Furniture Painting

So, I promised a quick run through of how I painted the chair, what I think of it now, and if I recommend it to others. Here's the scoop.

The chair started out looking like this:

Well, without the bags and painters tape. It was a sweet little chair that my BFFs grandma had bought at a garage sale years ago. It had been recovered several times. So I removed all the covering until it was down to the original. I had originally intended to recover it myself, but then I started seeing all of these posts about painting the fabric of furniture. One day I was having spray paint withdrawals(this happens from time to time when I haven't painted anything in a while. I blame the instant gratification...and the fumes), so I decided to wrap up the wood(which is the reason I loved this little chair in the first place), and go to town on it with the black paint. I had several cans of black paint, and I thought it might make a good accent piece if it was black.

Here it is midway through. This is my painting tarp(can you tell?), it's covered in just about every color paint under the sun. I always do spray paint outside because it gets on everything and smells TERRIBLE! Make sure you're working on a nice sunny day so you can leave it out to dry a bit.

 

Here is the point in the conversation that I must mention I used CHEAP black flat paint. I have since learned that there is spray paint that is specifically for fabric(haven't seen it for myself), but this is NOT that paint. Ha! This is the $.99 cans my husband picked up that one time I asked for black paint. I generally use Valspar only because I think it's the best at covering, still reasonably priced, and comes in TONS of trendy colors. You can usually match it to the regular paint as well, which is cool if you are needing to paint the wall to match.

Here it is finished. Don't you just love the contrast of the cherry colored wood and the black. I also like how the black pops against the gray wall. Now, I should mention that for the most part this chair isn't sat in. If someone sits in it its usually one of the kids. I wasn't too worried about the paint rubbing off on anyone because of it's lack of use. I also wasn't worried about if the fabric would become stiff. I honestly just wanted it to LOOK cute. I don't recommend using cheap paint on a piece that you want to use regularly, as this paint DID made the fabric a little stiff, but more importantly it DOES rub off if you rub on it too much. It may also have to do with the particular fabric on this chair as well, but like I said, since it's rarely used we aren't too worried about it. 

Here she is all dressed up. I love that we were able to bring new life to this chair without spending a dime! It looks just right for the space, and I love it! This is a picture I took right after I finished it.

Here it is this week. You can see that it still looks fine, but the color does show through a tiny bit, and it doesn't look as crisp as it did before. I'm still OK with it though. It serves it's purpose, and fits in just fine. SO, in the end, it's fine for this particular purpose, but I can't say that I recommend it for you unless you're OK with needing to recover it in the end(which we still may do some day), or scrapping it all together. Try doing some research on it(it's ALL over the internet these days) before taking the plunge like I did.

 

The Truth Is...

I keep getting on my blog to update the world with what's been going on with us, but the truth is every time I do I feel overwhelmed with how far behind I am on here. It's been WAY too long, and I've missed a LOT. Another truth is that I bought a new computer, and while I love a lot of what it does I HATE sorting through photos on it, and it makes trying to post photos on here nearly impossible. I'm thankful for the provision of a computer, but I should really take the time to try and figure this thing out because I'm limited to what I can actually do on the silly thing! Ehh, at least it has a touch screen...
Also, the truth is that we aren't doing so great. While I always try to be real on my blog, there are only so many times that you can write that it's been a tough year. We've had financial struggles due to the yo-yoing of private practice, heartache, loneliness, sadness, sick kids, kids going to public school, kids getting their heart broken, kids with attitude problems, the list goes on and on. I am fully aware that our trials are minuscule in relation to the trials of others, and I am in no way trying to get anyone to feel sorry for me, only stating that it's been tough, and sharing our nutso life with the world isn't really high on my list of things to do. I want to be honest, but honestly, there are some things I really don't want to have lingering over my head on the Internet for the rest of time.  I've struggled with how to say what I'd like to say for a long time. Honestly, there are a lot of things I'd like to share, but proper words just won't come to me, so I take that as the Lord being my filter of sorts. Ha!
I haven't really done a whole lot of blogging since Christmas, so I think I'll just highlight a few things that have happened since then.

