Tuesday Tell All- Room With A View

The week ticked by and it's time again for Tuesday's Tell All. I am supposed to write about a room in my home that I am particularly fond of at the moment. I got this topic last week and have been thinking about it since. As I rocked the girls at night I slowly went through the entire house in my head thinking about all the changes that I have made to the place over the past year. They range from very small (new hardware on the cupboards) to quite large (new carpet on the stairs and main floor). I am proud of the transformation of a house that I thought could be nice, to a place that I love coming home to.

For years when we lived in Louisville, I liked our house, but it was just a place we lived in. Every time we would return home from a trip to Utah, the whiteness of the walls and lack of decor made me want to walk right out the door and hop on the next plane taking me back to where it felt warm, comfortable and homey. I always loved the yard, but I think that was because I would mow the lawn, bought shrubs and planted flowers. I took the time to make it different, to make it my own. It wasn't until I started painting, decorating and put down new flooring in the master bath, that I felt like the house was part of me. The night I painted the boys room (during Rich's third year), the first big paint job I had ever done, I laid down in bed next to Trey and just took it all in. I looked at the ceiling, at the floor boards, around the door frames and window. It was a place I wouldn't mind being in for awhile.

Soon, I was a painting machine. The den was next, then the horrible border along the ceiling in my room came down and paint was up. I should add that I painted our room twice when the cream I wanted looked more like yellow and next to the pinkish carpet had a bit of a tootie-fruity feel. Not a good look. Next was the laundry room (used the yellow oops paint) and finally our bathroom. Early one morning, Rich awoke to a strange sound coming from the bathroom. Inside he found me ripping down the wallpaper. I guess I tend start project sort of spur of the moment. That's OK, because I always see them through to the finish.

I have loved learning how to fix things, change things and do it myself. I can thank my mom for that. The first time I rewired a light switch (it had a breaker on it too) I was glowing from pride and thankfully not from being electrocuted! I changed door knobs, put down laminant flooring and Kristi helped me put up tile in the kitchen. It was a joy to see what I could accomplish with some determination, a mom that is a phone call away and a Home Depot close by.

But I digress, back to the original topic. I had a hard time coming up with one room I like the best, because each has stories I could share. I painted the girls room FOUR times after trying to make myself like pink. I love the butterflies on the walls and the counted cross-stitch my Grandma Nance made for the girls' and my last birthdays. It says 'I am a Child of God."

In the boys room I love their beds overflowing with stuff animals and seeing the trophies they earned over the summer. I think back to the day we moved in (the kids were in Utah with our families) and Rich and I took down the ugly teddy bear border and filled in the holes from the zigzag 'Trevor' lettering that had been on the wall from the previous owner. (Rich does like to tease me that the girls names are over their cribs, because I thought the crooked Trevor name looked so dumb!) I spent hours the second night here painting it the exact color of their old room. (Bless Rich's heart, he tried to help me paint, but I was too bossy!) I wrote their names on the wall in the brown paint and took pictures. I wanted them to feel like it was home when they walked in.

I laugh when I think about the master bathroom. I hung a new light fixture in there. I bought one from Lowe's and got it up easy, but then noticed it was too short on the sides and you could see from the paint where the original had been. Not wanting to turn the power back on with a light undone, I went straight back to Lowe's with the kids, bought a larger light, went home and started to hang it. It was a bit hard to hold up because of the size, so I yelled for Josh to come in and help me. When Rich walked in from work he found me and Josh standing on our sink, arms outstretched holding up the half attached light with one of its ends balancing on my head, my blood was smeared on the wall and mirror from the cut I got from some sharp edge, but we were nearly there. Two screws later, we had a working light. I was proud of that one.

But the one I think I appreciate the most is our kitchen. So, after far too many stories, I will pick it as my favorite room of the moment.

When we bought our home I truly thought I hated the kitchen. I took all of a ten second look at it during the showing, but it was long enough for me to spy the purple and gold walls, the horrible floral drapes looped on a gaudy brassy rod, the bright gold cabinet handles and a small gold light over the table. Had these people ever heard of color tones? When do you mix purple and gold, gold and more gold, when the floor was grayish and the counters were green! The answer to that is never. I didn't even peek in the cupboards, dishwasher or sink. I knew I had my job cut out for me.

When I flew back to Utah to get the kids, I took off a small cabinet door, painted poster boards with the family room wall color, took a piece of scrap flooring and brought it with me. Sweet Danene Harper, a Salem neighbor, former primary teacher, interior decorator and dear friend came over to help assist me with this daunting project. She came up with a paint color (1/2 shade darker than the paint on the bottom half of the dining room/den) and helped me with arranging the house. What a sweetie. Thanks Danene! I was now ready!

As the movers were bringing in boxes I was tearing down the purple monstrosity. Even with wallpaper backing and glue all over the walls it was an improvement over the gold and purple. Rich spent an entire afternoon scraping and peeling that muck off the wall. The drapes and rod came down next and pewter handles and rod replaced the shiny gold. I got a paint match for the den and the new paint color for the kitchen.

I had to do some serious hunting for something to fill the large wall behind the table. I looked online for hours at possible prints. My mom would look up my suggestions and finally she found this set of three flowers. They were perfect. I got a shelf from Pottery Barn and filled up little vases with rocks and it worked. With the greenish paint, tan drapes and pewter rod, it had a natural look, much more soothing than the former style.

The last job was to replace the light. I finally found a pewter light at Lowe's and took the old one down. The only problem was that Rich was at school and I had to make sure I hung it at the right height. I called my mom who measured her light and told me how far hers was from the ceiling to the tip. I got some dental floss and measured it out and hung it from the ceiling. Now I could gauge how many links I needed and where to secure it from the top. Magically, soon after we had a light hanging that match up at the bottom of the dental floss. I was thrilled that it all actually worked!

The very last addition was a little flat screen TV tucked into the corner. A Christmas gift from my parents. This is our only TV on the main floor and I love it that way. The kids can watch cartoons while eating their cereal, and when I click it off, silence. Love it!

Today, I love the boys art work from school hanging on the fridge. I love the Hermit Crabs making scraping sounds in the corner. I love having family dinner around the table and love the view I have from the window. It's a nice room to be in.

So there you have it. That is the story of my kitchen and my life long story of painting and decorating. Hope someday, some of you will come and check it out in person!