long story short

shades of gray

I was waiting for perfect rooms before I posted photos, but, well, life is crazy and perfectly decorated rooms are on the back burner. So, I thought I'd show you my teensy bit of progress on the boys' rooms. The house was freshly painted when we moved in, but I thought the color in the boys' rooms was too light for my boys. It seemed not quite right. So, just a couple of weeks after moving in, I changed it. Here are some photos -- they're not great photos, but you get the idea.

Walker's room color before:

See? I told you we'd just moved in -- the room looks so blank it makes me laugh. The color is  a very pale yellow. Walker actually said he liked it because he wanted a room that felt really light. So, I tried to keep things light and airy, but I wanted the room to have a little more character. I also wanted to emphasize the woodwork and angles.

Here's the after:

    

It's still very light, but even though I used a supposedly cooler color, I feel like the room has more warmth.

The little boys' room was painted the same yellow color as Walker's:

I felt it looked a little anemic. The boys wanted to keep their camo bedding, so that was our starting point. I chose gray for their room too, but went with a warmer "muddy" gray. It's hard to tell the real color from a photo, I know, but I hope you can see the difference a little color change made:

Now that things are settling down a little, I'm hoping to get the rooms pulled together.

I'll keep you posted...

my house - the bookshelves

Bookshelves can be tricky, don't you think? They're meant to be functional, but they should also be fun & interesting enough to draw people in. We have lots of avid readers at our house, so I was excited that this house has some built-in bookshelves. They're in a nook in the basement that will, someday hopefully soon, be a cozy reading corner. I wanted to put lots of books on the shelves, but I also wanted them to have some personality.

Here's what they looked like before:

I know, it's a horrible photo.  I took it quickly one night before I moved in, not realizing that I would be posting it here. But, aren't "before" photos supposed to look awful?

After several hours of putting things on, then taking them all off, then putting them on again, here are the bookshelves now (I wish the lighting was better for these, but, like I said, this is the basement):

 

They're still a work in progress -- the top shelf is still empty and the narrow shelves on the left are waiting for some inspiration -- but they're coming along.

My boys came down periodically to check out my progress. They rediscovered old favorites (lots of our books have been in boxes since we first moved) and found books that were new to them. The best part of this project was watching my boys as they scanned the newly-organized shelves, selected books, then disappeared to their rooms... and into their books.

 

 

my house - first peek

My sister informed me that it is super boring to announce that I've moved and then not post any photos. I considered posting pictures of boxes and plastic-wrapped furniture, but I don't think that's what she meant.

This sister and I share a passion for houses. We consult each other for ideas, help each other rearrange our rooms (or the rooms of whoever we happen to be visiting), send links to favorite rooms/houses that inspire us and daydream of living in the same city -- in homes that are perfectly "us".

So, although we're still in the process of pulling things together, which, for me, is usually more of a slow evolution than an all-at-once grand unveiling... here's a quick peek at my latest abode (i'll post more as i make more progress).

Sister, these are for you...

 

 

so much for a mellow summer

Are you wondering where I went? I know it must seem that I've just vanished from blog land. The truth is that I am moving. Again. Moving and trying to get ready for an already-planned lake vacation -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I had planned for a relatively mellow summer with my kids. So much for planning.

So, bear with me. I have to get through this move (nightmare!) and then our vacation (we leave in two days!), then I'll be back.

For now, how about reading All About Hutton...

    
Makes you want to hang out with that kid, right?

scrooge be gone

My beloved sister unexpectedly came to town last week (the bad? it was for a funeral. the good? serendipitous fun time with one of my favorite people). We packed in as much as we could in the short time she was here. So fun....

I think I detected a raised eyebrow when she noticed that there wasn't a sign of holiday cheer at my house (except for our cheerful dispositions, of course). I tried to explain that K had been in China for nearly two weeks.