• In January we put the three big girls in public school. It hasn't been what I wanted it to be, and honestly, I'm not really all that pleased with how things are going. The girls are all doing fine, and have really liked a lot about school, but I'm still feeling sad about not being their teacher. I miss them terribly, and feel like it's still not quite right. There are a lot of things I do like about it though, and one of those is that they are having a fun time and they are shining their light for all the school to see.
  

Here they are on storybook character day. Addi is Cinderella, KK is Alice, and Olivia is Josefina(the American Girl).

 

KK won the character award in February. Makes a momma proud!

The kids had a superhero night at school. Here they are sporting their looks. Yes, Eli is wearing a shirt although you can't tell! Ha! Check out the creeper behind Livi. Poor Mia was a little shy.

 

Another pic of the kids. Seriously hysterical!

 

My Lulu at her first choir concert. She's the first one on row three on the left.

• Brubbs turned FOUR! I can not believe he's already four! He's such a sweet sensitive little boy. I love his sense of adventure, and love for all things manly. He and his Daddy went to the monster truck jam for his birthday. He got a Red Rider BB gun from his Pop which he loves. All he asked for was cake and his Nana and Pop to eat lunch with us.

Here he is at his restaurant of choice with his monster truck cake.

 

With his pop shooting his gun for the first time! He is SO proud of that gun!

• Manly and I made rain gutter bookshelves. I got the idea to do them a long time ago, but never had the time or effort available to do them. Recently we've been making some simple home improvements, so I added doing this to my list and we knocked it out in an afternoon. They look BEAUTIFUL and the kids love them, and they are quite sturdy if I do say so myself. We used this tutorial, although since ours were almost nine feet long we added several more brackets than they say are required.

I added little baskets for the really heavy massive story books we have. They're just too big for any shelf really.

•  I also decided to have my hand at some of my own DIY projects I've been putting off. I'm really happy with the end results, although I don't have pics of those. Ooops!

I used my leftover lactation tea to dye my curtains. They turned out the right color and everything. Too bad tossing them into the dryer for 10 minutes to dry shrunk them up!

This poor front porch rocking chair was looking quite rough! After a few coats of red spray paint she was looking as good(better) than new! LOVE the new color and it matches my front door.

I also turned several things in my house teal. LOVE the pops of color!

 

•  I helped the girls(with Manly) make some killer Valentine's boxes! Judge if you want, but it was fun and the girls were DELIGHTED! I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Although I did make these reusable, so I stuck them into the attic at first chance so I can use them again next year!! Ha!

Addi wanted a castle, so castle she got! It looked super girly and sparkly.

KK wanted a pirate ship. Her box took us about 20 minutes. REALLY simple and FUN!

Livi did most of the work on her doggie box. It was the cutest thing! I loved her idea of using multi-color brown yarn to give it added dimension. The little pink bows on the ears just really top it off. SO cute!!! Pretty easy too! Just a box with tape and yarn.

•   Isaiah is still receiving vision therapy in Fort Smith, and we are pleased with his progress. I will say we HATE going to Fort Smith every other week. It's a total hassle, but at this point still worth it to me. I wish his Dr. would move to Conway though!!

Isaiah working through his therapy with red/green glasses. He does a lot of work with these so that it will force him to use both eyes at the same time. 

• I got a nose ring for Valentine's Day. Well, I guess it wasn't really FOR Valentine's Day, but I did get it the day after Valentine's Day. So far I like the way it looks, but it does bug me a little. I think it's mostly because I touch my nose too much! Ha! It's funny how the way some people viewed me changed. Ha! Honestly, it's something I've wanted to do for a REALLY long time. I just finally got the guts to do it! There are a lot of things like that on my list of things to do that you might see pop up. Too bad the next thing on my list is fit into a dress that I've always kept. I may NEVER get to anything else on my list. Haha! No, seriously. I like my nose ring and you should too!



