S-l-o-w-l-y we transform the larger spare bedroom into my new studio/office.
We're not quite ready to make the room mine yet, but we're inching along! Just a few months ago the corner of this room in the above photo looked like....
... THIS!
Yes, that's Baby up on the shelf peering at me. This is Amanda's old room. After graduating from college she did move home for one year, but then moved back to the city and has put down roots there. And although she moved out, many of her belongings did not! So before starting the room makeover, we started boxing up things she wanted to keep.
The first step in the remodel was to remove all the shelving. (Sorry, Baby!)
Next the outdated 1980's wallpaper and border had to come down.
As you can see, this room has not been 'remodeled' since Amanda was a toddler!
I have to admit, this was the hardest part for me. I am way too sentimental for my own good. And as much as I was/am SO looking forward to this room being fresh and 'modernized,' it really bothered me to see the wallpaper and border come down. Amanda always loved it, too, and never wanted it changed or removed, even as she got older.
After the wallpaper removal, it was time for the old, worn wall-to-wall carpet to come out. Now that I had NO problem getting rid of!
After the plywood floors had been cleaned, the walls, woodwork, and closet doors were painted white. From this angle you can see that it's not a huge room by any means, but at 11 x 11, it's still bigger than Court's old room that I'm currently using as my studio office. It's just under 8 x 10.
All of the back-breaking work to this point was done by hubby as I've been too busy with transcribing and subbing to be of any help. I don't say thank you often enough - so a big huge THANK YOU to hubby for all he does!!!
And then, in late October, the big day arrived!
And like magic...
... a shiny new hardwood floor...
... was installed by one/two guys who were in and out in record time...
... and we were left with all this GORGEOUSNESS!
I just wanted to stare at the floor and not put anything in the room at all!
But for the time being Amanda's old bed was put back in here...
... so that Tiger, now 20-years old, can sleep where she has always slept since she was 8 weeks old.
And now we're even talking about replacing the three bedroom windows!
There's one (drafty) window in each bedroom. Boy, do they leak cold air. So I'm not sure exactly when it will happen, but it's in the "definitely being talked about" stage!
All this getting the house in "order" made me think of one of my new prints that I just received copies of a few weeks ago. It's my take on an old house blessing.
The Beauty of the house is Order
The Blessing of the house is Contentment
The Glory of the house is Hospitality
The Crown of the house is Godliness.
I was thinking it might be nice to have a giveaway, so if you'd like a chance to win this 16x20 print (or any other 16x20 or smaller sized print from my Etsy art shop), just leave a comment by midnight on Monday, Nov. 25th, and I'll announce a winner on Tuesday the 26th.
I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday this week.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Donna
