Joey's New Room

About a year ago, I was inspired to build bunk beds for Joey.  Yes, build.  Like with wood and tools.  And my pregnant self was flying solo because my husband didn't quite share my vision.  It took several weeks but I managed to get all of the pieces cut, put together, and primed.  I assembled the bottom bunk in Joey's room and (oops!) they didn't quite fit.  Well, they fit, but since the room has two walls of windows, the only place that they "fit" was in front of a window, which just didn't look right.  Plus she would kick the blinds with her feet and I really didn't want them to fall on her.  So I didn't even bother to assemble the top bunk. 

Since I was pregnant with Charlotte at the time, this project went on the back burner.  But almost a year later, after several months of looking at Joey's incomplete bed and the pieces of the top bunk scattered throughout the house, I needed to check this project of my list.

I realized that Joey's bunk beds would fit better in our office/guest room, and when I suggested the idea to Paul he wasn't opposed to it.  Although the room is smaller, it has more wall space which was needed for the beds.  The room needed some work, though.  The walls needed to be painted (green, since it's Joey's favorite color), the ceiling needed to be scraped, sanded, and repainted, and all of the trim needed to be painted because it was a lovely shade of dinge.

We decided to tackle this project over Memorial Day weekend.

Our plans were to get started Friday night since Joey was sleeping at a friend's house.  We weren't fond of the popcorn-textured ceiling, so Paul's task was to scrape, sand, and paint it.  We cleared most of the furniture out of the room, but Paul wasn't feeling well thanks to something that he *ahem* consumed, so the ceiling didn't get done that night.

Paul was feeling better Saturday morning, so he got to work on the ceiling while Charlotte and I bought our paint.  Joey wanted her room to be green, her favorite color, so we wanted a green that flowed well with the rest of the house, was youthful, and not too bright.  We settled on Laura Ashley Apple 4 (available at Lowe's), but had it mixed in Glidden at The Home Depot to save some money.  Saturday was spent working on the ceiling, painting the walls, and painting the trim.  That seriously took all day.  Things take twice as long when you have children to tend to!

Disassembling the desk

Charlotte and Macy checking out the action

After scraping and sanding the ceiling

Fresh paint

On Sunday, we painted more trim and Paul painted the ceiling.  We then set up her bunk beds in her new room.  That was fun.  Fortunately our neighbors had company and we were able to borrow some manpower to lift the top bunk into place.  It was heavy as all get out.

On Monday, while Paul was at the park with both girls, I painted the beds and moved the girls' dresser in.  When he returned we attached the beds, installed the rails on the top bunk, and moved the mattresses in.  I've realized that making the bed on the top bunk is really a chore, so if you have some tips please share!

Voila!  Joey's beds:  a year in the making! 

There is still work to be done.  In Joey's old room, she didn't have a place for books, besides the messy pile next to her bed (her books are kept with the grown-up books in the living room).  I saw a blog post about using Ikea spice racks as book holders and thought that they would be great in Joey's new room.  Paul happened to be in Atlanta for business a few weeks ago and actually offered to go to Ikea to purchase some of these spice racks.  We'll be mounting them on the wall soon.

We'll need to hang Joey's responsibility chart and the clock that she wanted for her birthday, and Picasso line drawings from her old room.

Right now Charlotte's crib is still in Joey's old room, our new office/play room/guest room.  But cribs are temporary, and when she's big enough to sleep in a big girl bed she can have the top bunk.  Kidding.

All of the work that we've put into Joey's new room has been totally worth it.  She is thrilled with her new space.

April

Our little family has had an incredibly busy month.  We have had lots to do nearly every weekend, and in his spare time, Paul has been prepping our house for painting.  April has brought heavy rains and tornadoes to our area, but we survived unscathed.  The May flowers should be spectacular.

House Painting

As our Christmas gift, Paul's parents gave us house painting.  The paint has been purchased and in a few short weeks the Losavio family will be coming to Tuscaloosa to paint our house!  I just hope that my mother-in-law is praying away the rain!

This is what our house looks like now.  Boring.  And in desperate need of new paint.

This is what (we hope) it will look like when it's finished.  Paul modified the above photo using Photoshop.

See how removing the shutters makes the house look larger?

We tested two colors on the back of the house.  We chose the one on the left.  The other one looked too "Smurfy."  Keep in mind that Paul had already begun prepping these windows.  It's going to look worse before it looks better!

The grayish-blue paint that we selected is Poolside by Sherwin-Williams.  The color of our porch will be a dark charcoal, Rock Bottom by Sherwin-Williams.  Our front door will be a bright yellow.

For the next few weeks, our free time will be dedicated to preparing the house for painting.  We have 20 windows that need to be scraped, sanded, and reglazed.  Our siding is asbestos (which isn't really harmful unless you grind it up and snort it) and fortunately it doesn't require much prep work.  The shrubbery at the front of the house will need to be cut back significantly, but probably not removed.

Here's Paul hard at work:

We have an awning covering our back door, which I'd like to keep.  It's currently green, which won't go with the new house color.  Have you ever painted a canvas awning?  What type of paint did you use?