These aren't all the changes, but it does give a flavor of what we've been up to. Unnecessary warning: I do snapshots, not photography. It is really tough to take pictures of a home's interior, especially when you can't wait for good light because you are trying to hurriedly snap some shots to assuage the guilt you feel over not taking the requested pictures before now. That being said, here it is.
The Living Room:
The second picture is closest to the real color. One picture was taken in the morning, the other in afternoon. The reds are more a burgundy than they look. We have lots of plans here, including adding more color, since it is, after all, very brown in there. Like many parts of the house, we haven't really finished decorating after all the painting, door replacing, stairs and new carpet we did. I'm sort of saving that for January and February when I'll need something interesting to do do during those two nasty months.
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| Every time I look at the board and batten on this wall it makes me happy. |
And a view with the stairs and some of the Halloween decorations.
Elise and Natalie's Room:
Still lots to be done here. Mostly in the way of decorating and organizing. Natalie is still in her toddler bed, a fact that we're hoping to change before too long. The girls bedding are coordinating quilts that Grandma Borders made for them a few years ago. They were the inspiration for the color scheme. Not done yet, but you can get a basic idea of where we're headed.
The color here shows a little too yellowish.
These two are closer to the real color.
What a difference the white trim and closet doors make!
This room used to be a soft yellow and was shared by Natalie and Cameron. This spring we moved Elise upstairs with Natalie, leaving Camille with her own room in the basement. Then we moved our office into the family room and Cameron now occupies the old office. We painted Cam's room blue, put pirate decals on the wall and installed a swing in his room. I don't have pictures of it right now. Maybe later.
We painted Camille's room a soft aqua with white and silver accents. Her bedding is black and white. It is also in progress. Maybe someday it will be finished and it will be cleaner than a typical teenage girl room and I'll feel like taking pictures. If you're curious, you can come stay with us because it is now our guest room.
Also not pictured are the upstairs hall, which has a new hardwood floor and all new doors and trim. We're still working on getting the right finish on the floor, but are hoping to get there soon. If you are a woodworker and you know what the term 'popping the grain' means, you'll understand why we are grinding our teeth over little wet footprints coming out of the bathroom. Once the floor is finished there, we can install the door casings and do all the touch up work! I have A LOT of nail holes to fill, seams to caulk and paint to touch up. Which I will also be doing in January or February. Got to have something to do then.
Master Bedroom:
LOOK! NO DIRTY PINK CARPET! Yes, I am that excited about it. I had intended to repaint this room because I never liked the color. After we changed the carpets, I loved it. Something in the old pink carpet reflected on the walls and gave the green an odd blue-ish cast. This is much better.
We offset the dressers because as much as we like seeing them centered on the wall, we couldn't get the closet doors to open all the way. We decided to go with function over appearance on this one and haven't regretted it for a second. I'm not in love with the way the cedar chest looks here, but I do love not barking my shins on it when trying to find my way around the bed at night.
The doors and trim are a little schizophrenic here. All the baseboards and trim around the new doors are white, but we left the original trim around the closet doors. I love those doors and am hoping I can figure out a way to keep them. So, for now we're a little mismatched. Love the white trim with the paint color, too.
We did some rearranging down here as we were moving things back in. I have loved how it has come together. It is a much more inviting, functional and pleasing in appearance. Sounds like a win-win to me! The TV used to be inside the built-in cabinet to the left. That was really awkward and I decided I was done with it. So, we moved the TV onto the adjoining wall and shifted everything around. Love it.
Someone needs to help me with my mantel . . . soon. I am mantel deficient.
This is our new TV stand. I am actually really excited about it. Not because it is so beautiful, though I do think it looks nice. But, because I worked with what I had and made something nice out of something nasty. We've had this old dresser for years. We got it in Provo at DI. It had originally come from a student apartment complex who knows how many years ago. Plastic laminate top. Faded stain. Big chunks taken out of the corners and a couple of the drawer fronts. It was so ugly we hid it in shame inside Brett's closet until earlier this year.
Between medical bills and projects, our finances were pretty depleted, so I knew that if I wanted to implement my plan to move the TV, I was going to have to get creative. I decided to give this dresser a try and see where I got. Lots of sanding, 3/4 of a can of Bondo (it is an incredible wood filler), three coats of bonding (gripping) primer and four coats of high gloss enamel later, and here it is! The hardware was originally an antiqued brass, but I put on some primer, spray painted a brushed nickel finish and sprayed them with a clear coat finish for durability.
It looks good with the TV. It has a very durable finish to fight all the hard use it will take. Our DVDs fit perfectly in the drawers, which will also hold all the Wii games and accessories out of sight (yeah!). And we'll even have room for our TV blankets. Eventually, the TV will be mounted on the wall with all the cords hidden behind the drywall. I also still need to decorate down here, but not until after we have the TV mounted.
Things that Make Me Happy:
So, that's the tour, Mom and Gayla. Let me know what you think.
