A New Room

Nearly two years ago I mentioned I wanted to get new sofas for our family room. I was waiting until the last of the children (Sawyer) was potty-trained. And then I waited until we had some extra money and well, here we are. With new furniture.

Getting new furniture isn't about only getting new furniture. It means new paint, new curtains, new pillows and throw blankets (those might be awhile), and everything else. Because surely you can't put new furniture in a room that has been lived in by six children. It would be sacrilege.

So, the four big boys were off to camp, again, this past week. (My mother jokingly says that I am trying to find every way to get rid of my children this summer, which is not true, but it seems to have worked out that way.) We wanted to surprise them with new furniture, so we ordered it and had it delivered while they were away. We made pinky promises with Spenser and Sawyer that they wouldn't tell the surprise to the boys when we picked them up on Friday.

So we painted walls and trim. Added a fancier baseboard moulding to the existing moulding. We hung and re-hung antique, cast-iron grates.

We spray painted a lot. This little clock used to be green, but it just didn't go with our new blue walls. We sprayed the new curtain rods black. I hemmed canvas painters drop cloths and "made" curtains out of them.

And we removed all of the toys from the family room and put the children's computer in the corner.

Joe even got fancy and installed new speakers in the ceiling.

And the kids were ecstatic when they saw it. There are still a ton of things that need to be done, like finding a new home for the elliptical/stationary bike; making pillows and finding a blanket (or quilt ?); painting a bookshelf; and caulking/painting some new trim. I'm sure it will be weeks until it is officially declared "finished."