Organization

The past few days have been cra-aaaaa-zy around here. I’m so sore and tired. My joints are aching.

Wanna know why? Well, too bad, I’m telling you anyway.

Besides deciding to start a rigorous running program (I’m serious, don’t laugh!) Ben and I spent the last few days flip-flopping the office and the guest room. For a point of reference, here’s our floor plan with each room marked.

Before the ol’ flip-a-roonie, the office was “bedroom 5″ and the guest room was “bedroom 4″.

Before we started, our office (bedroom 5) looked like this:

Okay, okay, that’s on a good day. Most of the time the office really has looked like this:

and this…

Aaaand this.

There are names for this. Hoarder comes to mind. Slob. Pack-rat. Um, ya.

…which is why we wanted to flip rooms with the guest bedroom (bedroom 4). You see, the guest bedroom is a lot bigger than the office, which is obviously our biggest issue with sharing an office – we just flat-out don’t have enough space for all the crap.

And it’s also on the 2nd floor instead of the first, so visitors can’t glimpse inside it as easily as they can on the 1st floor. (Most guests don’t go upstairs, but they do go to the bathroom which is right next to the current office, allowing a horrified peek inside the office.)

Only problem with doing a big flip? If you thought the orange office was uninviting, the guest room is far worse.

We’ve affectionately named the guest room, “the smurf blue room”. Can you guess why?

I pretty much quit going into the office as much as possible because the orange was so horrible to look at. I just couldn’t work in there. But now, smurf blue? There’s an even smaller chance I’ll go into that room!

I’ve been wanting to flip rooms for awhile, but besides the daunting task of carrying an overflowing office full of crap upstairs, and the guest furniture downstairs, I also knew there was no-way-in-hades I’d agree to move rooms until we painted the smurf room first.

By some fate that can only be described as a miracle, I actually talked Ben into painting again. And so it began. The great guest room/office flip.

Doesn’t he look so thrilled to be painting?

Ben and I have a pretty good system worked out. He rolls, I cut.

Fortunately we had a 3rd helper to make the job go quicker.

After about a day we were totally finished puttying, painting, cutting, rolling, and edging.

This kind of overhaul really tears apart the entire house though. Here’s the piles of crap we had to maneuver around for the past few days. Matter of fact, we are still maneuvering around all this crap.

Why do things have to get worse before they get better? Check out or b-o-r-i-n-g bathroom off the gameroom (bath 3).

It usually looks like this (extra boring, I know):

But the past few days it’s been spiced up:

I’m sure Silhouette would freak if they knew I was storing my Cameo next to the sink. ::bag over head::

And while I’m talking about random stupid crap totally unrelated to painting, can I just point out the main reason this room was never even considered for either kid?

Hello sneak-out-route! Please don’t tell me you never crawled out a window and jumped off a 1st story roof. This is just asking to be snuck sneaked out of. So ya, hopefully my kids won’t ever read this post and figure this out. Because my Travis, he’s a monkey and would probably jump off the roof tomorrow (at 9 years old) if I let him.

So, back to the post. Where was I? Oh, painting. Right. In case you are wondering about the color, I chose it in about 5 minutes off the Martha Stewart paint card. I wanted something similar to my gray in my living room, but even lighter and super neutral.

So, are you dying to see the big reveal? Ya, me too! I wish it were done! ha. But for now, I’ll at least show you the not-as-messy “progress” report. Here goes nothing.

progress:

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One of the new additions is this hutch that I just stuck on top of my current ikea desk. So far it has worked out great and I’m really diggin’ it.

It is suppose to go on top of my son’s dresser, but I got sick of cleaning piles and piles of legos off it, so I took it away and moved his dresser into his closet. He loves it because now he has more floor space for even more lego messes. The hutch has sat in the guest room unused for a few months, so I decided to try it out on the desk, and I love it!

Here’s the dresser/hutch combo in Travis’s room before I took it all apart and moved it around. (I’ve never showed his room before, so this is a first!)

I love having easy access to my craft supplies.

As for the previous office/future guest room, it’s lookin’ like a fool with it’s pants on the ground still needs a lot of work. And a lot more moving.

So there you have it. Besides a nice dinner, this is pretty much what Ben and I did for our 13th wedding anniversary – we painted and moved. Good times.

before:

progress:

I’ll update as I continue to get this mess cleared up and organized. I so want to paint the orange room now (previous office/new guest room), but I have been promising Kinsey I’ll paint her room *next*, so until her room is painted, I’m not painting any other rooms!

What did you do over the weekend? Hopefully something way more fun than painting and moving!

* linking to Thrifty Decor Chick’s house party

  
Travis; 4 months and Kinsey; 10 months

Aren’t my babies beautiful?

(Portraits compliments of Kristen Duke Photography)
Travis; 9 years and Kinsey; 6 years, 2011

Travis is now 9 (and a half!) and Kinsey turns 7 on the 18th. How time flies!

Before I became a mother, the most received advice from seasoned mothers was to try to enjoy the moments because they pass by so quickly.

They do pass quickly. Even in those moments of solitude, sleep deprivation, crying and whining, and sheer frustration and depression, I knew I’d look back on these little babies and miss them so much!

  
1 month old

And I do miss them. What I’d give to hold my little babies in my arms again, just one more time.

  
2 months old

I wanted a way to remember them and celebrate their little lives, so I decided to have their portrait taken every month for the first year.

  
3 months old

Most people thought I was crazy. I wasn’t crazy, I had vision.

  
4 months old

I tried to explain my big plan to everyone, but most people thought my idea was dumb.

How can me wanting to take as many pictures of my children during the time they grow and change the most in their lives be dumb?

  
6 months

So I kept trudging over to JCPenney, month after month. Sometimes I questioned even myself. It was such a hassle to get the baby ready, go over there, have the pictures taken, go back two weeks later to pick up the prints, and then two weeks after that do it all over again.

  
7 months

But I forged on for a full 12 months. Twice. Good thing I only have two kids!

  
8 months

JCPenney, as well as many other discount photography places will offer coupons for a package of images for around $6-$7. This is the only way I could afford to do this at that time in our young lives.

  
9 months

I absolutely love seeing the transformation in my babies each month. They grow like little weeds the first year, and you can really see the changes after just a month.

10 months (I can’t find Travis’ 10 month digital image anywhere)

I am so glad I stuck it out and had these pictures taken month after month. Though it was a pain, the end results are so worth it.

  
11 months

Finally their first birthday!

One Year! (Can you believe I can’t find Travis’ one year picture either?! We’ve changed computers several times in 9 years and I suppose it just got lost in the shuffle.)

At the end of their first year, I took each of those monthly portraits and had them framed into a one year portrait collage.

I was fortunate to find these frames with the perfect amount of squares already cut from Costco several years ago.

After living in our new home almost a full year, I’ve finally found the perfect home for my childrens first year photos.

I don’t know why it took me so long to decide on this space. I wanted the pictures hung downstairs so I can make sure to see them as much as possible.

The spot between the bookshelves and the laundry room door (that leads to the garage where I go in and out every day) is the perfect spot. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the frames would fit perfectly in that narrow space.

Even though those baby days are long past and our house is now filled with soccer balls and ballet flats, it’s such a blessing to get to see my children as they once were. My children also love looking at themselves as babes and talk about how “cute” they were.

I know it’s a pain, but from personal experience, it was so worth it!

And all my friends who thought I was dumb for dragging myself to JCPenney each month? Now that I’m finally able to show them the finished product; my vision, they wish they had done monthly photos themselves.

And just for fun, here’s a few random cool facts about my first year with each of my babies:

After Travis’ 8 month pictures were taken, JCPenney loved this one pose so much that they asked us if they could print a large one to display in their studio! They had it up for *I think* about a year. Once they were finished with it they called me and gave me the picture for free! It now hangs in Travis’ room.

This picture of Travis and his daddy is just too sweet to not post for you guys to see. Travis still has this picture framed in his room as well.

And now, to answer the questions you are probably going to ask…

* What is that bump on Travis’ head?

Travis was born with what is called an atypical hemangioma. We did not know about it before he was born. It was about the size of a golf ball, but here in his one month photo it’s already smaller than at birth. It’s a very long story, which deserves it’s own post one day. Travis narrowly escaped surgery as a newborn, and today he is a healthy thriving child with almost no bump left on his head. He does have a bald patch though that will never grow hair.

