A Smaller Project

Sometimes when I leave town with all the kids, great things happen!  It was Spring Break so the kids and I left town for warmer weather and, while we were gone, Matt punched a huge hole in our bedroom wall.

Now, please don't be distracted by the freshly showered, ready for bedtime, just had to be in the picture ADORABLE four year old!  If you take a look behind him, you will see the shell of what will soon be my very own closet!  Up until this point, Matt and I were sharing a 2 x 4 space and it was not working out for us.

One thing we have learned by renovating this house is that Matt never short cuts anything.  I mean, look at this closet!  It is a bomb shelter!  Nothing is getting through that thing.

Once finished, I could not have asked for anything better.  I am all moved in and really enjoying the extra space.  I think Matt is enjoying having the small closet all to himself too!

Here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Our Hallway is super wide so we decided to break through the wall that has a trunk on it and bump it out into the hall.

And here is it all finished and looking beautiful!

Seriously, look at all that square footage!  I love that blue dresser (We got it at Salvation Army for $25) but, sadly we no longer had room for it in the hall so it now resides in my basement.



The closet in this picture still needs a bit of love but it is a great shot to show you how we utilized that hall space.

And here is the finished product!  Matt worked so hard to save the molding when he took down the original wall and I am so happy he did.  I think having that molding to reuse really helps to make it look like the closet is supposed to be there.

All Moved In

Things have been busy here are the Main Street House and this blog has definitely suffered as a result.  These darn kids take up a lot of time!  And, drumroll please.....I have gone back to work!!  Nothing too extreme, teaching preschool part time, but it has kept me busy.

We have also been very busy renovating and restoring the Main Street House.  Before I get to updating you on all that we have done (ahem - a major Kitchen Renovation) I wanted to do one final post on the Girls' Room.  I have had these pictures on my camera for a while, so long that this is actually no longer the Girls' Room.  Our oldest daughter no goes to a different school so she gets up an hour before the other two.  So she moved into the little room and this room is now shared by our middle daughter and our five year old son.  Something that definitely isn't going to last forever but it works for now....

The Husband can now add to his resume Carpenter.  He built this beautiful built in desk and window seat that connects to the new closet.

A bigger closet was a definite must, ad look at those beautiful ceilings!

I wish I had a picture of the furniture delivery guys faces when I showed them the room where the biggest bed in the world was going.  Lets just say that changing the sheets on a bunk bed in a room with 8 foot ceilings can be an interesting experience.

 

He is Finished

So, it definitely took longer than anyone anticipated but I have to tell you all that The Husband worked really hard and is finally finished with the renovation of the girls' room.  It is my opinion that he has a love/hate relationship with this room but I have to brag that it is beautiful!  I am so impressed with the care and craftsmanship that went into this room!

 

And because, who doesn't love a good before and after!!

This is what the room looked like when we bought the place!

 

And how about a couple side-by-sides just for fun too?!

 

Now comes the decorating.....I can't wait!!!!

Where Do We Go From Here

As we are coming into the final stages of the room renovation, you may be wondering what it is all going to end up looking like.  Well, I am wondering that too.

The Girls and I spent a fair amount of time looking at rooms on Pinterest and this is the room they decided to use for inspiration.  And when I say "inspiration" I mean that in the loosest of forms.

We found a lofted bed at Value City Furniture that we think is going to look great.  You can take a look at it here.  What I love about it is the built in storage.  I swear, these girls have so much stuff!!


Below is the bedding we have chosen from Target and the walls are going to be painted the same color, maybe one shade lighter.

 

 

And then bring in some pops of hot pink with items such as this great pillow (also from Target)

 

Or theses fans from Oriental Trading

 

 

I am not really sure how it is all going to come together - but I still think that it is going to be great!

Over on Time and Over on Budget

You know how when you watch those reality home improvement shows and everyone seems to go over on their timeline and on their budget.  Well, guess what?

 

Actually, it isn't that bad and I have to tell you that I am so super impressed with how the room is coming together.  It is going to be spectacular when it is all finished.  The Husband has been working super hard and after the mess he created during demo, well, lets just say that construction is just as dirty.  Dusting has become one of my daily chores.

 

Here are some pictures of how far the room has come.  Check out the wonderful drywall work done by the rookie Husband.  I have to say his patience and attention to detail really paid off on this one.  If it was me who did it, it would not be nearly this nice. 

 

However, I did finally get to help out a little with the room.  I was charged with filling all the nail holes in the ceiling and today, I got to prime it!  So check out the last picture if you want a taste of my hand-work.

 

Oh, and we (okay, Matt) rebuilt the closet.  It is huge!  Can you say storage?!?!?!?!?!  Also, on the same wall as the closet we are going to, someday, build a built-in window seat (with storage) and a small desk with bookshelves above it.  It is going to be very cool!

 

I had to throw this picture in the bunch too because it is just too cute.  Here The Husband is giving The Boy a lesson on how to properly apply the drywall mud.  They look like a couple of pros don't they?

Living in Chaos

I think that one of the hardest parts of renovating the girls' room was deciding how we were going to move the girls out of their room.  As I mentioned in my previous post, they are hoarders my nature (as almost all kids are) and they have a lot of stuff.  Not to mention that we do not live in a very large home so it was not like we could move them into a guest room or anything. 

If you promise not to judge, I will take you on a very quick tour of how we will be living during this renovation.

 

Here is a look into our hallway.  At the end, blocking access to our computer, you will see a large clothing rack with all of their hanging clothes.  Underneath, you will see two laundry baskets filled with their shoes.  Just in front of that you will see a cubby shelf full of all of their books and their American Girl Dolls.  The blue dresser is always there and acts as our linen closet so you can just ignore that.  But that white thing in the foreground with, what look to be, wheels on it.  That is their dresser.

 

Originally, we thought that we may just be able to move each girl's bed into the hall and make it into a little mock bedroom for them.  But, as you can see, that plan did not happen.

 

Plan two was to let the girls sleep in our bedroom while Matt and I slept on our couches.  Makes me kind of wish that we sprung for that sleeper sofa when we bought new couches back in January.  That plan wasn't going to work either, mainly just because I like my bed too much.

 

So, we made some room in our bedroom to put Peyton's mattress in our room (notice there is even more stuff from the girls' bedroom loaded up in the Master).

And we put Elaina on the floor in Drew's room.  I would like to take a moment here to emphasize that this room is only 6 feet by 9 feet.  They are living in very tight quarters right now.

I really thought this would be difficult for all three kids.  Peyton and Elaina have shared a room since Peyton was 2 years old so I was not sure how they would handle being split up.  I also was not sure how Drew would react to having a roommate.  It the end, the novelty of it all won over and all three kids are having a blast.  The girls have spent more time laying in their beds reading during the day than I think they ever have before.  I also think this may make transitioning Drew to a big boy bed easier because he loves laying on Elaina' bed.  And, last night after tucking the kids in, I over heard Elaina and Drew talking before going to sleep.  I don't think there is anything cuter than a conversation between a two year old and a nine year old.

Our First Big Renovation

I have to start this post with a public apology to Matt (aka The Husband) because I think I may have tricked him into doing this renovation.  I have never been a fan of the girls' room and I think it is for three reasons.  Reason #1:  The wood paneling on the walls.  For those of you who never got to see it in person, here is a picture of what the room looked like when we moved in.  Reason #2:  The ugly color I picked to paint the girls room.  They wanted a pink room and I think I was so thrown off by the panels that I picked the ugliest pink there was to offer.  Reason #3:  The girls share a room and are both hoarders by nature so the room always seemed overcrowded to me.  My secret hope is now that we have cleared everything out of the room, the girls may not notice if not everything makes it back in.

 

Okay, back to my apology.  So, I have never liked this room and we had started talking about getting the girls new bedroom furniture which led to discussion on whether we could take down the paneling.......and maybe build them a new closet......and maybe put in a bead board ceiling.......and maybe just gut the whole room?

 

As any of you fellow renovators may know - there is never a good time to do a renovation and this one may take the cake as being the most inconvenient renovation ever.  We got back from vacation this past Tuesday and by Wednesday around noon, I had The Husband knocking down walls.  Of course, I couldn't help him because I had to watch the kids:)

 

I was nice enough to empty out the room for him.  So this is what it looked like when he started.

 



 And this is what it looked like at the end of Day 1

 The Man does know how to use a sledge hammer doesn't he?   I don't think the demo was his least favorite part, but I do think removing all of the demo was what did him in.  He took, I don't even know how many, trips down the stairs carrying loads of wood paneling, dry wall, and plaster.  I know If I was him, there was no way I would even be able to walk after going up and down those stairs.

Now that I showed him a little sympathy, I am going to whine a little bit.  The dust is TERRIBLE!!!    I mean, I knew it was going to be bad but living in it with three kids was beyond.  So bad that yesterday when Matt was carrying loads of plaster out to our dumpster, I just had to take the kids to the pool because I could not stand to be in the house anymore.  I know, poor me.

But, I did come home from the pool, to find this!

A room empty of debris and ready for some drywall!

Just incase you need a visual to show sympathy for all the trips Matt took up and down our stairs.

Here is round 1 with all of the paneling.

And here is round 2 of all the plaster.

For those of you who do not know.....plaster is REALLY heavy.



He's the best isn't he?