It only took 4.5 months to finish, but it's FINALLY FINISHED. I am truly amazed and how much stuff (and pure JUNK) one can accumulate over a 2 year period... like tons of empty boxes (not my fault though, I fully place the blame on my husband for this one!) and baby clothes and toys that were long outgrown (fully MY fault). The both of us were quite ruthless in what we chose to throw out/donate - we easily got rid of over half the items. It feels GRRRRRREAT!! I feel so much lighter and free; that massive pile of stuff was totally weighing me down. Don't believe me? Want proof that it's actually done? On to the pictures!
To refresh your memory,
here's what it looked like before.So here's the storage area. This part took the longest and used the most muscle. I dragged EVERYTHING out of there, vacuumed, and went through (almost) everything in the containers and bags. What I didn't feel like organizing, I at least labeled the container and put it back. Everything is now accessible AND labeled so I don't have to spend 3 hours searching for that one little thing that I know is back there.
To the left of the stairs. These are some of the things we chose to keep - stacked nicely.
More stuff. A few select pieces of furniture and accessories, and a couple of boxes of wires and things, I think. They're apparently important.
Holy crap, it actually looks like a ROOM!!!
So what happened was we swapped out the queen mattress for the futon from the living room (now that we have our new furniture - WHEEE!!). And our queen boxspring wouldn't fit down the stairs, so it was sitting on two twins instead. Now there is one complete twin set down there, and the other is now in Monster's room. (His old mates bed-frame-thingy was a piece of crap so we chucked it.) We moved furniture ALL DAY. But it was so worth it.
And we even have a TV and CD/DVD player set up too. NICE!
It doesn't look beautiful down there, but that wasn't the goal. It's a functional, organized, clean use of space. And that makes me very happy.
Labels: OPAM
Oops, I did it again. Fell off the productivity wagon and didn't get it done. And it's not that I've been super horribly busy or anything either, although I wish I could use that as an excuse this time. All my ambition and and creativity just went poof. Plus I kinda feel like I got stalled a bit because we went and ordered new furniture for the living room [YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY :)] so I want to wait until it arrives and figure out the arrangement before making up my mind of what to put where on the walls. And I still haven't even decided what to do in the rest of the house... oh well. I guess I'll just sit tight and wait for that magic nudge from the creativity fairy.
Labels: OPAM
Okay, so this month I'm taking on a project that should've been done over 2 years ago when we moved into our house: hanging pictures and art on the walls. The reason I haven't done it yet is because I'm partly lazy (yes it's true) and incredibly indecisive. Art is a very personal thing and means something different to everyone, and I want my house to be able to "say" something about me, our family, our life, etc. There are just way too variables involved cluttering my creative process: which ones should go in which room? should I make a grouping?
how should I group them; in a pattern, a line, or at random? should the frames match? does it matter if they don't? and most importantly,
which photos/artwork to display?So without further ado, here are the befores.
Living room. This pathetic arrangement is so boring it hurts. It's getting changed.
Eating area. I think I've decided what's going here... but knowing me, I'll likely change my mind another 14 times before committing to something.
Piano... nook? Haha. Not sure if this will stay, I think I just need to arrange some things on the shelf to make it more interesting.
Back entry. This room needs help in a bad way. I love the cheerful color, but it needs something. Being greeted by a lonely freezer isn't exactly what I have in mind for guests.
So there you have it. Hopefully 31 days is enough time!!
Labels: OPAM
It's done.
YYYYYEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
This 'little' project was definitely a bigger challenge than I thought. It's just painting, right? Well yeah, but the size and shape of this 'room' was really awkward, especially the stairwell... blech. So I feel like I accomplished something huge. And, I did it ALL BY MYSELF. I picked the color, bought the paint, mudded the holes, sanded, primed, taped the ceiling, and painted. Two coats. Myself. :)
So here's the color I chose. The lighting is awful in the after pics, so I looked it up online, and it's actually pretty close to the paint chip. I debated a while whether to faux finish it like stucco or something similar, like with those paints that have sand and grit in them, since the previous owners had attempted to patch the walls and did a HORRIBLE job (they pretty much slapped the mud on and didn't sand) and it looked absolutely terrible. In the end I picked regular paint in a flat enamel finish to help disguise the imperfections.
Here are the before shots.And AFTER!!
I painted in two sections and did two coats, so I finished it over 4 different days (not consecutive, mind you). I managed to get the last coat on before it got stupidly hot out, like it is today.
And the stairwell. Ugh. What a pain this was. Doing the edging at the ceiling was semi-dangerous; I had to use Jonah's potty stepstool in order to reach that high. On stairs. I managed not to fall, thank goodness. And I got quite the workout too... always up and down, up and down. Major, major pain.
Better late than never, but I got 'er done. I've already decided what my July OPAM will be, but I'll post that tomorrow.
Oh! Before I forget: my summer project, of cleaning out the basement? It's getting there... I'd say we're almost on the home stretch. Pictures will be coming soon.
