Bennett's Room: Before & After

Bennett's room is one of the first in the new house to get a complete makeover. I'm happy to report that we're making great progress with the main living areas of the house as well, but I have several little touches to add here and there before they're "picture perfect." In any case, I am over the moon excited about how Bennett's room turned out! The room may look familiar since we are re-using Evan's nursery furniture, bedding, and curtains...but, who knew the difference paint could make! Add to that the perfect treasure of a tree decal we scored at BabiesRus and voile, it's a whole new room!

Before, the room was SO dark.  Swamp thing green trim and old Victorian wallpaper just wasn't the look we were going for...

 Little by little we made progress on the wallpaper. That is, until I hit the proverbial "wall" and handed the job over to someone more skilled lol. We had a good friend and professional painter finish the wallpaper job and paint the trim and doors white..

 

Then, my mom and I tackled the walls ourselves with this fresh coat of minty green paint. As paint goes, this color was not at all my original design. What I thought was a more neutral "sage" took a lighter, brighter turn into this cool as a cucumber color. But as fate would have it, I love mint chocolate chip even more!

Presenting the "after"

 

 

I plan to add more pom poms hang from the ceiling...my idea of a creative mobile if you will. Who doesn't love a good party puff?

 

This giraffe lamp took a hit in the move, but it was nothing a little glue gun couldn't help! And, the best room accessory of all, the little guy himself!

We LOVE Bennett's new room, and I think he does too!

Friday(night) phone dump

I saw this fun idea for Friday's on the blogging circuit, so why not join in? I remember a time when a cell phone was used strictly for emergencies-say for instance running out of gas, or getting lost in the mall. Nowadays, my phone is so much more than a phone. It's a photographer too! And, it captures even the ordinary(and often the most precious) outtakes of the day. For those of you without facebook or instagram, here's what you missing!

(And because who knows if these pictures will ever make it to print, at least they'll have their stamp somewhere!)

Rice cereal take 1

Bennett, meet your new friend-his name is cereal! Excited? Try it, you'll like it...

 Hmmm, not exactly love at first sight. "I'm supposed to eat this stuff? Really??" Say it aint so...

 Wait a minute...

 I like it I like it a lot!!

 And, the rest is history.

(Both my boys have started these semi-solids on the early end. Evan at five months, and now Bennett at four. Not for lack of growing, but rather in favor of ferocious appetites and seemingly bottomless bellies).

Who's four months old now?

This guy is!

Dover Street, chapter 1

The great house adventure has begun. We are just starting to wade through the deep, daunting pool of DIY projects. Progress is slow but sure. With each piece of wallpaper come down, we are more and more excited to discover all of the potential in our new home. Don't get me wrong, it's just wonderful the way it is! However, it is in need of some "cosmetic" updates to bring it more in line with our style. I am ready to dress this nest! In the just under a month, we've managed the following...

6 curtain rods/window coverings installed
2 ceiling fans hung
6 light fixtures replaced
1 outside door replaced
1 bath tub stopper put in
Almost 30 feet of fence built
1 handcrafted gate closure for the deck
2 buckets of fun, colorful paint for the playroom
3 coats of "true white" to give the fireplace a facelift
and, the biggest update yet...
about 800 square feet of carpet hauled and installed upstairs

Sheesh!

Add to that lots of sporadic work taking down wallpaper, a few random light switch covers and a brightly colored welcome mat, and that's just the beginning. Oh, and we did get the sidewalk and deck power washed this weekend-thanks for coming up mom and dad! Needless to say, we've got a long road ahead of us. Patience please. But, as my mom reminded me, it took Michelangelo a lot of time to paint(almost 4 years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, if you were wondering). This small masterpiece of ours is a work in progress and will be for a while no doubt. I can't wait to see how this home sweet home changes over time, and predict many before and after pictures to come. Oh, the joys of home owning! :-)

Here are some pictures of the journey so far...

Out with the "gold," in with the new! 

A sea of wallpaper...before and (almost) after

Powerwashing makes a huge impact!

 

More to come!

Hello June