Kid Room Cleanout

Like so many others, I am in an organizing mood as of late. Possibly it's due to the new year and the need for things to feel refreshed. More likely it's due to knowing that we plan to sell our home within a couple months and I'm trying to get our spaces ready. (Alternate reading: I'm trying to declutter on a magnanimous level!) 

Aaron & I semi-tackled the pantry last weekend and I'll share pictures of that when I get around to doing more but it wasn't a huge change and I don't have "before" pictures so I'll have to explain how it looked previously. 

Today rather, I'm focusing on how we decluttered our kids' rooms. This was a multi-step process for sure and my hope is that it remains clean at least until pictures are taken for the house sale. 

I don't really have "before" pictures of these spaces because I didn't like to look at the constant clutter, and I struggled to think of how to get toys off the floor.  The boys have lots of buckets and bins in their room that we were encouraging them to put their toys in, but toys were just haphazardly placed in them which meant they might only be half full and not fit on the shelf properly which led to toys randomly being placed all over the floor. Also, everything was all mixed up so if they were searching for something particular, all the toys would end up on the floor and most likely would not be put away. 

In Walmart this past week, I bought two canvas bins (one for boys' room and one for Avery's room). These bins kind of spurred along a new inspiration to organize. 

In Avery's room after Christmas, we bought a red storage bin and put her stuffed animals and baby dolls in it. She has a vintage doll bunkbed and we use it for shelves. She has a few baskets on it (one for her favorite doll's clothes, one for her most played with Barbies, and one for dress up clothes). She also has a couple small plastic bins with lids and I moved the rest of her Barbies into one of these bins, then I put Barbie accessories in the smaller bin. These are stacked in her dress-up basket where she can easily access them and easily put them away.  She used to have her big Barbie toys (camper, grocery store) in a striped canvas bin on her floor but it took up so much space. I eventually figured out if I really moved all of her stuffed animals to the red storage bin, I could free up the lower level of the doll bunk bed to put the striped pink bin.  I put her Paw Patrol characters into a clear zipper bag and placed it under the bunk bed. Next to the pink bin, I placed the new canvas bin from Walmart & we're storing her horses and unicorns in that bin. The only things on her floor now are the Polly Pocket unicorn, the Paw Patrol tower & a trash bin. 

It seems so much more spacious! For the moment I'm keeping her gigantic unicorn bean bag on her bed since it takes up so much space. This might move back to grandma's house when we list our home. 

In the boys room, we have done ALOT of work over the past couple weeks. The boys spent New Year's morning sorting through toys & really deciding which ones they wanted to keep. We've made one run to the donation center and still have one or two loads to do over the new few weeks (the donation center was overwhelmed with stuff on New Year's day so we're giving them time to process what they've received before we inundate them with more things). 

Noah has collected garbage trucks and police cars for four years or more and amassed quite a collection. We brought out a big plastic bin to the living room last weekend and lined up every garbage truck, police car, firetruck, and bus and told him he could keep whatever fit into the bin (with the lid still being able to close). He did VERY well and this eliminated about a third to half of his collection. 

Yesterday, we hauled out every bin and bucket of toys into the living room and sorted them according to type ("emergency vehicles," "Legos," "Utility Vehicles," "Random Toys" etc.). Then we selected bins to match the amount of toys in each category (so "emergency vehicles" like hot wheels size police cars and police stations etc. were placed into an appropriate sized bin). These bins were then placed accordingly on their shelf. Today we reminded them that if they play with a toy, they should put it back in its bin before moving on to something else. 

Tonight, the boys & I spent some time in their room cleaning out from under the bunk bed. We eliminated half a garbage bag full of trash! Little torn up slips of paper, broken toy pieces, etc. are now no longer hiding in the room. Taking pictures of the clean area & loads of floor space to prove to ourselves that this can be done was a great boost to our morale!

I feel WAY more at ease about the potential to photograph these rooms for a listing and I hope that playtime is more enjoyable for my kids since they can easily find the things they enjoy. 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Spray Painting Tap Shoes

We signed Avery up for dance class a few weeks ago and today was finally the day of her first lesson!  At the registration, I asked about tap shoe closures, whether Velcro or elastic or ribbon was best.  "Velcro" was the response.  I had previously purchased black tap shoes with a velcro closure and I found out that Avery had to have white tap shoes.  The supply company affiliated with the dance studio did not have any white tap shoes in stock, and none of them had velcro closures anyhow.  I began my lengthy search for easy-close tap shoes (none of which were velcro closures for under $45 a pair).  I finally found some elastic closure white tap shoes on Amazon, so I went ahead and ordered those in the next size up so that I wouldn't be caught off guard in a few months when her feet grow.  However, since I already had black tap shoes, I decided to research how to paint them myself just in case I ever have to do this again in the future. 

