Projecting

In April I was thinking, why don't they, whoever they are, find out how to bottle the nesting hormone when women are pregnant. That little hormone got a lot of good work out of me over the years. I was needing some sort of motivation to paint and decorate but could not find the oomph. Mid-June one of my friends said she wanted to make curtains for her screened in porch and asked if I would help her. I had some ideas for mine in the back of my head, but wasn't really going to dive in quite yet. I went over to her house, we toured each others porches before we went shopping for the curtains, and that's when the inspiration struck. She had color in her house. I forgot how much I missed color. Our new house was painted lenox tan. While lenox tan is a fine color, having brown everywhere was a bit depressing. Somehow, without getting pregnant, I got a good dose of that there little nesting hormone. Oooh boy! I'm just now, two and a half months later, getting it out of my system. I think my family is glad to have me back.

Dave and I decided on colors that weekend and I started painting. I painted the entry hall and the dining room the first week. And I made the porch curtains. I used drop cloths and ironed-on fabric from old pillowcases on the back to make a rod pocket. We got closet rods from Stock and regular wooden curtain rod hangers from Lowe's. I even got a little drill bit that works in fiber cement. Let me tell you, that drill bit did not seem to work well, until I discovered the hammer setting on our drill. That changed my world! I do wish I discovered it a bit earlier, though.

After the 4th of July, we got new curtains in the kitchen and I found a table and chairs on Craigslist. We did have the train table in our breakfast nook, but Judson just stood on it. I found a table and four chairs on Craigslist for $50. My thought was that I would refinish it and buy a bench. I saw that one going differently in my mind. It did NOT turn out well. So I found another table and chairs and bench on Craigslist that fit perfectly. It wasn't$50, but it didn't cost an arm and a leg, either. Then I painted the kitchen.

We've never had a headboard for our king bed. I've always looked but didn't want to pay a small fortune for something so simple. I had been browsing Craigslist for months looking for a headboard. The whole concept kind of creeped me out though. A used headboard, operative word being used. Nasty. So I googled Mason headboard plans and I found this amazing website about building furniture: ana-white.com. My world has been forever changed! Dave and I talked about it and he gave me the thumbs up (there was some hesitancy in his eyes, but I went with the two thumbs up). I walked in the contractor's entrance of Lowe's the next day (if I need help, I always start there), with all three kids before rest time, and said, "Who will help me? I have a lumber list and a cut list." The dude was awesome. While he cut the lumber, I returned some things and picked out the stain and the nails. I came home and during rest time built the headboard. I used the mitre saw and the nail gun, ALL BY MYSELF. I felt crazy empowered. It took forever for the stain to dry and get multiple coats on. The humidity in the south is not something to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd spruce up our console table upstairs in the bonus room. It looked weak, I thought it would appreciate the help. I used a ton of scrap wood, and bought a few more boards and a sheet of plywood. I didn't really have a plan, like none, I just kept cutting, gluing, and nailing.

By that time, our headboard had finally dried, so I could put our room back together. Dave and I cut the table I bought for $5o down to make a desk/night stand. I loved the turned legs on the front, so we used those and I built legs out of 1x2's for the back. Then I painted it. I also painted one of the chairs we got with that same deal. I painted and distressed the mirror we used to have above our fireplace at the old house and put it above the desk. I combined our nightstands (really they were just file cabinets) on my side of the bed and put the mirror we had above the bed on the new-ish nightstand. Our whole bedroom makeover cost us $180. AND I still have 2/3 of a table top, two turned legs, and three chairs left over!

That brings us to the week before Lucy starts kindergarten. I was trying not to be a wreck, so I projected. I made a wreath and a little wooden vase thing to put some grasses in, but that only got me to Wednesday. So I started plotting our powder room. The lady we bought the house from painted it a shiny, textured evergreen. It was nasty. People literally scratched themselves on the wall if they bumped into it. Lucy helped me mix our own paint from the leftovers we had. I primed and painted.

We all went to Lowe's and got beadboard and trim. Dave watched the kids while I put it all up. I used the jigsaw. I am no longer afraid of the jigsaw. Dave helped a little at the end and nailed a few nails in for me, my arms were really tired. I painted the oak mirror black and distressed it. I went to Lowe's and bought wood for the ladder the day Lucy started school. Gus uses the hand towel and puts it in the sink because he can't reach the towel ring. It drives me nuts, but I can't get mad at him because he's too little. So I built a ladder, like you do (that's what Dave says when I go build something), for Gus to have a place to hold his towel. I had the shelves in a closet upstairs waiting to be used, I just need to put a little somethin' somethin' on them. And the flower vase, that's just cut PVC. Mitre saws can cut PVC. Can you only imagine the possibilities of that?

I'm about projected out. I think the caulking and painting of the beadboard took the last bit out of me. I'm reading books now and getting ready for fall. And catching up on the old blog.