The Den: an all purpose room: Progress

Wow, this is quite a job! I've been working on this room since last Tuesday, though not all day every day. DH has been gone for 16 days and I had so many plans for completed projects by the time he got back. But, I spent the first week sleeping A LOT, the house was just too quiet. Or you could read that as a sign that I was just being lazy.

But he got back Monday night and is trying to settle back into the normal routine, especially with the 8 hour time difference. I'm not sure what percentage you could say I have done, but just take a look. It already looks brighter (and less depressing) than wall-to-wall baby poo color.

I am so LOVING the pneumatic nailers! When I first turned the compressor on, it was on for an hour and had not built up any air pressure. Finally, I asked someone I used to work with at the sewing machine shop and he told me what to do. Smart Dude! I never would have figured it out. And apparently the Home Depot guy was not very knowledgeable either, as I had called there (where I purchased) after 45 minutes and the guy said it should start building pressure after another 20-30 minutes! Once I did what Smart Dude told me, it took about 5 minutes to fill and I was nailing up a storm!

So, here is my progress so far:

Yeah, I know, I'm not so good with cutting the holes for the outlets and stuff, but I'm improving :-)

I have filled in the area under the window with the hardboard since I took these pictures.

I'm so anxious to see the blue in the room, so I guess I'll start cutting in now! I can caulk and spackle the boards later.

A bowl full of lemons.: Silhouette GIVEAWAY!!!!

A bowl full of lemons.: Silhouette GIVEAWAY!!!!: "A SILHOUETTE GIVEAWAY!! I was sent a Silhouette Rhinestone Starter kit this month, to try out and giveaway along with a Silhouette SD Mac..."

The Den: an all purpose room

A Den? Seriously? Only in Texas would a home have a formal living room, a family room, a gameroom, AND a den! Yes, we were given the choice of making the den and/or the gameroom into bedrooms, but we felt that 4 bedrooms in the original floor plan was already enough. You know, too many extra bedrooms and family members feel a need to move in.

So the "den" has been many things over the last 9 years. My Dad's room about 7 years ago, my sewing room (really, my stuff didn't fit), my husband's office (for about a month), then when my Dad came home after a stroke last year, his room again. Dad has since been moved and the room is empty again. Hmmm, what to do with an empty room?

Three years ago, we had tile installed throughout the entire first floor. We despised the baseboards that the builder had put in, some of them were so rough and had so many flaws that we had the tile installers throw them away, with the intention of installing new ones ourselves. And so we have not had baseboards downstairs since. Before Dad came home from the hospital last year, Hubby hired 2 incompetents to come install the baseboards in the den. We purchased the materials and DH paid them to install them. Well, this is the type of job they did.

Can you see that? The paint on the tile AND the wall? And the paint was so thin that you could see the streaks throughout the board. Wish I had a pic of the 3/4" gap in the molding right smack in the middle of a different wall....

I was so busy making plans for Dad to come home that I didn't go check it out right away. BIG mistake! I was so angry when I saw it, I started tearing the baseboards off, only to find they GLUED them to the walls with Liquid Nails!

So I ended up with 1) no baseboards & 2) the paper torn off the sheetrock at the bottom of the walls.

Yes, I can get pretty angry. I told my husband I could have done a better job with my eyes closed, one arm behind my back, and trying to do a bad job! I tried to pry the name and phone # of the home monkeys from him, but he just ignored me. Gosh, you would think he thought I was gonna call them and chew them out. Or something. Which I would. Have liked to. But would have just cursed their names instead.

We moved my Dad in anyway, but I had a really hard time ignoring the bottom of the walls where we were supposed to have baseboards. And had paid to have installed. But didn't.

Now, a year later, the room is empty again, and it's my chance to try something new.

I have to install wider (taller?) baseboards to cover where there is sheetrock chalk crumbling out and to prevent any further damage. And checking out the board and batten that is all the rage at blogs such as: Decor Chick and Centsational Girl, well I have to give it a try! It seems like the perfect makeover for this blah room! Take a look at what I have to try to "fix":

see the torn sheetrock at the bottom left?

BTW, the home monkeys were supposed to patch holes in the walls where I had things hanging. I had to scrub the excess spackle off the walls with baby wipes.

Tomorrow the home health agency comes to pick up the medical equipment.

Stay tuned for updates...

My 2011 Resolution

My resolution this year was to simplify my life and home while creating beauty and serenity within both. I have come to the realization that to accomplish these things, you must first create chaos. You move things around, stir up the dust (and dog hair), push things from one room into another, and work your way through.

We have lived in our present home for just over 9 years. The first time in almost 25 years of marriage that we have stayed in one place that length of time. Our 2 children, now adults at ages 21 and 23 have moved out and we find that a 2-story/4 bedroom, 2900+ sf house is just too big, empty of kids and their friends. We used to complain that they used the house as a sort of Grand Central Station, but now it's so quiet, with echoes when we speak, and 3 empty bedrooms.

Also, as we have passed the 50 year age mark, we are increasingly finding that it is so much harder to climb the stairs, come down the stairs, carry laundry up and down, let alone carry furniture or new purchases up the stairs. Add to that the fact that I have had 3 surgeries on my right knee, 2 surgeries on my neck, and back surgery, and you can imagine how much more difficult it is becoming. So downsizing is a real possibility in the near future. But first we must make this home appealing to others as well as ourselves.

I started painting 2 weeks after we moved into this house. I so wanted to make my mark on it, to make it ours. I don't think there was any such thing as blogs at that time, though if there were, I wouldn't have know what they were. So any home improvements or decorating attempts I tried were trial and error.

I have painted most rooms in the house at least twice, but the family room/kitchen have more than 5 coats of paint (again, trial and error); enough that my husband swore the room was getting smaller.

He tries to help sometimes, but most often I have to do things myself. I have done all the painting in my home, without his help. He is, though, capable of putting up light fixtures and ceiling fans, replacing toilets and sinks, etc. So we each have our place in this adventure: making this house or any place we live, our home.

I invite you to follow along as I make many mistakes, a few good choices, and achieve my goals one step at a time. And please feel free to make any comments or give advice. Thanks!

Edna