No I haven’t quit blogging. I’ve just been consumed with the De-Hoarding. Consumed! It is the first thing that pop’s into my mind the second I wake up. At night, as my exhausted head hits the pillow, the countless thoughts of upcoming projects swirl around as a blizzard, numbing me to sleep. I’ve so many rooms that are Almost done. So close to being perfect, yet the little un-done details constantly nag my conscience, and have prevented me from showing the before and after rooms. Until now.
Since the little details won’t be looked at until the rest of the house is Almost Perfect. I’ll go ahead and show you my last three big projects.
The Master Bathroom. The Horror Before…
Even with a laundry basket in the room the kids would still drop their clothes and towels on the floor. Frustrating.
Every surface on counter and tub, cluttered with bottles of what-not’s, toys, cups, clothes. At least that is how it was a little over a month ago.
And Today…
Not only is it clean, but it’s beautiful.
The biggest time consumer was painting the trim and the cabinet’s.
They had to be painted with and oil based paint, which was smelly and takes ages to dry, but is so much more durable. New hinges & knobs too, because we couldn’t stand putting the old rusty stuff on our beautiful white doors.
Saved money with the curtains though.
Made the curtains with material from my old stash. Humm looks like the leftover duvet cover ($4.99) I thrifted to make this little darling.
I did have to get more drapery hardware, but that duvet cover went a long way.
Paint: $95 Hardware: $73 Curtain Supplies: $24 Total: $ 192
Now off to the girls room. Princess and Hope’s room was the cleanest bed room in the house before we started.
A bit stuffed, but not horrible.
But After:
A Perfectly Pink little girls room.
And I’m still in awe of the closet.
The girls let go over over 8 rubber totes and bags of clothes, bedding and toys.
Found two matching comforters at 75% off. They were ended up costing $7. 98 each.
And the darling bed skirt. I raided my sewing stash again.
Found two other bed skirts that I bought for possible girly dresses and did something different.
Couldn’t make the traditional bed skirt because the beds are taken apart bunk beds.
So I employed some Velcro and attached them that way.
The Curtain rods. An Electrical pipe, Wooden dowel, and ends from another shorter curtain rod.
The silly wooden dowel was what I spent the most on. $3.49.
First I screwed the finial into the end of a short piece of dowel then snuggly fit it into the pipe.
The curtains we found at a thrift store.
The vanity was gifted to the girls by a close friend.
And we were able to find some other thrift treasures to decorate with.
Best of all the girls are surrounded by their most favorite toys. The ones they liked above all the other’s that they let go of.
This room did contain my first opps. One of the paint colors we choose was a little too pink. So overwhelming and bright that it made the room look smaller. It nearly matched the pink ribbon on our curtain tops.
So we changed the color on the top half of the room and now it darn near perfect. I didn’t even grumble too much with painting the stripe in between the colors.
And NOW for my final upstairs room. We took this monstrosity that used to be the boys room.
A cave of darkness, damage, and even more clutter.
Poor Lea inherited the room from the boys in April, but nothing had been done to it to make anyone know it was a girls room.
The walls were riddled with holes, dings and dents from my O.D.D. son before we entered him into treatment.
The Doom Room Before…
It was a very sad room. But we poured a honking lot of love into it and today…
The picture doesn’t do the room justice. It’s much lighter in person.
More like this…
Again I made the curtains from thrifted sheets out of my sewing stash. They are much more adorable in person.
And the bed skirt. (This picture is truer to the actual colors of the room.)
Well, I broke the rules. It’s not a bed skirt, but an heirloom table cloth spread between the box spring and mattress.
The closet before...
And After.
Lea’s desk is now in the closet.
She loves it. Like everyone else she let go of over 75 % of the stuff she had. Somehow the sacrifice has made it all worth while for everyone.
I think her room is one of my favorites after mine own. Again the pictures don’t do it justice. My point and shoot camera was acting up and bit the dust just yesterday. Princess accidently dropped it and it died a horrible death. So I just had to post these almost pictures to show you that we are still moving forward.
There are still so many little, itty-bitty details I want to go back and change or fix in each of the rooms. But they are a beautiful place to be while waiting.
It’s painful, and I’ve never worked so hard in my life. That’s saying something because I’m a worker. But this is the first time I’ve put all I have into something.
I might have to borrow a camera but I promise to keep taking pictures. I’ve so many more stories to tell of the process, the heartbreak, the miracles, the roadblocks, the generosity of angels, and the lesson’s I’ve learned. They will come, maybe after I’m done being consumed by the process, but they will come.
