The Bedroom Story | Part Two

WE'RE FINALLY MOVED INTO OUR FIXER UPPER! Granted, it was not without minor setbacks, like how in the middle of the thunderstorm last night I suddenly heard running water as if it was gushing all over a floor somewhere. Blake and I ran out of our bedroom to see a steady stream of water pouring from the breakfast nook ceiling. I rushed to grab a bucket while Blake ran upstairs to see if the source of the leak was from the storm or the pipes, and lo and behold, a hot water pipe upstairs had burst. Everything was closed, so we had to turn off the water until the morning when Blake could get what he needed to fix it. BUT. Now it is fixed and (prayerfully) we will not have water pouring out of a ceiling for a third time (that's a story for later, too, it'll be in something I might call "The Plumbing Chronicles"). All three of us got squeaky clean with hot water in our own house, so we are happy. 

The most homey part of our home, the part where we are doing most of our living at the moment, is the bedroom. You probably wouldn't believe me looking at this mess:

Guys, it looked so much worse in person. And, of course, the smell of the moldy addition didn't help the atmosphere. When we bought the house, this room might have been my least favorite part. For whatever reason, I had a hard time keeping a vision for it in my mind's eye. I couldn't grasp the concept that there was a lot more wall behind those valances. Also, all I could see was that I was going to have to peel even more wallpaper, which was totally spirit-crushing. Not just wallpaper, but painted-over wallpaper; painted over I'm not even sure how many times. 

While Blake and my dad would work on plumbing and patching and gutting the kitchen, I peel wall paper and attempted to remove the valances. I was unsuccessful. After they helped me remove the valances, I cleared any remaining wallpaper, then taped off the windows. Blake fixed big patches while I fixed small ones. Pretty soon it was time to kilz, as the walls weren't in horrible shape everywhere, but they were several different colors from the effects of being painted, wallpapered, then painted again who knows how many times. We also had to remove the old stinky carpet, and because of some unfortunate cuts from when they were running plumbing for the addition, the hardwood would have been too expensive to resurrect. Also, in addition to ruining the floor, when running different things for the addition, one of the previous owners had cut through a support beam, and part of the floor from the hall to the bedroom was so sunken that it felt like walking across a boat deck. Blake got under the house and jacked the floor up in this spot, which is much less noticeable now. I'm not sure you would notice if you didn't know that it had been a problem before. After doing all this and probably more that I'm forgetting about, we finally got to see the changes that completely changed my mind about this room.

Something about seeing this peaceful color on the walls completely changed the room. Also, it isn't in this picture, but especially after Blake painted and installed the crown molding, this room changed from eliciting a defeated sigh to a sigh of relief. 

So, ready to see some of the details now?

I'm obsessed with the carpet Blake picked. Affordable, but so squishy and comfy.

Adeline loves that she is sharing a room with Mommy and Daddy. When the upstairs is finished, she is getting a FULL SIZE big girl bed. I think she will like it better, but I'm not sure she would believe me if I told her.

Blake's desk; he asked me to write that quote for him. ;)

Naptime approved. <3

So, here's the list of things we had to do to this room:

• tear off the addition
• install the french windows
• trim the windows
• remove valances
• remove wallpaper
• patch walls
• remove popcorn ceilings from room and closets
• kilz walls and ceiling
• kilz closet walls and ceilings
• paint walls and ceiling
• paint closet walls and ceiling
• paint and install crown molding
• install fan and additional light
• replace electrical outlets and switches and covers
• pick out carpet (obviously we didn't do the install of the carpet)
• install closet rods for Blake's closet

I forgot to take a picture of our bed; when I get home today (I am currently at the laundromat) I will ask Blake to take a panorama of the now decorated bedroom.

Our next big project is going to be the kitchen, which will definitely be a two parter, maybe three. Stay tuned, you will hear more from me next week. :)