• Eli is a MESS. No, like he's really a stinker! He's basically been sick since he started refusing to nurse at 4 months. Yeah, he's basically a poster child for the benefits of nursing. He's currently on a month long dose of antibiotics in hopes of flushing this nastiness out for good, but if this doesn't work, we'll be checking for immunity and allergy issues. To say the least, it's been a long several months of having a sick baby. I know it could be much worse, and I'm very thankful it's not. I am praying for healing and answers though. In the mean time he's just been as sweet as can be! In between making messes that is!

 

After he got his oatmeal bowl and basically got it EVERYWHERE!

• Mia Jane is really coming out of her shell since the girls have been in school. She has had severe shyness, but in the past three months has really bloomed. She's also REALLY smart and able to do things that blow me away. She can add, subtract, knows most of her letters and numbers, and has amazing control over her writing. This girl got her smarts from her daddy. I can't wait to see her continue to blossom this year.

My sweet girl wanted to write her name. She said, "Show me how, momma." So, I did. This is what she did afterward. Love her little Disneylike "I."

 

She reminds me so much of my sweet Livi at this age.



• Manly won the outstanding young alumnus award at our college. I am SO proud of him! He's really done well in the last few months at work. I can't wait to see what lies ahead for him. I know he'll go on to do great things. He's such a hard worker, and really great at everything he puts his hands to.

My man with his award. Looking quite cute, I might add. 

• After YEARS of waiting I finally got my Big Red!! I'm SO SO EXCITED. I jump at any chance to get to use her! She's such a bute, and so good at what she does. I'm so thankful to Manly for getting her for me!

Here she is in action making homemade butter cream icing.

 

• Manly and I will soon get to take a break and visit Dallas sans kids.
• I met a random stranger who knew who I was because she read my blog. Hi!
• Manly got a new truck! Poor guy has been driving tiny cars suitable for much smaller people than himself, so he was delighted to get to buy a big Ford Explorer. Best part is it's completely paid for. Best advice we ever took was to buy cash cars!

OK, so up next, Eli's party! Now I feel like I'm caught up enough that I can share about his party without feeling like I've skipped EVERYTHING else that happened over the last few months! Thanks for being a part of our life and for hanging in there with me while I needed a break!

 

Another New School Room

I keep trying to write this post. I've deleted thousands of different words. Words that would blow your socks off. Words that would tell the story of our family and how we came to the decision to put our kids in public school after five years of homeschooling. This is not an easy decision. This is not the decision I thought we'd be making today, but it's the one in front of us now.
The Monday before Christmas break Manly and I had another discussion that ended with us talking about putting the kids in public school. By Tuesday, we were speaking to the school counselor about the logistics of them coming. By Thursday we had toured the campus, and turned in all paperwork. It was official, our kids were going to public school. Now here we are only a few weeks later, and my kids are having their first day of school away from me. But that's not all the story you want. You want to hear the why and the how.
That is the part that I keep deleting. I keep worrying about offending my homeschool friends and worrying about offending my public school friends. Here's what I've decided to share. I want our story to show others that is doesn't have to be one way or the other. Homeschooling is great, and if it's for you and it works for your family, GREAT. Do it! If you put your kids in school and it works for you and your family, GREAT! Do it! But guess what? Sometimes what works best for your family is going to change. WHEN IT DOES(not IF!) have the freedom to change the plan. Feel free to go where God leads. Feel free to go against the flow. Feel free to do what's best for YOU and YOUR family. If something needs to change so that you can be the best mom God made you to be, CHANGE. If something needs to be different in your home so that God gets the glory, do something different.
Don't feel trapped. Don't think that once you've made your choice it has to be forever. Don't be afraid to go against what every. single. one. of your friends are doing. Trust God and do what's best for you and your family. Following THAT path will lead to blessings unending.
No single thing lead to our decision to stop homeschooling. It was several things that built up to us having several conversations. Conversations that ended in prayer. Prayer that ended in PEACE. That's a place where I want to be. A place where peace surrounds our home and hearts. I know you may want more answers than that, but I think this is good enough for now.
I'm so so thankful to those of you who have been supportive to us through these last few weeks. There have been so many people who have messaged, texted, and called to see how we're doing. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts. We appreciate you so much and are thankful that God has put you in our path!

