THE GRAND REVEAL!

Makeover Monday 

It is FINISHED!

Well, kinda

This is where it started.

and

this is where it ended.

Let's just take a moment and soak it all in.

I'll even put them together for you so you can experience the full effect!

Isn't it beautiful?

Don't get me wrong. The room still has issues.
1. There is still no overhead lighting.
2. The girls' computer chairs match nothing
3. No place for guests to sleep.

But, for right now.
I love it!
It makes me smile every time I walk by.

Here's an "around the room" series of
Before and Afters.

 Feel free to "Oooh" and "Aahhh".

Thank you for your support through this journey.

Honestly, it would not have been finished if I hadn't known someone was watching.

The Magic of a New Coat of Paint Part 2

Makeover Monday

        First, I must apologize for missing last week's Makeover Monday. It was the first day of school for me and my girls. That took every ounce of energy I could manage. Anyway, I promised to show you what some paint did for this beauty. We have two of these for the girls' computers. They were both in this condition. I was going to sit them out on the curb but my friend suggested cutting off the side and giving them a few coats of spray paint.

She's pretty brilliant.

This is now the perfect size for the computer without allowing much room for clutter. 

            The same friend was awesome enough to spend an entire day with me painting the Mama Elephant room.  I paid her in books and pizza. 

It was very, very, very blue. 

We started off using Kilz. Lots and lots of Kilz!

Then we got a little high off the fumes. Laughed until we cried and had to take a snack break. 

We recovered and two coats of "Antique Beige" later. 

This: 

Became this!

 Please ignore the random dog rope in the middle of the room. They were slightly fascinated by the empty space and one of them may or may not have walked around with paint on his tail for a week or so afterward. I'm not saying. 

(yes, it was him.) 

 NEXT WEEK will be the big reveal to prove the Mama Elephant has been tamed!

 Please come by to "ooh" and "aah".

The Magic of a Coat of Paint

Makeover Monday

The Magic of a Coat of Paint 

(or Why My Husband is Awesome.)

This chest 

is actually 

in this picture. 

This was the "Dress-up corner".

 I had dreams of my girls digging through the chest, 

trying on costumes 

and using the cute mirrors to admire their new looks. 

Um, yeah, that happened...oh, let me see.... NEVER. 

I've had the chest since before the girls were born. I have a matching table and stool. All that I planned to paint someday. Remember when I said I've had it since before they were born? My oldest is eleven, just so you know. 

Poor, poor, neglected chest. 

I even broke and lost the lid years ago. 

Terrible.

Enter my hero husband.

New lid and a coat of paint!

Isn't it pretty? 

It goes perfect in the new playroom 

(which we are currently trying to rename "the study" 

because heaven forbid our tweens have a "playroom".)

Next week, I'll show you the wonders a coat of paint did for the room itself 

as well as this beautiful piece of furniture. (You know you wish this lived at your house, don't lie.)

12 hours in 12 seconds

Makeover Monday

Remember my living room looking like this?

My girls and I worked on it a few hours at a time 

with a little help from our dogs who kept climbing right

into the middle of the pile to lay down. 

I preserved the process for you in pictures. 

Watch below for 12 hour in 12 seconds. 

Looks like fun, right? 

Meet Mama Elephant

Makeover Monday

As I mentioned last week, I'm not done with the Baby Elephant project. But, Mama Elephant broke loose and had to be dealt with before I could continue on either. 

So, today is the grand introduction. 

*Warning: The images below may be disturbing to some readers*

This is my children's playroom.

Um... Four years ago.

This is it now. 

Please come a little closer...

The room has no overhead light. 

So that beautiful standing lamp in the corner...

 Yes, the one with only two working bulbs, provides all the illumination needed. 

Maybe you'd like to

read a book 

or play a game 

or scale a mountain of God-knows-what the size of Everest. 

If you are musically inclined, there is a fifth grader recorder 

precariously balanced on the top shelf for your enjoyment. 

A chest of dress clothes to the left, complete with full length mirror for optimal viewing 

and a science table to the right with craft projects conveniently stored in removable bins. 

Older daughter's computer desk and art cubbies on the left. 

Lego table  and additional lamp (not plugged in, by the way) on the right. 

Art easel in the back corner. 

Lego table (yes, there is a table under there) in the foreground. 

Evidence my strict rule against eating in any room other than the kitchen/dining room and certainly not in front of the computers is being followed without question. 

*SIGH*

Let's not even talk about how it got this way 

or how long it's looked like this

 because at this point I don't remember

 and it doesn't really matter. 

The room has several issues: 

1. It has no door. There is no hiding this monstrosity of a mess. 

2. It is painted a dark blue. Yes, I picked the color and at the time it looked pretty good. Until I realized it turned a cute play room into a cave. 