The articles/blogs I read stated to cover the taps with tape, and to maintain the shape of the shoe by stuffing the insides with plastic bags.  I'm so glad I read up on these tips!

The sites mentioned using alcohol to rub away some of the shiny coating of the patent leather because this would help the spray paint to stick to the material easier. 

I couldn't find the exact spray paint mentioned, but I chose to use this Rust-o-leum Paint and Primer paint which was suitable for many types of material including vinyl. 

Here are the shoes after a few coats of paint.  I ended up going back over them one more time-- honing in on the black fabric strip around the opening of the shoes.  I think in total I did four coats of paint. 

I forgot to take a picture of the clear coat I sprayed on them after the final coat of white paint had sat for 24 hours.  The clear coat helped give some extra shine and helped remove some of the tacky feelings left behind by the paint. 

Here's the finished product!  I can still see the darker area from the fabric strip, but this is nothing that will be noticed from far away and I know she'll be outgrowing this pair of shoes within the year. 

Avery was so impressed that she immediately wanted to put on a "princess dress" and walk around in her "perfect shoes" for a few minutes! 

I won't be afraid to purchase black shoes in the future and paint them myself!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Avery's Painted Room

A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law and I painted Avery's room over the course of a morning.  I had chosen the color "Arid Plains" by Behr Premium Marquee and we only had to do one coat!  The brand is more expensive initially, but it comes out cheaper in the end instead of buying other brands and having to buy extra gallons when the first can doesn't provide enough coverage.  After seeing how well this brand did in the boys' room, the hall bathroom, and Avery's room, I doubt I'll buy any other brand in the future.

I chose a neutral gray and was hoping it carried a tiny hint of green in it.  I think the green tint is present (in person) but I almost think the shade is too dark for her room size.  I'm contemplating repainting it, but I'm still on the fence.

Here's the room right after we put the furniture back in place.  

I have been conscious of how much furniture I was squeezing into Avery's room, so I had imagined different pieces of furniture I could eliminate after we finished painting.  My mother-in-law asked to have the changing table as a Cricut table in her home and I was so ready to have it out of Avery's space.  For the moment, that means her books and overnight diapers are in a corner of her room, but they won't always stay there.  One day I'll get organized enough to find other storage means in her room.  I took a small wooden table from the boys' room to use as a nightstand for Avery.  With the boys having bunkbeds now, they no longer have a need for a nightstand.  The table is small but it fits a lamp and a diffuser, which is all we need at the moment.

Here is her room after we hung things back on the walls.  Yes, I am aware that her single letter "A" painting looks small on her wall, but she is proud of it because she made it and she refuses to let me hang up a larger beach scene painting.  She and my mother-in-law are working on painting a K and a P to add to the monogram.  Once those pieces are finished, it'll be more like a small gallery wall which will complement the space in a better way.

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Bathroom Reno Complete!

In April, we had a contractor come out to the house and give us a quote on our master bathroom reno ideas and a quote on resurfacing the deck in the backyard.  I'll share an update soon of the deck (we love it!), but today is all about the bathroom.  Our general plan was to remove the tub and shower inserts, create a walk-in shower where the bathtub was, install wooden shelves where the shower insert was, and raise the vanity up higher and replace the counter-top.  To see the "Before" pictures and a peek at the tiles we chose, click here.

The renovation on both the bathroom and the deck was scheduled to begin on the Tuesday after Memorial Day.  However, a family issue from the contractor caused the construction to be delayed a week.  Therefore, it began on the Monday after Memorial Day, June 1st.  The deck was finished within a couple of days, and bathroom work began on this week as well.  They'd work on the bathroom demo during our typical afternoon summer rain showers. For a week and a half, they worked on the bathroom.  Then we had to wait for the tile company to order the granite for the counter-top, which took an extra two weeks.  The counter-top was installed on Tuesday the 23rd and the bathroom was finished on Friday the 26th.  We are so thrilled with how it turned out!  It's such a nice change to the room and certainly more comfortable to move around in.

