Didn't think it would ever be done....

 I'm FINALLY done stenciling Leila's bedroom. The walls were painted the boring beige last year when we moved into the house, and I left two walls untouched. Just the walls in the picture got the lavender stencil action. I plan to install a chair rail onto the wall with a solid lavender bottom half. I'm even considering tackling that on my own since my handsome husband is a very busy man right now. Keep ya posted on that adventure...

I'm happy with the result but will probably never attempt this again. The hardest part was keeping the stencil clean. The ornate nature of the design made paint goop up a real issue. As paint dried on the stencil, the design would begin to look smudged. So I had to stop and clean it often, which was extremely tedious. I know that I spent more time cleaning the stencil (peeling away at tiny strands in between the scrolls and curves) than actually painting.

In case you care, I used a 12x12 wall stencil I found at Hobby Lobby. I sprayed the back with stencil adhesive, which was useful but I found I also needed a few pieces of blue painters tape to really be safe. Don't want a paint filled stencil falling down on your floor! I applied the paint with a 6 in. sponge roller but I think a crafting sponge (the natural sea sponge kind) would have worked better. But once I started with the roller, I wanted to finish with the same technique for consistency. It was not hard to line the stencil up and repeat the pattern, because it has a nifty guide system which was easy to figure out. Getting the stencil into corners and along the window was NOT easy. I think I say "super easy" in half my posts but I will not be using that phrase to describe this project! If I ever do stencil an entire wall again, I'll be picking one without a window! Or corners... ☺

To complete the room, I need the chair rail and possibly some sheer curtain panels (the lilac valance will stay... snagged that at a garage sale!). I'm also planning to paint an old toy box to match. And of course the crib in and the elliptical out. Unless Leila expresses a desire to get in some cardio. ;) Pictures will be shared!

Love,
 

Guess what I'm up to....

Stenciling a crazy intricate design all over Leila's bedroom wall.

What was I thinking?

It's looking pretty but I am calling it quits for the night. I'll be sure to show you the finished product when it is done... which may be a while! This afternoon, I had the two big girls napping, Leila was freshly fed and bouncing happily so I started. And then Maddie woke up needing a breathing treatment. And the Leila was no longing happy in the bouncer. And then Eden was up. Then it was dinner time. And time to clean up after dinner. Oh well. The days of starting a project and working on it until it is done, without any distractions are NOT these days. These days are days of pick away at projects when you can and don't expect to have more than 1.32 seconds at a time.

As for my other decorating issue, the china buffet, we've decided to look for a bench second hand and sell the china cabinet. If by the end of summer I can not find what I want, I may refurbish the cabinet. Seth would prefer not to do anything permanent yet though. Looking at the ideas you all posted however has me itching to paint a inn table I've had (but neglected) for a while. First, though, I must finish the crazy stenciling.

Love,
 

Your opinions, please...?

 When my handsome hubby and I tied the knot almost 7 yrs. ago, we literally had no furniture. I don't mean we had little furniture, or furniture we didn't like. We had NONE. And we really didn't care.

Obviously, we bought a mattress right off. Sleeping on the floor didn't appeal to either one of us. It was actually comical though, as we set out that day with Seth's parents to mattress stores. Neither one of us had any idea what anything other than gas and convenience store coffee cost. Pre-marriage we had either lived at home, or in college dorms with "lovely" 2 in. thick pads they called mattresses, which were part of our room and board. So we put little thought into just how expensive mattresses and any other kind of furniture would be. Lugging home our motel quality, full size mattress, we came to realize that would could never afford convenience store coffee again.

Well we got over that conviction pretty quickly! And we still have that same mattress. It's fine. Except that my husband's arms are 5 ft. long and end up jabbing my in the forehead most nights. Anyway, this post is not about mattresses or coffee. Although I would like some coffee. And a new mattress.

