Our Sunroom
Here is a post dedicated to our [almost] completed sunroom. I told you all that I would let you see the rooms of our home as they are finished and I am just not patient enough to wait for the few things we have left in this one! Here is a picture of what it looked like when we moved in:
mustard-y tan walls and vinyl flooring…so not working for us. We actually changed it to light blue first and some of our friends painted it for us right after we moved. We weren’t feeling that either though, so finally we decided on a light gray around the first of this year (after a year and a half of living here.) At first I thought gray would be dull and boring for a sunroom, but I love it. Our floor is laminate that matches our kitchen – I love it too! While I love blue and have it all over my house, I decided that since I’ll be using the sunroom as my “studio” partly I want something fun that is just for me and I’m going with pink accents for now.
The white cabinet holds all of my fabric and ribbons and part of my yarn. The laundry “room” is also in the sunroom and we have folding doors that go on there, but they aren’t up yet. I have blue accents in there because I know I’ll never tire of blue! *Edited to add – I forgot to talk about the blue window! This is a window that was originally in this house and they were all piled up when we moved in. I wanted to do something fun with one, so I scraped it a little to make it rough looking, then spray painted it blue and added a mist of white. In person it looks kind of speckled. I also added 3 hooks at the bottom which will hold small bags for rags and single socks. The words above the window are from Uppercase Living and I bought them long before we bought the house, but they were a perfect fit in there!* Right next to our sliding door we hung the coat racks. We found this winter that these are VERY useful:) Eventually we will have a shoe bench there as well, but someone is going to have to build one! I know what I want to make, just haven’t had the time and supplies.
On the other side of the room is my workspace. My sewing desk, a handme down from a friend is working out great, even if it isn’t white. It had a little round table with it that now has “stuff to get rid of” under it and my Epic 6 cutter on top. Above it you can see the owl family tree that I made. I bought the chair from a local thrift store and painted it white and recovered it with cute fabric (Kokka Trefle Schoolhouse/Playground) that matches my bulletin board that I also made. I realized while redoing this chair that I do not like to redo furniture and I do not like to paint furniture. I don’t mind the recovering part, but the painting and sanding and what-have-you is not fun. The chair has lots of mistakes too, but it will do… We have to replace the ceiling fan with a white one, fix the step up into the kitchen, and paint the trim around the windows, but I am very happy with the way the room has turned out. I like to just go out and sit there and look around. Eventually, it might be nice to have a big chair or loveseat out there for visiting or to accmodate children while I’m working. This room also goes out onto the deck/backyard and I can sit out there crafting while watching the kids play. Perfect!
Next up – hopefully tomorrow – GARDENING!
Filed under House Remodel, Other Crafts | Comment (1)2009 in Review
I wanted to highlight some of my favorite moments of 2009 for posterity and I saw a few others blog in this manner this week, so I’m going to copy. I’ve never been one to come up with my own ideas, but I really enjoy taking others!! ;)
January – We celebrated Kristopher and Kody’s birthday quietly with dinner and some cake. Kristopher didn’t get to have a party this year. At the end of the month Western KY was hit by a huge ice storm and we were without electricity and water for almost a week. Our gas fireplace kept us warm and we had to find non-electronical things to occupy our time with. The nights were long since it got dark earlier and we sat around playing cards by candlelight and went to bed pretty early. It was nice to spend so much time together, but we were glad when we could take showers again!
February – Kristopher participated in his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. He built his car with some help from Kody, to look like a green pickup truck. It won the prize for most realistic vehicle. Unfortunately it didn’t win in the speed category. We still had a lot of fun with it and the whole family was able to be there:)
March – We started working outside a lot in March, trying to clean up and clear some of our property. The first thing to go was this little old shed. There were two of them right behind our house and we decided to only keep the bigger, nicer one.
April – We had a great Easter, but looking back through my pictures these are some of my favorite memories. The first is of our very dear friends. We hung out with them too many times to count over the year, this is just one of them. Kody found many turtles when he was out clearing the yard or mowing and this is one of them. We thought afterward when we found others that we should have tagged him so we could count how many we actually had. A few we were able to tell some differences. I also have to include this picture of Kameron. He was toted to many soccer games in the spring and he enjoyed playing on the blanket and discovering grass!
