Good news! Matthew's bones looked good on the latest x-ray so he won't need a second surgery. What a relief! Now to survive another 4 weeks with his cast when he's already begging to ride his bike again...
Joshua had an awesome first flight on Friday! He flew around town in this little plane. He actually flew right up next to those beautiful mountains in the background and right over our house. It was his first time flying without me and he really loved it.
And finally, I've pretty much finished the big boys' bedroom. I still need some help with then last few details, so if you're the organizing/redecorating type, please tell me what you think.
BEFORE:
INSPIRATION:
AFTER:
The free plans for the bunk bed can be found
here. I ended up modifying the ladder at the last minute because the slanted ladder didn't fit, even though the measurements were the same as the plan. I'm not totally in love with the ladder, but it does the trick. I may switch it out later.
I added some small IKEA Bekvam shelves. They're actually spice racks, but they're the perfect size for holding a few books. My boys read in bed every night so this is the perfect spot to store their books and now there won't be books shoved under pillows.
The comforters came from Target and the cool robot sheets came from Company Kids. (You might notice that I haven't filled and sanded my pocket holes on the ends yet... I was in a hurry to get the bed done before giving birth so that's something I'll go back and finish later.)
The bed construction was simple. It was much faster than
the girls' playhouse bed and the cost was under $300 for everything. The fact that I was able to build it myself at 37/38 weeks pregnant goes to show that the construction was pretty simple. (I did have Jason's help cutting the longer boards and my boys helped me sand the ends of the bed. Otherwise, it was all me & Seven.)
I'm not sure what to do with the boys' dresser in the corner. I intended to paint it but couldn't decide on a color. Maybe I should refinish it with a new coat of stain?
Then there's this bookshelf, also built from Ana White's plans. I intended to paint this as well but was stumped on color. What do you think? (And yes, Matthew is missing an "e" that I need to hang back up.)
On the other side of the room we have our train table and The Giant Laundry Bin, aka a big storage bucket. I never could find a hamper that could contain the messy clothes from my boys and stand up to the beating of them dragging it down the hall a few times each week. So we recycled a big, plastic storage bin. I miss having walk-in closets to hide it though.
Our last 2 houses had walk-in closets and so we had easily 3 times the storage space that we have now. I opted to stick an old cubby shelf in one side of the boys' closet because we have an abundance of books that needed a home.
The other side of their closet holds their clothes but leaves no room for anything else. We store shoes in our (tiny laundry room) and of course their clothes hamper sits out in the room. I wish there was a way to create more space but this house is small and not made for a family of our size. The big boys' bedroom is actually bigger than our master bedroom!
Next to the door I'm adding a small nightstand. I started refinishing it with red paint but stopped because I still hadn't decided on the colors for the bookshelf and dresser. Because we can't paint walls, I'd like to add some color, but don't want it to look too crazy. Any ideas?
Getting rid of the two loft beds and consolidating to one big bunk bed has added a ton of floor space. It's perfect for Matthew's break dancing, which he won't be doing for awhile now.
I'd like to get a new, striped rug but haven't had a chance to do it yet. For now we're using the old rug because it matches.
I'd love to hear suggestions for finishing up this room and for keeping it organized...
