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Decorating

A Quick Home Improvement.

For four years I have wanted to change the way our loft looked.  It wasn’t working for me, but I spent too much time sewing draperies at my table so it needed to be perpendicular to the window to drape the fabrics over the table.

Then, two years ago, the day my little Apple arrived into our lives Opa brought Hubby a desk over.  My understanding was that it was mahogany and it was going to replace the black one we already had.  Hubby’s idea was that it would be his and tuck into the corner and ADD another desk to our two desks we already had in the loft.  I was still hanging out in bed so imagine the shock I got when I finally ventured out of my room.  My already irritating loft just got worse.  And the desk blocked my creativity.

This Fall, I will be watching two of my friends children after school.  Not every day, but possible every day.  We are all looking forward to it as we love these two boys and we think it will be a good experience for everyone.  But, the loft was driving me nuts.  And I was trying to imagine the boys up there doing homework on these desks that were no longer very functional, but piled with papers, boxes and junk.  And yes, that could all be put away, but I lost the inspiration to do that and Hubby just kept leaving the stuff on his desk because (and the desk that is folded down was actually under the window until Saturday when we needed it, it held a lot of stuff that is on my actual sewing table).

Saturday night was my breaking point.  Hubby was scheduled to leave on Monday for a work trip and I was down to my last week of summer to get this loft in shape.  I proposed a quick idea to Hubby that originally only involved going to Ikea and purchasing a bookshelf.  Sunday morning I realized that the wall for the bookshelf wasn’t painted and to get that done would mean removing the bookshelf another time, which of course means it would never get painted. Our new plan needed paint and a bookshelf.  Being Sunday everything opened late so we cleaned out the room then headed out.

My job was to paint the black desk white and Hubby’s was to paint the two white walls Platinum.  Within just a couple of hours we were assembling the bookshelf and loading it up.  It took a complete 24 hours to get it all done, but that includes drying time, children time and sleep time.  If I had only realized that it would only take us that long a couple of years ago I would have done it then.

And now, my creativity is back and I want to use the loft again.  And hopefully homework and playtime will be much more enjoyable, just look at that floor space!  It isn’t my complete ideal, but it is a long way from where it was and every time I walk up the stairs I am happy to see the room instead of angry at it.

*Note: the computer will move to the other white desk sometime next week, the longer we let it cure, the harder the paint will be.  Thus avoiding chips.

7 comments
Categories: Cleaning, Decorating

One word…Hot

What do we do on one of the hottest days of the summer?

We bake chocolate chip cookies that’s what. It just worked out nicely to stay inside, do a few chores, make some cookies and have a nap. Once we finished all of that we went in the pool.

I wanted to take a photo of the newest bunny in the neighbourhood, but it got away before I could get my camera out. I know bunnies are cute, but when they eat half your garden and make your dogs crazy, they aren’t so much fun. My neighbour is trying to catch them, but he has had no success yet. Will see if he can catch and release them all before winter sets in. Either way I will be wrapping all the plants and shrubs in chicken wire this fall.

Thank you all so much on your wonderful comments on the baby’s room. I do love it and have already found and picked up a few more little things to decorate. J was a little sad that Hubby hadn’t painted his room yet. And although Hubby wasn’t going to do it right now, I reminded him that A’s room was painted and the baby’s room was painted, it is only fair that J’s room gets painted too. When J was born we did A’s room too so he wouldn’t fell left out. So now, we will paint J’s room. Hooray!!! That will leave only our room, the bathrooms and the stairway to paint, this is a huge step. We only finished painting our last house when it was time to sell. My Dad keeps offering, but Hubby wants to do it all.

Now, I am off to have some cookies and head up to bed, to read of course before falling asleep. I won’t have much time for reading soon, I need to finish up the last few books on my nightstand.

7 comments
Categories: Decorating

Pink, Pink and more Pink

I know the walls are bare, but I just haven’t found the right things to put up yet. I think we definately need a shelf or two and something to match the little green surfboard pegrack on the window sill (that will be hung near the door when I get to it). I need to pick up a dresser for J’s room and move over the baby sized dresser from his room to here. But the essentials are in and the rest can come later on.

The paint colour is Pratt and Lambert “Angel Food” done up in Para Paint, wall and trim, eggshell in matte finish (say all that in one breath). Now Para is a Canadian company, but I thought I should be specific with what we used as I have had inquiries before. Truthfully, Hubby and I usually just go for eggshell finish in a basic latex. But, my Father, the painter by-trade, picked up the paint for us and decided that this was the best finish for the baby’s room. And he was right. The matte look makes it look even softer than expected. And I think I mentioned that I never thought I would choose pink for a bedroom, I am much more a purple girl, but this one just kept coming back to me.
Add to that the fact that my Mother picked me up this wonderful quilt down at the beach. I was looking for something beachy like the ones from Pottery Barn, but since PBK doesn’t ship to Canada and they don’t have one close to the beach, I went with this one. It has cute little Angels on it and the colours were great. A little of everything. The pinks in it matched the paint colour perfectly so that is how the room came to be pink. My Mom also picked up some sheets at PBK in Nashville (had I only known she would go there). They are called Tropical Toile. In other words toile done up, beach style. Sadly the beach line at PBK has now been discontinued (at least online, but my Sister is on the lookout for some stuff on sale) so I cannot pick up anymore Tropical Toile or all things beach at this time.

And I wanted to address the fact that there is a crib and a bed already. I did this for J too, had a bed in his room from the get go. It makes nursing at night so much easier and on those nights when the baby just won’t settle, I don’t have to keep Hubby up till all hours when he needs to go to work the next day. This was the deal I made when we agreed that I would not have to go back to work. I do all the night time duties and he gets to sleep. Some of my friends think that is awful and he should have to get up too, but I disagree. First of all, I am nursing these babies, and second of all he works hard so we can have me stay home with them, so I let him sleep. A lot of his friends were jealous when he was coming to work all refreshed and they were up all night with their kids, but I felt better knowing he could function. I don’t have important meetings and only have to impress myself so it was ok if I was functioning at half mast.

So, this is the baby’s room… She is getting ready to arrive as we only have four weeks left, but I think she might arrive just a few days or so early. Just my hunch.

15 comments
Categories: Baby, Decorating