1 year later

I really have a lot to get caught up on.  I'd hate for you to think that I didn't do ANYTHING this year, just because I haven't POSTED anything. ;) 

Yesterday marked exactly 2 years in this house.  Knowing that this deadline was coming up, I worked REALLY hard in November and December so that I would be able to show you that my house no longer looks like it did the day we moved in.  It's been a crazy busy year, but I'm going to try to blog more frequently and catch you all up with all the work I've done in the house.  I had big plans to be finished with the current project by the 29th, but we all got the flu.....all 8 of us.  So, it's not quite finished. lol



But, stay tuned!

Another score from Re-Store!

So, we've been in this house now for almost 20 months and we've had a handful of different sofa sets. 

Cheapies

Freebies

Hand-me-downs

This'll-do-for-nows

I'm a firm believer that you can have anything that you want.....you just have to know what you want....and you have to get rid of the things that aren't working, to make room for those things that you want.  We homeschool and spend a LOT of time reading.  Really....hours a day during the school year.  We have a SUPER comfy leather sectional that used to be in our family room/learning room.  But it just didn't fit this awkward living room.  And it is awkward.  I should draw it out for you in Visio one day.  But not today. ;-)

Anywho...

The sectional is leather and leather isn't exactly the most comfy thing to sit on for long periods of time.  It gets kinda....sticky....

So I thought...

and researched...

and thought some more...

and researched some more (those who know me will NOT be surprised by ANY of this)...

I drew out some sketches of the room with different furniture I'd found online.  I knew I didn't want leather, but with 6 boys, I was worried about being able to keep it clean, so I figured slipcovers were the way to go.

I settled on 2 large sofas from Ikea.  They have deep comfy seats and cushy back pillows.  Comfy enough to sleep on, so definitely comfy enough to read in for hours at a time.  And I wanted 2 sets of slipcovers for the inevitable.....testosterone. lol  But I wasn't exactly thrilled that the sofas were $500 each before tax and the slipcovers were another $250 per set.  So were looking at $1500 for the furniture I wanted.  So I kept the above mentioned cheapie/freebie, etc. furniture.  But what I wanted couldn't come because there was something in its spot!  So I got rid of it.  It was a little awkward for a few weeks while we didn't have adequate furniture in there.  But it had us really focused on finding what we needed.

Enter Handyman and Re-Store.  We have weekly meetings called FEC (Family Executive Council) where we plan out our week, discuss the needs of the boys, projects we're working on, and what we need to do for our homeschool.  Right now what we need for our homeschooling is to have our learning areas set up to facilitate learning.  We also REALLY don't want any of the projects in this area - kitchen, dining, family room - to disrupt the school year, so we're working to get them done ASAP.  SO....in one of our FEC meetings about 3 weeks ago, I filled Handyman in on what we needed in the way of furniture in the family room.  Big comfy furniture, fabric, slipcovered, with an extra set of slipcovers. 

And NOT $1500....

That's a long way from $0....

Handyman's office is literally 5 minutes from Re-Store, so he stops in there frequently to see if they have any of the things we've talked about needing.  Last Friday, he sent me a txt with a pic of a sofa, chair, and ottoman set that they had.  It took a phone call and a few pics for me to get what he was communicating to me.

He found our furniture...

Big comfy couch...

BIG comfy chair...think chair-and-a-half...

Cushy ottoman to put in front of the chair or couch to prop up my tootsies while I read to the boys for hours on end.

Fabric....

Slipcovered....

Olive Twill....

WITH...

An extra set of slipcovers!

Yummy Mocha velvet!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

I know that's what you're thinking.

It's what I said, too.

How much are they Handyman?

$300....should I offer them $250?

YESSSSS!!!!!!

Well, he offered them $200.  They said, "How about $240?"  SOLD!  And then they rang them up for $220. :-)

All of the pieces have legs and SPACE underneath for storage boxes so that I don't have to take up the floorspace with a table.  Toys, projects, games, etc. can all be hidden away and still leave room for us to play in the middle of the room.

So, being my normal self, I thought I'd see if I could figure out how much money we'd saved.

Before I could, Handyman said, "Read the note on the box."  The box he was referring to was the big box with the other set of slipcovers.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

Then I was REALLY curious to see how much money we'd saved.

So I went to the Pottery Barn website.

Here's what I found.....

Pottery Barn Charleston sofa with Seagrass twill slipcover (ours is older, so the pillow configuration is different, but it's the same sofa).

$1,499

Everyday Velvet cover in Mocha:

$939

Charleston Chair-and-a-half with Seagrass twill slipcover:

$1,049

Charleston ottoman with slipcover:

$499

Slipcover for chair:

$639

Slipcover for ottoman:

$369

Yes, folks!  That's a grand total of $4,944!

Gently used - the twill covers are faded at the top from being in front of a window, but the structure is PERFECT!!!!! 

I'll probably dye the twill covers because they're cotton.

And we paid $220.

Do I really need to say anything else?

