We've Been Busy - Before and Afters

 We've been out of town for the past week (those posts to come), so this all took place a few weeks ago. I know you've all been waiting anxiously for these pictures, so I thought I do this post first.  I took a quick trip to Costco (O.K. it was a Saturday, so it wasn't that quick), and when I pulled up to our house, this is what I saw - Adam and the kids watching Chris cut down our big tree. 

The tree wasn't looking too hot in spots, but mainly it was just messy.  It dropped little berries all over the ground and the birds loved it, so we had tons of birds in the tree leaving their feces all over the place. We loved the birds, but not their little presents they left behind or the nasty berries smeared all over the driveway.

 

Adam called Chris as I was leaving to the store, and they decided to just cut it down at that very moment.  Needless to say I was very surprised when I came home. 

This is the only picture I could find for the 'before' shot.  

After

Sorry no front shot yet.  The turkeys came by a few days later to check our work.  I actually like how open it makes the house feel, but once we get the stump ground down, we'll replace it with another shade tree.  The front yard is on our to do list for this summer. It needs some serious love and attention.

Before

Actually this is an 'in progress' shot.  Before we had mirror tiles on that back wall.  Love the 70's!

 

After

We had the popcorn removed from the ceilings and then re-textured.  The nasty blinds were taken down a few months ago, and we're in the process of re-texturing the walls and painting the ceilings and walls.  What a huge undertaking, but it will be worth it in the end.  Remember how we had no lights in our house (literally - the only lights were in our kitchen and bathrooms)?  After 6:00 or so, we were confined to the kitchen area if we wanted the use of lights, and we had to use flashlights to find the kids' pajamas at night.  Anyway, we've had an electrician at our house a few hours a week for the past few months.  The kids know him really well now, and probably think he's a permanent fixture.  He's been adding can lights in the family and living rooms, lights in the bedrooms, outside lights and these pendant lights in the dining room.  Every time he finishes up a room, we ooh and aw at his work.  Who knew lights could bring so much joy?

 (spooky picture - I think that's Noah running by) 

I wanted to wait until the room was entirely finished, but let's be honest, that may never happen.  So without further adieu........Noah and Grant's Bedroom.

This post is already really wordy, so just scroll down if you don't want to read about my thought process and how things came together. 

Before: This bedroom was intended for Ava, but we realized the space between the window and the wall in the other room was too small for a bunk bed.  So, before we just had Ava's bed in this room.

  

Yucky, broken, bi-fold doors. 

 

 Peak inside those yucky bi-fold doors.

The Process:  First we moved Ava's bed and clothes in with the boys (which actually is her room now). The trampoline room/wall-to-wall mattresses room. The kids loved being together and jumping from bed to bed. It took me forever to texture the walls, so they had months of fun.

 

Next, we removed the closet doors and carpet in the closet, brought in the utility light (remember no lights), and went to work on the walls. 

 

It took me FOREVER to re-texture the walls (3-4 coats), but I love how they turned out and now I'm getting much faster at it.  Good thing, because we have the entire house to do.  Can't really see the new texture (I was trying for a smooth wall with an occasional variation), but you can see the old orange peel really well.

 

All textured, finally!!  Then I sanded, primed and painted. We painted the ceiling white.  I know the ceiling is your 5th wall, but I love white ceilings. They look so clean and sharp.

 

My paint inspiration came from this whale fabric.  I don't really care for themed rooms, so I wanted everything that was a 'theme' item or an accent color to be removable.  That way if I change my mind about the pictures, bedding or accent color I can change them out without having to redo the entire room. This is the pillow case I made for them (in case you can't tell from the picture). 

As for the bunk beds....I've seen a few modern bunk beds that hang from the ceiling, but the price tag was well out of our price point, and I couldn't make up my mind on a cheaper bunk bed, so I put my imagination to work.  Once we got the bases made and the galvanized pipe for the pole, Adam and I started getting tons of ideas for the rest of the room.

 

 Adam had to frame in the closet for the doors (the bi-folds went to the ceiling before).  After he sheet-rocked it, I plastered it and then painted. He also built some shelving inside the closet.  

Noah drew pictures on the left over sheet rock while I worked on the room.

 Adam built the beds out of 2x4's.  We found the studs on the wall and screwed the top bunk in place. 

