Kids Room #2- Airplanes!

The airplane theme started when I found two cast iron airplane wall hangings at the Morrow Memorial Turnover Sale back in 2008. Since then we've acquired a variety of items to make it a one-of-a-kind room (check out the "Fun Decorative Details" photos below!)
Before:

Mom, once again, donned her painting clothes & got the painting done.  Happily, this bedroom also only needed one coat, even over the bright pink!

After:

Radiator screening is complete!

One item that needed attention was the radiator cover.  The radiator is hidden in the bottom portion of the built-in shelves.  Only it wasn't so hidden since the frame was missing it's metal screening.  It only took Mike about 10 minutes to remedy this (not including the trip to Lowes, which always takes at LEAST an hour!) 

I'm loving the room...
it is big enough to hold the play kitchen, the table & chairs, and a bunch of stuff on the built in shelves.

My son is also loving it- he keeps walking in & proudly saying "Mine". 

We still have to replace the ceiling fan with one that has lights (all of the bedrooms have ceiling fans without the lights).  I'm not sure why you'd install ones without lights- perhaps the previous owners just preferred table lamp light?  I'm worried we'll find out a bigger reason once we start pulling them down!  But I have my eye on a few that will go perfectly with our airplane theme... we just may need to bring in an electrician.

Fun Decorative Details:

Framed prints

The Inspiration!

 

Shelf Mike installed for the "breakables"

Built in shelves

Metal sign bought in OBX

Wall hooks

Kids Room #1- Yo Ho!

It was a shame... the existing paint was in great shape, but the colors (purple & pink) weren't right for our themes:
Nautical & Airplanes!

I love that the rooms not only have entrances from the main hallway, but also have a door inside that joins the two rooms.  (I'm sure that door is going to get slammed many, many times over the coming years!) Since the rooms connect, I wanted to use two complimentary shades of blue, but the boys insisted they wanted the same.  That made it even easier!

Mom & Dad were back for a visit and Mom volunteered to paint the bedrooms!  (I don't know how she does it, but Mike & I consider ourselves VERY lucky that she loves this house as much as we do!)  Happily, the blue paint covered really well- only ONE coat was needed! 

In our old house, B's bedroom was done in a pirate theme (he's loved pirates since he was 2 years old!)  We morphed into a nautical theme, figuring he'll be less likely to outgrow it anytime soon!

Before

After







 





Before

After

My favorite part of the project- gathering the themed decorative items.  Most of them have a family history behind them.  For instance, we hung my grandfather's Navy uniform on the wall, along with my Dad's Navy memorabilia.  The trunk at the bottom of the bed was a wedding gift made by a co-worker of mine (it now holds a multitude of kids costumes!) 

Check out some of the other items that we incorporated below...

Fun Decorative Details:



Painting done by my great-grandfather

Dad re-wired his childhood lamps!

Cabinet made by Mike's Dad

Papa's Navy Uniform

Whaling paintings done by a family friend
(who was a cartoonist for Warner Brothers)


 







Fourth of July

We decided to not plan any big projects for the three-day weekend.

I did decorate a little- by hanging some bunting on the well house, and sticking little flags into the planters out front.

Mike's youngest brother & his family were visiting on Saturday, and we had plans to go to a parade on Monday.  We figured we'd just hang out in the yard on Sunday... until the rain started!

Guess we might as well install the new dishwasher!  It had been sitting in a box in the kitchen for two weeks now.  The problem: it wasn't a replacement- we had to cut away some kitchen cabinetry to install it.  Mike did a great job researching the plumbing supplies needed- we didn't even need an extra trip to Lowe's!

Next up will be the clothes dryer which stopped working last week.  We had a repairman in on Friday to take a look at it.  Not good- it will cost more to repair than to buy a new one.  So, off we went...  It'll be delivered next week.  Until then, I'm praying for sunny days so I can use the clothesline!

A quick project!

A free afternoon... what to do?  I needed something fast & easy. 

Linen Closet!

I've been avoiding putting anything in there until I had the chance to clean it up.  It was very depressing!

Since no one else is likely to see it, I really didn't want to spend any money here.  I checked Mike's workshop and found a bright & cheery yellow paint that we already had.

I only had to buy the contact paper.  Which, I could not find much of a selection... I was going to try these cute green & yellow stripes, but figured that would be a disaster since nothing is square in this house!  So I chose the ever-forgiving faux marble instead.   

After just a few short hours,

it's transformed! 

Someday I may go back and paint the shelves white, but for now, I've got bigger fish to fry...

I can finally start unpacking all the bins of sheets, blankets & towels!  Yay!

Out we go!

I was so busy going on about the inside projects, that I neglected to mention the outside stuff!



Tall, tall grass!



After our Florida trip, we came home to grass that was taller than the dog.  We went out running in the pasture, and it felt like the opening of "Little House on the Prairie"!

We had ordered the mower, and it was being assembled... waiting for it to be delivered was torture!  It was like watching grass grow (which is similar to watching paint dry!)

