THE GROWING PROJECT

You know how when you fill a soft shell taco that you start with just a little meat so you can have enough room for the rest of your toppings and yet the stupid thing just keeps growing and the shell busts all up anyway and you end up with a huge, beautiful, and still fabulous taco salad. Well, that makes me think of the project we just completed.

It started by moving the big guy's bed into a corner of the living room cause he hated sharing with his brothers (one snores and the other has night terrors, so who could blame him).  The intention was to slap up some temporary walls to create him a little cave.

The couch marks where the new wall will be.  It is tiny but he is happy. (this is not big guy and the dog somehow snuck in the house)  :)

Then we decided we may as well do a good job on the walls.  There are 4 kids in this house and I'm guessing this cave is going to be THE room for a while.  But we weren't sure what to do about the nasty carpet.  I've wanted to rip it out for a while (I HATE CARPET!) but the King has been hesitant to spend the moolah to get it done.  After all one room is just going to lead to another and we are TRYING to get debt free (a la Dave Ramsey but that is another post entirely).

....Then we started added all those yummy toppings and the little taco turned into the HUGE taco salad. This is how it happened.....

Thursday, April 18: The King went and got his haircut (which does tie into this story).  He was talking to his hairdresser who is also a good friend of the family and mentioned that he is so tired of everyone having coughs.  She answered that they have been so surprised at how little they cough now that they are in their new house with NO carpet.  (God Bless her!)  He came home ready to at least do some shopping.

Friday, April 19: We went to Menard's and found wood laminate on sale!  We waited and thought about it over the weekend (no impulse shopping here) and decided to go for it.

Monday April 22: Since he works near Menard's, he just picked up all the supplies over his lunch hour since we had already chosen exactly what we wanted.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I emptied the front room of all its furniture.  Seriously, I moved every single piece of furniture in the house I think.  I had to make room for the living room furniture and still make the house livable.

our kitchen is clearly not meant to be an eat in kitchen....but we made it work.  The boys are still doing school work. :)

Then I decided to see how hard it would be to rip up the carpet.  It turns out it is not hard at all!  (past the point of no return now right?)  Seriously, patience just isn't one of my strong points.  I had it all ripped up before he came home from work.  But for future reference it may be wise to cut it into sections as you rip it out.  It is REALLY heavy.

not hard to rip up at all.  :)  see that dirt...it is disgusting.  And the Kirby guy JUST showed us what an awesome vacuum he has.  Pffft!  Whatever!

Just keep going. just keep going.  just keep going.

and the carpet is GONE!  This is one of the rare times my kids have voluntarily picked up a broom.

This is the pile of dirt we found under the carpet. I vacuum.  I try to keep a clean house.  This is disgusting. This is why I hate carpet.  

As you look at those pictures, do you notice the paint?  It is a gold, kinda mustard-y yellow with a chocolate brown accent wall.  I really liked those colors when we put them up.  But the paint was getting chipped and scuffed and we were shrinking the room and the dark was just too dark.  Plus how silly would it be to NOT paint while there are no floors down.  So I begged my mom to help me so we could do it while the King was  at work.  He was not keen on the idea of painting and holding up the project.

Wednesday, April 23: Mom and the kids and I went back to Menards to pick out paint colors.  The walls will be Dutch Boy Homespun Linen and the trim in Superhide White.  Accent colors will all be "beachy" yellows, bright blues, with a little gray thrown in.  The King knew I was doing this and he was cool with it under 2 conditions 1: Don't ask him about the color choice.  He doesn't care.  and 2: (this was unspoken and assumed by me) He isn't helping with it.  ;)  Oh since I decided I wanted to paint all the trim I took it all down too (note to self: number trim as you take it down next time)

all the trim laid out and ready to paint.  

Thursday April 24:  daytime: Mom and I do a first coat on the walls.  I am convinced the change made angels sing.  :)
                               evening: the King and I build the stud wall for the big guy's room (remember that is what started this whole thing)

here is the new stud wall. All done and ready for paneling (which I haven't selected yet).  The first coat of paint is on and I promise it is not yellow.  the color is bad in this picture.

Friday April 25: morning: I did the first coat of paint on the trim.  (note to self: just buy white trim next time)  I also let all the kids paint a picture on the subfloor.  A "time capsule" of sorts.  

one of the pictures

the other time capsule paintings

                         afternoon:  Mom came down and we did the second coat on the walls.  Then since she is earning her sainthood she helped (by helped I mean did it for me) the second (and third) coat on the trim.  Hallelujah!
                       
Saturday, April 26: we cleaned up the floors, swept and swept and swept (you can not believe the amount of dirt and staples there still were).  We reinstalled the ceiling trim so we would be dragging a ladder across brand new floors
                             lunch: we started installing the new floors.  It took 8 hours and was SO beyond worth it.

first went in the underlayment for insulation, moisture and sound protection

just getting started

installed the last piece....perfection.  

Sunday, April 27:   The King had ministry in Indiana and my mom (God Bless Her!) offered to take all the kids to church with her so I spent the day putting things back where they belong and rearranging (of course). The walls on the big guy's room are clearly not finished.  I hadn't decided what I wanted up there....but now I know.  We'll be getting them later this week.

Big guy in his room  He's so excited and it is just stud walls for now.

My new room as it stands now.  That gold chair in the corner is gonna be recovered (it is falling apart) My rocker in the foreground will also be recovered but only cause I have the perfect fabric for it.  :)

My finished room from the "new hallway"....clearly no matter how nice things are I can't keep toys under control  LOL. 

And I'll be moving on to the decorating.  First thing hanging a shelf and some pictures once there is paneling.  Then reupholstering that gold chair.  Fabric is on its way!  :) I'll post updates as I get it done.

And that is why sometimes letting a little project grow and get out of hand turns out awesome in the end.  And we are having tacos for dinner tomorrow night....I think I'll make a taco salad  ;)