Media Room progress...

We've had some delays. Rhyan rolled his ankle during a Friday morning basketball game before work. Actually, it was stomped on by an overzealous opponent. He needed a day or two to recover. Nine days later, the poor guy is still limping and his ankle and foot are still purple. Yeeeouch!

This wall is the only one without drywall. We have to install a cold air return vent here directly to the furnace. That is what is pictured on the other side of the wall studs. The previous owners finished the basement themselves and did not install one. That is against building codes and it makes for a very chilly movie night! Papa Joe will swoop in and do this for us!

That's Miss Anna entertaining herself while I sort through toys!

Getting rid of this pile of stress was very liberating! I sorted and organized and ended up with 8 boxes of toys for a garage sale.

E-I-G-H-T B-O-X-E-S!!!

That will be added to the other gazillion bags and boxes

of toys for the yearly garage sale on Highland.

I was brutal while going through the toys after Christmas.

Brutal for three reasons:

1.) My children are blessed and don't play with most of what they have.

                    2.) We are remodeling both of the kids' rooms immediately after finishing the media room. The boys will be moved to the media room during that work which means their

toys will be moved there also.

3.) Excessive amounts of ANYTHING (except quilts) stress me out. Why?

Well, I am the only one who needs them to be tidy and sorted. So I am the ONLY

one who does it, ummmm, shall we say, my way? That's right. So, when there is

too much for me to pick up, I sell or donate.

This is the area under the stairs in the media room. I close the door and

get happy again! Ahhhhhh! I love order! (Insert long exhale and sigh of relief here.)

The toys the children are able to keep are here. They each have spots in their rooms

and two baskets in the sunroom.

The "toy closet" is behind this wall. We couldn't even see the floor in that space a week ago.

But now, that wall looks like this:

Yeah! We already love the difference and the drywall isn't even finished.

The most difficult sheet goes up right the first time! I was most impressed with Rhyan's skills.

He got this right on the first cut! He had to mention that only master professional drywallers (yeah, but babe, you're an attorney) can get a sheet cut like that on the first shot! I guess drywalling is like riding a bike...once one learns, one never forgets!

Isn't that impressive?

And this?

But...not this.

Yep, that happened when I tried to  pretend to be a master professional drywaller help.

Rhyan wanted his dad to know who did that.

Not nice.

HGTV - Candice Olson (?)

Ikea Expedit...because it fits the budget and looks pretty good.

-House Beautiful-

Woodsy brown walls with some rustic glamour thrown in.

This room is just right!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Emily



Progress?

When I take on any new project in my home,

things get worse before they

get better. 

For example...painted pine TNG (tongue and groove). We thought we could paint it white and love it. We.did.not.love.it.

It was a little more shabby than chic for my taste. So, we decided to remove all of the TNG from the walls and leave the ceiling. The TNG will be replaced with drywall. Have I mentioned that Papa Joe is a contractor and that includes some major drywalling skills? Well, hubby grew up drywalling and is going to take care of this little project for us. I am sure that his dad (AKA Papa Joe) will be there to supervise and lend a helping hand!

Our three children watched this classic. Rhyan and Benny take turns reciting their fav quotes throughout the movie. Yesiree, we raise 'em up right around here!

After three solid hours of work, a few blisters, a small wound on hubby's hand, and a broken pair of pliers, we saw a whole lot of, well...not the progress we imagined.

These are only some of the pieces we are hoping to reuse. We use a black sharpie to write on the back of the pieces. We are very specific about naming the exact location of anything that we remove and plan to use again in the future in the same location. I made the mistake, only once, of removing trim to refinish it and we NEVER got those pieces of trim correctly placed again.

We called it quits at 7:30. After a quick vacuum (there were wood splinters everywhere) we all headed upstairs for a snack before bedtime. Once we had the children to bed, hubby ever so cautiously mentioned to me that we really should have a major media room pick-up before starting the next wall. I guess I have to agree with him!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Emily

Creativity block

The holidays are over. I made it. After a number of holiday gatherings from mid-November through the end of December, I am finally beginning to feel some energy creep back into my bones. I started running again. I didn't do much of any type of exercise for myself over the holidays. So, now that I have my running shoes pounding the pavement, I should also hear the sound of my painting shoes running around my house. Nope. Not yet. I feel a block. A big one. After more than two years in our home it hit me. The logs and planks that I love so much are exactly what is choking the creativity out of me. I am stuck and stuck darn good. So, I decided that I would enlist help from a local designer to help me with paint colors. My home is not all logs. We have a lot of drywall as well. It is absolutely frightening to choose paints colors to go with the logs. Why? What is so scary? Of all of the rooms that I have chosen a color for and painted, there isn't one, that I have left untouched or plan to leave untouched. Not one of them. They all look too orange or yellow or drab. I asked for her help and she did state that it is very difficult to accomplish this task. I told her I couldn't waste spend anymore money on Benjamin Moore paints only to have to paint it again, and in some rooms, a third time. Some say it is just paint. I say it is money down the drain. I will be tackling several rooms at once. One thing leads to another as most of you know. By golly, I can't do one room in this house without doing three! Here is some inspiration for me.

