Paint,Decor and Life Interrupted

I get myself into messes .  A lot of messes.  I get an idea and in my mind it’s easy to pull off.  However, in my mind I have loads of energy, 4 hands, 6 legs, 3 brains, and 45 hours in a day.  I do this ALL. THE.TIME.   I’m 40 and no, I haven’t learned my lesson yet…. oh well.

 

So, I decided last week to paint the living room and get it ready to sell. I’m having 2 open houses this weekend which folks around here tell me is useless because no one will come.  Well, they haven’t met my Jesus because he has the right buyer who NEEDS to see this house!! In faith, I have been painting and prepping.  But…then there’s Grandpa, beginning his journey home and I wanted to see him.  And there’s the cold….-50*C with the windchill today and therefore kids to pick up and take to skating and other stuff this week.

Life interrupts but the goals are still there.  I am determined to complete this task and be ready for the weekend.  OH and now my husband and kids are going to be home tomorrow night instead of Friday~ this requires an extra dose of energy, follow-through and commitment to complete the job!  I’m not fully finished but here’s where we’re at tonight:

These hideous "panels" from the previous owners have really annoyed me. And the burgundy above the fireplace was so outdated too.

Time to get up on the ladder~8ft ladder is no fun for someone afraid of heights!! Good-bye burgundy~hello "Shortbread" (Martha Stewart paint)

The piano I painted "Duck's Egg Blue" ~ suddenly a color scheme is born. My Dayspring blocks gave me inspiration for how to pull all the colors together.

Love how the colors just work together~bright green, barn red, blues and neutrals.

Lights down low~ it feels warm, cozy and spacious. Even the burgundy blinds which I can't change now have been worked into the scheme!

 

Last year I wanted all the oak gone. But since we're moving it has to stay as is. Now it is warmed up and I think it works!

 

Take what you have and go with it~you might be surprised at what you pull off!

Progress is taken in BABY STEPS. {Lord help me!}

Okay, so I’ve been out of the loop for a few days. Trying desperately to revamp the look of my living room and ready us for an open house this weekend.  We’ve pulled our house off the market temporarily and attempting to do for sale by owner.

PRAY FOR US in this endeavour!  It’s definitely a little scary in this market and out in the bloomin’ middle of no where when it’s 40 below.  Yes, we woke up to -34*C today which translated to below  -43 with the windchill. BRRRR!

Anyways, I’m painting the living room.  It is coming along but there’s a few hiccups and challenges along the way.  I actually started with a non-fixed piece.  I painted my thrift store piano!  Yes, it was a bit of a gutsy move but I love it! It looks fresh and happy and it’s going to be a fabulous addition to our newly brightened up living room.  And the great thing is that I get to take it with me! No way is it staying behind now!

I will update later with pics of the rest of the living room but for now, here’s the piano transformation.

Are you doing any transformations in your house this month? Any lofty goals for reorganizing and simplifying?? Let me know. I’m always up for more motivation and inspiration.

The Prairie Girl’s Home Goals

I like thinking about goals. I like making lists and I like the planning.  The implementation?? Hmmm. That’s a whole other ball game!

I decided to link up with all these fabulous bloggers on goals for our homes for 2012.  Mostly because I just want to have a goal and fulfill it.  I want to be intentional this year and clearly, intentionality means accountability.

Last year my home suffered dearly for so many reasons.  Walls and cabinets that I intended to paint are still as they were, furniture that I wanted to repurpose is still sitting in the garage, crafts and curtains that were to be made have been left in the “to do” pile once again.  I have procrastinated and lost my motivation.  Mostly due to the fact that we were supposed to be moving last summer and we still haven’t sold and partly due to the fact that when I feel overwhelmed I freeze up and nothing gets done.

So, goals for this year?

1.  BUY a house, move in and get dirty right away.   I can’t do much about this house although I am going to paint a couple of walls that no new owner will like and it will help my mood to perk up.  But moving is top priority and getting a house that we can all live in again is always number 1 in my thoughts.

2.  I want my new house to be the landing pad for my kids and all their friends.  We have been many years without having the social revolving door happening and we’re so ready for it.  I need to make sure there’s a comfy room with comfy furniture, foosball and ping pong!~ these have long been family goals and now’s the time to make it happen!