We are also so relieved to be finished with construction!  Aaron was able to work from home for the first two weeks of the project, but he had to return to the office during the last two weeks, which meant the kids and I had to hang around the house during the day instead of venturing out to my mother-in-law's house for a change of scenery.

The fact that we're finally done and our vision has become reality is still mind-boggling to me.  I am not usually someone who handles change well, and even though I designed the project and chose the tile with Aaron and knew in my mind how it would look, it's still odd to walk into a room that remained a certain way for four years and see it completely different.  I know I'll get used to it the more time passes, and I know it'll be such an asset to us whenever we decide to sell.

Here's a look at some of the construction process.  I do have the photos of Day One where the walls were taken down to the studs, but it's basically that-- just studs, so it's not entirely interesting to look at. :)  Here's the rest of the project in stages.

This was the day they put up the moisture barrier walls and built the shower seat.

That same day, they sheetrocked where the shower insert had been and laid the mosaic tile we had chosen for the floor.  We thought we had some extra white 12x12" tiles, but found out that we didn't, so we had to buy a tile for the floor where the shower had been.  We tried finding a match to the tile we had on the rest of the bathroom floor, but we couldn't find any in the store so we took a risk and chose this gray & light brown mosaic tile.  The contractor loved it and was thrilled that we chose something different and interesting!  He has since told me that other customers are choosing mosaic tile choices for their own shower and shampoo cut-outs, etc.

This was taken a couple days later after I painted the sheetrock and he laid the baseboards.  He built these shelves and stained them at home, then installed them here.  They are eighteen inches deep and a foot apart from each other.  I can just barely reach the top shelf which is fine with me.  I made sure there was enough space between the bottom shelf and the floor so I could store a hamper down there.  

This is when the shower was fully tiled & the faucet installed. 

This was the day that the vanity was raised up four inches.  You can see the wooden riser, and I will eventually paint this white to look like baseboard.  My mother-in-law gave me the oil-rubbed bronze drawer knobs since she had several leftover from her kitchen cabinet knob change.

This is the day that the counter-top was installed.  We are so happy with the granite choice!  I gave the color family idea to the contractor (we wanted white, but not stark white, and not too much veining).  This piece of granite has the perfect amount of gray veining, and it's a very subtle gray/white granite which ties in beautifully to the wall color (Sherwin Williams "Sea Salt").

The contractor installed our sink faucets the next day that he was back at our house.  We ordered our faucets from Amazon which saved us so much money as opposed to buying faucets from big box stores.

The following day, he installed the shower door.  We had originally intended to go with a frameless shower door, but they were SO expensive and I had mentally hit a money-spending-block and could not possibly fathom spending extra money on a door.  I found a very good door at Lowe's for nearly 4 times less than the frameless door, so we were able to just pick up that one rather than ordering a door, and the contractor installed it for us.

We found out that the original mirror wasn't going to fit back in its place after the vanity was raised up four inches, and a four inch back-splash was attached.  I jumped on kirklands.com and happened to find a mirror that would fit and it was on super sale.  Aaron and I hung the mirror on Friday night.

Here's our shelves after I began strategically placing things on them.

We are so super thrilled with how everything turned out and it was an interesting process to see it all come together!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

A Painting Spree

Back in March, I decided I wanted to use my time wisely since I was going to be at home for weeks on end.  I chose to focus on choosing a paint color for Avery's room that added more of a "calm, beach atmosphere."  Aaron and I love the color of our bathroom so much (Sherwin Williams "Sea Salt") that we kind of wanted that same color family in her room since a lot of her decor is beachy and this will be used as our guest room as well as her bedroom.  We chose to find a color in the gray/green family.  It took me well over a month to pick a color, but I did eventually settle on one.  However, I still haven't painted her room.  My mother-in-law loves to paint, so she's going to help me and I've just been waiting for the right time to do it.  Avery has large pieces of furniture in her room, so it takes a bit of planning to get things going.  I have used various different paint brands throughout my home since buying it four years ago.  We've used Sherwin Williams and Valspar and some other brand that I can't remember right now.  This time, however, I chose to go with Behr Premium Marquee after my mother-in-law was able to paint a light gray over a bright neon green with just one coat in her home back in March.  I settled on "Arid Plains" for Avery's room (again, haven't actually painted in there yet), but I figured while I was buying paint for her room I should buy paint for the boys' room also since they have certainly left their mark on the walls over these last few years.  I chose to stick with the gray family in their room also and chose "Chic Gray."  Since their room has light pieces of furniture, I was able to move everything and paint it by myself over the course of a few days in May.  I'd paint a little bit each day and gave myself lots of grace while doing it.  It was a boredom buster for me and helped me feel productive at a time that could have easily been overly depressing.  Here's some photos I took in their room this morning.  These were taken without the curtains being opened, so the lighting is not the best.  I'm just so so in love with this color that I'm kind of debating painting my living room this same color later on this year.