He had to add a support board in the attic for the pole to screw into.  The bed is amazingly strong - our entire family can get on it.  We added some more galvanized pipe for Noah's railing. I was pretty nervous the first night he slept up there, but he's done great.  I want to put Grants bed on coasters, so the bed is off the floor and so we can move it around if we decide to reposition it.

 

Once I picked the main blue, I got samples of all the colors on the paint card, plus one gray. It was the perfect amount of paint for each stripe (with a little left over for touch ups). The first line I used a chalk line as my guide and then I cut a piece of cardboard and drew the lines using that as my guide.  Once it was all taped off it went pretty fast.  Have I ever told you how much I LOVE frog tape?  Amazing.  Puts that blue tape to shame.  Frog tape actually works!

 

I really like how the stripes turned out.  We got the dresser from Ikea. I still need to put parchment paper behind the glass (I don't like how you can see the clothes, and the parchment makes it look like frosted glass).  Someday we'll replace the door to match the closet doors. Also, the rocker will be replaced with a chair similar to the one below.

 

 I think my favorite part of the room is the ladder.  We used galvanized pipe and fittings to make the rungs and then screwed them to the wall.

 Hung the closet doors. Still need to paint them and get door knobs. I really wanted the 5 panel frosted glass doors, but they were double the price.  : / I like these too, it adds a little traditional aspect to this modern room.  I found some old square frames that I painted the darkest stripe color, and filled them with underwater photos that I've taken.  I want to add another one by Grant's bed and 2 up by Noah's bed. I also want to find a cool orange light of some sort to put next to the pillows for both of the boys.  My accent color will be orange, so I'm working on orange quilts for the beds and an orange pillow for the chair.

 Inside the closet.  I got baskets to match the dark stripe on the wall.  Each boy has 2 baskets. I separate their clothes into both baskets, and when they wear all the clothes in the first basket, I pull the other one down.  This way they don't wear the same thing all the time. 

 I got a whole bunch of galvanized fittings and a lamp kit and this is what I came up with. I still want to add a knob of some sort at that triple junction.  I love how it turned out.

 Noah and I made this terrarium one afternoon, with the moss from our neighbors yard. I like having something from the outdoors in the room, and it helps soften it up a bit.

 There you have it.  The room as it is now.  

What we've done so far and cost: 

*Most of you don't care, but I like to have this all in one location for quick reference, and some of you asked for this.

1. Removed doors, hardware and carpet in closet........free

2. Re-textured and patched walls.............$25 and hours of labor!

3. Primer and Paint (ceilings and walls).................$50

4. Beds (wood, pipe and screws)...........$90

5. Ladder............$110

6. Ikea dresser..........$90

7. Terrarium...........$5 (for miniature trees)

8. Galvanized lamp............$40

9. Framing and sheet-rock for closet...........$40

10. Closet (inside)............$80

11. Closet doors.................$180

12. Baskets for closet...........$40

13.  Picture frames and photos............already had

14. Sheets for bed............$20

15. New heater/cooler vent cover and electrical covers........$10
16. New ceiling light, YAY...... not sure how much each individual installation was, part of all our electrical work.

Total: $780 

(not too bad for a complete renovation if I do say so myself, especially considering most bunk beds cost that much or more just for the bed)

Minus: $500 (we sold the treadmill to offset the expenses - obviously I never used it anyway)

Out of pocket: $280!

Too bad we don't live closer to Scholzen Products - probably could have done it all for almost nothing.
(have you noticed how much I love to use parentheses?  it's because I have dozens of miscellaneous thoughts running through my brain at all times) (here's a few more just for fun)(((())))))). 

My to-do list for the room:

1. White casing around the window, door and closet.

2. White Baseboards

3. Wire chair with orange pillow

4. Paint closet doors white

5. New door to room (in the future)

6. Door knobs for door and closet

7. Make orange quilts and Noah's pillow case

8. Carpet (someday)

9. Coasters for Grant's bed

10. Finish and hang pictures above beds

11. Picture between closet and door (Christ picture)

12. Orange lights above beds
13. Replace the boob light (you know the type, right?) with something industrial looking. 

14. Window treatment

I still can't decide what to do for the windows.  I was going to make roman shades out of this fabric, but it's 75 dollars a yard!  No way.  Also, the window is wide, but pretty short, so I don't want anything too bulky at the top.  I don't really want to put them over the casing, and I don't have room for drapes......any ideas?