the surreal.

It’s just after midnight and I should be in bed. K has two early basketball games tomorrow and I’m walking a 5k and frankly, there’s just not a lot of margin between now and Monday morning.

Dad came over tonight to help me finish putting together the beds I made for one of the upstairs bedrooms. And after the headboards and footboards and side rails were all put together, after the slats were cut and put into place and I dragged the mattresses upstairs, I pulled out the sheets and comforters and pillows and made the beds. I thought about waiting until another day to do that, but after all of the work, I wanted to see them made up and ready to be used.

“You know, Dad,” I said, “one day my kids are going to sleep in these beds. Your grandkids.”

He agreed, because of course this was true, but I couldn’t help but be struck by how surreal it all seemed. As I was tucking in the sheets, I thought about how there would be many more times that I would do this in the future. Someday soon it would be a chore to climb around the small room (that seemed much bigger before we finished the beds)Maybe I’ll be changing the sheets in the middle of the night because someone was sick or had an accident. Maybe I’ll be sending one child on and need to prepare the beds for the next one God sends.

But tonight, I didn’t mind so much. Tonight I smiled as I snapped a couple quick photos for Instagram. Tonight, I’m looking forward to seeing who God is going to send, and what marvelous things He is going to do.

the pink bedroom.

When I first saw the real estate listing for my house, and I read that it had five bedrooms, I honestly didn’t believe it. A house in my price range with five bedrooms? But it does, because the upstairs was converted into a bathroom and three very small bedrooms. The pink bedroom is one of them.

This bedroom was pink when I bought it, except it was pastel pink. The carpeted floor had some pet stains, and there was a huge hole in the wall that someone had (tried) unsuccessfully) to patch. I ripped up the carpet last year, and A picked the wall color last fall.

This was my inspiration photo.

[Source: BHG via Pinterest]

And here’s the end result.

The “ceiling beams” are just inexpensive 1x4s that I stained and screwed directly into the ceiling studs. The horizontal piece hides a PVC pipe that acts as curtain rod.

I painted the bed and dresser using a light gray paint I already had on hand. The dresser pulls are made from some leather belts I found on clearance at Target (inspiration here)– I painted them, used tin snips to cut the correct length, then drilled holes and attached them to the drawers with hex screws and nuts.

The bookshelves are made from gutters (inspiration here) – I like the idea of tucking a reading corner into that area, maybe adding some pillows or a bean bag chair in the future.

The floor underneath the carpet was composed of old (and very ugly) vinyl tiles. I considered laying laminate wood floors, but knowing that I would want to carry the same floor through most of the upstairs, I decided to save myself the headache of all those cuts and angles by installing peel-and-stick vinyl wood-look planks instead. They’re inexpensive, easy to install, and really look great. I painted the trim around the floor, window, and doors white, which really helped lighten up the space, and I added shoe molding around the perimeter (previously there was only baseboard). It really finished off the floor nicely and meant I didn’t have to be nearly so precise when installing the floor.

The last touch was this word art. It was inspired by (ok, copied from) the art in this post. Since this is clearly a girl’s room (given all the pink), I wanted to send a message that most of us girls need to hear over and over again.

There are still other finishing touches I would love to add, like more art for the walls, or maybe a bulletin board of some kind. The lamp is on loan and I’d like to find/make something a little more distinctive. And of course, there is a pillow for the bed – it was just downstairs when I took these pictures. But for now, I’ve moved on to other projects.

africa sand art.

This sand art was one of the few souvenirs I brought back from Africa for myself. I thought about displaying it in the dining room, with the other gallery items I’m slowly creating, but I decided instead I wanted to use it as a main focal piece in my bedroom. It’s a special reminder to me, so I wanted it in a place I would see it every day.

And because it’s special, I wanted to do something different than just frame it. So, I had the guys at Home Depot (thank goodness they cut wood for you!) cut a 2-foot by 2-foot project panel to be just a couple inches larger the canvas on each side. I stained it and attached it with hot glue. With the slightly fraying edges on display, it’s a little less polished – which kind of fits Africa and how I feel about it, too.

I hung it using velcro hanging strips, but it wasn’t long before it fell right off the wall. So for now, it’s propped against the wall, until I can figure out the best way to display it. I’m thinking, maybe something like this?

bedroom paneled wall.

