Nectar Mattress Review and Comparison

It's here, it's here, it's here!...... finally, sheesh. All of my thoughts about the Nectar mattress and how it compares to others that I've tried. First I'll show you the process of setting up a mattress like this, and then I'll give you the quick, most important (to me anyway) pros and cons of everything towards the bottom of this post. 

Here we go!

Okay, first of all, in complete transparency (because that's how I roll), I was contacted by the Nectar team to see if I'd review one of their mattresses and then share my honest thoughts and opinions on it.
#1. Uhhh, yes please #free
#2. My twins needed a bigger bed, because they're obsessed with sleeping together even though they have their own bedrooms and beds (shrug) #itsatwinthing
#3. I was super anxious to see how it compared to other mattresses.

Initially I was going to put the Nectar mattress in with the twins, but I wanted to see first-hand how it compared to my Tuft & Needle mattress that I'd been sleeping on. So I decided to give the Nectar a go for myself.

5 Better Rest Must Haves!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm slightly obsessed with a good nights sleep.
Yes, it's a "thing" for me.
If I'm going to stop shopping, browsing Instagram, playing with my kids or catching up on my favorite TV shows.... JUST to sleep!.... then it better be AWESOME!
Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOVE sleep, but not all sleeping situations are created equal.
I'm NOT a couch sleeper.
I'm NOT a sit-up-and-doze-off sleeper.
And I'm definitely NOT a car, train, bus or plane sleeper. (we all know my issues with motion sickness. bleeehk!)

I don't know how everyone else is, but when I nap or sleep, I need COMPLETE comfort. Cason is the same way - so we have both been on a journey the past almost 11 years of our married lives, to come up with the perfect "Better Rest MUST HAVES!"

Let's get real, most of the time my bed is occupied by laundry that needs to be folded...

but when it finally IS time for sleeping, here are our 5 gotta have items to getting the perfect nights rest.

#1 - The #1 Best Mattress
I won't go into much detail on this one, because we've talked about it twice now, but a FABULOUS mattress is the bread and butter to the better bed experience. (say that 5 times fast...)
We ONLY sleep on Tuft & Needle mattresses now, and have WAY too many good nights sleeps not to!

You can check out both of our Tuft & Needle reviews here:
King Sized Mattress Review
Queen Sized Mattress Video Review

#2 - The Softeset Sheets
Yes, this is PIVOTAL! Great sheets are SO important you guys - and we've found the BEST ones (or so we think). They're from PerfectLinens.com

Tuft & Needle Mattress Review... Review - Ask and Ye Shall Receive!

The questions keep flyyyying in about our Tuft & Needle mattress review that we did a few months back!

Here are a few specific ones we've gotten recently:

"How do you like it? Is it holding up to your expectations?  We are in need of a mattress so badly.  Mine is over 10 years old and with small children we need a really good mattress.  We need better sleep (even if it is with the kiddos in bed!)!"

"I was wondering if you could give me and update on how you are liking/disliking your Tuft and Needle mattress?"

"I have been researching your Tuft and Needle post. My husband and I have both had back surgery 
We have struggled with mattresses ever since we upgraded to a king. I want your nitty gritty honest opinion from both of you."

You can read all about our last review here on the king sized mattress we got for our master bedroom, but since we just got another queen size, for our youngest daughter this past month, we decided to answer even more of your questions through a detailed video!

We also took pictures along the way, so you could witness the entire process again. You can see all of photos we took at the end of the video.

An Awesome Nights Sleep - Thanks to a Tuft and Needle Mattress

Once upon a time I went looking for a new house, trusty "must-haves" list in hand. What did this list include you might ask? Well, all of the things that I NEEDED to have in a new home that I didn't have in my current one of course!

On the very top of said list you would have found this : "AMAZINGLY huge master bedroom".

Guys... I'm talking like double door opening, chandelier hanging over the bed, fireplace center stage with TV over the top of it, extra special cove section for my cute chairs, windows with light pouring in at every angle kinda big. 

You know... like Pinterest, DUH! 

Seriously though, my last bedroom was barely big enough for my bed and nightstands. I wanted something that felt more grand and... Master-ish.