* Tell me about the hair bow headbands Kinsey is wearing…

When Kinsey was born I wanted hair bows. Hair bows are expensive, especially adorable custom ones. So I taught myself how to make them. Everyone loved them so much that I started an online business selling children’s hair bows and accessories. It was very successful right off the bat, but because of Ben’s job we moved a lot so I shut down shop. Now I blog instead.

* Um, your frames have 13 squares, not 12. And the first square is empty…

Ya, I kinda suck. Those first squares are for their birth picture, which I have yet to print and add to the frame. Hopefully I’ll have it done before they turn 18 and move out.

So, how do you make memories? Do you like lots of photos? Do you have any crazy photo stories?

I made tons of decor before I moved from California back to Texas. Have you ever wondered where those items ended up?

Today we’re going to play a little game called,

“Whatever happened to that crap?”

I went around my house with my camera and took pictures of all the stuff I made in California. Now you get to see where it ended up!
{Fun Times!}

Whatever happened to the Red “You are Special” plate?…

The Red plate, which I painted in 2005 and was one of the first things I ever posted about on this blog, now resides on top of the refrigerator. We’ve still never used it…

All of the following crafts & decor now live on my recently painted bookshelves…

1. Large Decor Ball

2. Ceramic Pitchers with grass and flowers

3. Book end (purchased in Los Angeles)

4. Fire Red mini stand

5. Zen candle garden

6. Cardboard Monogram H

7. Refurbished Gumball Machine

8. Twine and Jute Decor Balls

9. Pinto Bean Decor Balls (Split pea ball in between)

Q: Whatever happened to that plastic 3-drawer organizer that was spray painted black?

  
A: It now lives under the stairs in the junk closet with all the Wii stuff in it.

Q: How about the fun painted frame for the Disney World picture?

  
A: It has sat on the piano since the day we moved in.

The Cheese Dome Cloche and the Painted Knife Block both live on my kitchen counter:

The Soap Pump now sits at my new kitchen sink, and it still looks as good as the day I made it.
  
2010 & 2011

The cute wicker can now holds all my pens in the kitchen instead of the kids colored pencils. I still love it!
  

Do you remember this hanging plant container makeover? It’s still one of my favorites. Anyhoo, it is pretty much in the same place as before; on the wall entering/leaving the kitchen.
  

The candlesticks that had a drastic makeover in California, have once again gone through the makeover process. Now they are part of a nice ensemble of candles in an alcove off the Dining Room.
  

The trash stand that once looked like this:
  
…Now sits in my guest bathroom.

I love having my yellow vase up on my mantle now!
  

My Dollar Store birds makeover received a make under once we moved. They now {lamely} sit on top of music next to the piano. Boring.

This mirror makeover & my Dollar Store 5-minute Frame now hang in my stairwell on my gallery wall.
  

I also added my beloved HoH plate to the gallery wall as well:

The little black box is still in a bathroom, only this time it’s the upstairs guest bathroom instead of our master bath.
  I hang my keys in plain sight next to the front door; my skeleton key art, that is!

Believe it or not, I still have the cheap-o Cupcake Cones pan I made a year ago; and it still works great!
  

A few weeks ago I showed you how I reused this refurbished shelf.

This isn’t all roses and cherries though. I’ve got a few items still sitting in a heap, and a few more that didn’t make the cut.

The large dice decor and the painted flower pot are still waiting for a new home in this big ol’ house.

My cooler died. It was so old that it just wouldn’t retain cold anymore, so I had to toss it.

The bunnies were never on my LURVE list, so I donated them to Goodwill.

I’m not sure what happened to the Lego magnets. It’s a mystery!

My Spring Tiki Platter did not survive the move. The heat from being stored in a box somehow melted part of it onto another item. It now lives in a landfill somewhere.

And lastly, the Inspirational Plate Trio. I liked them, but I never loved them. In an effort to pare down the crap around here, they ended up at Goodwill for a new family to love on.

That, my friends, is where all the California crap went. Most I kept and reused, some got tossed, and a few items were donated.

I hope you enjoyed this little time travel tour!

xoxo