jumping on their beds well past bedtime and early in the morning! But they are both staying in their rooms until it is time to get up (we use an okay to wake clock) which ultimately was our main goal.

As for the room, I knew I wanted to get a matching bed for our daughter. We kept the room mostly the same but added a few elements that would be special for our daughter. The room is fairly neutral with a little pop of color.

We do "play time" in their room on most days where they can both play together or independently in their room (while I get a moment to myself!). This has helped me simplify what I keep out in their room as they usually end up tearing the room apart while they play! 

The simple shelves and baskets make everything accessible and easy to clean up. I take all the baskets down for them before they start playing.

As for nap time, we tried a few different scenarios where they both napped (or at least some quiet time for our four year old son). But I found that they were just keeping each other up. So for now, we are having our son spend nap/quiet time in the nursery on the couch with his clock that tells him he can get up and play. For now it is working well but of course we will have to transition when we need the nursery. And with my husband still working from home, we don't have that as an extra room for naps. So we will remain flexible as things change!

For our daughter's side of the room, we got new linens from Ikea and I used one of the quilts I made her as a pop of color. We got this unicorn head from Target and added a photo of our daugther to the wall.

The taller shelf by her bed holds some of her special decorative items and her piggy bank.

Each kid also has their own basket that holds all their stuffed animals. They each can have some in their bed while they sleep but I try to only keep around what fits in the basket.

We have quite a collection of books. All the board books get placed in the wire baskets on the side. I love that the books are neutral from the side. But when you take the baskets out, you can see the spine which helps them find certain books.

Next to the door is a photo of our son as well as a small board for holding photos and art. I love the sweet photos of the two of them together. 

And on the backside of the door holds bows, hats, and accessories. They are easy to grab here but are nicely hidden behind the door when it is open. And as I have mentioned before, one of these days we would like to switch out the door with a new white one.

I am so pleased with how their shared room came out. With a just a few new items the room came together to incorporate a mix of our kid's taste. It is just decorative enough to keep me happy while remaining simple and fun for the kids to use.

Stairway And Upstairs Hallway Decor: My Favorite "Room" Of The House

It seems a little silly to say but our stairway is probably my favorite "room" of the house. While not really a room it is used often as we go up and down the stairs daily with our kids. It has really great big windows that stream in the most natural light than any other space in our house. And I love the black and white photos and frames telling the sweet story of our family.

It leads up to our upstairs hallway that includes two bedrooms - a nursery, shared room for our big kids, and a bathroom. The natural light continues to stream into this space. And with it's minimal room for decor, it simply features some of my favorite things - favorite photos of our family and a few pieces of furniture.

While the home was advertised as a three bedroom house, the room we use for a nursery had no closing wall or door. So after living here a few months my husband put up a wall to help keep our little girl sleeping without the flooding of noise from the rest of the house. The wall isn't finished but it at least is a sound barrier and we also now have a door to close!

We switched out the light fixtures with these lights from Ikea (that unfortunately don't seem to be available anymore). They are in both the upstairs and downstairs hallway and have just the right farmhouse touch.

Having a stairway has always felt like such a luxury since we lived in a single story house for more than half of our marriage. It is the perfect place for showcasing photos and I love that we have two stretches of stairs that I could fill with frames.

The chandelier is a thrifted and spray painted original from back in the day. I love taking these special pieces with us to each of our homes. I am not sure if chandeliers are still in but I think it brightens up this stairwell perfectly.

I found that the stairway was a great place to keep my plants alive during the winter. I loved it so much I have decided to keep one permanently here.

You can see the view of the stairs from our couch in the living room. I love that I can see when the sun shines through or for a great view of the trees on our property. 

My next project is to paint the front door white (and the skinny window next to it). I think it will make a huge difference in brightening up the space.

 And as you can see, we continued the same Ikea lights downstairs. I love the little bit of black contrast.

 

And here are the listing photos of the entry, the room that is now the nursery (and where we put up the wall and door), and the stairway. I think we have come a long way at brightening up this house! We bought this house sight unseen from Virginia and I remember our realtor warning us the house was very dark. I was a little nervous about this as we had grown so used to such great natural lighting in our homes. But I am proud to say that we are lightening up this home little by little with some white paint and furniture!