 

My sweet sleepy big girls all ready to go.

 

Close up of my girls.

About to unload on what was the COLDEST day of the year!!

 

 My sweet girls(and their protective brother) walking in to school this morning.

The little kids waiting anxiously for their sisters in the pick up line! Mia said, "I SEE da girls SCHOOL!!"

 

School Room Follow-Up

I had a few other thoughts and a few questions after the school room post, so I thought I'd do a follow-up bullet style. This is kind of all jumbled up with my answers in with other random thoughts, so enjoy trying to muddle through it!

• Am I a robot?  Well, actually I am somewhat of a machine when it comes to organizing. I can walk into a room and have it organized in my mind immediately. Now, depending on how "far gone" a room is it might take some time to actually make what I have in my head happen, but I'd say organization is a strong gifting that I have. Baking...not so much. Ehh, it's give and take.
• When I'm organizing I'm always thinking about how to make it "work" the best. If a room isn't workable it won't stay organized very long. I also ALWAYS include the people who need to use the space while I'm organizing. For instance, when Manly moved into his office space he put me in charge of organization of his office supplies and desk things. While I did most of the work, I made sure to ask questions about how he likes things so that I'd be able to get it put together in a way that would work for him. The same thing is true with kids. They usually have a pretty cool opinion on how they'd like their space to work. Just ask. Most of the time you can make what they'd like happen.
• ALWAYS use the workforce you have to help you complete a job. Sure, I would rather do most things on my own, but then the kids would be going nuts in another room and I'd feel like I needed to stop to spend time with them. There is ALWAYS something that EVERYONE can do. It might be slinging a feather duster around, or nailing up the shelf(obviously Manly's job!), but give them a job to help them feel important and part of the project.
• When we were working on the playroom/dining room/school room/quiet room overhaul I put people in areas I knew they'd do well in. For instance, Addi LOVES to organize. She's much like me. She's also very fast, so I usually put her close to me so that I can give her jobs she can easily finish and move on to other things. Her job while we were moving things out of the quiet closet was to empty out the floor puzzles, count the pieces to be sure none were missing, then put them into the new boxes. She LOVED this job! While she was doing that I had Brubbs taking the boxes to the recycle area. He loves doing "boy jobs" like trash, so he was content to watch Addi and be ready when she handed him the empty boxes. He also stacked the new boxes once they were full. The big girls carried the filled boxes up the stairs to where Manly was working to get the shelves installed. By the time I was finished cleaning out the quiet closet he was finished with the shelves and I was able to load them the way I wanted.
• Use the materials you have in your own home to help with projects. Unless it's Monday I'm ALWAYS using my laundry baskets and bags for other things. When we unloaded the school shelves I had the kids help me by putting the books into the laundry baskets, then Manly would hoist them up the stairs. Once he'd get them up there I would put them up on the shelves myself so I'd have them where I wanted them while the kids were busy loading up the next basket. This is how we do most tasks from cleaning up dinner to cleaning out the garage. Everyone gets a job and it gets the JOB done quickly.
• Always put the people who work best together...together! If you have two kids who really don't get along well don't try to get them to work together while you are doing a big project. That's for another time and another place! Pick teams that work well together. In our case it's usually Addi and Olivia, and Isaiah and KK, but sometimes there are things that require a switch up. For instance if I need the strength of the big kids I'll put them on a job together and use the little kids to do other things.
•  Work quickly and make fast decisions. When I'm cleaning out a space and get to something I think I should trash I do it immediately. This keeps me from deciding to keep useless stuff and usually gets me finished in record time.
