Guest Room MakeOver!

I know the anticipation has been building so I wanted to show you the new guest room. It is the larger of the two bedrooms in our apartment so we decided to use it as the catch all room. It currently serves as our guest room, office, ironing room, equipment storage (if you are married to a baseball player you know how much "stuff" they seem to acquire that I have been assured "are necessities!"), winter storage (they do not believe in closets in German construction.....hence two wardrobes in one room), and last but not least an art room. 

I know what you are thinking: "How can one room serve so many purposes?" Well, we gave it our best shot and here is what we came up with. 

Before Pictures:

Before: Side Wall

Before: Front corner

Before: Front Wall

After Pictures:

After: Side Wall
(this is the view when you enter the room)

I am thinking about adding a bedskirt to the guest bed so we can raise it up a little. I think another pattern would be a nice addition to the room. We bought the least expensive wooden frame from Ikea to go with Stephen's old mattress, but I like the way it turned out. It is really comfortable so you can look forward to a restful night when you come and visit!

After: Bed

After: Back Wall

I love the way the desk area turned out. We debated in Ikea for a while about what kind of desk to get, but when we saw these saw horse legs that tilt the desk top up we were sold. It also works well because there is a ledge below the window to protect the radiator and it helps to create less awkwardness with the desk top butting up to it. I used leftover material from the bottom of the curtains by the bed to just soften the desk windows and am pretty pleased with the cheap solution.

After: Corner View
(sorry the picture is a little dark, we have a chair on the corner by the wardrobe)

After: Front Wall

We found the desk chair in our attic and I recovered the 1970's hunter green corduroy with some fabric from Ikea. I am not in love with the botched stain job someone did on the chair, but it serves it purpose and maybe one day I will get around to painting or restaining it.

After: Desk Chair

After: Desk Area

And last but not least we got these cute little cork boards at where else but Ikea! They are nothing much I am planning on adding some fabric and painting the frame to add some personality. They are practical and hopefully soon will be a pop of color on the walls.

Upcoming Project!

Swept Away!

Just wanted to relive our wedding/honeymoon a little. If you were at our wedding you might have seen our first dance to this song: "Swept Away" by the Avett Brothers. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Our First Dance

Many of you may know, but for our honeymoon we headed to the beach for a while and then onto Clearwater to see the Avett Brothers in concert among other events. We did not have the best seats in the house, but that did not take anything away from the night! Towards the end they played "Swept Away" which just put the concert over the top. They are truly amazing musicians, if they are ever near you in concert we highly recommend attending. 

At the Concert in Clearwater.

As we were leaving the venue we turned around and were shocked to see Stephen's old seminary buddy Andy Johnson and his wife Kelly. It was a nice surprise! They are working on Central Florida's Campus but made the trip to Clearwater for the night. Lucky us!

"To all Haters of the Man-Satchel here is another fine specimen! "'If Indiana Jones can have one, so can we.'"
-Stephen "Man-Satchel lover" Spanjer

We Came, We Saw, We Conquered!

Well, we know The Ikea Store in Freiburg like the back of our hand. We have made multiple trips to get much needed supplies and furniture for our apartment and could not be happier with our purchases. 

Ikea stores originated in Sweden and let me tell you...those people are smart (except for the whole socialism thing). They have EVERYTHING: furniture, storage devices, custom built kitchens, accessories, picnic supplies, bedding, fabric by the meter, curtains, artwork, plants, pots......and even a cafeteria! They craftily placed the cafeteria right in the middle of the store so half way through your 5K marathon you can stop for re-hydration, a bite to eat, or even a little soft serve! It made our afternoon even better that we could eat lunch while we made our final selections. 

Anyways, it was a great trip and we highly recommend visiting one in your city if you are in the need of cost-effective, practical, and endless decorating options. I will warn you though that it is cost-effective for a reason: ASSEMBLY REQUIRED!!!

Stephen posing at a bean shaped desk......we did not get this desk, but we did get a new one for our guest room.
Let us know if you need to do some work in Germany.

"I love Ikea...."

"and it is all ours now!"

Laura: "Please let me get down, everyone is staring at me while they drive by!"
Stephen: "No they're not, they are just jealous."

Stephen: "Are you getting my good side!"

Good thing we did not buy anything else!

Thank you to all or friends and family that made our Ikea trip possible. We are very thankful for your generosity and will be posting pictures soon of our apartment. 

Similar to a Mugshot!

NEUENBURG, GERMANY

04.20.2011

So here it is, my new passport picture. I know it looks strikingly similar to a mugshot! I was instructed that my ears had to be showing, I was not allowed to smile and to look directly into the camera....thank you U.S government for really boosting a girls self-esteem. I can't believe border patrol will have to look at this for another 10 years....at least your still allowed to smile on your driver's license.

Two Happy Spanjer's

Hey guys (or Hey ya’ll depending on whether you are an acquaintance of Stephen or Laura respectively - and if you are friends with both of us then a hearty culture neutral “hello” to you, ‘cause all God’s children got a place in the choir.)  In any case, we two happy Spanjer’s have decided to start a little blog together to keep friends and family abreast of the adventures and everyday happenstances of our lives together overseas.  We hope you’ll check in on us via the blog when you have a free moment and feel free to leave a comment so that we know you stopped by.