Now, for some reason -- although he used to travel all the time and I was perfectly fine --nowadays when K leaves town, things go crazy around here. Last time, the washing machine broke -- which is quite a story that includes lots of water on the floor and late nights at various laundromats (I met a psycho psychic at one 24-hour laundromat who read my palm and kind of propositioned me... awkward). It's actually a pretty disturbing funny story... for another day.

Anyway, this time, while K was discovering the delights of Chinese markets and authentic Chinese food, I lost my voice and developed a hideous cough... which somehow led to a thrown-out back. I couldn't move! In an effort to get myself out of bed (because, as everyone knows, a mom can't get sick or stay in bed when her husband is in China -- or at any other time actually), I hoisted myself up too fast, felt a shooting pain up my spine, and... passed out. Yup. Out cold. Apparently, I smacked my head on the dresser on the way down -- I woke to a lovely goose egg on my forehead. 

Ridiculous.

Thanks to excellent advice from my mom (ice and lots of it) and some helpful pain medication, I survived the experience. But, aside from getting Christmas cards mailed and delivering Christmas gifts to the youngest boys' friends (see below), my get-ready-for-Christmas plans didn't. Survive, that is.

Last week when my sister showed up, my house must have seemed like Ms. Scrooge herself lived here.

Did I mention: K was in CHINA and I was sick and had a hurt back?!!

So, dear sister, as an early Christmas gift to you: some pictures. Of my house now. De-Scrooge-ified.

 

Oh yeah. Please play Christmas music as you read this post. It'll make the post -- and the photos -- lots better.

household hints

Hint #39:

Never assume that, just because they've done it a zillion times, your kids know how to use the dishwasher.

Hint #40

Make sure that those who put dishwashing LIQUID (instead of dishwasher detergent) in the dishwasher get plenty more opportunities to practice.

dresser talk - no. 6

Dresser number 6, the last in our series, is all business.

There is rarely anything on this dresser aside from sports and business magazines. You see a book there, you say?  Secrets of Longevity? Oooo...intriguing, right?

Well, before you think that this dresser reflects a man concerned with aging gracefully and other such mysteries, look closer. That book is pristine! There is no tell-tale crease in the cover. Believe me, that book has never been opened. (Neither have any of the other books -- you know, about child-rearing, relationships, feelings and such-- that I've given him).

So, he may not know the secrets of perfect relationships and living to be 100, but this guy knows all about sports, stocks, the latest innovations and up-and-comers in the business world. 

(But, I'm going to keep sneaking those books in there anyway).

dresser talk - no. 5

Dresser number five is so lucky!! Five is my dresser.

The side you can't see usually holds my latest reading material. I love books. All kinds of books. The last couple of books I've read? The Lost Symbol and Jane Austen Ruined My Life (a fun vacation book). I should probably admit that there's usually a stack of magazines there too. Not as cerebral as books maybe, but fun.

My passion is my kids and I love to display photos of them. (Brins is looking over my shoulder. She says I'm displaying my favorite child here, but that's so not true! All my kids are my favorites... I just happen to look pretty good in this picture. So there!)

I love my room to smell good. Today's scent: orange cinnamon. Mmmm.

And I love orange -- you could say it's my signature color. (I have a signature color!)

dresser talk - no. 2

Welcome to today's episode of Dresser Talk.

The owner of this dresser loves -- among other things -- sports, friends and reading. Since our move to the frozen tundra, he has taken up snowboarding and is quite the shredder.

He is supposed to keep his ski pass in the drawer in the kitchen, but he never does. It's always floating somewhere on the dresser -- see it there, draped over the books? It's funny, it looks like it's going to be grabbed any minute for a spontaneous snowboarding excursion.

It just might be.

dresser talk - no. 1

I was dusting today. I went from room to room with my dusting cloth. As I dusted the bedroom dressers in the house, I had to pause a couple of times. To smile. Because each dresser was like a brief personality study of its owner.

For example, the above dresser lives in the room of two boys. They love to read/be read to (boy books only -- no girly stuff) and they both love sports.

They both dream of having their very own dog -- make that dogs, plural.

See? You can tell a lot about a person by looking at what they keep on their dresser.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's guest dresser.