• You should know, if you don't already, that I do all things QUICKLY. If I'm cleaning I'm usually almost running. I HAVE to be fast. If I didn't do things quickly the kids would start to take over the house. I usually have only a few minutes to complete a task before I need to get back to them or give them a new job, so I've learned to move fast. The entire project we just finished took us less than half a day. Probably about 4 hours total.
• Keep some things for when the kids are in bed. My kids take fantastic naps, so I can usually finish up any project like the one we just did at nap time. I usually don't like to do ANYTHING at nap time other than blog or watching hulu on my laptop in my bedroom, because momma needs to rest too, but there are times when putting the finishing touches on a project is just the right thing to get me feeling refreshed. In this case, I waited until the kids were resting to get everything just the way I wanted on the shelves. I had already put it all on the shelves so that it would be up out of their hands, but I wanted to be sure, like I mentioned earlier, that I had things in a good working order. SO, I put all the math manipulatives together and all the art supplies together. I also used this time to decorate the space so that when the kids were up from their nap they could come in and be surprised with the finished project. It was much like Christmas morning for them too. That's the biggest perk of finishing up a project while they are sleeping-the surprise element. Love that!
• What I DON'T like to do with the kids while I'm really working on something is to put a movie on for them. Sure I'll do that here and there if I just need a few minutes to finish up on something or in the afternoons while I'm cooking dinner, but when it's going to be a little longer I don't like to do TV because my kids(I don't know about yours) ALWAYS end up being uninterested in the TV and more interested in what I'm doing. In that case they would just be coming in mid-job and not really know what's going on and ask a million and one questions and pretty much just need busy jobs. If they are part from the beginning this keeps most of the questions at bay and helps keep your own attitude in check as well. Working as a family isn't always the easiest job in the world, but it's worth it in the end. Promise.
• Try to only do big projects when your man is home to help. This may mean having to wait a while. In my case it was several MONTHS, but it was worth it when I FINALLY saw "school room" on Manly's post-it for the day(I'll tell you more about Manly's strange post-it issues another time...)! Trying to do things you weren't made to do(like carrying really heavy baskets of books up the stairs or moving furniture) will just get you frustrated and hurt. Ask your man when a good time would be to get your project done and wait.
•  In our case I tried to make the space not only workable, but growable. For instance, right now we have those five tiny chairs, but as my big girls get bigger they will outgrown the little chairs and table. When that happens we'll install another higher desk on the opposite wall with full-size chairs. When I was putting the room together I had that in mind. It's the end result of the project. We just aren't ready for it yet.
• Put the baby in a sling or swing. My Eli loves being in the swing. Probably more than being slinged, but do whatever works so they have a happy mood. You DON'T want to try to be working while you have a fussy baby, so be sure to include time to stop and play with or feed the baby. They don't know you have a giant project going on, so they aren't going to stop being a baby for the day. I used the help of Manly too, so that's another reason to wait for your man to be there. When he had to run to Lowes to get a part he needed he took some of the kids with him while I stayed home and nursed the baby. Now, don't think I don't get frazzled when I'm in the middle of something and thinking the baby will still sleep another 45 minutes only to find him crying after a 15 minute cat-nap. But, TRY to include "the baby de-railed my plans" time.
• Use Ziploc bags!! I use Ziplocs to help organize ALL the time. I prefer the freezer kind because they are thicker and more durable, but whatever you have on hand will work. I use zip locks to micro organize things like party supplies, then put them all into one big tote labeled "Party things." When I'm looking for the zebra party plates I know they'll be in the party things basket, I just need to look in there and they'd all be in a Ziploc. Some of you coupon queens can probably get the real deal for a few cents, but I always just get the store brand to save money. I get them in all sizes. My favorite is the gallon size.