May – We bought a new refrigerator this month because we were tired of the old one leaking onto our new floor and ruining it. We really like the new one! Taylor played her first season of soccer this spring and she loves it. I hope she continues to like it or some form of physical activity. She really enjoys being outside and running though, so I think she’ll keep it up for awhile. We also finished Taylor’s room this month.
June – The only memorable thing I could see in pictures this month is that we went to Kody’s cousin Amy and her new husband Jim’s wedding reception. We all had a lot of fun there. Oh yeah…I celebrated my birthday this month too, don’t really remember it though…I think I was getting things ready to teach a week of VBS at church:)
July – So many beautiful memories this month, I took hundreds of pictures! We went to the Independence Day parade and Kristopher walked in it and threw candy with his cubscout pack. We made a trip to Louisville and visited with Grandpa and got to do many things. We spent many days at my in law’s house playing oustide in the garden. But my most favorite memories from this month are of my sweet boy and his cute chubby little hands and feet. I want to remember this forever…
August – This month we started a new adventure…Homeschool. We were unsure of ourselves and wondered if we made the right decision, especially with some of the people we had questioning us. After the last few months of living the homeschooling life, even with the hard days, I wouldn’t trade it back for anything. I really am glad we dove in and tried this and I’m so glad that it is working for our family. I am also very thankful for our support network of families doing the same thing!
September – We celebrated Kameron’s first birthday and Taylor’s fourth all in the same week. It was a busy week that dominated the month in time, energy and pictures!
October – Kristopher learned to ride his bike around the end of August and one of our favorite things to do this fall has been to take a walk/bike ride. The kids hop on their bikes (Taylor’s in a tricycle), Kameron is in the stroller and Kody and I walk. Our street is perfect for family time like this and we all enjoy it. I just love looking at this picture of my “big kids” on their “bikes”. It makes me smile inside!
November – Kristopher and Taylor were outside playing so much at the beginning of this month because it was still so warm. This particular day they decided, on their own, to have a picnic. They covered this old stone well with a picnic blanket, got their little chairs set up and then came and ordered some food. It was fun to watch them with their own ideas:) This month I also participated in a Craft Bazaar at my church – I had a table set up with my handmade things and one for the Usborne books I started selling in August. I really like the books and it has been fun selling them.
December – Christmas was lots of fun and I have so many pictures of decorations and presents being unwrapped, but I don’t think those things will be the ones my mind remembers. The homeschool group that I am in had a birthday party for Jesus (I helped a bit with the organization of it) that the kids all enjoyed. We had crafts, food, cake, bible story, games; what more could you want? We also started tearing up our little bathroom (the kids/guest bathroom) so that we can make it bigger and nicer. It will probably be a work in progress for sometime, but at least it got started! Kristopher was in the older kids musical at church this year and he played the part of a man who lost all his belongings in a fire. He didn’t have any lines to remember, so it waas pretty easy. He did a great job singing too! Taylor also sang before the big kids with the preschool choir. She loves to sing, but I’m not so sure about the being in front of people. Her face is fun to watch.
It was a great year and I feel like we got a lot accomplished not only in our “needs work house”, but in our lives. I feel like we all have grown in our walk with Christ this year and that we have grown closer as a family as well. We still have our issues (doesn’t everybody?) but we’re headed in the right direction. I hope 2009 was the same way for you! Happy 2010 everyone!
Filed under Holidays, Homeschool, House Remodel, Kids, News | Comment (0)Furniture Dreams
As many of you have seen, we don’t have much furniture in our house and the stuff we do have is mostly O-L-D and boring. We have mattresses on the floor instead of a proper bed. Our office shelving is black plastic garage shelves and our couch has to be covered because the cushions are missing their actual covers. We have limited seating and not enough seating in the kitchen for 5 people (what our family comprises) and the sunroom is devoid of anything (aside from a pile of clothing that doesn’t fit and knick knacks that need to be given away!) Boring! The kids area is the most complete here, but still needs a few things as well.
