LIKE MANY OF YOU, I am in the MIDDLE of about 12 things…juggling and multi-tasking and hoping to FINISH just ONE project before Summer ends…am I right???
HERE is the status of the various MAKEOVERS going on around My Old Country House…
1. RE-Painting the pink Living room – same color, but 6 years down the road could use a freshen up. I gave the family the option to choose another color but unanimously (even the boys) like the pink and so there you have it. I plan to take a day..maybe while Phoebe is gone at camp this week and just BINGE clean and paint it, I have a gallery wall prepped and in the wings and it is just a matter of taking the day to do it.
2. The staircase and the upstairs hallway – STILL the master bathroom barn door leans against the wall…all but forgotten and just so sad. I took all the photos down in the hall with plans to do something different…instead I have simple done nothing..so THAT is another makeover in the works.
3. Dining-Room STUDIO – So as you know by now my dining room does double duty and so I thought “Heck, why not triple duty???!” I bartered for an amazing storage piece that I will transform into a “quasi-mudroom”.
4. BED ROOM switcheroo – This is a biggie and may not happen…. but…. I am toying with the idea of for ONE YEAR, making our downstairs living room (yes, the pink one that I am about to paint) into a downstairs Master bedroom and then giving Phoebe our bedroom (because she is the girl and will have the bathroom) so that the boys can have their own rooms for one year before Tate goes away to college. It could be insane and it may not happen but I am a strong proponent of “MAKE YOUR HOME WORK FOR YOUR FAMILY” and one year goes VERY fast and if it does not work out, well then we can simply switch back and no money will have been spent. Thoughts??? The only purchase would be a queen bed for us but we were going to do that anyway…
5.Kitchen Counter-tops – yes, you heard right. So, about a year ago, I got a call from the big cheese at Formica. They were very sad to hear of the runaround I got while getting my Formica Calacatta marble counter tops. I told the kind gentleman that I was fine, that the counter-tops looked amazing in the end..and he said “I am very happy about that but we want you to have the edge profile that you originally wanted..and if we could do that for you would you let us?”….hmmmm ….I thought of it and then agreed that IF I was in for NO added EXPENSE and that any accidental damage done while removing the counter-tops in my existing kitchen would be rectified on their nickel then “SURE, WHY NOT!…lets do it!” VERY VERY Long story short…they called last week to schedule the Replacement install and so soon there will be a PART TWO to the kitchen countertops!
I will stop the list at 5. There will always be little odds and ends but I can already tell that the next two years, ONES IN WHICH I prepare TO SEND not one but 2 of my 3 children out into the world ARE going to be MORE about what is happening to the people in my home….. than the home itself.
THUS- The tone of my blog will probably become a bit more INTROSPECTIVE and personal as we take those steps…College is upon us and like those of you who have crossed this bridge before me – you know …..it got here much too fast! The very last thing I want to do is to miss these precious moments scurrying around looking for house stuff……all of THAT CAN AND WILL wait…so my goal by Fall is to get the house in good functioning SHAPE to take us through this next chunk of LIFE!!!
I sincerely hope you stick around and enjoy the ride!!!!
Leslie,
I enjoy your blog posts immensely and totally relate to the stage of life and motherhood you are in right now — our eldest just graduated from college, one is in college and our youngest will be a senior in high school this year. I have done a ton of house projects this summer ( including painting my living room in Sea Salt, thanks to your recommendation) and am scurrying to finish them all before the fall so we can really enjoy the senior year. My daughter has her own bathroom now that the brothers are away and we updated it for her with help from your bathroom makeover tips ( love the Lowe’s barn light!). She loves having her own bathroom after sharing for 16 years! Enjoy this time and thanks for all the great posts!
Thanks Sophie! I would LOVE to see photos of your Sea Salt Living room!!! and thanks for the encouragement…I definitely think I want to do the LR switheroo….but gotta move fast!xo
Whoops, sorry for the typo…I meant Lesli!
I made a similar bold move several years ago. We live in a four bedroom home and one of the bedrooms is VERY tiny, almost like a large closet. We have the two of us plus six children (two girls who are the oldest ones and then four boys). The girls really needed their own space so I converted a sun room off our family room into a makeshift bedroom for one of the girls’ last two years of high school. It worked out fine. My only mistake was not reclaiming the space back sooner. I finally got it back as a nice sitting room when she graduated college two years ago and was going off to medical school. For many years I didn’t know how I could make our house work for all of us. But now, the oldest is starting her third year of medical school, three are in college, one is starting college this fall, and my “little one” will be a junior in hs and I know will be gone before I know it, too.
Hooray for priorities of family over house! You’re so right – the house will be there. How noble and sacrificial of you to give up your master bedroom. We have only one full bath in our house, but somehow our two girls survived sharing with their mom and dad and brother and went on to live healthy adult lives. lol. What special years you are on the brink of! Soak it all in.
Thanks Shelley !!!! xo
I like the idea of switching your bedroom for a year. I’d be afraid my daughter would never want hers back again though! 🙂 That’s really neat that you’re going to get the countertops you wanted!
I always like reading about you and your kids. My oldest is going to college in the fall and my next one will be a junior this year, so I can relate to the emotions you’re feeling. There are definitely a lot of them swirling around in my heart! If you’re in the mood to read another mom’s perspective, I wrote a post about my daughter graduating in May called “You Might See Me Crying”. http://www.normaleverydaylife.com/2014/05/you-might-see-me-crying.html