OK, I think that's it for now. Feel free to ask any other questions. Honestly, this is work I LOVE to do. My two favorite things are organizing spaces and planning parties. Put me on a sewing machine or in a gym and I wouldn't know WHAT to do. Strange hobbies, maybe, but it's just something I love love love to do with my "free time."

AND, for those of you wondering what I did with the quiet closet.

I spent about an hour the next day(while Manly was setting up the pool with the kids outside) and made THIS!

Olivia now has her own "room." She doesn't sleep in there, but that's about the only time she isn't in there unless I have other things for us to do. She loves to sew and paint and create things, so this space is perfect for her. She asked me what I was going to do with the quiet closet and I told her I was going to store supplies in there. Little did she know it was her OWN supplies! She was SO surprised, thankful, and EXCITED when I asked her to go in there and get me a roll of paper towels! Ha! She said afterwards, "MOM! I'm SO glad you didn't use my studio to store paper towels! That would just be SUCH a waste of space!" Ha!

 

This is right after she walked in. I used the shelf we'd had in there. I just took out one level and put it back together. Manly found the chair on one of his early morning runs out by the side of the road as trash. I simply added some fluff and fabric from Lulu's sewing stash and had a new chair in about 5 minutes. She LOVES it!!

Since I took these pictures she has totally decorated the walls with her drawings and other projects.

 

This is one of the old bookshelves from the old school room. It fits in there perfectly.

I put a few of my own things in there too(like the wrapping paper/gift bag organizer), but it's all stuff I don't mind her using. She feels so big and independent in that space. She even cleaned it today while we were picking up the rest of the house without being asked.

Total cost to me for this project? ZERO dollars. Yet it's priceless to Livi.

Thankful for a way to bless this sweet girl for all the hard work she helps me do.

The School Room of My Dreams

Since we began homeschooling over four years ago I have battled the "where do we do school blues."
 We started off doing school around the kitchen table, which was fine when I was just schooling one child, but as our family has grown and we've realized we really like homeschooling I decided there's just too much stuff to get out and put back away every day. It's always been my wish to have a proper school room, but with six kids and all their stuff the reality of it ever actually happening seemed slim.
We have a three bedroom house with a formal dining room and loft, so when we moved in I decided to make the formal dining room(which is covered in light carpet that I didn't want too ruin with kids eating on it) the office/school room. We put the playroom in the loft, and I spent my Rhea Lana earnings to create the playroom space I wanted. When we put it together we bought five child size chairs, and two shelves and a desk. I had the playroom really organized with clear boxes and lids to keep toys off the floor and give the kids choices when playing. The kids loved the space and they all have room to spread out to play.
It's always worked out great, but now it has become necessary to use the dining room for what it's made for. EATING. We've outgrown the table in the eat-in kitchen, so we needed to be able to put the leaves in the humongo table in the dining room we'd been using for school and start eating in there. When we decided to do that I decided I'd like to move the school room upstairs into the loft so that we'd have a nice big space to eat. (Yes, that means eating on carpet, but I'm hoping to pull it up this fall for concrete.) That meant we would need a functional space that would not only include the kids toys, but also be a school room AND I'd need to bring the things from the "quiet closet" upstairs as well. Where would we put all that stuff?
I had these as my inspiration. Who doesn't LOVE the container store? I mean, come on. Clean, organized, sleek, orderly...I could go on and on.

 