So work on my bedroom has kind of stalled, thanks to a dislocated kneecap during kickball practice last week. Thankfully, I had finished this project earlier that same day (and thanks to my brother, who pulled off the rest of the painters tape for me!). So while I (not so) patiently recuperate and try to think of projects I can complete that don’t require going downstairs or a lot of mobility, I’ll enjoy the freshly painted room and fun paneled wall I created.

Keep in mind that even though the main painting, there is still quite a bit of work to do. At the moment, I still have furniture floating in the room, all of the trim needs to be painted, and the light switch and outlet covers haven’t even been replaced. Good thing I’m comfortable with living in the midst of projects!

To make this wall, I basically followed tutorials from Take the Side Street and Miss Mustard Seed. Like them, I used 1/8-inch thick 4x8 sheets of hardboard from Home Depot. The store cut the boards into 6-inch strips for me, small enough that I could (mostly) cut them with my miter saw. I needed 3 sheets, and each one costs less than $10, so the entire wall cost less than $30, plus the cost of primer and paint (both of which I already had). I did need to use a jig saw and circular saw for a few of the pieces, but all in all, it went up pretty quickly.

I painted a first coat around the whole room, primed the boards, installed everything, then painted a final coat around the entire room. I’m so happy with the character it adds to this basic room!

bedroom ideas.

After finishing the board and batten wall treatment in the dining room, I dived right into working on the master bedroom. Usually I like to break up the big projects with smaller ones, but this time I was motivated. I wanted to take advantage of that, so I pulled all the furniture in to the middle of the room and started taping. It's still in process (everything around here takes forever), so while I work on it, I thought I'd share some of my ideas for the room.

I love the look of wood planked walls, so I'm experimenting a little with something that looks kind of like this:

[Source via Pinterest]

I'm also planning to build my own headboard. I'm thinking about something kind of like this, using these plans:

[Source via Pinterest]

I want to include some kind of phrase on it, something like this:

[Source via Pinterest]

I'll also need to repaint my nightstand, because I don't think the existing color will work with the new wall color. My old dresser could use a new coat of paint, as well, since it's gotten a little beaten up with all the moves in the last year. The closet has sliding doors, which I hate, so I'm thinking about creative ways to replace those.

Overall, the bedroom isn't tiny (especially compared to the bedrooms upstairs), but it isn't very big, either. One wall has a door in from the hallway and the closet, two walls have single windows, and one wall is empty (though this is the wall the door opens against, so that limits the amount of usable space). I don't want to place my bed against a window, because the headboard I want to make will block part of it, and because the scale of the 3-foot window would look odd against my queen-size bed. This leaves the blank wall for the bed. After leaving room for the door to open, it would be difficult to fit the bed and two nightstands along the wall, so I'm thinking about placing a small shelf and maybe a wall basket on the other side of the bed. Neither of these photos are really my style at all, but you get the idea.

[Source (both) via Pinterest (left and right)]

So, lots of plans for this room! Right now I've got the first coat of paint on the wall, and the planked wall is in process. Hopefully I've have a reveal photo (at least of the wall) soon.

nightstand.

I got rid of a lot of things when I left Virginia. A lot. Some things I sold, many I donated (I really should have had a big yard sale). I knew that I had limited storage space (Katie and Vince's basement), and I really wasn't quite sure what life was going to look like when I got back (would I live in a house? an apartment? alone or with other people?), so I adopted this as my motto:

[source]

As I've slowly moved in and set things up in this house, I'm mostly proud of the amount of purging that I did. It has meant, though, that there are quite a few things that I need to buy or make. Combine that with the challenges of a new house that has lots of room for updates and customization...well, let's just say that it will take quite some time to get completely settled here. The bathroom is the big renovation, but I'm also all over the place with other updates.

I bought this nightstand at a Restore (my favorite thrift store) while visiting friends in Asheville, NC. It was a donation from The Grove Park Inn, and it was in pretty good shape - just a few scuff marks here and there. I knew I wanted to paint it (because I love painted furniture), and I thought the detail on it would really stand out if I distressed it.

This is the before:

And the after:

I really like how it turned out! I've never sanded, primed, and painted something with quite this much detail, so it took a bit longer than I expected, but the results were worth it. After a coat of primer, I painted two coats of Sherwin Williams' Copen Blue (a beautiful blue green color that I'm going to use in my kitchen). Then I sanded down some of the edges, painted on some stain with a foam brush (Minwax Dark Walnut) and wiped it off almost immediately, then let the whole thing dry.

The storage that it adds to my bedroom will be wonderful, and I'm so glad that the only light in my bedroom is no longer a lamp sitting on the floor!