Another day, another project

I frequently say (and think) that I do little else but the "Mommy essentials." I make sure people have something to eat, and something clean to wear, and a reasonably tidy house in which to live. I pick kids up from school and monitor homework and play dates and try to ensure that no one sets the house on fire. I try to hit the religious essentials, too -- scriptures and prayer and church and Family Home Evening. (Oh, and I blog. Is this essential?)

But really, very little else happens. Gone are the days of free time and exciting outings and creative outlets and sparkling bathrooms and regular exercise. It's all about maintaining the status quo.

Except that we can't seem to quit with the bedroom switcharoos.

In the 16 months our family has lived here, one bedroom in our house has been used for four different purposes. First it was a guest bedroom. Ah! A guest bedroom! It gave us its status for Gavin in preparation for Lexi's arrival. Then, when Gavin abandoned the crib far too prematurely, he moved downstairs with Tyler and Zachary came upstairs. For a while I've been itching to move the office upstairs and put Zach back in the basement in his own room. That was relegated to a "someday" project...and then our neighbor gave us furniture that was perfect for Zach. We decided it made sense to set it up downstairs.

So I made a trip to Home Depot, picked out a lovely blue shade to cover the ghastly orange I chose last summer for the office, and spent a couple of afternoons this week rearranging closets.

Garry got involved on Saturday for the furniture moving and electronics relocating and, of course, the painting. I helped (and took pictures).

Here we have the old office in its semi-torn-apart state, and Zach's new furniture hanging out in the family room downstairs.



Have you ever used this fabulous paint-plus-primer stuff? It's awesome! Have you ever used this painter? He's even more awesome! (Side note: Garry and I were musing over our paint clothes yesterday, and the veritable cornucopia of color splatted all over them.)



Below: The new bedroom. Still to come: something interesting to hang on the wall.



Isn't empty space beautiful? Zach can't wait to clutter up the shelves. On the other hand, he has to share the closet with electronic gizmos, luggage, FHE lessons, and photography equipment. So far the only things in that closet that belong to Zach are a laundry hamper and a hanger full of neck ties.



The face says it all: Zach is happy...so we are, too!



Below: The new office. It is a work in progress, and the curtains need to be ironed. The closet is organized and the Internet is functional, so I can be patient with the rest!

In our last house we painted 12 times - every room, with three painted twice. We're up to eight paint jobs (three of them massive) in this house, and still have three rooms with white walls. I wonder how long it will take before "project mode" sneaks up on us again.