Well I moved and every single part of my new dream house got bigger except ONE part - 

yup you guessed it... the master bedroom😅

It's funny finding out the things you'll compromise on when schools, location and basically everything else trump one or two of the items that you thought were super important on your list of "gotta haves".

I knew the second I fell in love with the new house that the size of the master bedroom (even though somewhat disappointing) wasn't going to make or break the deal for me, but there was definitely something in this space that needed changing ASAP... and that was my mattress. 

Aye yi yi!

Now let's get real...

I don't know about you, but when I think about the most magical thing that I would like to happen MOST often on MY mattress, it has to do a lot with uninterrupted, amazingly peaceful, recharge every part of your body kind of S.L.E.E.P!

A good nights sleep is one of the BEST feelings ever!

  

So when Tuft and Needle happened to email me with an offer asking me to try out their not too soft, not too hard, conveniently delivered right to our door in a few days, take it away for free if we don't like it, highest rated in the whole world mattress... I was like - "Pshhh, well now you made it sound too cool NOT to give it a whirl, so I guess I have to!"

;)

Our Master Bathroom Sliding Door & Basin Custom Hardware

Our master bathroom has come a loooong way. Remember when it looked like this?

I don't miss those days :)

Because we wanted more space, we decided to take the standard door off of it's frame and put a sliding door in it's place. We knew we only had minimum space to work with, and we wanted to do something more modern than just the typical sliding "barn" door, so I was stoked when Basin Custom asked if I wanted to work with them for the hardware portion of our project :)

Angie was so nice to even mock up this drawing for me of what my space would look like where my hardware was going. While our custom hardware was getting made...yup, I said custom (whoohoo!) we went with white powder coated pieces rather than standard dark, we got our door jam in shape for everything to be installed.

We removed the old door jam, and simply added some new boards to the door frame, to give it a more finished look.

I know you all are aware of how obsessed we are with getting as much natural light into every space of this house as possible, so we ordered a door from Home Depot that had 5 frosted glass panels in it. Perfect for letting light radiate through, but also enough to give anyone in the bathroom the privacy they need.

The door came primed, and we liked the white finish, so we just gave it a good coat of semi-gloss white.

After that we measured our hardware, drew some guideline marks with a pencil and then drilled the holes in the door where they needed to go.

To anchor the sliding door we installed wood pieces to the outside for support, and attached the hardware onto that.

Hardware, the Footboard and a Shrinking Mattress

Remember those gorgeous clear, sleek handles that we ordered from Restoration Hardware?

Well, after rigging up a crazy, scrapbooking paper template/guide to install each piece, we finally got them all settled in on our master bedroom built-in, and we're lovin' 'em!

PS: Drilling into cabinets or furniture to make room for new hardware always makes me have a mini heart attack. Ahhhh! Anyone else?

Brass Lighting & an 80's Thrift Store Mirror - Aka: A Master Bedroom Update

A few weeks ago on our Instagram feed I posted this picture of my master bedroom nightstand, and got a bunch of you asking questions, so I wanted to make sure to get them answered for ya.

First things first, the mirror was a Target clearance score from a few months ago, the white lacquered frame is from Zgallerie, the "awesomer" print inside was a design I created using the Rhonna Designs App, and the gold and glass, triple decker jewelry case was something I picked up at HomeGoods, for about $20. I'm not sure what it's "suppose" to be used for, but it's PERFECT for all of  my rings, earrings and bracelets!

Now for the biggest question asked... "I see a brass lamp in the corner. Where's it from and show me more!" Ha! Okay, so yes, we DID switch out the bedside lighting in our master bedroom, to these really awesome antique brass, plug in wall sconces from Pottery Barn.

There are three main sources of light in our master bedroom. 1- the natural light from the window, during daylight hours of course. 2- light from the lamps that sit on our nightstands, and 3- the ceiling fan/light combo up above us. Obviously natural light from our windows is ideal, but when it's darker out, we are left with only options 2 & 3.

I don't know what our problem was 5 or 6 years ago when we were picking out ceiling fans, but sheesh, we were strugglin', that's one thing I know for SURE!

The fan/light fixture in this space, much like our other one that we switched out in the living room, has never been my favorite. We used to have a black bed, so we thought a black fan was a smart choice at the time, but in reality, it sticks out like a sore thumb against our white ceiling and the light that it provides is just subpar. So... yet again, we're on the hunt for a new ceiling fan, because Cason insists he can't sleep without one. There go my dreams for a cool ceiling-mount chandelier of some sort in this space. boo!

Dear Master Bedroom - You're cool with Coral, Stripes and Gold...Right!?

You know that moment, when you're walking through a store, or browsing through a boutique and you turn a corner, or take a far glance past something right in front of you, and immediately see... IT.

You know. THAT THING YOU HAVE TO HAVE.

Irrational thoughts start buzzing in your brain. You instantly put a price tag on said item that is WAAAAY more than you would ever dream of paying, JUST so when you actually hear or see the amount, you can justify buying it, because it's "much lower than you had thought it would be in the first place!" ???

As you can guess, for me, 90% of the time that "thing" falls into the home decor category. The other 5% is children's clothing and the leftover 5% is baked goods. Judge me not.

Really though. If you don't know what I'm talking about, or you have already rolled your eyes, just stop reading, because you probably won't be able to relate to the rest of this post.

About a month or two ago, while shopping at The Black Goose, I was busy flipping through fabric samples, trying to decide which of them would make a possible good base for our bedrooms "grand master color design plan", when Cason popped over casually with "THE ITEM" in hand.

After a small heart attack, my famous squeal of excitement and a good jumping/clapping episode... I snatched the pillow out of his hands and was all...

random dramatic photo that works great to explain this emotion;

thanks to Aubrielle's latest works.

I was SHOCKED that he actually liked the colors/design! I would have thought it was too floraly, too bright, too bold, too coral... you name it. But nope, he liked it because it was like nothing else we had in our house. SCORE!

I was 100% set on now using this pillow as the design inspiration for our bedroom, that is, until I saw the hefty price tag. SHEESH! Who knew that fabric could cost that much!? I can't remember the exact total, but I know it started with a 1 and then there were two numbers behind it. YIKES! Even with my awesome coupon I had at the time, I was doubting this purchase.

Master Bedroom Update: The Lion the Witch and the TV Cabinet

Okay, there's no lion or witch, just a TV cabinet... that sort of looks like a wardrobe. Just go with it.

Ladies and Gents, our master bedroom has been a hot mess for quite some time. 6+ years to be exact... but REALLY a half-finished mess for about 7 months now. Even though I'm happy with the white paint, I'm ready for some major decorating and finishing touches in here. The problem has been that a LOT of the custom stuff we want to do in this space costs money, and we've had to save up for it. I'm sure you know how that goes. So slowly, but surely, we've been checking some things off of our list, and one of the first was our new TV cabinet unit that Copper Canyon Design built us.

Originally we had our TV sitting on a small table, and then mounted here on this iiiiiity-biiiity patch of wall, but we hated how much of an eyesore it was, so we wanted to find a better way to store it. After we pulled off the molding around the doors, patched the wall from the TV mount and painted everything white, I got thinking about how great a floor to ceiling cabinet would be in the space.

I called up Jeff at Copper Canyon, who helped us redo our kitchen cabinets, and asked him if he would come out so we could chat about some of the ideas that I had for this space. I wanted a really nice, quality piece, since it would be a permanent fixture in our home. We figured by the time we bought the lumbar, hardware, spent the time figuring out how to build it, had someone professionally paint it with a sprayer so it looked flawless... well, it was just better to have Jeff do it for us.

:)

Once he measured the wall, and I gave him my specifics of what I wanted our custom unit to look like, he came up with this drawing for me.

Whoohoo! I was so excited!

I explained that I wanted legs for the bottom of the cabinet, so that air could pass through freely because of our vent underneath and also because I wanted it to resembled a nice piece of furniture, instead of a bookcase. I also wanted pocket doors on our unit, so that we could push the doors out of the way when they were open, to maximize space when someone was watching a show. The room is REALLY small, so we need as much moving-around area as possible, and if the cabinet doors were to remain open while the TV was in use, there wouldn't be much room to walk between the doors and the end of the bed, especially if we were to get a bed with a foot-board like we had been wanting.

(don't be jealous of our master bedroom size and layout)

>>>insert sarcastic voice here<<<

You can't see it from this drawing above, but I made some modifications to the actual style of the cabinet, so it would go better with the rest of our bedrooms decor. Keep reading, you'll see...