Courtesy of Cottage Living

A little kitchen cabinet  re-do

Image via pinterest

Nursery turns 4 soon! It is time for a big girl bed!

Image via pinterest

She loves pink. I am thinking a bit more bold this time around. It suits her personality!

Image via Pottery Barn Kids

Walls are coming down making two small rooms into one large room for the boys!

Thanks for stopping!

~Emily

Wow! A Reveal!

Two weeks ago, hubby and I took a trip to ikea. We (though it was mostly me) decided that in order for me to keep my sanity and money in our pockets, we needed to rethink our furniture set up. You see, I am in love with white slipcovers. I have been for YEARS. But, I have three children and two dogs. It is easy to keep them clean because they are machine washable. Yes indeed. However, after less than three years of washing and heavy use, our Pottery Barn Charleston sofa in the white denim started to give out. It frayed and then frayed some more. It wasn't a good look for our home. Nope, not good. After pricing out a new white slipcover for the PB charleston ($800 + yikes!) We decided to move the charleston to the soon-to-be remodeled media room in our basement where it would receive less abuse from children. We opted to change it up. We took a day to head to Chicago and purchase an Ektorp sofa and chair from Ikea. I had to have the white slipcovers, of course. My reasoning behind this sorta kinda splurge is that I can replace the chair cover for $29 and the sofa for $49. I have spares for when I have company (you know, the I-knew-you-were-coming-so-I-put-the-good-slipcovers-on-the-furniture kind of company). In other words, the momma can relax when the kids and the dogs want to eat, drink, and be merry! It was a good choice.

Theres the pb sofa waiting for quieter days. Mr. LOH begins putting the new furniture together...with a few helpers, naturally.

The guts of the ektorp chair. That is a Pottery Barn Basic chair next to it. They are remarkably the same in appearance, but that's where it stops. Our pb chair will find itself moving to the future library of our home.

Gotta love free help!

Our dining room became our tv room for the kids. Sofa is Ikea Ektorp. Ottoman is Pottery Barn Basic in white denim. Area rug and green nesting tables are also Pottery Barn.

I know the walls are empty. I was so happy to get this done, the pics and accessories had to wait.

I will post when I have added them.

Ikea Ektorp chair with white slipcover.

I had this little sweater pillow from last year. It actually goes on our bed, but after all of the work, I felt like I should throw in some winter cheer!

Our dining table was pushed over. It was in the room that is now the kids' tv room. That is the chandelier sitting on top of it. It is now next to the kitchen. I admit that it wasn't used at all in the other room. Outta sight = outta mind.

Our empty front room now. It still kinda looks this way! That is our black front door near the fireplace. This room is looooong and narrow. I have big plans, baby! Come back soon!

Thanks for stopping!

~Emily

I tried something different and I love it!

I am in love with Mrs. Meyers laundry detergent! I decided to try it even though it goes over my budget...a teeny bit. I bought the basil scent and find it wonderful. I have to get used to the smell. Everytime I move, I get a whiff of that sweet basil and wonder why oh why didn't I make the switch before? A friend gave me a recipe to make my own laundry detergent. I can add essential oils for a scent. I plan to do that and I will let you know which one I prefer. This recipe is for 5 (five!) gallons of detergent at 60 cents a gallon. Not bad on the budget if you know what I mean. I was totally outta detergent so that is why I bought the Mrs. Meyers. I have to order the ingredients for making my own. Will get back to you on that! For now, I must get back to rolling in the scent of sweet basil!

Smiles,
Emily

Big Ben's room!

I think I mentioned before that Ben's room is the previous master bedroom. This last photo is of the former master closet. We plan to remove the wall between the two rooms and make it a huge room for the boys. My oldest son, Isaiah also sleeps here.

~Emily

My daughter's nursery

My daughter will be three in September. I have only just started to think about her BIG GIRL room. She loves pink so the walls will probably remain the same but I plan to paint the trim and the planks on the wall. See that little lamp on the table. I made that myself!
Thanks for stopping!
~Emily