more new project

The girls and I ripped the carpet out, removed 1.1 million tacks and tack strips, swept and then collapsed. But no carpet remains and the first of the flooring has gone in. I NEVER want carpet in any house. I can't believe how much disgusting stuff is under there.

We tore off the front of that box to see if we could build some drawers. Graedon was convinced there was a dead body hiding in there and closed his eyes until the girls and I reassured him there was just a spider nest and spiders were pouring out. (not really, we're just mean). Turns out there is duct work on the right hand side but plenty of empty space on the left for drawers. Score!

The other room that is storing all the stuff.

First of the flooring!

new project

Remember when I used to do home improvement projects? Well after a looooong break it's back to the grindstone.

First project is to rip out the disgusting carpeting that covers the upstairs. It is the last carpet in the whole house. We'll replace it with the same pine floors in the hallway and new upstairs bathroom.

Then on to the fun part of redecorating/building/remodeling. We haven't touched the upstairs (only to put in a new bathroom) since we moved in 6 years ago. It's time.

Before pictures of Lauren and Ellie's room with disgusting carpet and chipping paint:

Looking in from the hallway. The door to the right will be getting some chalkboard paint. New lighting will also go in as the broken bulb look is out I hear.

 Ellie's bed will be built in and hopefully have some underbed storage. She'll also get a privacy curtain. There's the future chalkboard door.

 Lauren's bed will shrink to a twin size and will feature built in shelves on either side of the headboard.

Closet will be getting a makeover as well and probably a curtain to hide all the clutter.

Anyone else's kids just throw their clean laundry on the floor and just use it out of the pile even though directly across from said pile is the dresser?

The little nook down there will probably get built in dressers or at least more dressers so they can ignore them even more.

Ava and Maddie's room just recently got new paint but will also have the carpet pulled up will be sporting a new look. I'm just not sure what it is yet. But I'm happy to be working on the house again. I have big plans.

just pictures

Just a bunch of pictures I've taken lately. Straight out of the camera with no editing (only cropping).

And then the spring flower pictures. Flowers are so easy to take pictures of. They don't move.

And finally my favorite cloud picture taken while gazing at the end of runway 02 at the Hillsboro Airport.

cover up

Behold the disaster...


After finding a bedskirt in the attic and shoving everything under the bed.


Of course the bedskirt doesn't work very well as there is no boxspring so it's a temporary fix until something better turns up. At least I don't have to look at the mess anymore.

pictures...

These are all straight out of the camera without any editing. I've been working again on manual photography and challenging myself to get the right settings.

gallery wall...

Ever since I repainted the school room, I had a blank stairway wall. I knew I wanted to do a gallery of some sort but didn't quite know where to start.



So this weekend when a pile of frames fell on my feet, I had the idea to just do it. I didn't feel like going shopping so I worked with the frames/pictures I already had. Which turns out is a lot.

My first attempt I didn't get any pictures of. You should be glad. Second attempt.


No thank you. Not really the look I was going for. So I added and subtracted more frames:



I like it better but am still not totally happy with it. I think I need to swap some artwork out and some frames but I don't have anything at the present that will work. I'm going to try to be patient. I'm just glad it's not blank anymore.

kids room

I finally got around to painting the Grae and Molly's room. I did like the color but when we got rid of the toddler beds and bought a bunk bed, the green was too dark for the room. I didn't want to spend any money on paint so I used what I had in the garage (I could probably open my own paint store). So the room went Benjamin Moore's Pale Oak. Same color in my school room, dining room, hallway and living room. Continuity and all that.

Before:











I left the ceiling blue and decided not to add the curtains back in. Now I get to accessorize and find some more storage solutions. Looks like a trip to Ikea is in order!