Nenonen Project Time: Geometric Accent Wall

We have always allowed our boys creative-control of their own bedrooms, and our youngest has been busy this week. 

Give a teenage boy quarantine orders, creative freedom, and three weeks to kill before he leaves for college and what do you get? 

A fun bedroom makeover! I love the funky freestyle geometric wall design that Reed created. He was going for visually-interesting without being too loud.  I think he nailed it and managed powerful visual impact without the commitment of wallpaper or bold colors.  Now on to final touch-ups, new baseboards, area rug, and furnishings✨

Base Color:  "Simply White" (OC- 117) by Benjamin Moore
Top Color:    "On The Rocks" (SW-7671) by Sherwin Williams

While the bulk of our ongoing home projects can be found on my Instagram (in stories and highlights), see a few of our other Casa de Nenonen projects HERE.

A peek at my morning...

SHH... 

...your Realtor is dreaming of having her OWN comfy cozy clubhouse reading nook! How cute is THIS spotted in South City this AM? Kiddie nook, puppy nook, Carrie nook?

Showing morning...

My inner child was not only tapped...

...she came bursting out and had me running full speed ahead over the bridge in to the “No Boys Allowed” zone in the treetops. I spy the enchanting fairytale backyard treehouse of my childhood dreams!✨❤️

Curb Appeal, during COVID

Local St. Louis Homeowners have really stepped up in Spring 2020 to deliver smiles to their neighbors!

I spotted this adorable homage to the Saint Louis Zoo in Glendale last night. 🦒❤️

Spreading Smiles During Quarantine...

Without a doubt, tough times always bring out the best in mankind.  This week, the Internet has been flooded with lovely random acts of neighborhood kindness from across the nation...  

As Americans quarantine and spend extra time outside near home, their neighbors are flooding them with random acts of kindness delivering the smiles!  How are you spreading joy?  The Nenonens gave our whimsical sidewalk surprises an adorable Spring makeover...

A peek in my garden, the Fall edition.

I have mentioned before that Casa de Nenonen is a bus stop corner, and before the school year kicked off, I hid whimsical teeny tiny village scenes at the base of the shade trees lining our sidewalk... 

Most neighbors walk right past them, unnoticed, but littles somehow see them right away!  Just for giggles, I gave the scenes a spooky little Fall makeover this morning over my coffee🎃 ...

A peek in my garden...

Casa de Nenonen serves as a bus stop to a pack of littles for 9 months of the year. I love hiding whimsical surprises in the nooks at the base of the large shade trees along that corner...

The scenes are so teeny that they go easily unnoticed, but kids always seem to spot them immediately. Who couldn’t use a little magic to start a brand new school year? 

Too fun. ✨🌳

Playhouse under the stairs...

We walked downstairs in this listing and stumbled upon a magical space for little ones✨...

Needless to say, my mini client was tickled pink!  How sweet is this built-in playhouse under the basement stairs, friends?💖 

Home Sweet Home, Blooms Sweet Blooms

One of the most important roles of a Realtor is to remain focused on the business aspect of our clients' move in order to protect them through the process, as let's face it... moving is emotional. From helping an eager newlywed couple plant their roots in the perfect starter to holding the hand of a recent widow closing the final chapter of a long life together... we do our best to remain supportive yet logical through an emotionally-charged transaction.

It isn't always easy, as we too are human. A skilled Realtor learns to carefully balance both aspects to be fully-supportive of our clients.

If a client is selling a property, Realtors typically refer to it as a "house" in order to help the Seller begin to remove the emotion so they can focus on the financial significance of each stage of negotiation.  If a client is making a purchase, however, we typically refer to it as a "home" as we realize it is more than just a financial transaction. Finding the right fit, both financially and emotionally, is imperative in a purchase.  

Home is a safe haven.  It meant to be the heart of a family.  It is where first steps are taken, Tooth Fairies visit, and buddies gather to cheer their favorite team to victory.  It is where one gathers with friends and family to enjoy the best of what life has to offer from Memorial Day barbecues and birthday celebrations to relaxing naps on the garden hammock.

It's the little things that make a house a home. Small things that when joined together, create the most inviting and special atmosphere that is unique to you and yours.  That becomes no more apparent to me every single May when I open my son's bedroom window to see this...

Our peony has been in bloom all week.  To most it is just a pretty pink flower, but to me it is home.  My childhood bedroom had a large blush peony bush beneath my window.  Every May I would perch my chin on the windowsill and behind the protection of the screen, curiously watch the bees buzz around the blooms as the lovely fragrance filled my bedroom and my dad tended to his vegetable garden just a few feet away.

I have planted a blush peony in every single house that Steve and I have lived in.   As a result, every May I am magically transported back four decades to the safety of my childhood bedroom.  Home is where love blooms in Casa de Nenonen, both figuratively and literally. I love this time of year!  The memories evoked not only bring a smile to my face, but also act as a terrific annual reminder of the significance of aiding people in either closing or opening a chapter on a new home.

"The possible's slow fuse is lit by the imagination." ~E.Dickinson

When I was girl, we used to attend the same holiday party each December.  Our family friends lived in a large home in Town and Country on several acres.   On one evening each year, they opened their home to dozens of friends for tree-trimming and toasts to the season. Such wonderful childhood memories.

As a child, the thing that impressed me most about their home has stuck with me over the last 30+ years.  It wasn't actually the childrens' bedrooms that fascinated me as much as what their rooms were hiding. Both kids in the family had a secret playroom attached to their bedroom. It was so magical to me at the time, like a real life scene out of the C.S.Lewis classic "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe". 

Accessed via a small ladder and high above his bedroom, the son had a hidden ceiling loft space that was illuminated with strung lights where he practiced his guitar.   The daughter's secret space was accessed via a small hidden door at the back of her closet, which opened up to a lovely pink playroom filled with dolls, books, and toys.  How badly I too wanted a secret space to let my imagination run free!  

I think that childhood memory has much to do with the giddy feeling that I experience when I spot a special hidden space in a property, tucked away where you would least expect it...

Do you have an extra closet, attic, bedroom, or space under the eaves?  I took to Pinterest to inspire you to apply a little creativity to transform wasted space to one where your family's imagination can run free!