Randi Lynn Blog

They say we’ve all got skeletons in our closets! The phrase is literally true for us! The vote was unanimous on stories. So we boarded this skeleton up in the closet to give future homeowners tearing down this shiplap a little scare lol. Yes we covered up a closet but we have three in our master and are about to redo the others so we don’t need this one. We only used it for pillow storage at night and we have plenty of floor space for throwing all of the pillows lol. I think this is a major upgrade. The room feels so much more bright and spacious. And we have a four day weekend so I’m probably not going to leave my bed today. I’m just going to sit here in front of my fireplace and heater from , since we woke up to snow today in Illinois. Yes, snow on April 18th! I’m going to order takeout and admire my wall that I’m pretty proud to have built myself. You can watch the whole process on my story highlights. Just waiting on our mantel from and I will share it all styled up. What do you think!?!?! My husband said the 65” tv might be overkill. Overkill!?! …said no man ever! I’m gonna need other dudes to weigh in on that. That’s just what we had laying around and it’s almost a 12 ft wall so I think it works. Would it look more aesthetically pleasing without the tv, probably. But I like to lay in bed and watch Netflix at night. What about you? Please share your thoughts below! 🥰

Good morning friends! Do you remember this fireplace build? Tap the photo for all the sources. And swipe for the before. I’m at it again this week, building another fireplace!!! So you better hop on my stories and follow along!!! I’ll save them to a new highlight before they time out. It’s going to be so good!

Friday night vibes. It’s cold and damp in Illinois. My favorite part of the night is when the sun starts to set and the candles and lamps come on. Are you cozying up at home tonight, or out on the town?

We are home in Illinois. I finally got my shelf painted and decorated. I think it’s just what this far wall of our bathroom needed to complete our renovation. Well at least 99% of the way…I still need to rebuild the drawers in this vanity to make it more functional. I also picked up more of this shiplap today. It’s been too long since I’ve done a project! What are your next projects?

I wanted to share this Polar White Plush rug from that we added to the bunk room a while back. Swipe right for the nighttime view…it’s a whole vibe! This is the softest rug, but my absolute favorite thing about it is that it’s machine washable, like all their rugs! A fur rug that’s machine washable!!! Use my code: FUNRANDI10 to save 10%! https://myruggable.com/FUNRANDI10

I wanted to share our simple winter porch. Yes I live in Arizona but it’s still winter here, and believe it or not, it’s still very cold in the mornings and evenings, even if it heats up a little during the day. Like this photo if you still have some winter decor up! I think it makes the house feel cozy so I left some up for my parents visit last week and this week. Hope you’re having a great start to the new year!

Have you taken your Christmas down yet? I typically leave mine up through Three Kings Day on January sixth. We just got back to our Arizona house, clocking in over 60hrs on the road during break! We’re also still passing around the stomach bug, and today is my turn. So, needless to say I haven’t really touched my decorations, with the exception of putting away a few of the more Christmassy items, and by putting them away I mean setting them in the garage lol. These silver bells that I ordered months ago finally came when we were gone and I’m OBSESSED! I haven’t seen anyone with the silver ones, so I sat those out to enjoy for a few days, where my husband can yell at me for blocking the tv like always lol. AND I was so excited to figure out how to display art on our regular Samsung tv, like we can on our frame tv. Did you know you could do that? Let me know if you need help!

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My husband says I haven’t left the bathroom all day! It’s partly because our family has the stomach bug, and partly because I’m enjoying all the baths in my . We finished renovating this bathroom right before we moved out to Arizona for the majority of the time, where I have no tub in my master. I’m a bath person so I miss it. What about you, bath or shower? And did you catch our renovation? It’s saved to story highlights. It was a dark brown before so you’re going to want to see it. Literally a night and day difference.

I hope you had a merry Christmas! We are home in Illinois! And the kids are getting their Christmas wish…SNOW! My daughter woke up sick in the middle of the night, so we will be cozied up right here at home for a few days.

The stockings were hung with care! We miss our fireplace so much when we’re at our Arizona house, that the first project I have planned for the new year is another fireplace build. Swipe to see my plans, and let me know what you think. Did you watch our last fireplace build? If not I’ll post a memory on stories. We’re headed back to that house soon. Do you have a fireplace, and if not, what creative places have you come up with to hang your stockings?

Has your Christmas break started yet? We are on our way to see Santa and the Festival of Lights with family today! The kids are decked out in their matching Christmas jammies. I just love these traditions! Hope you have a great day!

Not enough furniture to fill your new house? No problem! Just fill it with Christmas trees lol.
This is the 9’ Royal Fir Slim Tree from and it’s a beaut!

I added a few simple Christmas touches to our bedroom. Do you decorate your bedroom for the holidays or just your main living areas? Only nine more sleeps! I can’t believe we’re in single digits!

“Okay people, tomorrow morning…10am…Santa's coming to town!!!” Haha I made these 3D snowflakes today with my daughter and felt like Buddy the Elf preparing for Santa’s arrival. Maybe because my kids have made me watch that movie three times in the last two days haha! Let me know if you want me to share a DIY snowflake video. All you do is glue some paper bags together, make four cuts, and TA-DA!!! Love them so much!

Good morning! Are you a morning coffee drinker? I slept until 9:00 today, and now I’m enjoying my favorite Starbucks peppermint mocha latte, in my new Papa Noel mug. I’m not a true coffee drinker but I enjoy these so much around the holidays that I order them in bulk! Thought I’d share the obligatory coffee in front of the Christmas tree photo. Happy Friday friends!

Do you decorate with traditional Christmas colors or neutrals? I started to put out red decor in our Arizona house and something just wasn’t sitting right with me. I don’t know if it’s the climate here, or the style of this house, or the fact that I had just gotten it how I wanted it and wasn’t in a hurry to completely change it up. But I woke up the next day and tore it all down and started over. These trees were an early gift from my sweet mama and they are some of my favorite decorations.

Did you see our new fire pit area? The weather is PERFECT here!!! But it’s the first year that we’re away from home for the most of the holiday. And after living in the Midwest our whole lives, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas, so I’m doing everything I can to help the kids get in the spirit. What’s the weather like where you live? I’m curious if the climate has that effect on anyone else?

Happy Sunday friends!!! Wishing you a wonderful holiday week!

If you like the Adirondack chairs in this photo, you can enter to win a $5,000 gift card !!!
Then hop over to for some string lights to complete your backyard space!

Are you readyyyyy!?!?!

Who’s ready??? We made cocoa tonight at my daughter’s request. It’s about $20 for all the ingredients, but it’ll last you all season. And it’s the best I’ve ever had. Let me know if you make it. Recipe here:

https://randilynnblog.com/blog/2017/10/9/mama-meadows-homemade-hot-cocoa?rq=Cocoa

I have been working really hard to make our Arizona house a home for our family. We left our Illinois house fully furnished for when we come back to it. So we are starting from scratch out here. It takes TIME to accumulate all of the things you need or want to fill a house. It is difficult for me to be patient because I can look at the space and envision it fully finished. But I have been trying to decorate on a budget. I purchased most of our wood furniture pieces secondhand to refinish and make new again, so that I can splurge on other things. These projects also take TIME. But after an unexpected trip back to Illinois I am finally starting to get some of them checked off my list. If you watch my stories, you know I was working on our dining room table and our coffee table, which you can see here. Now that those are done I am feeling more comfortable and at peace in this space, which I wanted to have the same aesthetic as our other home. So I thought I would share a photo. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance for any love! Instagram has not been getting my content out.