Home Renovations - Playroom - Progress 1

I have been up to my elbows in paint since my last post (ok, that's a bit exaggerative) but I've made some decent progress on the playroom and thought I'd show you how it's coming.  I know this renovation isn't going to be fast since I can really only work when the kiddos are sleeping and I need to honor any sewing obligations too.  BUT I am pleased at how it is turning out so far.  I have painted at least one coat of the brown on the bead board all the way around the room and have painted two coats on some of the walls.  This is time consuming as it requires a brush to get down in all of the cracks.  I will finish that in the next few days and start the walls.  I'm hoping this weekend is going to be my building weekend for the built-in so I need to get wall "3" prepped and painted.  I went ahead and painted the little bookcase on wall "2" because I wanted to see some COLOR with the brown.  I really like it but I made some painting errors on it.  I should have sanded and primed it first because I know it's going to scrape off as the kids use it so I may be painting it again down the road.  I sold the entertainment center on Craigslist so that is out of the way and adds another 50 buckaroos to the pot.  Cheers for progress...

I'm going to keep the same numbers from the previous post so you can look back at the before and know which wall you are looking at.

 This picture shows the old paint (left) on the bead board with the new chocolate paint (right).

I love the punch the green adds to the brown.  I had the guy at Home Depot color match one of the leaves from the decal that will be going on the wall to get this color.

 Here's a little swatch of the blue that will be going on the walls above the bead board.

Tootles to the old cabinet which is now in the storage room behind that door you see serving a new purpose.  There was some wallpaper that needed removed and check out that wild red!  I like me some red but this color is not very pretty in person and I cannot imagine a room this size painted that color.  Makes my heart start beating fast thinking about it.  I've decided to go with a khaki color on this wall behind the built-in to keep it pretty neutral.  I did a little swatch of the brown and felt it was a little much for the whole wall.  The actual built-in color is still TBD but I'm leaning towards a blue just a shade darker than the other walls and then the part that bumps out for the TV using the pumpkin Orange.  Or the whole thing may be orange.  That still may change :).

Home Renovations - Playroom - Before

Ok, Ok, I know I never did blog about the house like I promised back in the fall although I still hope to do that. Maybe by the anniversary of our purchase date which is March 27?? Anyway, when we bought our house, nothing needed immediate attention but there are certainly areas that I want to put my touch on. I'm a designer by trade so my mind is always swirling with ideas. My wallet is not necessarily swirling with extra green stuff. Jacob and I don't believe in debt (other than a mortgage) so any home projects are always paid with cash which means they sometimes get put on hold. Now that we have been in the house almost a year and I've set aside some Critterbug & Cricket moolah, I'm ready to start tackling a project. The first room on the agenda is our playroom/craft room because we have a serious storage situation in there. After 2 more birthdays and a Christmas, we HAVE to figure out how to store the toys better. They are currently hugging the perimeter of the room in a very unpleasant manner. My current sewing area is no better and I'm embarrassed to even show it. I know it appalls Jacob but I call it "organized chaos." I like to believe that once I have the space "perfect" then I'll be a little more organized.  Right.  As creative as I can be - organization is not one of my strong points - but I desire to improve. All that to say, I thought I'd go ahead and post the before pictures of the playroom and craft room so that I won't get too behind later. It is a big room with LOTS of potential but it may take a little time. If you have any thoughts, share them!

The theme of the room is going to be modern/woodsy.  We live in the woods so I want to respect that but I also want a room where I can just have FUN with some wild colors and unique decor.  What better room than my craft room and the kids' playroom.  Color scheme - light blue walls above bead board, chocolate bead board (think land and sky).  Other prominent colors to be used - ORANGE, lime (ok, that color scares Jacob a little so we'll see) & Cherry.

Not much is going to happen on this wall.  The wall and bead board will be painted and I'll put some pictures up.  Down the road I would LOVE a mantle but that's not a priority.

Left of the beam is going to define the "learning" space as I am calling it.  The bookshelf will stay under the window because it's a perfect fit but I hope to paint it a fun color.  I bought maps of the 7 continents to hang on the wall.  I would like a long rectangle table that could seat 4-6 kids (NO I am not having that many!!) where crafts, puzzles and the like can take place.  To the right of the beam will define the toy nook.  The couch will be up against that wall.

This will be the future toy nook and t.v. watching area.  I'm treating it as its own room defined by the beam above.  The couch will be on the left wall and the wall right of the door will be a built-in for the t.v. and bins, bins and more bins for toys.  I bought 2 adorable decals for this wall from Graphic Spaces on Etsy.  The tree branch will be on the left pointing right and the raccoon will be running along the bead board pointing left.  I'm also going to remove the track lighting that runs parallel to the beam.  So I don't have to mess with patching the ceiling I will just put a swag-type light in it's place and center it in the "nook".

Isn't this stinkin' cute??  The only differences in the one I purchased and this one are that I chose orange birds and a darker green tire swing.  Oh, and it says, "The Cartners".

I really like this fabric and would like to make some large pillows for the very faded and stained Pottery Barn couch that I can't afford to recover.  I'll hopefully find several fabrics to coordinate.  I'm not 100% sold on this one yet but it's in the running.

 This entire wall will be a built-in.  Floor to ceiling and corner to corner.  There will be an assortment of depths and heights for the shelves.  I am in search for fun/unique bins for it.  Lots of color.  The color of the actual built in is still undecided.  The TV and VCR (Yes, I said VCR.  All of our Disney movies are on VHS) will be housed here too.

This area will now house my sewing stuff including my sewing table and my craft table that my father-in-law built for me.  I would like this wall to have my dry erase board and possibly some fabric covered cork boards and a ribbon rack.  I love these prints of puppies on the docks done by a Greenville artist that my parents bought in the 80's.  Unfortunately they still look like they would fit that time period.  I hope to remat and reframe them to give them new life and put them somewhere.  I'm all about recycling!  Dad actually saw this guy at Artisphere this year and he's still selling the same prints.  Ha.

This is just another view of what will be my crafting area.  Not sure what I am going to put on this wall but I am in desperate need of a clock down here.  I would love a huge clock but so far I haven't found "the one".  If you find one, let me know.  It needs to be a decent size (and decent price!).  Anybody need an entertainment center?

I didn't mean for this to turn into a dissertation.  Obviously you can see my excitement...and in the time I just wasted writing this, I could have gotten a coat of paint on the walls :).  More to come later!

Handmade Love

Grammy (aka Martha) sure can knit.  She's modest about her knitting skills but I assure you there isn't a missed stitch on either of these garments (Dakota's top, Corban's hat).  I keep telling her she needs to sell her stuff but then she might not enjoy it as much.  I'm sure having such cute grandkids is good motivation to keep those needles moving...I think you'll agree when you see below :).  Thanks for the sweet package in the mail Martha.  Oh, by the way, she made the kids coordinating sweaters for Christmas that I still need to photo and post on here but they were gorgeous.   

Prayers for Pappy!

If you're reading this blog please lift lots of prayers up for this sweet man...

Pappy - Dakota and Corban's great grandfather, Jacob's papaw and Sally's daddy - was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the fall.  We know that Pappy loves and serves a sovereign God and we are praying that God will place a healing hand on him, if it's His will.  Will you please pray for him?  Pray for physical comfort, strength and endurance.  Pray for Mappy as she cares for him.  Pray for Sally (Gigi) and her siblings as they serve their parents during this time.  Thank you.

Tuesday Testimonies: Marriage Struggles

So back in November I posted about how I wanted to start sharing what God is doing in the lives of His people.  Remember?  Well, I probably didn't pursue the idea like I should have and I never got it going.  Anyway, I got an amazing email from a friend today who has given me permission to share her story.  I love that she is using her past marriage struggles to minister to other people going through the same thing.  I think you will be encouraged by her Testimony.  I still remember the day that the husband of this story was baptized because it was probably one of Jacob's most encouraging moments of his Christian walk.  Thanks for sharing your story sweet Friend!!

"My husband and I started having marriage trouble around our 7th year - guess it's true what they say about the 7 year itch. I was naive and probably looking for attention and made some poor decisions which led my husband to make some poor decisions...and over the course of like a year and a half we just grew apart. I ultimately kicked him out of the house and was at my low when I just laid it all at His feet. I mean I really didn't know the Lord at that point but I was desperate. I had some friends praying for us and my parents were helping to intervene a bit.

We watched that movie Fireproof and I started realizing that believe it or not all of this – the giant mountain we were trying to overcome in our marriage – was “normal”. And better yet, that all marriages go through struggles like mine and yours but yet somehow everybody thinks that it’s a sign of something being wrong in the marriage! It’s like this big taboo thing that nobody ever wants to admit to – struggling in marriage. Talk about a revelation! I knew deep down that I wouldn’t find anyone better for me or my girls than my husband. So I knew that God and I had to turn things around.

As you can imagine, we had a lot of dirty laundry that wasn't being aired. Lies, deceit, secrets... that just all began unraveling - it was like God was just unfolding it all right in front of us. Initially the truth hurt the relationship really bad. In fact I thought we weren't going to be able to get past it. But in the end, truth was the only thing that enabled us to move forward.

We laid it all out on a sheet of paper - all the ways we had hurt each other. That helped us to see that it wasn't just one or the other - we were 'even', so to speak. We both had to start over - that it had been a two-way street that got us where we were. It was ultimate disclosure.

Then we started having the hard conversations about what we each want, need out of the relationship (I had to take notes during the conversations so that we could stay on track because we would end up arguing and getting side tracked from making progress).

All in all it took us about a year to really recover from all of that. It was very gradual and the trust was very slow to come back. The total disclosure allowed us to monitor and hold each other accountable through cell phone records, email, and Face Book. It was extreme but it was what we had to do to rebuild emotionally.

I attribute all of this to God because He lifted me up to do the work that it took to rebuild. He gave me the words to speak during those conversations because I prayed and asked Him to. He moved in my heart to love again. And the best part is that my relationship with my husband is the best it’s ever been. I know we'll come across more mountains, but next time, I'll know that, through God, it's possible to overcome them."

Such encouragement.  If you'd like to share your Testimony so that others can learn from your experiences, email me triciacartner@hotmail.com.