I have been keeping a list of the furniture items that I find that I think would have a place in our home and I wanted to share. I think it’s fun to see what other people would put in their houses. In fact I think it would be really fun to be a personal shopper and assist people with making their purchases and beautifying their home. Of course, first, I’d like to be my own personal shopper…with an unlimited budget! So, here’s what I would buy to spruce up our house as far as furniture:
First, I would go to Z Gallerie and buy a bedroom suite for our room. I visited the store at Oxmoor Center this summer and fell in love with the Jett Platform bed. I’d get that and the matching dresser and nightstand. Then for the closet that is going to be transformed into a reading nook in our bedroom, I would buy a comfy chair such as this Barrington Chair from JC Penney in the chocolate brown color.
Moving on to the living room, I would first be looking for a sectional couch. We really need seating that can view both the fireplace and television (for movies) without having to strain your neck. I also want to have lots of seating since I host meetings and home parties pretty often and I would like to have friends over more. When people come over they like to have a place to sit down, and while I don’t mind sitting on the floor all the time, I know some people would rather a chair. :) So, I like the Barrington sectional group from JC Penny that matches the chair that would be in the bedroom. I also like this build your own sectional from Pottery Barn that lets you pick exactly what you want. That is the look I’m going for though – inviting and comfortable, but not too overly plush and not so minimalistic that you feel like you’re sitting on boards. Anyway, those two look like what I want. Then in the corner I’d like to have a sleeper chair with a storage ottoman, like this one from JC Penney. I have been eyeing this chair for about 4 years now. Or if that wouldn’t fit well, I would take this Soho chair because I really like it and can’t think of any other place to put it! It only comes in the light blue which would be okay since our living room is khaki and navy, but it wouldn’t be as matchy as I normaly like. So, now that I’ve picked my seating I need some tables! I really want a sofa table, you know the ones that go behind your sofa? But, I could take it or leave it. Since we have several feet of space between the sofa and windows it would be nice to have something there. Either a table for us or a kids play table under the windows. On either side of the windows I currently have mismatched bookshelves that do what they need to, but I have wanted some of the leaning bookshelves for several years like these from Penneys or these from Pottery Barn. A small end table/by the door table would be nice as well, but I don’t currently have one picked out. It would just need to be something simple. The last thing the living room needs is a rug or three. We have a rug now, but it was a $50 rug to hold us over until I could get the one I wanted: The Emma Rug from Pottery Barn. During my search now I found that it is gone. I found a few of the runners and small 3×5 rugs on ebay, but my dream rug is gone! Sad day:( Anyway, I will keep looking and hopefully be able to find it somewhere so that it can live in my house someday…
All Taylor needs in her room is a big girl bed. My personal favorite would be this white daybed with a trundle so she can have friends over to sleep, but really any pretty white bed would do. The rest of her furniture is white so it needs to match:) Kristopher & Kameron will soon be sharing a room and we have decided that they need bunk beds to maximize floor space. We want nice solid wood ones and while these pirate ship themed ones are perfect for the current room plan we’ll probably go with plain ones like these if we can get them! I just rembered that something like this might work too, since basically all they’d need is incorporated into the bed area. If each boy had this the rest of the floor space would be play area…I think. If we do the plain bunk beds the boys would need some toy storage, a book shelf and a matching dresser, although they both have their own dressers now so that isn’t a big deal.
The last two rooms are the sunroom and the office. They are kind of going together in my mind because I am planning to use the sunroom (which also houses the laundry in a side area) for lounging, crafting and a catch all/hang it all up area. Over by the sliding door will be hooks for jackets, backpacks, keys and what I like to call “leaving the house paraphenalia”. There will also possibly be a small shoe rack for a few pairs of boots or outside shoes. Then on the other side of the laundry “closet” I want some kind of tall cabinet/shelf system for many of my crafting supplies. I’ve seen several that I like, but nothing screamed at me yet. Also in this room I would like this desk available at amazon.
And to go with it – my dream chair from Pottery Barn. Kody will probably get to figure out all the office (unless he picks ugly stuff!! haha!), and I already have a desk in there that I like okay. We’ll just need a school desk for the kids that is big enough for more than one child to use. I have the idea in my head of what I want, but haven’t seen it exactly like I like anywhere. I want a big table top with book shelves on either end for their school books. I want them to be able to sit and work comfortably and happily together whether they cooperate with my idea or not it should at least be possible. Also I want a wall cabinet over the desk with art supplies so little hands can’t get them out themselves and color all over the walls. This room divider wants to be in our house too…not sure where though!
