Bedroom Remodel

This room has been in progress for quite a while, and I still need to do some things that are connected to the room so I haven't posted it because it doesn't feel finished yet. Like I want to get a bed made instead of mattresses on the floor. I also would like to refinish the doors in the house....there are only 6, so it's not a huge job, just haven't gotten around to it yet. but here it is! It was so ugly, complete with the ugliest and most outdated ceiling fan I could ever imagine. The walls could have been cool, but I had in my mind that this green was super ugly, so it had to go. It might have been everything else in the room making it ugly, like the ceiling. yuck.

The built in closet wall has so much space, but it looked a little ugly.

I wanted to keep the beam that is already there, and decided to add another faux beam to balance the room a little. Hopefully, I accomplished that.

The first thing I did when we got the house was rip down this ceiling. Pretty sure Tom thought I was crazy.

Here's a coat of Primer on the walls and trim.

Doors off of the closets.

Blue on the walls, not sure why I chose blue, but I still like it.

My dad helped me get some white beadboard on the ceiling and make the faux beam. (I initially thought I could do this job by myself, but I would have been SO wrong, I'm so grateful that he came to help/do everything for the most part)

We used a 1x6 nailed right to the stud beam board...? on the ceiling.

The actual beam needed a little extra width.

Both new beams stained and assembled and attached.

These top cupboards presented a problem so it's a little awkward, but I think it looks ok, and you can open the other doors.

We made the beams with a 1x6 on the bottom, then 2 1x4s for the sides. I wish I would have used normal stain and varnish, but I got stain and varnish in one and I had some difficulty with runs.....

New light fixture up. It looks very satin-y in this picture, but better in real life, I think. It was on sale for 29.99!

Update: I wrote this draft 2 years ago and figured I might as well post it. I'm going to try to get back into blogging, so I'll post some updates on life, as it's a good way for me to keep track of things.

SO, Here's the room now!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This dresser is an old oak one that my parents were going to throw away/burn. I covered the oak with brush on stain, then did a clear coat and changed the knobs. I love how it looks, but it is slightly falling apart in the back and the drawers are super big and heavy and clunky and don't work the best. But it's ok for now :)

We need to refinish this floor eventually, but haven't made time for that yet, but I did get the doors refinished, that might need to be another post though.  I do want to find other doors for the closet and this door with no knob leading to the bathroom; they are currently cheap, ugly hollow-core doors that I do not like. I thought I had found some doors so I took off the knobs like I would get them up right away, but then I ended up not getting those doors, so there's just no knobs for now. AND, we still never got a bed and I haven't decided what I really want, so it's just a mattress on the floor.

That's all for this room! More to come later of the rest of the house and kids (plus a new one!:) )

Elsie is 4!!

I can't believe this little girl is 4 years old. I think I'm going to say that every single year on each child's birthday, because it just doesn't seem possible how quickly time goes any more. I feels like not too long ago, we were living in California preparing for her to arrive, but in a way, it also feels like forever ago. It's very strange.

We have started the tradition of celebrating her birthday while camping, so I guess that will continue which I have no problem with. She really wanted a kitty cake, so I whipped this up in my parents' camper and it didn't turn out too bad.

 She really likes cats right now. We went on vacation to South Dakota and after going to the Laura Ingalls Wilder house and doing so much fun stuff, her favorite part was the kittens in the barn there. She has also requested to be a cat for Halloween. Now to figure out a way to make a cute cat outfit.

I am posting this late, but she has started Pre-K, one day down, and she loved it! She was a little nervous, but when I asked her if she had fun, she responded, "a little too much fun" haha, where does she come up with this stuff. Another thing that makes me laugh lately is that she never wants to go to bed. One night, she was telling me about how she likes to stay up late, and she said, "Why am I so different than you people?" Well Elsie, I don't really know. Some day, you'll appreciate laying in bed at 8pm. 

She's just lots of fun and only occasionally has meltdowns, but I like to think that's normal?

She's going to learn a lot at preschool, and I can't wait to see how much she keeps changing!

Some other pictures from the camping trip at Lake Anita where we celebrated her birthday with Grandpa and Grandma Berndt, Becky, Harper, Ryden, Scott, Christy, Braden, and Cael.

Ryden learning to ride with no training wheels!!!

Ceiling fan makeovers

I was originally thinking these fans had to go! But after seeing some successful spray painted ceiling fans on Pinterest, I decided to try it. Easier than taking the lights down and re-attaching new ones and much cheaper!

Here are the problematic fans, they're so shiny! There was one in each half of the large front family area of the house:

First, I took the light bulb, glass shades, and fan blades off.

I taped around the light sockets, and put plastic up on a large area on the ceiling. Then, spray painted the whole thing oil rubbed bronze.

Then, I cleaned the blades and painted the little metal things that attach the blades.

I'm not too crazy about these fan blades, and the other side had weird wicker inserts on them. But, I may paint them later or something.

All reassembled with new glass shades from Home Depot:

I think it looks so much better. Total cost was about $8 for spraypaint, and the glass shades were about $4 each, so $32 total! It would have been cheaper if I wouldn't have needed to replace the glass shades, but the floral purple things were not good.

These rooms need a little work, like something done to the ceiling and some different paint, and trim paint, but those are projects for another day.

We bought a house.

So, we bought this house. We were sick of paying rent to someone else and decided it was time to buy a house and pay towards our own mortgage and build equity. Is our financial situation perfect for buying a house? No, but we did it anyways. Here are some pics. It needs a little work, but it's what we wanted in our starter home.

This isn't pictures of every room, but I will add more as we make changes. I need to upload some more pics, but here's what I have for now. Theses were all right before/some after we moved in and before we made any changes:

Our bedroom....probably the ugliest room in the house.

Back living space

Messy kitchen.

Dining room

Dining room from another view.

Stairs going upstairs.

Upstairs bathroom....also in contention for ugliest room.

How will I ever make this door normal?

Front living space

And I guess that's all I have for now. We have already made so many changes though. I have pretty much totally remodeled our bedroom, the dining room is different, and tons of little changes here and there.

Abbott turned 2! (2.5 months ago....)

I've been awful at keeping track of things the last year. When I post them here they don't get lost, so I need to post this before he turns 3 and I don't even realize it! It's so hard to believe he's a little 2 year old. He's just the sweetest little boy (usually). He's even changed so much in the last couple months since his birthday. He didn't really start saying a ton of words until after his birthday, but he's getting some phrases down now. Each day, it seems like he's saying something new. He loves to play with toy guns, cars, animals, fingernail polish, and anything that Elsie is playing with.

We didn't have much of a party on his birthday, just a cool truck cake at home:

 

He weighs 28lb and is " tall.

 

Overall, he's a pretty good kid, he usually only gets in trouble when playing with Elsie. He loves to help and is just such a sweet little guy. My favorite word he says but mispronounces is "shep-up" for ketchup. It's adorable. I can't wait to see how much he changes before he turns 3!

.