First Projects of 2011

We've started our projects already this year!  We added some tie backs for the upstairs landing area window.  Previously they just hung straight, which was fine, but I wanted them to be opened up a bit more.  There are no blinds on this window, so we're still able to easily close them at night for some privacy.  I'm glad we did this, because it makes the whole upstairs hallway more bright.  And at $6.00 at TJ Maxx, they were a steal. 

Our second project was an all day project.  Henry has no dresser - he and David share.  Their clothes are just getting too big for this to work anymore, and they are wearing different sizes in pants, so it gets confusing for them when they're picking out their clothes.  I don't have an extra dresser, and don't have a lot of patience so I wanted to make something work now until we get another dresser.  (Because you know I'm too damn cheap thrifty to just go to the store and buy one. . . it will have to come from craigslist, Goodwill, etc. )  We had two of these cube organizers in the playroom.  And lots of crappy broken toys, McDonald's toys, things nobody plays with anymore, and just junk filling them.  Chris and I cleaned out allllllllll of those toys yesterday and condensed two organizers to one.

I moved one of the cubes to the boys' room to use as clothes storage for now.  It's worked really well!  And I like how it looks in the room, which basically looks like a dorm room at this point.

We've also added that solar system painting to their room recently.  We saw one just like it at Homegoods several months ago for $40.  I was tempted to buy it, but didn't.  I think at that point we were still in our old house and hadn't even considered buying this one.  I didn't really have anyplace to put it in their old room.  We got this one at Goodwill for $4.00.  FOUR DOLLARS!  I was so excited.  I know that David won't be into the solar system forever, so I'm much happier to pay $4 for something like this.  And it's really cute - it was definitely a steal.  This room will be one of the next to be painted.  I'm thinking khaki.  And I hate that the bedding doesn't match on all of the beds, but David really loves that solar system comforter.  I'm picking my battles here, people!

We rearranged the playroom to give them some more actual playing space.  You may note the two different curtains. . . They will eventually be the blue, but the other is hanging in the boys' room until I finish making the panels for the second window.  My mother made the plaid curtains 10ish years ago, and they've been in several rooms (and houses!) since then.  I have them hanging in our guest room as well, my mother has a set as a shower curtain in her house, and my sister has a set in her living room.  I love the fabric, and it's oddly still available in the store.  I may use a corresponding fabric in our guest room to make a cushion for the window seat.

We have hung some canvases that the kids have painted in their playroom, and hung a wire system we bought at IKEA ages ago and never used.  I get SO MUCH art, papers, etc. sent home from school, and D&H never want me to throw it away.  This gives us a good way to display their favorites.

We did a MAJOR toy purge yesterday and had to sneak two huge garbage bags of toys for Goodwill out of the room.  David was whining all day that he didn't want to give any of his toys away, but I promise he won't even notice what's gone.  We will do some sort of larger storage system in this room when we get to the playroom on our redecorating list.  Right now we have small things in the bin organizer, and I made round tags for each bin so they will know what's in them.  We have larger toys, train tracks, and costumes on the floor next to the cube.  One issue in this room is that the closet has no shelving.  It's a decent closet, but it's virtually unusable until we shelve it.  Chris is going to cut down some shelves this week and put them in so we can get some of that put out of sight.

The boys got this Lego table for Christmas.  We found it (where else?!) on Craigslist, and it was in excellent condition.  I was going to make them a Lego table, but this table cost less than the materials would have cost me to make one.  And it came with two chairs!  The same table new on Amazon.com retails for $289.99, so my slightly used table at $40.00 was a steal!  They have already gotten $40 worth of playing out of it.  I'm so, so happy we have this space for them - the boys love it, and I love that their toys aren't scattered all over the house.  I would love to paint this a cheery color - maybe yellow?  Chris and I can't really agree on a color (big surprise!), so this room is on hold until we do.  I also want to recover the little couch, but won't do that until we decide on paint.