A Peek At What I've Been Up To

I have a group of amazing friends.  Each one of these women teach me a lot.  They make me laugh, they let me cry, they share ideas and they are a wonderful source of support.  We are all very different - backgrounds, interests, talents - but that is part of what I think makes "us" work.  I love them all, and I am beyond thrilled for them when they have good things happen in their lives.

One by one, though, they have all moved out of the neighborhood, and into new areas - and invariably larger homes.  So, don't get me wrong.  I'm SO happy for them, but since I am going on 9 years in this house, I'm getting a little stir crazy, and I'm just the teensiest bit jealous.  

This is the longest I have lived in the same home in my entire life!  

My kids are getting bigger, and suddenly what has worked so far, is no longer workin' so good.  They want space to hang out, have friends over... I want more storage (or at least to use the storage I do have better), a functional kitchen...  My "want/need" list for this house is ridiculous.

But my budget (sorry.  I'm laughing as I type budget...) for renovations and changes is basically nothing.

So, I've been working on a few freebie changes around the house.  

The office.  This space is one that causes me anxiety and guilt.  It makes me feel guilty because it is a bigger room than the ones my boys share, but I don't want kids up here with us.  It usually looks like a giant storage room.  I would love for it to be a master closet, but then where does the computer go?  And really?  Should I have a master closet that is bigger than the bedroom my 2 boys share???  I think not.  Plus.  I hope that I don't have to live here forever, so do I want to risk having resale issues?

So in the meantime, what I did in here is get rid of the HUGE folding table that had been serving as our desk, and brought back our old dining table.  Since we got rid of our old 2 foot deep computer monitor, we can make do with the smaller work surface.  I moved the armoir back into the office, it houses craft/fabric supplies (since someday I WILL learn how to sew :))

I reorganized the shelves above the desk, and then hung this cute printable next to them.  I love the reminder.

I still have far to go in the office.  The amount of junk in here is staggering...

I didn't do much in my master bedroom yet.  But I wanted to show this super cute pillow my sister made for me.  We found the fabric for a great deal, and I had gotten the weird shaped pillow from my grandpa.  It was covered in an ugly tapestry fabric that just would not work.  anywhere.  So... cute right?

I'm not totally happy with this grouping on the wall in my room, but it's okay for now.  I'm getting ready to slipcover the chair I got from our ward yard sale (and when I say I am getting ready, I mean my sister is getting ready), and that will live in my bedroom.  So more changes will be made in there once I really get going.

Here's the living room.  Through a totally random encounter with a stranger at my niece's baptism, I ended up with a new sofa and loveseat.  For free.  It's not pretty, but it's clean and relatively comfortable.  So in order to live with the ugly blue fabric on the sofas, I am going to be switching out the decor for a much more neutral palate and hope that the blue kind of fades away.  

Some future projects are in the works.  I have rearranged the boys' room, and will begin some art projects to decorate in there.  So that will be coming later.  Also, I got some paint from my sister, and so I will be painting my upstairs bathroom.  That bathroom has been the same yellow since before we moved in...  I'm hoping that somehow, I can change a few things besides just the wall color, but did I mention the budget???  I can dream though.  Miracles happen.  (remember the piano??) :)  I also have a few ideas I'm toying with in the kitchen for some no/low cost improvements - so, I'll keep updating as I get things done.  

Making these little changes isn't the same as moving into a new home.  Not even close.  And even as I type this, I'm thinking how ungrateful I sound.  I don't mean to be.   I'm working on being content where I am.  But I guess that doesn't mean that I can't make changes that reflect my life and improve the functionality of my home...

Well.  This post has officially begun to ramble, so I'm out.   Cheers!