Here's the Plan, Colon.
Last Wednesday Perfectionist Pete (we'll call him PP for short) and I had a conversation that went like this.
Me- Do you want to have people over for Memorial Day?
PP- Sure.
Me- Do you want to paint the living room, take out the window and build a wall first?
PP- Sure.
And that is how it started. At some point in our house's life, the patio was walled in and made a permanent part of the house. So the outside windows became windows looking into our office. Really unnecessary windows that needed to be removed especially since there was only one wall in the living room long enough for furniture. There are 5 doorways in the living room and a fireplace, so there really wasn't a large expanse of wall.. until now. On Thursday I painted. On Friday I painted while PP did demolition. On Saturday I painted and PP made a wall. On Sunday I painted. On Monday.... I cleaned and made apple pie. You thought I was going to say I painted didn't you?
Some people have commented on how amazing (or maybe they said crazy) I am for doing all this house stuff with 3 kids. So, here are my tips on how to completely transform your living room in 4 days.
1. Make a plan. My plan was this- PP makes a wall. I paint.
2. Spend the first few years of your children's lives teaching them how to play independently and behave even when you're not watching. When that stops working, allow them to watch more TV in a day than they do all week.
3. Disregard everything you know about nutrition and eat nothing but pizza, popcorn, chips and coffee until the project is complete.
4. Realize that at one point during the project you will be so 'over it' that you will be willing to give your firstborn (sorry Colin) to anyone who is willing to finish it for you. When you get to this point, stop, go in a different room, and eat chocolate chips until you're ready to finish with a better attitude.
5. Celebrate the completion of the project with a big ol' plate of greasy Mexican food and a milkshake.
And now for the pictures!
Me- Do you want to have people over for Memorial Day?
PP- Sure.
Me- Do you want to paint the living room, take out the window and build a wall first?
PP- Sure.
And that is how it started. At some point in our house's life, the patio was walled in and made a permanent part of the house. So the outside windows became windows looking into our office. Really unnecessary windows that needed to be removed especially since there was only one wall in the living room long enough for furniture. There are 5 doorways in the living room and a fireplace, so there really wasn't a large expanse of wall.. until now. On Thursday I painted. On Friday I painted while PP did demolition. On Saturday I painted and PP made a wall. On Sunday I painted. On Monday.... I cleaned and made apple pie. You thought I was going to say I painted didn't you?
Some people have commented on how amazing (or maybe they said crazy) I am for doing all this house stuff with 3 kids. So, here are my tips on how to completely transform your living room in 4 days.
1. Make a plan. My plan was this- PP makes a wall. I paint.
2. Spend the first few years of your children's lives teaching them how to play independently and behave even when you're not watching. When that stops working, allow them to watch more TV in a day than they do all week.
3. Disregard everything you know about nutrition and eat nothing but pizza, popcorn, chips and coffee until the project is complete.
4. Realize that at one point during the project you will be so 'over it' that you will be willing to give your firstborn (sorry Colin) to anyone who is willing to finish it for you. When you get to this point, stop, go in a different room, and eat chocolate chips until you're ready to finish with a better attitude.
5. Celebrate the completion of the project with a big ol' plate of greasy Mexican food and a milkshake.
And now for the pictures!
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| Before- so much brown! |
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| before |
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| We did the entryway a couple of weeks ago. I'll post more pictures of that soon. Be patient. |
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| I am still brainstorming what to do with the fireplace, but rest assured, the brown brick will not stay. |
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| There is an upper door project in the works. |
I love reading your blog. I don't know how you do it...you are a rock star Laurel!
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura- I don't know about rockstar.. maybe just an opening act =)
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome Laurel! Great job!
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, on Monday Tim called you the perfectionist (referring to where the kids get it from). I called him a liar. My position is supported by the fact that you misspelled your son's name in the title of this entry. Well-played.
ReplyDeleteWOAH! Looks amazing...
ReplyDelete