It was so helpful to me to know that I would only have to do one coat.  After it was finished, I was so inspired by the color and loved the turnout so much that I decided to paint our hall bathroom in the course of one evening.  I taped up all furniture items (cabinet, wall shelf) and sides of the tub and towel holders and went to town.  It was a quick job and again, it only took one coat.  It used up the rest of the paint perfectly and I love love love how it turned out!

So up next will be Avery's room, which is a darker gray with a little more of a green tint.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

Upcoming Bathroom Reno

When Aaron and I bought this house four years ago, we instantly thought of ways to improve the bathroom.  We dreamed about our perfect plan and how we'd structure things to make them more suitable to be used by a 6'2" broad-shouldered man. We also knew we lacked storage space in the bathroom with only having under-the-sink storage and no linen closet (in the bathroom or otherwise, since our hall closet is full of medical supplies).  We envisioned a bathroom where we could easily shower without bumping into walls, and this bathroom would also have ample storage space for towels, etc.

After years of dreaming, we began pursuing this project once I was hired on last summer for a full-time teaching position.  We knew we'd have a steady income stream again, so we began to casually look for a contractor.  We had our living, dining, and hallway floors redone two years ago and the tile installer said that his favorite thing to do was bathroom showers, so we debated contacting him.  However, we knew that we would be needing more than a shower changeover, so we thought about hiring out a subcontractor and recommending that he use the previous tile guy.  This all sounded weird and controlling though, so we didn't pursue this path.  We kept on casually looking, and one day on Facebook (I know, I know) I saw that a friend of mine had her pool deck redone and had used a local  (to her) contractor.  I clicked on his site and perused around and found that he does bathroom remodels and is very good at it.  It looked right up our alley-- needing a bathroom remodel with somewhat strange ideas that we wanted to see become reality, and able to do the entire project start to finish without having to hire outside of his own company.  I sent a quick message asking if they came to our area (he's about 45 minutes away) and I received a quick reply and we set up an appointment for him to come do an estimation.  (On a whim a couple days later, I asked if he could also estimate the cost of redoing our deck which was rotting before our eyes, and he said yes which is how we're having both projects done simultaneously).

Basically, our bathroom consists of a garden tub plastic insert next to a poorly sealed frosted window, a plastic shower stall insert, a toilet, and a double vanity with under-sink storage and three pull-out drawers.  Aaron cannot move around in the shower since it's so skinny, so we knew this was an issue.  We bathe our kids in the garden tub since there's no toilet or cabinet blocking our way but this is something we'll get over when we begin bathing them in the hall bathroom with a smaller tub.  Soon they'll all be taking showers anyway, so it's not a huge ordeal anyhow.  The vanity is standard height, which believe it or not, is even a little short for me.  My parents had "adult height" bathroom cabinets and this was what was normal for me.  Then the first house Aaron and I bought had these higher height cabinets too, so we were a little surprised that the bathroom vanities in this house were so short.

Therefore, our plan became to remove the shower insert and install wooden shelves instead.  Then we'd remove the bathtub insert and install a large tiled-in shower in its place.  We'd keep the vanity itself, but we'll move it up four inches taller and keep our existing mirror.  He did quote us a new counter top and undermount sinks, so we're doing this for a little upgrade on the vanity without replacing the entire piece. We'll keep the toilet and flooring the same for cost effectiveness and because nothing is wrong with them.

It's weird to think that after all of these years planning and dreaming of the more convenient bathroom, that it'll actually be done in less than three weeks!  We went and picked out our tile yesterday for the shower.  We plan to do white subway tile (3" x 6" ) with black grout.  We also picked out a mosaic tile piece of gray, black, and silver (almost stainless steel looking) tiles to be an accent band around the middle of the shower wall.  We chose a hexagonal slate colored textured tile to be the shower flooring.  We'll order our shower faucet this week for it to arrive when the contractor needs it.

(The subway tile box:)

I cannot wait to share pictures of the "after" effect!  Here are some "before" shots.

And my super impressive phone rendering of what the space might somewhat look like.  :)

Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba