W.E.W-Part...Finished!!!!

Well, for the most part we are finished.  We built all the storage furniture. Today my little sister and I assembled some cubbies and brought up all my craft stuff from our family room.  Tonight my hubby hung the wall shelf.  I cleaned out/off my desk.  It is great!!!  It is so nice to have "a place for everything and everything in its place."  Unfortunately, rooms like this are always changing, but at least we are starting off right.

The following picture is the finished half of the room.  All of the shelving houses toys, games, craft/sewing supplies, books, and school stuff.  It is tucked away in the area where the closet used to be.  I like it because it is not the first thing you see when you enter the room.

Our wall shelf will be where we keep most of our "toy library" (see W.E.W-Part 7).  The shelf has decorative braces.  It came out really nice.  The plastic boxes look kind of junky.  I hope to replace them with basket and canvas bins.  You can see some of our old book cases in the photo below.  These will be removed and I will be putting my grandfather's rocker in their place.

I am still working on my office/workspace.  My plan is to replace the folding table with a small desk with a file drawer.  It is a little tricky because I need to put my printer/copier on it and my sewing machine.  I am thinking it would be great to somehow attach a drop leaf to the end to give me more room for sewing.  We will see what happens with that.  For now, I will keep this how it is.  I don't want to rush and do something and then hate it.

I am so excited about this room.  It is inspiring me to tackle other rooms in the house.  We have been in our home for 10 years.  It really is time to do some updating.  Nothing major, just painting and cleaning out. 

With special thanks...My husband is a very special man.  Growing up, my dad did everything.  There wasn't anything he couldn't fix or build or do. When I was a teenager I worried that I would marry someone who couldn't do anything.  Who didn't know how to fix things or didn't want too.  God has blessed me with a husband who like my dad can do anything.  There isn't anything he can't build or fix.  I love him so much and appreciate all the long hours he put into our playroom.  I love you, baby!!!!

W.E.W-Part 7

I guess my weekend project is turning into a week-plus project.  That is okay.  Last night some of the shelving went up.  I was a little disappointed in Ikea's "white" bookshelves.  They are not white, but cream.   Due to the long trip back to return them and the lack of other options, we decided to keep them and deal with the mis-matched color.  It is very overwhelming to start the process of organization.  I will have to take it little by little.  Right now most of the "stuff" is in plastic containers.  I would like to replace most of those with baskets, decorative boxes or containers.  One by one I will do that. 

Today, I will do my best to assemble the second book shelf.  Then I will beging putting things away.  I found a great article (the link follwos) about organizing your kid's things. ( http://organizedhome.com/get-organized/tips-organize-kids-rooms )   I love the "Toy Library."  That has been one of my plans with this whole "Play Room Makeover."  Our kids have too many things to take care of.  That leads to them making a mess and not appreciating what they have.  My goal is to put most of their things in storage and let them have a few things out.  They can swap things out, but they can only have a set number of things out at one time. 

On that note, I was thinking this morning.  This whole week they have had duplo blocks to play with and not much else.  WD is 9, so he doesn't play with duplo blocks much.  You know what?  They have had the best time with those blocks.  They did play outside and we did go out some.  They played other things, but mostly their toys have been limited to the blocks and what they have in their rooms.  What does this prove?  Less is more. 

This is the beginning of our new shelving.  More to come.

WE.W-Part 6

The kids and I started painting yesterday.  I finished up today.  It is finished!!!!!! Yay!!!!!   Tonight, Lord willing the shelving will go up and some furninture will be assembled.  Tomorrow will be the big organizing day.  I probably won't be able to get it all the way I want in one day, but I should be able to make it useable for LE's birthday party on Saturday.  We will see. 

A few more pictures...

It is hard to see in the picture, but we painted a very pale blue.  The finished product:

W.E.W part 5--Primed and Sprayed

Last night while the kids and I were at VBS, hubby sprayed the ceiling in the playroom and primed the walls.  When I got home I moved all the junk either to the center of the room or out in the hall.  Very overwhelming!!!!  We have way too much stuff.  I am hoping in the next few weeks to "weed out" what we don't need. Today, I finished taping the trim, sanded a few spots and wiped down the walls.  It is now ready to paint.  We are heading out soon for a doctor's appointment for LE.  Then we will come home and paint.  Lord willing, we will have the painting finished today.  I can't wait. 

A couple of pics.  It is hard to tell what they are of because everything is white. 

Weekend Warriors-Part3(and 4)

The wall is down and the last coat of spackle is finished.  Sunday and Monday were sanding and spackling days.  That means waiting days.  You can't do much while waiting for spackle to dry.  While the kids and I were at VBS last night hubby did the last coat of spackle, patched the rug and started patching the trim.  Tonight, he will finish sanding and prime.  Lord willing, he will spray the ceiling.  If all goes well the kids and I can paint tomorrow.  LE has a dr. appointment at 11, so that might interfere a little.  We will see.  My plan is to have all the work done by Thursday night.  Then Friday we can concentrate on putting the room back together.  We will see how it goes.  School starts in a few weeks.  It will be so nice to have a little more order.  Little by little I am working on cleaning out, re-organizing, and making things simple.

Weekend Warriors-Part 2 "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down"

Actually, they came tearing down...with a crowbar.  Progress is a little slow due to having to wait 24 hours for the spackle to dry.  Today hubby took down the rest of the wall, patched the sheetrock, and taped and spackled.   It is coming along.  LE's birthday is Saturday.  My hope is that it will be all done before then. 

Weekend Warriors-Part 1

Well, it will probably turn out to be "Week Warriors."  My wonderful, handyman hubby and I (well, mostly hubby) are remodeling our playroom this weekend.  The biggest project is tearing out the existing closet which will be replaced by a free-standing storage cabinet, book shelves and wall shelves.  Tonight, hubby pulled off the sheet rock and removed some boards.  I taped plastic to the walls to keep the dust off all of our junk (we have a lot of it) and mask off the walls for when we spray the ceilings.

Here are a few pictures.  Again, I don't claim to be a photographer.  I don't know what I did to make them so blurry.  I hope the rest will come out a little better. 

A walk with the kids

It has been a great summer thus far.  It is going by too quickly, but it has been great!!!!  Usually by now I am saying, "We need to start school.  The kids are running out of things to do. I miss the schedule and routine."  This year has been different.   Last summer I was struggling with some health issues.  Thank the Lord many of those issue has significantly improved.  I feel much better and have been able to take the kids different places...even go for walks.  Today we went to a local biking/walking path along a river for about a 3 mile walk.  WD rode his bike while LE and I walked.  LE was pretty worn out half way through, but she kept going with some encouraging a short piggy back ride from mom.  When we were almost to the van, we took a break and found a nice spot by the river to soak our feet.  LE decided she wanted to soak more than her feet.  She practically sat in the water.  It was so nice just sitting there enjoyed God's creation and each other. 

 And they started out running.

Soaking our weary piggies.  

Still dry...soon sitting in the water.

LE had fun covering her feet with mud.  WD didn't even want to take his shoes off.  He eventually came around and got in the water.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."--Ps 127:3