Despite the overgrowth, Mike's parents dug right in!  During their visit, we cleared a lot of the random plantings out of the front yard, put in new azaleas, and even gave the front lawn a trim with the little push mower.  Potted ferns were hung on the porch.  We put petunias into the flowerpot holders that are built into the stone wall.  We're still picking out a tree to put in the front yard- something flowering.

The property used to be called "Three Sisters Farm", and had pretty signs hung at each driveway entrance.  Obviously, "Three Sisters" isn't going to work for us.  We're going to do some historical research before deciding on the name.  In the meantime, I got a hanging planter to put on the front sign post (so it doesn't look so empty!)

The mowing begins!

About a week after we returned from Florida, the mower was delivered!
It took Mike over 8 hours to get the yard done- that's one way to kill a weekend!  Hopefully it won't take so long after that initial cut.

The other good way to kill a weekend ... is building a play set. 
It arrived in a million pieces & the directions said it will take two adults 6-12 hours to complete. 

Uh-oh, we've got one adult & a 6 year old slated to do this...
Another weekend gone, but well worth it!

And now... I'm going to get back inside!

Project #3- The Master Bath

I thought this bathroom was in a little bit better shape than the other.

Before

That is, until I went to clean the shower & the whole shower head broke off in my hand.  
The pipe receded into the wall, with water shooting everywhere! 
And ACK! The knobs wouldn't turn the water off! 
I run for Mike and he simply twists them to the LEFT to turn it off.  

Yep- backwards!  As my dad used to call them "French Knobs"- I should know better after growing up in an 1860 house!

Before

Anyways, we plan to extend this bathroom into the "office" that is currently being used as a closet (since the closet in our bedroom isn't quite big enough).  The remainder of the "office" will become a real walk-in closet, with built-ins.  Some day...

For the short-term fix, I painted the bathroom purple.  The same color as the old house's guest bath, so had the paint & the linens to match.  
No money spent- woo hoo! 
Great, since we'll be needing it to fix the darned shower!

After: 

Interim Fix

 

Interim Fix



Decorating:


This pretty ashtray was my Nana's,& now holds rings during hand washing. 

Mike's mom gave me the cool little antique bottle. 







 

Project #2- A bathroom

Ugh, the bathrooms leave LOTS to be desired!

While this eventually will be just the kids' bathroom, until the extension is built and a first floor half-bath is added, this is also serving as the guest bathroom.  (One reason we haven't had many guests over yet!)

Before

Before

Sometimes you have to play the hand you're dealt...

We were dealt an avocado green tub and sea foam toilet & sink.  I can see why the previous owner chose the ivy wallpaper, since it contained both shades of green- but it was past it's prime.  We had to get it painted as a short-term fix until we can get a plan with the architect & contractor. 

Mom steamed off the two layers of wallpaper, Mike spackled & sanded, and I painted. 

Nice team effort!

The floor will eventually be tiled, but for now we just needed to get it to stop curling up where it meets the tub.  Mike took toe moulding and did a really quick fix!

The light fixture was rusting and falling down.  We put a new one in over the vanity.  And speaking of the vanity... it got a nice coat of sea foam inside to clean it up.  Mike stood firm on not purchasing any new hardware for the cabinetry in either bathroom, since it will be gone in "phase two"!

Before

As mentioned in an earlier post, the radiator is one of my favorite parts of the house.

It was painted cream, but I decided that silver would show the decorative detailing. 

That started the brainstorm- the silver looked nice with the sea foam wall color, which couldn't help but remind me of the beach... hmmm... how about we put up B&W photos of the boys from our last beach trip!  

Interim fix:

(Thank you Bonnie Raley Photography for the beautiful beach photos!)

After

After

I never knew how many shades of green were out there, until I was trying to match towels.  After several attempts, we went with gray to compliment the photography.

A new shower head, bathmat, and a few shells completed the look.

I still need to find a ceiling fixture/fan.  The current one doesn't work.  I just keep forgetting to look for a new one... but we'll be back at Lowe's next weekend, I'm sure!

Project #1- The Family Room

We needed for just one room to be finished, so we'd have a place to relax- and not feel anxious being surrounded by more projects.

This room was a no-brainer, since all it really needed was painting. 

Here's the BEFORE shot:

We were very fortunate to have Mom & Dad staying with us through the move.  They got all three coats of wall paint, plus all the moulding painting done while we were at work that week! 

Here's the AFTER:

Eventually, some of the more formal furniture (piano, secretary) may move into a formal living room- but that space is currently the dining room... 

So, for now, I'm very happy with this room.  It feels warm & comfortable.  Just a few odds & ends to finish up:  paint the radiators, finish hanging pictures, get new fireplace tools.

I'm already getting excited about decorating for Christmas in here!

In Progress:

Grounding the "floating beam"

There was this odd (sheet-rocked) box going around the top of the fireplace.  Since it was painted the same color as the walls, it looked like the center beam was just floating.

I figured the best way to ground it was to paint it brown, so that it looks like the beams that go around the perimeter of the room.

Decorative Details: