Decorating Through the Year 2008

Well, I'm late.lol After one late night and long day, it is complete!

Here's the before pictures...

Remember the baby poop color?


Here's the fridge-stove section, still with builder's grade paint...




We prepped the kitchen for painting during the afternoon while Sophia napped and Eric had the littles at A Day of Play. I spackled and taped, then sanded and swept. Then I joined Eric with Sophia. They played and played.lol We took them home, fed them a hearty dinner of Bacon-Lentil soup and sent them off to bed without so much as a peep from them.lol

Then we set to the task. Here's a photo of all the busy bees working late at night...


We put Allison on the extra tall ladder that my MIL provided the funds for. This is such a BIG blessing since we're planning to paint the whole house over the next year or so! Allison isn't afraid of heights and did great up there...


Here's Jon's section.lolol He called it "His Practice Area." We've finally found something that isn't his speciality.:snort: It was so funny. He'd paint and Allison and I would go over it. Finally, he was moved to behind the fridge. At one point he said, "Great, I can't even grow up to be a laborer. I'll have to be an assistant laborer."LOLOL


Here it is! The finished paint job! I LOVE this color! I had my whole house painted this in Miami.LOL Inside and OUT.LOL I'm not going to go that far this time. I have a couple of frames from Christmas and I'm going to put some photos of those orangey flowers that Isaac was squishing and hang them on that corner area by the orangey light. Should be pretty and free.lol


Here's the new fridge-stove section. Very nice...We're going to paint that upper section above the cabinets the great room color since it's all connected.



Now that we've painted, I have to admit that the rest of the house looks pretty yucky.LOL The builder's grade paint just isn't made to last with 5 kids touching it all the time.lol

Also, I didn't get too much clutter cleared out. I've found that no matter how much I clean, there are THOSE in the house, who come behind me and undo it. I'm tired and will call this area DONE!

Blessings,

Decorating Through the Year 2008

I know I've been a bit behind posting photos of my newest decoration area, so here it is...

The Kitchen in all it's, uh, glory...

Notice the amazing amount of clutter...


Even the Fridge is affected...


My favorite feature, the baby poop colored wall...



I know. What am I thinking picking this room during the shortest month of the year?!lol Oh, well. I need a challenge and this fits the bill. I've already begun by decluttering and cleaning the laundry room and cleaning off the top of the fridge. My dear, dear hubby bought me the paint for the walls this past weekend while he was there to buy the wood for the new sandbox, so here's the cost write-up...

Paint- $27.98
3 pack roller covers- $6.47
Trim Edger- $2.78

*Total= $37.23

Remember my goal is $30-40 for each room, so I'm just under budget.

*One thing about this total, these items will last me through several rooms, so I think that it should be divided between the rooms they get used in.LOL I don't plan on buying anything else for this room though, so I'll just count it here.

Now for the yucky part.lol I'm going to go through each cabinet and clean out things that haven't moved since we moved here. I'm also going to rearrange those things that I keep to make the kitchen work better. I have A LOT of appliances that I just don't have a place for and my pantry is awful. Notice I didn't take photos of those...lol Please remember that I'm not perfect! My pantry is a mess, my floors are dirty, and my fridge needs major washing out.LOL I'm willing to admit it.lol

Blessings,

Decorating Through the Year 2008

So, I've been pretty silent about this challenge but I've still been hard at work.lol We ended up not painting this go around, it's just been too wet or cold to do so. Maybe next time we hit this bathroom or maybe when I paint the kitchen, I'll hit this room also. We'll see.

Here's the before photo...



Here's the after...


Here's the price breakdown so you can see that I really did stay in budget.

Shower Curtain $10 at Target
Shower Hooks $1.19 at Target
One large Bathtowel on Clearance at Target $4.18
One Handtowel at Target $2.49
One washcloth at Target $1.99
One very cute Froggy handsoap pump at where else? Target...$10.49

Total: $30.34

I like how it's turned out so far! I just need to paint at some point, but that can wait until my knee and hip have recovered.LOL

How is everyone else's challenge going?

My next room will be the kitchen. I will be painting in there and decluttering/organizing. It's a true mess but I've decided to no longer mess around with an easy room.LOL May as well jump in with both feet. Wish me luck!

Blessings,

Decorating Through the Year 2008

So far, all I've bought for my challenge room is two handtowels.LOL I've spent $1.00. Target had these towels at their dollar section and they are perfect for the design I'm going for. I found some great brown paint from the first owners of the house and will be using that for the accent color in the bathroom. I think it'll be easier to find coordinating towels and shower curtain in those colors.(green and brown) That also means that I don't have to purchase the paint and can spend that money on photos and things for that bathroom.(yea!)

Normally, I'll be decluttering a room, organizing it, and then decorating it but this room I organized before Christmas so all I need to do is decorate. I think this will be the only room that will be like this.LOL

How is everyone else doing? I'd love to hear your plans for your room, which room you've picked, and if you've found good deals to further your decorating budget. Remember to look around your house for things that will look nice in your room and check around at Target, Walmart, Sears, JCPenney, and Kohls for clearance deals and sales since this is a great time to get things on sale, especially bed and bath stuff.

Blessings,

Decorating Through the Year 2008

I'm trying out Mister Linky. Could you all try leaving your Decorating post in the linky to see if it works? Thanks so much!




I'll be updating my challenge every Sunday night with a new linky for everyone to link to. This way, everyone can keep up with all our progress.



Blessings,

Decorating Through the Year 2008

Well, I've chosen my room. It was a hard decision. I had to balance need vs. budget. And the room is.....

The kids bathroom!





Allison and I would like to do an Art Deco style in here. We're going to say goodbye to the lighthouses and hello to Miami.




So far, we've decided on using the leftover green from Jon's room as a base, then we'll be adding circles around the top of the wall, near the ceiling, in a blue color. We'll use our budget to buy a new shower curtain, since everyone is having white sales right now, and maybe some pretty towels.

Here's our list of things to buy this month:

1. Paint: 1/2 gallon of blue
2. shower curtain
3. bath towel/hand towel for the towel rack

I'll list out how much everything cost as I buy it and once I've hit my limit, that's it. I started with a small room to see if one room a month is do-able. If not, then I'll be readjusting my plan to one room at a time until the year is up.LOL

Blessings,

Decorating Through the Year 2008

Well, the time has come. I have decided to host a challenge for this New Year! I'm calling it Decorating Through the Year, because that's just what I hope to do. My mission, which I've already decided to accept, is to pick one room each month and DO SOMETHING to make that room ours. I'm also going to be going through that one room and cleaning it, decluttering it, and otherwise fixing it up. I've lived here for almost two years now and haven't really done anything to make this my home. So far, we just live here.LOL That is no longer acceptable to me.

If you are interested in joining me, here's the rules:

1.Write me on this post to let me know! I'd love to keep up with everyone's progress.
2. Post this icon on your blog and on any post that pertains to the challenge.
3. Pick a room and get started! It's already January and you're behind.LOL (Just kidding)
4. If you have a camera, post a before and after. I'd love to glean ideas from you all. Maybe if we all pick different rooms, we can borrow each other's ideas.LOL
5. Try not to spend more than $30-40 dollars. Be creative! Remember that you're going to be going through your whole house and this is not the time to get expensive. I don't want to be responsible for your credit card debt.LOL
6. Pray over each room. Blessing your home will go a long ways to making it yours.
7. HAVE FUN! If you aren't having fun, skip a month. Don't let it become a burden.

So, that's it! I'm excited and already have a few ideas floating around. I can't wait to begin!

Blessings,




Here's a smaller icon for those who need it...