Master Bedroom Makeover - Nightstand Revamp + A Clean Slate

Today I'm sharing some progress that we've made on our little master bedroom makeover.

We really haven't gotten that far to be honest, but every little bit counts, right?

I don't even know where to start with this dang room.

One minute I'm loving it, the next minute I'm "SO over it". What's that all about?

I feel like our master bedroom has always served as the "drop-zone" for every pile of laundry that needs folded, stack of mail that has to be sorted, or pile of junk that's awaiting to be donated or tossed. It's constantly filled with clutter and chaos; FAR from the sanctuary that it's "suppose" to be.

Well, I've had quite enough of that. I'm ready to have one of those rooms that you look at or walk into and think... "Oh, this is lovely. If I had a spare minute or some peace and quiet, I think I might like to lay my head down on that lovely bed and take a nap, here in this airy, clean, tidy room with no clutter in it."

Let's just say... we've got a long way to go.

That being said, I'm not getting discouraged. I'm slowly tackling the clutter and trying to plow forward one step at a time, so that I can get closer and closer to that beautiful bedroom both Cason and I have been wanting for so long... and it all starts with white walls and a couple of revamped old nightstands.

Towards the end of this past school year a few friends and I put together a combined garage sale with all of the stuff we no longer wanted or needed in our homes.

My cute friend Jamie was selling a pair of chunky, high-quality Thomasville nightstands, and you better believe I snatched them right up! When I told Cason I wanted them he did his little eyebrow raise and just shrugged his shoulders. At this point, I think he's stopped questioning my motives.

:)

I knew that with a shiny new set of hardware and coat of white, high-gloss paint, these babies could ROCK again... and I was SO right! They looked AWESOME in our bedroom and gave us all the much-needed storage that we had always wanted.

Once I got those fresh new nightstands in my room, I was bound to brighten up the entire space. The only problem was... I had NO idea what color to paint it! We still hadn't decided on what our new bed, bedding, pillows, or potential other furniture would look like in here... so I wasn't ready to commit to any particular shade.

So what do you do when you can't make up your mind? Paint everything a pretty, clean, white!

That following Saturday, with my 5 year old under Grandma's watch, Cason and I got DIY'n with Emberly and Jocelynn, our twins. They were so happy to help, and it was really nice to spend some one-on-one time with them doing what we love.

Since we have plans for a rolling door outside of our bathroom, we removed the molding from around the door frame and took our TV down off the wall to get ready for paint.

After pushing everything into the center of the room, dusting the walls, baseboards, and taping off, we were in business. 

Decorating Reality & a Few Helpful Tips for a Quick Bedroom Restyle!

I've been scrolling through a TON of pictures these past few weeks and keep stumbling across a lot of great pictures that I've never shown on the blog, so I thought I would take a minute to share a few photos of Cason's parents master bedroom.

 I helped Cason's Mom pull some things together for this room over a year and a half ago. The reason that I wanted to show you these photos, besides the fact that the bedding and accessories are just really cute :)... is because I think this very simple bedroom restyle really touches well on a few points that I want to talk about today. 

So often we're saturated in an internet world of amazing, magazine & Pinterest worthy, epic room remodels. For most of us it's not always possible to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours just to give our bedroom a little bit of a face lift, or updating when it needs it.

Am I right?

Happiness Is...

{Happiness in the Simple & Little Things}

Today I first found happiness in a full bowl of these yummy, sweet, fresh tomatoes that my Mom brought me on her way to work, from my Dad's garden...

Shopping on the Fly

Oh give me a break... okay!?

I couldn't stop THINKING about the pillow, after my green post!

And while I might have been picking up another 10 cans of flat, white, .96 cent spray paint... I MAY or may not have wandered over to the bath/pillow section of Walmart... to only get stopped in my tracks, by this

OH SO CUTE, pb looking but half the price, masterpiece!

Can you blame me?

She belongs here.

:)

It would have been a crime against all things green and beautiful,

if I'd not blown a little grocery money and bought it!

OH... you just STOP judging me right NOW... like you've never done that!

PLUS... our Walmart is a DIVE... and I was SO, BEYOND thrilled to see a CUTE piece of home decor in OUR ghetto Wally World, so... I just HAD to snag it.

.

.

.

There... Justified. :)