This is our current basement with a pool table not being used. Gotta change that!

3. I want to make my master bedroom that room where my husband and I love to go rather than just a place to sleep. I’d love a fireplace if we could make that work somehow(it would have to be a fairly big room).  I want a big headboard and I’m also working on my very first handmade patchwork quilt for our bed.  Gotta get that done before our anniversary in April!

The beginnings of my master bedroom quilt. I think I'm going to love it when it's done!

4. And one of my must-do goals has got to be to make my kitchen functional and working for me every day.  I have slacked off on home cooking and baking  and I really want to take back those crafts and bless my family daily with homemade goodness.

5. Every bedroom is in need of a new dresser so my mission is going to be to find older dressers to refinish, paint and re-purpose into what will work for each member of the family. I’m actually really excited about this! And night tables too!  I’ve already started to pick up some pieces that will need attention sooner than later.

Picked up this little beauty at a sale in the fall.Hoping to give it some life with a new colour for one of the girls' rooms!

I made a list yesterday of things I need to do to start getting my house in order and stop being consumed by stuff! You can read it here: Clean up and Clean Out!

Okay, I think that’s enough.  I have a LOT of work to do!! Gotta get on it ! What’s your home goals for this year?

http://www.eclecticallyvintage.com/4/post/2012/01/imagine-the-impossibilities-challenge.html

Clean up~ Clean out.{Everything from Sheets to Spices}

Why do we purge in January?  I don’t know why the urge doesn’t hit in March or July or October.  But here we are, second week of January and blogs are practically exploding all over the web with de-cluttering  resolutions, organizational insight and the urge to purge.  People are even purging their bodies of toxins and an over-indulged holiday of gluttony.   Ah yes, January is de-tox month.

So, what are you cleaning up?

Are you attacking a closet or a storage room? Are you on a mission to figure out how you got to this  point of having more stuff than you know what to do with? That’s where I’m at.  So, in lieu of making resolutions I’m making  a list of things to purge and clean out.   I am planning on moving soon.  Like, sooner than later would be GREAT!  But in the mean time, I have decided that there’s no point in moving all of the things we have.  Because, well, we have TOO.  MANY. THINGS!!

Here’s where I’m starting:

1. Clean out pantry and get rid of stuff we never eat. Actually, I’m trying to bake and cook my way through most of the pantry this month to cut down on my grocery bill as well as use up what we have.  I’m also going to move a lot of my dry goods into jars~ something I’ve wanted to do for years.   Here’s a great blog that has some good tips on what to store in your pantry: http://www.simplebites.net/9-foods-to-stock-in-your-pantry-in-2012/
2.  I’m going to clean out my dishes. I have so many that I never use and then I have too many that we use which clogs up the dishwasher way too often. I’m pretty sure we don’t need 40 cups in rotation on any given day.  And I’m also very fine with not using 3 complete place settings of dishes.  At least one has to go.(There’s 6 of us in our family plus we have to be prepared for company but I’m done with these 6 piece place settings that I’ve had for 10+ years)
3. Time to clean out linens.  I try to do this regularly anyways but somehow the closet has become the dumping ground for any piece of cloth that people don’t know what to do with. Tablecloths of varying sizes, colors and fabrics are overtaking needed space for sheets.  Which reminds me~ we need sheets!! I’ve been using the same ones for 20 years and they are thread-bare!
4. Books!  Oh dear. It’s such a love of mine but we just can’t keep accumulating books.  I’m actually going to be doing a book giveaway starting this next week.  Watch for details because I have some really GOOD ones!
5. Digital photos~ now, while these may not take up physical space , they’re clogging up the memory on my hard drive.  I have folders that are mis-labeled, photos from the past 6 years all on CD or some sort of memory drive and I’m losing track of where they all are.  I fear this will be a several-month long project.  But, I am committed to deleting. Yes.  DELETING. I have multiple shots  of the same thing, some good, others not. It’s time to pare down the folders to a more manageable state. That, plus I’d like to see them for a change and so I need to get them on my digital picture frame.    Once this is done, time to make some photo books. This is one of my major goals for 2012~ actually have published, tangible photos to hold and look at.

Okay, well, that’s enough.  There will be more added to this list but I have to start here.  My pantry is calling and the spices need some TLC!