projects, projects and more projects. i have my list and and it just keeps getting longer. i thought that once summer came around I would have so much time to work on some projects...not so much. we have been busy busy just about everyday, leaving little time to get anything done.
here is one project that is semi-done...or at least done for now. the week that school was over i decided to move ella into julian's room and make ella's room the playroom. both of the kid's were always asking to sleep in each other's room and i realized that if they are ever going to share a room it is now or never. i'm not really sure how long they will be able to share a room but for now the nights of chatting and giggling are on. it's so fun to hear them talking and talking. i'm hoping this time of sharing rooms will be a special memory for them. i remember sleeping on the floor in my brother's room all the time and i loved it.
this project helped me get a little more organized and some much needed cleaning was done. it's not exactly how i want it to be yet, but this will do for now.
this is a little kitchen set andy made for ella a couple of christmas' ago. julian now uses it just as much as ella. the dishes are from ikea and the aprons are thrifted.
i had been wanting a little reading corner for them for a while and now they have one. i set up ella's teepee in the corner and tried to make it comfy with lots of pillows. there is usually a small quilt under the whole teepee, but it was in the wash at the time of these pictures. apparently yoshi thought i set up that little corner just for her and got the quilt all full of hair, ugh.
i love that there is a lot of light in this corner...perfect for reading!
here is a little thrifted shelf i found and spray painted. i let ella pick out this crazy bright pink and i think it works. this shelf holds a lot of littles.
i love this shelving unit. we got it when ella was born to hold her clothes instead of a dresser. i had a bunch of baskets and it worked nicely. slowly books have taken over one shelf at a time, which i love. changing this into the playroom allowed me to move a lot of their art supplies from a closet on the other end of the house and consolidate everything in this unit. looking at this picture makes me want to organize the books a little to make it look a little cleaner. i was also able to move puzzles and coloring books to a place where they are more accessible. since moving things around you would think the kids got a lot of new toys...a little shuffle makes some toys so much more appealing.
that big teddy bear on the top was mine from when i was a kid. my grandpa and grandma bought it for me for my tenth birthday while we were on vacation in big bear. the bandit mask is an addition by ella.
this is a little collection of julian's cars...well, actually andy's but i assume one day they will be julian's. the two little dolls are handmade by me from a while back. the one with the red dress was made from a
black apple pattern. the little boots were andy's from when he was a kid. they were a gift from his grandpa.
the bookcase was made by andy a long time ago for our first house. i still love it. we used it to hold julian's clothes in his room when he was born. now it holds both of their clothes. the table was also made by andy for our craft fair display. it is a perfect table for our art projects. the pictures are kind of just thrown up there on hooks that were there already. i want to change that up a little with a couple of other big prints or paintings.
this was arranged a while back when it was
ella's room. the cross stitch picture of the little girl holding bird cages was thrifted. the tray was as well. the clipboards hold the ever changing art work.
this little corner also holds their desks to sit at and draw or whatever they feel like doing. ella used her's here and there during the school year to do her homework at. both of the desks were thrifted at 2 different places. the big boat is a kite we got while on a trip in bali. it had been stored away in the garage. i am hoping the kids are old enough now to be trusted to not mess it up.
i still want to make new curtains and rearrange a couple of things but that is the playroom for now.
it's a little cluttered, but i love looking around and seeing things that we have made and things that mean a lot to us displayed throughout our house.
i'm just happy it doesn't look like this anymore.
on to my next project. actually this is andy's project that i am helping him with.
don't even ask. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I have been having some fun transforming boring walls in my house into happy little spaces. I can't remember where I got the idea, but metal trays make great magnetic boards to display and hang things. This is a wall in Ella's room. The needlepoint picture is from an estate sale. I love the little cage of birds on her head. Thinking about maybe painting the outside part of the frame a turquoise to kind of brighten it up a little. Loved the clipboard idea over on Smile and Wave and knew it would be the perfect way to hang so many lovely creations by Ella. She has really taken a liking to drawing and as her mama I can't help but think she is super talented. All of her drawings make me smile and wish I had more clipboards. 
My little sewing corner is starting to feel like a little sewing can actually be done here. I still have my eye out for a small corner shelving unit to hold my sewing box and some other necessities. 
I have no idea how I managed without my little sewing corner. 
