Chalking it up

Did I mention that I painted Jay and Rose’s room a few weeks ago? 3 walls are Splish Splash blue (which looks just like that blue masking tape, grr) and the 4th wall is a giant chalkboard.

The chalkboard is so fun! We finally got some chalk and an eraser this week, and the children have been going to town on their wall. Until I come up with something better, we’ve got a cardboard strip taped to the baseboard to catch the chalk dust.

I actually thought to take a “before” picture, and even a few “during” pictures.

This was my first solo painting project, and it was no picnic! I do not enjoy painting. It’s stressful. The paint always drips at the wrong moment.

I removed the closet door and the dresser completely because they were always in the way, and then I built (gasp) two shelves on the sides of the closet to replace the dresser. I plan to hang a cute curtain over the closet opening when the right fabric (or sheet) with the right pattern on it presents itself.

 

Under each shelf is a box to put too-small clothes in. Eventually I will find some cute baskets to put their clothes in on those shelves, but for now they get old Costco boxes for the clothes and ice cream buckets for the socks/underwear. Their room feels so much bigger without the old dresser and without the closet door. I must admit that I felt pretty macho-mama after all these home improvements. I removed a DOOR! Having a house has forced me waaay out of my limited handywoman skills comfort zone.

We also invested in some blackout blinds. They are heavenly. They don’t keep our kids asleep much past 6am, but they do prevent the kids from waking up before 6am. We got some for our window too. Heavenly sleepy darkness in this valley of SUN.

The kids' room is not done by any means, but since our home décor budget is modest, it’s going to be a while before it’s all the way done. I just had to show you what it looks like so far. I hope to find some orange and white polka-dot sheets for the kids beds and other orange, white, and blue blankets, etc, with a splash of lime here and there. It sounds like a recipe. Please don’t say anything about Boise State colors. That is SO not my inspiration. Pinterest helped:

color ideas…

…and this awesome wall. I want to put low cube shelves like these in, and maybe a shelf or two on the wall like these people did.

…and these are the bunk beds I have my eye on. Stairs up to the top WITH drawers in them AND shelves on the side? SWEET! They cost more than our couch did, so we’re thinking lonnnng term  here. But a girl can dream! I have to say, it’s hard for me to post my plans because then I feel like I have to commit to them. It makes me feel like a liar if I change my mind later, after I put the plans in writing. But I’ve been planning/Pinteresting this room out for weeks now, and since I can’t just DO it all right now (as much as I’d like to), I had to share the vision along with the halfway done pictures. So FOR NOW, these are my plans, and I’m excited about them.

Here’s a cutie for the road.