Field of Daisies

Zach's Room - Completed! (...mostly...)

Well, whatya know!?! We completed Zach's room remodeling last night--for the most part. He still doesn't have a bed, but one is on the way and should arrive on Friday.

Zach still has some bags of things to go through to complete the organization process, but the walls and ceiling are painted and his room is functional again. We even hung two huge posters in his room this afternoon, and of course I will be adding little decorative nuances over the next few weeks.

It's not the Trading Spaces event to end all events, but I dare say even Paige Davis would be impressed with our efforts!

Zach's Room: Day 2

Well, we are on to day 2 in our current remodeling project! We didn't get as far as I had hoped yesterday--no surprise there! (Removing the wallpaper border took far longer than we had anticipated!) But we did get the room cleared out, the wallpaper taken down, and two coats of primer up on the walls.

Today, the plan is to paint the ceiling and the walls and clean up. If all goes well, we should be able to "load" the room tomorrow! (Of course I still need to purchase a bed for Zach....)

Keep your fingers crossed!

New Remodeling Project: Zach's Room - Day 1

Yes, we're at it again! This time it's Zach's room that's getting a make-over. Since he is 12 now, we decided that it was time to let go of the primary colored cartoon cars, trucks, and airplanes that have adorned his space for 5-1/2 years now.

We have begun disassembling the room. The bunk bed is already out in the garage, and drawers and shelves have been emptied. The plan for today is to complete the "unloading" process (--that's Trading Spaces lingo!), fill the nail holes, remove the wallpaper border, and apply a coat of primer. (We're keeping our fingers crossed that the red and navy blue will vanish successfully under just one coat of primer....)

We won't be able to accomplish this project in the two days the pros do it on Trading Spaces, but we don't have a designer, a carpenter, or any kind of expert in this area. We're not even hiring a painter this time! All we have it little old us! But the ceiling in Zach's room is only 8', so hopefully we will be able to tackle this task without too much difficulty.

We'll keep you posted!

We're Getting There!

The bedroom is painted. The bedding is on the bed. The curtains and the pictures are hung. The furniture is moved around. And the mantel has been purchased.

So what's left to do? The mantel needs to be painted and bolted to the wall. (I was going to crackle it, but I think I've decided to just paint it--after adding a scrollwork design to it!) I need to purchase a large mirror to go over the mantel. I need to decide how to "decorate" the interior of the mantel (where the fire would go if it was a complete fireplace). And I need to purchase a chair for the corner.

We went shopping for a chair yesterday--for the second time!--and I was exhausted by the whole process! It's nearly impossible to find just what you're looking for at a price you're willing to pay... So I came home without a chair--for the second time....

I still need to return the crackle supplies to Lowe's, which I'll do when I go to find the brick or whatever to decorate the interior of it with.

As for the living room, it is painted as well, and all the furniture is back in place. However, the speaker wire for one of the surround-sound speakers is still dangling conspicuously, and I've determined that we need track lighting over the TV now, because that corner is really dark.

So the process continues.... I'm really ready to get this task completed. (I still don't know how they do it all in two days on Trading Spaces!)

Update on Remodeling...

Well, I think the remodeling is almost finished. Hooray! As of now, all I need is to find a fireplace mantel for the bedroom, a rug/rugs for the bathroom, a picture light (to go over one of my pictures in the living room), and I need to paint a shelf and a picture frame in the bathroom. Then I can say I'm done! I can hardly wait....

The living room looks great--although it is considerably darker in there than it used to be--which explains the need for the light. And the bedroom is beautiful! Of course, the rest of the house is a wreck, but we can't have everything, can we?!? ;-)

I have to admit, the process was not as fun as I had hoped it would be. In fact, it was rather frustrating. It was nothing like Trading Spaces, one of my favorite cable shows. Of course I didn't have a designer, a carpenter, and a crew to help me out! (Maybe next time!)

But the interesting thing is that with all that's gone on in my life these past weeks, the remodeling has been the least important of them all--even though I had been waiting for this to happen since December (--this was my husband's Christmas present to me). In the beginning I was so excited about it, but as things unfolded in my friends' lives, and subsequently, my life these past weeks, this remodeling project took on the colorings of a burden, rather than a joy. Just a reminder, I suppose, that sometimes we get side-tracked in life by things that really aren't all that important.

All the more reason to keep working on my priorities.... People before projects; God before people. Without God, the problems in my friends' lives would be overwhelming, and without friends, there would be no joy at all in the projects. (Who would I show them to?) Yup, keeping the main thing the main thing is the main thing.... Funny, how the older I get the more I realize how little I know.... The learning curve for Life is truly great. No crash courses here. Thankfully I have a God Who sympathizes with my weaknesses, loving me in spite of my slowness in "getting it." :-)

My God is good, all the time...and I am forever grateful!

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

--Hebrews 4:14-16

More Painting Woes!

Day Four of our Two-Day Painting Project:

I was informed this morning by Bobby that he did not recall my telling him the ceiling in the bedroom was to be painted. That wouldn't be a problem except that he's a week behind on jobs and must move on to another job today. He said he would finish everything else here today, and promised he would be back here next week to paint the ceiling in the bedroom.

I must admit I'm a bit perturbed by the situation, but what's a person to do...? Some things are just out of our control. And this is one of those things.

Such is life--especially when one is remodeling...

Painting Woes

The painter came on Monday, but as most remodeling jobs go, there wasn't a drop of paint on the walls by the time he left. (Couldn't get paint.) Tuesday went smoother. Bobby, the painter, got a couple of coats of the red on most of the front rooms--living room, entry way, and hall--but the paint shop spilled a gallon of the bedroom paint and had to start over. Then, as Bobby began trying to pull down the wall border in the bedroom, he ran into more snags. ("I think they put this stuff up here with Elmer's glue!")

As of this writing, I think he's nearly done with the front rooms, and I'm hoping he's started painting the bedroom. I'm not sure where we'll sleep tonight... The living room is in chaos, as is the bedroom--plus, this paint really smells bad!

I still have some shopping to do for bedroom accessories (grin)--plus, now that I've changed the bedroom colors, I must change the bathroom accessories as well... Wouldn'tcha know!

Thing is, I need to get the house back in order by Saturday afternoon, for the big END-OF-SCHOOL party! :-) (If I believed in luck I'd ask for some now!)

More later as the remodeling saga continues...