Oh, if you scroll up to the first pic of the sofa, you'll see the other project we've been working on for about 6 weeks.  We have a LOT to do in the next 2-3 weeks to get ready for school to start, so stay tuned.  I'm breaking out the paint next week. :)

Welcome to my......mess?

Is it bad that I post pics of my house when it's messy?  It's really not that way ALL the time, but with 6 kiddos, homeschooling, a couple of business, and a myriad of ongoing projects, there's always something on the floor.  No really......always.  Part of the problem is that we still don't know where to put things.  That's actually the driving force behind all of the projects......so the house can be clean! lol

Maybe with the constant possibility of a pic of their messy bedrooms being posted for the world (or a handful of people) to see, they might keep their rooms cleaner?  Or finish their kitchen jobs?  Or finish that load of laundry?  A girl can dream, right?  lo  If nothing else, I'm real......so you get to see my messes from time to time. :-)

Re-Store

Okay, so while my camera battery is charging, let me tell you about Re-Store.

Have you ever been to DI (Deseret Industries)?

or

Goodwill?

or

Salvation Army?

or any other second-hand store?

If you have, you understand how they work.  People donate gently-used items that they no longer need or use, and others get to benefit by paying less than they would if they were buying new

AND

it's "green". You know.....the "re-use" part of Reduce, Re-use, Recycle? ;)

Yes, my mother calls me a hippie......in the most affectionate of ways, of course.  But really, to me it's about stewardship.  God gave us this earth and everything on it, and basically told us to take care of it.  So RRR thing is just a way to express gratitude for the things I've been given.

ANYWAY....sorry about the mini-sermon. Teehee...

Ahem.....

Re-Store is run by Habitat for Humanity and sells reclaimed building materials. 

So what are you looking for? Some of those cool old windows that are oh-so-popular?

Gobs of cool old doors?

A full kitchen-worth of cabinets?

RE-STORE

Our local Re-Store is on 1300 S, just West of I-15.  If you want to find one near you, look here.  The next time I make a trip up there, I'll take some pics to show you some of the goodies they've got for YOUR next project.  Okay, so really MY next project. lol

Time to re-cap

Sooooo........I'm a bit of a slacker in the posting department. Fortunately, I'm NOT a slacker in the DOING department.  I managed to get a whole slew of things done before Baby was born on April 1.

I painted the laundry room.

 Finished the moulding and carpet in Magician and Tornado's bedroom.

Painted Beaver's room. . . (Handyman reminded me that we've always called him a Goat, so we'll call him Goat from now on. lol  Apparently I had some form of baby brain or something.)

 Got carpet in Goat's room......

 And he's now actually moved in to that room.  I'll do updated pics soon.

 I made a super cute travel-themed nursery set for a friend. <3  I need to track down some better pics.

I also painted the office and we're now working on the family dining room.  It's kinda long.....and awkward.....and it really did take 18 months to figure out what we wanted to do with this room.  I can't wait to share...

...

but first I'll start catching you up on all the goings-on for the last almost 6 months.

THE most beautiful and perfect thing I've done is deliver a beautiful, healthy baby boy.

He was born 4-1-12, 7 lbs 11 oz, 22 inches, dark hair, blue eyes, olive skin and it was a PERFECT and beautiful homebirth.

And apparently I need to upload some more recent pics of him. lol

Sneak peek.....

This is the "orange room"......The moulding and carpet are just sitting there, not installed.  Handydman will make short work of that tonight and tomorrow night, though.  Then all I need to do is paint the door and closet doors and this room is DONE!  We'll do more decorative stuff down the road, but all the structural stuff needed to make it livable will be done!  There will be lots more pics once we move the boys in.

Project update: Week #4

I actually didn't get a whole lot done this week that you can see in pics.  I touched up the paint in Magician's & Tornado's bedroom, did a bunch of sewing, and had a blood pressure scare. lol  Apparently my midwife's BP machine was acting up that day because I went from 90-110/55-65 being my normal range to 143/85!  So that held up the painting until I was able to get a few more readings in my normal range.  Whew!  I really don't have time to have high BP. ;-) 

Once we were sure my BP was really fine, I did finally get to work and primed and painted the laundry room.  Nothing exciting picture-wise because you can't really tell. lol

But the best news of the week was this:  Our tax check finally came!  I'm a little embarassed to admit that it was returns for 2010, but we got them, nonetheless.  So there's a bit of funding for some of the projects that we really need to have done before Baby Boy arrives in late March/early April.  I'm planning on late March because this boy's big and I usually go about 2 weeks early.  IF I make it to April, I'm sure it will be April 1st......ya know.....just because that's how it would go for me. lol  Magician was born on Halloween...the ONE day I BEGGED him not to come. 

Yikes!  Sorry about the tangent. lol  Soon Handyman and I will be done with our taxes for 2011 and be able to get some more of that torn apart basement livable.

What projects were you working on while I was freaking out about my blood pressure?

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Oh, and if you're reading, please "follow" me (It's the Google-ish looking link on the right -------->) so I know who I'm talking to.  :D