romantic painting

Tom and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day like other couples. We do not do flowers and candies. This year we decided to direct our Heart Day funds into our home remodel budget. So on Valentine's Day the whole family had dinner by candlelight and I gave the kids a small gift to celebrate. (Drew and Julianna got goggles and Lily a swim cap.) After we gave them the gifts we explained to them that mom and dad were going to be painting the living room for our gift to each other. We explained that it was a lot of work to paint a living room and wasn't that a nice gift?

Last weekend Tom finished the living room painting (including two coats on the ceiling) and this week he had moved on to the kitchen. Last night he finished the kitchen and had moved the painting down the stairs and started on the family room. Tom is doing all the painting himself, as he is very particular about how perfect it needs to be. I am helping in other ways. I'm the gofer and the 'help wherever I can' person. But, to be clear, Tom has shouldered the brunt of the project, obviously.

Ok, now that you have the background of our Valentine's Day, you can fully appreciate the conversation I had with Drew this morning. Drew came down into the kitchen and looked around this morning. When he went to bed last night the kitchen was half done; and when he woke up, the kitchen was completely finished.

Drew: Geez, Mommy. You're going to have to do something really big for Valentine's!

Me: What? Why?

Drew: Because Dad has, like, painted the whole house!

I wish you could hear how flabbergasted Drew was that Tom had 'like, painted the whole house'. It is still making me laugh right now.

ta-da!

We are slowly getting out house put together. I have done some decorating in Lily's room and Drew's room too. But, as of last night, Tom and I finished the master bedroom project. So now we have one room in the house finished. I am pretty excited about how it turned out. I have one more picture to hang...but I only just spotted (and swiped) the painting in my mom's basement yesterday. I need to get it framed before I can hang it up.

I cannot take all of the credit for this room. My mom gave me some time with a decorator friend of hers for my birthday. She was helpful about giving me some direction and norrowing down my choices. She helped me find the bed, curtains and to select the colors for the walls. I owned the rest before she came, she just helped to see what would go together. Although, there isn't much color to the room, I love it. I like that it's calm and quiet. Plus, the painting I found yesterday will give the room just a bit of color and add something unique and unexpected.

What do you think?

Consumed

I just wanted to let you all know where I have been the last week or so. . .I've been consumed lately with making our little house a bit more fancy. I've been buying and returning curtains, lamps, and various home decor items so often that Tom is about to pull his hair out. He is trying to be patient and supportive, which I appreciate, but I know that this is driving him bonkers.

I have decided on curtains for the living room which, despite clashing with the red couch, have really brightened the whole house. I have also decided on a new comforter. However, on the first night I told Tom that I was having buyer's remorse and was considering returning it. . .after he went a bit nuts, I decided that I liked it and wanted to keep it after all.

He is so frustrated because I am being such a perfectionist with this decorating. I want it all to look like an episode off of HGTV. Lord knows I have no idea what I"m doing, but I'm doing my best. We have lived in this house for almost four years and I have been too much of a perfectionist to make decorating decisions. I am working hard to relax and just pick what I like and what speaks to me, and not worry about whether it goes perfectly or not.

I can't wait to share the pictures of the finished product. . .but it will be awhile because decorating is expensive and I'm trying to spread out the purchases. We are hoping to get some new furniture pieces during the small scale remodel, so it might be a couple of months before you get to see the after pictures posted to the blog.

Itchy

If you have spent any length of time with me lately, you know that I've got the itch. NO! Not that itch! get your mind out of the gutter people! I have the itch to MOVE. We have lived in our current home for three and half years. Not very long, right? Right. However, I've been ready to move since the day we moved in. Tom and I bought this house with stars in our eyes. We were newly married and we were living in a small duplex at the time. When we bought this house we were not thinking hard about size, how many children we would end up having, location, or any number of things people should consider when purchasing a home. Now, don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly good house. There is nothing seriously wrong with it and is a cute little home. It'd be perfect for a young couple just starting out or college kids looking to split their monthly expenses. It's not the ideal home for a family of five.

First of all it is at the corner of a main street in our town. It's a cut through street. So, not only do we have a very busy street to the west but we also have cars flying down our street all the time. Oh, and I forgot to mention the alley beside our house. Just one more place to worry about when you have three small children playing outdoors.

There is also the issue of storage; or the lack of storage. We have no place to put stuff. I'm sure your first thought was to tell me that I should get rid of some of my stuff. However, I am one of those people that doesn't keep anything. I throw everything that I'm not using or don't need away. We have hardly anything in this house that we don't have to have. The storage issue is so bad that despite me effort to rid our house of anything extra, we still don't have a place for everything. How is a person to keep a clean house if not everything has a home! Especially when that person has a small, but well documented, issue with organization.

This is not meant to be a whiny blog post. It is only meant to inform my readers of how I feel about this house. I want to convey the thought that I. Want. To. Move. More than anything right now (Yes, i am grateful for everything. I have a happy healthy family...but...I wouldn't mind making my life a bit easier these days.) 1000 square feet, five people, all the stuff to run a household, and no storage equals chaos everyday. So, every time there is even a hint in Tom's voice that we might be ready to move, look at house, or contemplate the idea of a move...I grab a hold of that thought and I don't let go. I spend hours on the realty sites online, I drive past houses that I like and pick up flyers, and in the mean time I try to convince Tom that it's a good idea to buy a house. Right. Now! Even though I know that for any number of reasons it would make more sense to tough it out and wait. I know that this house is serving it's purpose and keeping us warm at night. That we really could save a lot more money by staying here for as long as possible. However, my inner child whats what I want...NOW!! But, alas, I am a grown up and I have to force myself to make grown up choices.

So, to appease my appetite for a new house, this weekend we're going shopping for new furnishings. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I found a used furniture store here in Hutchinson with affordable quality furniture. I'm thinking that we're actually going to be able to get a new couch. I also have my eye on some side tables, lamps, and new curtains. I think that it will spruce this place up a bit. Make it feel new and exciting to live here again. I hope it will suppress my appetite for a big fancy house for now. Later, when we have all the finishing touches to our new living room, I will share some pictures here. YAY!!