The bedroom

After being here a year I finally decided to give our bedroom a well needed make over. I say well needed but really it wasn't a horrible room. It was just a little beige. Taupe I guess but it's all the same to me. You'll know by now I like to live in technicolor and most of our rooms are in big bold color. One of the reason I hadn't painted until now was because I really didn't know what I wanted. I've been looking for about 10 months for the perfect duvet cover to build the room around and although I found many I liked, Nick exercised his veto on almost everything I chose. I finally gave up and went with something plain and decided to make the room the statement piece and not the cover.

The other reason was time. Between work, Nick's shift work and the kids getting in the way I just didn't want to get in to a major project. The perfect opportunity came when Nick took the kids to Florida for 3 weeks and I had the house for myself for 2 of those weeks. I got to go down for a week and loved the time but my temporary bachelor life was a nice treat as well. With nobody to get in my way but the dog, I got it done.

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. I still have to get the bed skirt on the bed which I own but just haven't bothered with. I also need to come up with some other decor or furniture to fill in the space around the bed. That will call come in time. I have no idea what I want and don't have the money to make any major purchases at this time anyway. I feel the room is sexy and cozy at the same time and I love being in there now. Oprah once said your bedroom should be your sanctuary and I feel like I'm alot closer to that now.

This is as clean as it ever gets

I've been meaning to post more house pics for a while but frankly, it's a rare moment that the house is clean enough for me to feel good about what you all get to see in the pictures. Normally the island is covered with random things, the floor is covered in Cheerios, spaghetti sauce and dog slobber and there is laundry baskets around filled with clothes ready to be folded. Like it is now, as I write this. But on the weekend we had a family down for Easter dinner. Nothing like having your mom come over to make you clean like you've never cleaned before.

In addition to the mess, the other reason I was procrastinating was because I really wanted to get the decor just right. I've come to realise that it could be years before that happens so I threw that idea out the window. You'll notice a lack of things on the shelving unit but that's because anything on the lower shelves is free game for little hands. I also want a big piece of art for the dining area but who knows when I'll find just the right thing that I can afford. I have dreams of a house with big plants, large vases and other beautiful decor items but I figure I'm at least 2 years away from even thinking about those kinds of things. We also need to paint the ceiling so it's a better match to the wall color. Originally I thought we would keep what they had before but it turns out it's too dark for the new wall color. I had hoped to have someone come in and do it but it was way too expensive. I will eventually get around to doing it myself but it won't be any time soon. Who looks at the ceiling anyway right?

I've also just finished Isaac's room. I ran with the Thomas the Train bed he inherited from Oliver and tried to build around that. I still feel like it's not done, it's missing something but I haven't found anything that I feel will put the finishing touches on it. I don't even know what I want but I'm sure I'll know it when I see it. Or maybe O's room just set the standard way too high. I love the colors and the train signs and tracks so over all I'm very pleased.

The next room on the agenda: Our bedroom and bathroom.

Another room complete

One of the fun things about a new house is finding just the right pieces for each room. I've spent many hours on-line and in stores looking. I never in a million years thought a shower curtain would be the hardest piece to find. This is actually the third one I bought and I'm finally happy.

This is the main bathroom in the house but we call it the kids bathroom. I wanted something bright and fun but not so childish that it felt like a kids space. I love the wall color and I'm especially happy with the pictures I did of the kids. They really show the different sides of their personalities.

Space, The final frontier

As soon as we bought this house I knew Oliver's room would be the first room to get a makeover. I'm all about bright, fun kids rooms but these colors were just too much. As always Oliver wanted to help so I let him paint a little of the primer.

For Christmas my mom got O a clock for his room that projects planets and stars on the ceiling. Then I remembered that the room Oliver was going to be moving in to had a navy blue ceiling. One + one equals..... A space themed room.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out and I can't wait for him to see it tomorrow. He's been at my mom's so it's going to be a big surprise since all he's seen is the paint. The rest was all done in the last few days.

And of course I had to do the obligatory glow in the dark stars. 340 in all.... Notice the milky way.

Who knows, maybe it'll inspire him to be an astronaut when he grows up. Or maybe I'm just projecting my own dreams on him. For now I'll just hope he loves his room.

Pick a shade, any shade

Earlier this week I painted Oliver's room. It was the room most in need of a make-over since it was a hideous combination of blue and green. Think Buzz Lightyear. I still have to put up the wallpaper decals to finish the look and hope to get that done this week and then I'll post pictures. I think it's going to be a really great boys room. I hope it lives up to the picture in my mind.

The next room on the list is the living room. Right now I would describe the room as a deep shade of cornflower blue. It's actually a really lovely color but I find it's too dark for the space. The room is open concept kitchen/living/dining room so it's a big area which would normally be great for a darker color. Unfortunately (or very fortunately cause I love them) the kitchen cupboards are a dark walnut colored wood and our furniture is dark brown too. We've also discovered that the room tends to be dark when it's not sunny out. So... so starts the search for the perfect color.

All I can say is that god for sample sizes. I was set on having a green of some kind so I spent hours looking at those cards from Home Depot. I was sure I found just the right color... not too light, not too dark. I put the sample up on the wall.... too hospital. The process began again. I was sure once again that I found it.... to yellow, then too light. I decided to forgo the idea of green because I finally decided the look I was going for was going to be too dark after all. So on to blue and back to Home Depot. 3 more samples later, I think I've found it. I'll start painting on Nick's next days off and we'll see.

The samples are Behr paint/primer combo's and cost $4.99. Not cheap but much cheaper than several full size cans that you don't like. I'm calling it the best $30 I ever spent.