After I began working a part time job, I started scouring the paper for used pieces of furniture. I soon found the quality three piece oak set we have used ever since. I love our table... with 3 leaves, we can seat a crowd. The buffet is handy as well, folding up when not being used to serve the fancy foods like pigs and a blanket and chips-n-dip that I use it for. The china cabinet pictured here... is well.... a china cabinet. I don't exactly own any china, or have any use for it. Not knowing what else to do with it, I requested some pretty dishes for a birthday. My husband knew it was one of the (many) unpractical, un- useful decisions I would make, and later regret. But because he knew I'd like them, he bought me the {thankfully} inexpensive set we keep in the china cabinet. We never use them. Ever. Because they are not dish washer safe. Because when we have company, I resort to paper plates, or my washable indestructible every day Correlle dishes. Because I only have service for 6. Because our company isn't the kind that require impressing with fancy wanna-be-china dishes from a china cabinet.

I do keep glass serving dishes in the cabinet, which actually do occasionally come out to be put to work. And since Maddie has been doing pre-school, I keep her school things in here. But for the most part, it's a giant waste of space. In the beginning of our married life, wasted space was okay. It was better than a bare wall. But now we have stuff... and kids. And kids' stuff. My husband's practical nature has slowly penetrated my soul and I crave more function out of all this space.

All of that to say: What should I do?

I have already boxed up the "fancy" dishes, and with Seth's whole hearted approval will sell them. I've considered removing the glass doors and simply using the shelves as... shelves. School stuff, craft stuff, books, etc. All in cute containers that match the room. I had already painted a shoe box for such purpose, which lasted less than a day before someone.... I suspect a certain red head... used it for a stool and put their little foot right through it.

Or...

Maybe I should sell the whole cabinet, separating it from it's siblings (the table and buffet). Something feels wrong about that. But maybe it's not wrong. Maybe I could sell it for enough to buy an entirely different thing altogether... a bench to provide a place to take off shoes when we come inside? Here in upstate NY, we do the whole Mr. Rogers thing and remove shoes as we come indoors. Because 9 months out of the year, it's snowy and muddy and leaf-y and yucky outside.

Another thought is to remove just the hutch part and leave the base cabinets (which I do use) and make that a sort of bench that isn't really a bench but we can put a pad down and sit on it anyway. A bench for the girls to curl up and and read a book?

I'm also considering (if I take the doors off but leave the hutch) covering the glass shelves with fabric so that it's not constantly showing finger prints or in other ways being damaged by the children as they get down their stuff.

I would love your input. I am definitely doing something with it. I need the area to be much more useful and earn it's keep. But I want it all to look nice too. Look nice but not look like it belongs in an 98 yr. old lady's parlor. Which it kind currently does. I'm embarrassed by that but I just didn't know what else to do with the thing! Please remember that at the time, I was a 20 yr. old newly wed who had never decorated anything other than a 3 ring binder cover. At least I knew enough not to decorate the cabinet with Lisa Frank stickers.

Any ideas? Thank you...

Love,
 

Bathroom spruce up

Would ya like to see my husband's latest project?

The ladies' room in the church basement was ready for updated decor. Firstly, let me just say that about 20 yrs. ago, when my father in law / pastor decided to finish the church basement for fellowship/Sunday School/academy use, a lady in the church put in the time and effort to decorate this bathroom and we've enjoyed it for a long time. So while I was the biggest encourager for it's re-vamping, I know that back when it was first done, it was fantastic and I'm glad that lady volunteered her time to do what she did.

Here is the before... hopefully you get the idea. Such a small room makes it hard to take photos! (At least hard for me!)

And now for the "after" pictures:

Oh Amy!!! Do you recognize these prints?

Seth painted (obviously), replacing the peach color with a warm mocha. He then wallpapered the upper half of two walls, installing a chair rail in between. I LOVE chair rails. I think it's such a great way to add more interest to a room, without costing to much or being too hard to do. Not that I do it... well, I painted them but my husband does all the cutting, measuring and installing. In fact I have pretty much been forbidden from ever attempting to measure anything for any project every again. Many many reasons (blunders) for this. I mean just for instance... in the list of "cutting, measuring and installing", I just naturally put "cutting" before "measuring". Nothing else needs to be said.

We bought 73 curtains, brought them all into the room to match up and returned 72. *sigh* And naturally, the one we both liked best was just a bit too sheer to provide the necessarily privacy. Then, I discovered a neat product that sprayed on the window like spray paint and left the glass frosted. Light still comes in (a nice thing in a basement space) but the sheerness of the curtain is no longer an issue.

We also added the pretty jars, one of which contains potpourri in a "clean" scent, another holds safety pins, and the other... is empty. Any suggestions? I considered mints but I'm almost certain the children... namely those stinker assistant pastor's kids... would eat them immediately. I guess I could go ahead and put mints in and instruct the munchkins not to eat them. Hmmm..... Anyway, I also found that soap container on clearance for under $2 and I think it matches great! One negative aspect of freshly painted walls is that now the floor looks extra extra old. Oh well. No plans to update those anytime soon!

And looking at this pictures right now, that bright blue lotion bottle has got to go! Surely I can find lotion in a white bottle...

Love,

Before and After Remodel Pictures

Whew! Its just about over! We've had a few delays in the kitchen, which is fine. Does a pregnant woman complain about an extra reason not to cook? So other than the kitchen, here is the run down of before and after pictures. I realize now that I did not take very good before pictures, but you'll get the idea. And in the after pictures, I obviously have more decorating in mind. We've only been moved for a day.





Our bedroom before:



Our bedroom after... we did paint in here but the colors were very similar. Looks fresher now though:

Dining room before:

Dining room after... when the kitchen is done I'll get better pictures of the wall color and floor. For now, the floor is wood looking vinyl and the walls are a pale sage green. :

Living room before:

Living room after... still determining where that machine should go:

Living room window, bad lighting:

Living room/hallway after, detail of carpet and paint colors:

Baby room before, bad lighting but it was neon purple:

Baby room before, better lighting:

Baby room after... obviously that curtain doesn't fit. Was just trying to see if I could reuse that shade. Anyone want a 24" pink roman shade? This room is painted the same beige that is in our bedroom... we wanted a gender neutral color since this is the baby room (whoever the baby at the time is... for now, Eden) :

Hall before:

Hall after... the blue paint looks way too vibrant in this pic... it isn't actually so shocking. We carpeting this along with the livingroom because the hard woods in the hall were pretty rough. We left the hard woods in the bedroom, and plan to cover ugly spots with scatter rugs:

Girls' Room before:

Girls room after:

Girls' Room, cluttered with one million toys and one cute nephew:

Bathroom before:

Bathroom before, details:

Yum. Don't ya want to soak in here?

Bathroom after, view #1:

Bathroom after, view #2:

Bathroom floor, wall and shower curtain (sorry it is sideways!):

Bathroom light plate:

Bathroom ceiling and wall color:

The bathroom was the most extensive part of this project. We... and I say "we" loosely... closed off a second entrance into the kitchen, knocked out a coat closet and closed off that area to add a few feet to the bathroom. Since we seem to producers of girls rather than boys, we thought our growing family would benefit from a nice sized bathroom, with a big vanity for all the beauty paraphernalia teenage girls possess!


Hope you enjoyed seeing the progress and the final result. When the kitchen is complete, I'll post those pics too. Thanks for all your kind words of encouragement during this project.

Love,

S.S. Room: Take Two

This is our primary Sunday School room... I also used to teach the kindergarteners at the academy in this room, too.

It's been about a year and a half since I painted this and I'm starting to think about adding some more colors and depths to the grass and tree... maybe some flying creatures in the sky.

The furry little critter was supposed to be a chipmunk. But as it became clear that he was way too big, I thought I would say he's a squirrel. But he's still out of proportion to be a squirrel. So I guess now he is a puppy? Whatever.The mutant puppy-chipmunk didn't come out so great but I do like this little worm... he's got a little personality about him, huh?

And here's some on the french memo board in progress in case anyone is interested. I'm sure there are more precise instructions online somewhere, but really it's not hard. Just use whatever scrap board you've got around. The cute red head is not required.