Labels: OPAM
So yeah. Didn't get the hallway painted.
But it wasn't for lack of trying. I was super jazzed and excited to get this painting project done... but May was a psycho crazy month with many unforseen (not to mention stupid) things thrown my way. Let's sum up:
Week 1: Chest pain acted up big time. Felt like crap. There was much hurt.
Week 2: Gone to visit family for a week.
Week 3: Picked up a nasty bug from somewhere. Had a sore throat for 9 agonizing days. Hurt so bad I hardly slept for 4 NIGHTS STRAIGHT. High winds blew a tree onto our fence, nearly taking it right down to the ground. Spent $$$ having a landscape company cut it down to save the fence. Took Goobie to the vet after he used the ENTIRE MAIN FLOOR as his litter box. Spent $$$ on special food and meds for him.
Week 4: This was Weeko Stupido.
~ Monday: Took Munchkin to the doctor about her rash. Got referred to a specialist.
~ Tuesday: Drove 5 hours to see said specialist. This excursion deserves its own entry, but the abridged version is that this specialist was a complete and utter hag, and diagnosed Munchkin with exzema WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT HER or listening to anything I had to say. Oh and after getting home, I promptly went to the ER and was told my throat looked 'perfect' (I was incredulous; I thought I had either tonsillitis or strep) and was hastily given an Rx and sent on my way. It was a very very long day.
~ Wednesday: Woke up with an excruciating migraine, thought I was literally going to die. Fortunately my parents took pity on me and drove all the way up to help me out for the rest of the week.
~ Thursday: This was the one bright day of the week. My meds took effect and my throat pain finally disappeared. Had the first uninterrupted full night's rest in over a week.
~ Friday: Woke up to more cat poop all over the house. Said goodbye to Goobie. My heart broke. My will broke from sheer stress.
~ Saturday: Laid Goobie to rest in the backyard under the lilac bush. I planted a columbine flower to mark his grave. Many tears were shed.
******
So yeah. That's that.
I'm okay now, but I didn't think I was going to be. I'm leaving it all behind and moving on.
And. I'm still going to finish the project. Watch for after shots by June 30.
Labels: munchkin, OPAM
As much as it pains me to do this (pain of embarrassment, that is), here's what my basement looks like. Ideally, I'd like to have it looking respectable and functional before the end of summer, since in a few weeks time it's going to get unbearably hot on the main floor... not to mention the second floor, where the bedrooms are. We have spent many a night down there to escape the summer heat. I just want to be able to have a space where we can DO stuff, like play games, watch TV, ANYTHING, because as it stands right now, it's not really safe for the kids to be down there.
*to the tune of G 'n' R's 'Welcome to the Jungle'* "Welcome to the Dungeon!! We've got fun and games..."
My laundry room - down the stairs to the right. I hate this room oh so much.
Storage area, all a mish-mash. I don't even remember what's all stashed there.
To the left of the stairs.
There's the spare bed where guests can crash overnight. Gosh, it's so embarrassing!
Lotsa more junk. It really is ridiculous. Totally ridiculous.
And here's a mini storage spot under the stairs. It's actually the most organized spot... not bad.
Ugh. Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, I really want to get started. Time to purge baby PURGE!!!
Labels: OPAM
Anyone who knows anything about me is that I am the Super Procrastinator. It is my superhero alter-ego. And my superhero catchphrase?
"There is nothing that could be done today that can't be put off until tomorrow." I wouldn't say I'm necessarily lazy... I just hate deadlines. As a kid, my school projects were ALWAYS done haphazardly at the last minute, even though the logical part of my brain would be screaming at me to just get it done and over with the day I actually got the assignment.
So it is any wonder that after 2 years since we moved in our house, that all the renos, painting and grand plans we had are still not done? And that our basement has amassed so much clutter that it stresses me out just THINKING about cleaning it out? Well, it's gotten to the point of moderately irritating me on a daily basis, and since reading
this marvelous post by one of
my favorite photographers (and bloggers) on the entire planet, I have been inspired to get off my butt and join her One Project A Month (OPAM) effort. Let's face it - I need to grab any form of motivation that floats my way! The feeling of accomplishment and checking something off my endless to-do list will (hopefully!) be rewarding enough for me to keep going next month. And the month after that. And so on. [I've also decided to clean out, organize, etc. the basement - though I'm giving myself the entire summer to do it. Because frankly, it's not one of those "weekend" type jobs. It's going to take FOREVER.]
So I decided what my project for May will be. I'm going to paint the hallway. Doesn't sound like much, but the hallway walls are adjacent to the stairwell leading to the second floor, so if I don't paint that too, it'll look half-finished... and it's a 13 step flight. And the ceiling is slanted. And high. Eesh. I'm starting to regret this already.
[Goobie decided to sneak in my shot. Goobieeeeeeeee]
Now I just need to decide on a colour. Have I mentioned I'm also terribly indecisive? HA!
I'll post the after shots by May 31.
Um. I just gave myself a deadline. Ohhhhhh help.
Labels: OPAM