So began the purge of 2013. Well, one of them anyway. Manly always tells me the kids are going to be sleeping with one eye open because I always throw their stuff away and get rid of stuff while they aren't paying attention or sometimes while they are right there playing in the room. They have some things that I know not to try to get rid of(like KK's Bolt dog, Brubbs cars, and Mia's baby dolls), but overall, they know that we just don't keep a ton of stuff they don't play with on a regular basis.
I have always been anti-toys in the bedrooms. The kids each have two toys(except Mia who always ends up with 5-6 somehow) that they keep in their beds to sleep with, but that's it. Everything else has always been stored in the playroom. I am a firm believer of bedrooms are for sleeping. If bedrooms are trashed with millions of stimulating toys kids will have a terrible time trying to sleep in there! If you ask me it's worth it to put two kids in the same room so that you can use one room to store their stuff and one room for them to sleep, but that's just me and MY opinion. ANYWAY, that's another post...
SO, after purging, I had Manly install two additional shelves to my already shelved wall. This would mean that I could store twice the amount of stuff, the shelves would just be a little closer together. The shelves were a really inexpensive fix. We got both of them and the hardware to hang them for less than $40.(And, as a side note, I bought Lowes gift cards at Kroger because it was 4X gas points, so I got a BOATLOAD of Kroger points which basically earned me free gas. AWESOME) I also bought several shoebox sized boxes with colorful lids. At first I was going to go with white, but since the space is open and full of natural light, and because the space would be used for the kids, I decided to go with colors that would match the chairs that were already in there.
I used the boxes to store all kinds of things from floor puzzles to counting bears and blocks. I was able to store all the things from my school room shelves AND the quiet closet onto the shelves in the new school room with room to spare.

 

 

I used the larger toys to fill space on the shelves. They serve as décor now, but will eventually also be stored in the closets. I love the color they add to the room.

 

One of my other favorite things about this is an idea that isn't quite completed, but I figured out a way to show you anyway. 

This is all of the board games. I wasn't crazy about them being stacked on the shelf not looking a cute as everything else. I also needed to figure out a way to hang charts and posters from time to time, so I decided to put a strip of wither weather stripping or cork board on the edge of the top shelf. This will allow anything to be hung with bulldog clips and thumb tacks. The best part?! It covers the board games completely, but it's still really easy to get to them.

 

 

I was able to get all my teacher/student books into the armoire that had once stored dress-up clothes and large toys. Now the dress-up clothes are in the large locking hope chest in Isaiah's room.

 

I sat up a reading area because my kids LOVE to read. In the next few weeks we are going to raise the lights and the white board about a foot, and add in a small desk space and chair for myself. The bean bag will go on the other side of the bookshelf after that as the entire wall opposite the wall in this picture is open.

 

It does drive me bonkers that the back of the armoire is exposed, but Manly assures me no one cares. Ha! I'll likely paint it white as soon as I get a chance so it doesn't bug me so much.



I had all the toy boxes stacked in the bedrooms while I worked, still not knowing for sure what we would do with them. There were 6 boxes with toys in them, and a puppet stage(which I used for school from time to time, but it takes up quite a bit of space) that needed a new home. I also needed to find a space for all the kids large toys(like doll houses, pirate ships, and massive dump trucks.). SO, I ended up cleaning out closets as well. We had a TON of space in the tops of the kids closets that were just going to waste with sleeping bags and backpacks, so I used that space to store the toy boxes. They still can't get to them on their own, and I have them stored in a way that works: dolls and "little people" are in the girls room, and cars, trains, and balls are in the boys room. So far they haven't even asked to play with those things anyway now that the school room is so enticing, so we may be doing another purge soon...Ha!

The girls' room toys.

The boys' room toys

I thought the puppet stage looked GREAT with the décor of our boy room, so I just threw it in the corner in there.

I realized after the peek at the closets you might want to see the kids rooms, so I took a quick pic of each room.

Girl room, obviously. It's like the pinkest pink you'll ever see. Seriously. The theme is Smittle Sisters Horse Ranch.

Boy room. It always looks a little brighter blue in pictures. Right now KK sleeps on the top bunk in there so that's why there are pink blankets in there. This room theme is New Orleans jazz...for now.

I put the rest of the big toys on our cubbies. I think they look OK. Not perfect, but it works. We painted these old cubbies a few months back and it's been one of my best ideas. Each child has their own and it's where they put there Bible's, Awana stuff, and any other personal stuff that is JUST THEIRS. I have to remind them to keep them tidy, but they love having their own space...

SO, there you have it. My new school room and peeks into the kids rooms. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I can't wait for school to start now!! History, anyone???