Anyway, I could sit and talk about my house decorating ideas and things I want all day. I’m trying to be content, but I just needed to put all this down and get it out of my head. I’m sure the house will slowly turn into what I want, it’s just hard to see some days. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading and browsing! Sorry I took you all over the place!!
Filed under House Remodel, News | Comment (0)Taylor’s Room
We finally have Taylor’s room finished with furniture and everything the way it will be until she moves into a twin bed! That may be sometime in the next year, but I wanted to finally post something with before and after shots.
When we first came to look at the house we took pictures, so we could remember and show the house to people when we talked about it. We really thought this was the one when we first saw it, so we were excited. However Kody was the one taking the pictures so he took more of some things than others… Taylor’s room to be only got this one shot. You can see that it has blue walls and cream trim. The closet door had a deadbolt instead of a doorknob. You can’t see the light, but it was an ugly rectangular flourescent fixture that probably belonged inside a shop more than a bedroom;) There was also a hole cut in the wall behind the door (presumably to get into the attic space), but it wasn’t finished and just sat there open leaking air and bugs.
Her room has been mostly finished for some time, but we just got her dresser and bookshelf last week so I didn’t want to post pictures of all her stuff sitting on the floor looking messy;) Her walls are now lavender with white trim (which she picked out). She has lovely silver doorknobs on the closet and door to the hall (curtousey of Grandpa). The light fixture is now a pretty silver one, which I don’t have in a photo here. The dresser, bookshelf and toy rack are all from Target. We’re thinking that by the time she gets a twin bed she might be done with the kitchen so that will give her more room there. She has my old desk from my aunt and uncle which I loved and Kristopher used, but is really too big for now. I still would like to change the color again, but we’ll see if I get time for that! Some other things you can see in her room are special to me and I hope that they will become special to her someday: cross stitched picture of ballerinas done by my grandmother for my mom when she was little; my mirror from when I was little, a box that I handpainted for her last summer with her name on it; a hat rack made for her when she was born, by my best friend:); a doll cradle given to me by my grandparents when I was young; and a Hairbow holder that I made for her (this morning) using one of our wedding frames.
I guess the room isn’t still totally finished;) Her mirror still needs to be hung. I have the fabric here to make her a twin sized quilt. It is from Moda’s Full Moon Forrest line. When I do that I will also be making white curtains with patchwork trim to match. I am really excited about those things and can’t wait to get started if I get a little time and a clean office to start in! I have enjoyed making her room into a beautiful place and I hope that she enjoys her own space for years to come. She has been spending a lot of time up there since we put her furniture in and got all her toys organized!
Have a great day everybody!
Filed under House Remodel, Kids | Comment (1)No pictures yet
Hey everyone!
Sorry it’s been awhile since I posted. We have been working on the house all the time it seems like and there is still so much to be done. It does look a lot different though and I have been taking some pictures. Our office hasn’t even been started really, though, and so I don’t have all my things put together for uploading pictures. Eventually I will get some on here though! Yesterday was a good work day. I feel like a lot was accomplished. But with all the work came a big mess and so I am spending most of today cleaning. Hopefully by next week we’ll be able to actually move in most of out furniture and get some things organized and be able to use them again. Both of the kids rooms are painted now (except for the trim) and they look very nice. After I get the floors upstairs cleaned I can start decorating and getting their lives back to some degree of normalcy:) I think they’ve been having some trouble with the whole idea of not having their things in place and it’s been causing some stress here. Hopefully having their own space will help out a lot (even if they don’t sleep up there yet!)
Well I just wanted to put a quick update on here. I’ve got to try to finish as much as I can while Kristopher is at school today. Things get a little more difficult when he gets home so I don’t get as much done. He hasn’t liked school or anything as much the last month and it’s trying for everybody here. We’re hoping to find something that he does like to occupy some of his free time, since right now all he wants to do is play video games, which isn’t going to happen. We’re going to go to a cub scout meeting in September to see if he might like to do that. He has said he wants to go and see what they do. It looks like they have a lot of fun activities planned for the fall that he might enjoy.
I’ll try to post again soon – hopefully with pictures! Have a great week everyone:)
Filed under House Remodel, News | Comment (0)