3. My kids are way too old for most of what is in here.

So, say hello to Mama Elephant. I've already started working on her. I've got two weeks before school starts and want it done before I go back. 

You'll come on this journey with me, won't you? She's REALLY big and I'm kind of scared. 

My Life on a Puzzle Board

Makeover Monday

Image Credit

Have you ever played with one of these? 

Right now, I'm living in one. 

It's called My-House-Is-A-Wreck-and-I-Don't-Know-Where-To-Put-Anything.

You see, 

Mama Elephant escaped last week, before I could completely finish up with baby. 

(If you don't normally read my blog, the above sentence is probably incoherent to you. No, I'm not a zoo keeper. I have two rather large organizing projects going on. Baby Elephant and Mama.) Due to scheduling and other logistics, I had to empty out the Mama Elephant room (You'll get to actually meet her next week) before I could finish the Baby Elephant area.

Now my living room looks like this:

I can't describe how much looking at this makes me want to cry. 

You see the Baby Elephant space there in the background and my pretty new empty bookshelf on the right? 

It's empty because the floor behind the couch looks like the picture above. 

I can't get to the bookshelf to put stuff on it. 

I have to keep moving the puzzle pieces around.

Example:

 Furniture item X must be moved into room A, but that means furniture item Y is going in to room C, but room C doesn't have a space for it yet because I have to clear out that corner which requires making a decision on furniture item Z. 

And, this is why I'm sitting on the couch paralyzed with anxiety instead of diving into that pile. Which is large enough I could literally dive into it. I'm not sure the flooring is even present anymore. 

So, what do I do with all this stuff? 

Feel free to resume your regularly scheduled life now. 

I'm just going to here and breath into a bag. 

Sneak Peek

Makeover Monday

I'm actually not here. I'm at ASL Teacher Camp in Austin. But, it is Monday so I wanted to share a sneak peek of how well my baby elephant is coming along. Remember this? The place where I store all my family's priceless picture and mementos?

Well, in the process of sorting through everything else. This happened.

AVALANCHE!

So, I took the hint that it was time to start sorting. For now, I just have everything divided by person. I have big plans of making each family member an album. But, that wasn't going to happen this week. Each picture went into the appropriate box. The awards, game tickets and other souvenirs went into crates. Then, my awesome husband rewarded all my hard work with a new book case. 

 Isn't it pretty? 

Before and After 

30 minutes or...more.

Makeover Monday

I really wanted to title this post "30 minutes or less". I'm taking a momentary break from my elephant and working on some other small projects around the house. Don't worry. I'm still making progress on the biggest project. Just giving myself breathing room to avoid burn out.

Anyway, my youngest daughter is a gamer. Serious gamer. This is her game area.

I thought we could manage this in 30 minute or less because we were only focusing on that drawer right there. The massive amount of Pokemon cards, Skylanders and random Halloween pumpkin could be addressed later. Just this drawer. No problem.

Then,

we opened it.

Then, I closed it and walked away. 

THE END

Okay, I wanted to close it and walk away. But, I didn't. 

*Deep breath.*

Step one: 

Empty the drawer. 

Step Two: 

Manage this.

Actually, I made my daughter manage this because I don't know a Play station from a Nintendo. 

Step Three: 

Find a way to contain all of this without spending any extra money.

Only my daughter gets in this drawer. I wanted to use what I had on hand.

 (Plus, she refused to make a trip to the Dollar store with me.)

Ta Daaa!

A left over desk container from a desk organizer, an apple container and two shoe boxes later.

She can actually see what she owns!

And, it only took....Okay, it took over an hour.

But, it was totally worth it! 

Baby Elephant Part II: Tiny Bites

Makeover Monday

Tiny Bites

LOOK! Carpet!!!!

I gave myself a built in deadline when I started this project last week. I knew that on Saturday my house would be filled with people for my daughter's birthday party. The main goal was to get everything off the floor and in a presentable pile. 

After hours of Pandora radio, dropping a shredder on my foot (OUCH! Very reminiscent of the marble chess board incident)  and a healthy dose of self-talk ("You can do this." "Don't get overwhelmed." "No, no, no sitting down to check Facebook and Twitter, Bad Dawn!")

the floor emerged.

It looks even better with the lid down!

I filled up several garbage bags with donations and had our recycle bin overflowing. 

That left this. 

The dreaded "TO-BE" pile.

To be filed

To be shredded

To be tossed

To be...um, I don't know. What do you do with Christmas cards from 15 years ago?

That's the project for this week.

I sorted everything into crates and hope to go through a crate each day this week. 

Next Monday, I'll be posting some of the buried treasures I found in this mess. 

Like this,

Nine reams of unopened paper as well as a stack of unused folders and binders. 

Previously lost in the seas of chaos, now neatly stacked in a cabinet. 

For now,

What do you do with old Christmas/Birthday/Congratulations on the New House cards?