Renovation Reveal: Our bedroom!

Most of you know that my little family moved to Salt Lake City last year from California to give some much needed updating to the house that Ben and his brother own (that used to be their Grandma's). The bedrooms needed some serious love. This is what our room looked like just after we moved in...

It's a dark picture and hard to distinguish just how ghastly the wallpaper was. There were 2 layers of paper and one had bled through the other. New Year's Day felt like the perfect time to tackle this room and breathe new life into it. I spent a few days sanding off the old wallpapers and washing down the walls. I then spent several days priming and painting 3 coats of paint onto those walls... then there was the trim, etc. We still have to install the new doorknobs... Behold! It's a totally new room! A place of sacred, sacral exploration:

These first 2 pix are taken in natural light. I know... you are thinking: ORANGE? Ben talked me into it, and it took a good amount of convincing. Now that the project is complete, I think I am in love. That man has insight about color and I should know better than to give him much trouble about it. I was thinking lavender... Sheesh.

Here is what the paint looks like with the bedroom light on. I do love how the dark furniture grounds the aliveness of the orange.

Another project complete!!! Here I am, all proud of myself. I am smiling even more on the inside.

What's next? Looks like the bathroom... But first I'm going to kick back and take a much needed vacation for a few days while one set of my parents come to visit. Looking forward to some fab fun in the city with them and to sharing photos of our adventures!

Shades of Summer.

Silver Lake.

Remember those photos of Ben with the fancy man tools? He has been super busy digging post holes for a fence! With some help from Dud, Ben was able to get this fence up relatively quickly. We are now half way to having an enclosed backyard for Sebastian to play in (Or more accurately, for Sebastian to be safely nearby while we work in the garden).

Being that the day was so lovely & Ben could use a break, we decided to take a drive up the canyon for a bit of nature. There is a sweet little lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon called Silver Lake. Lots of fish jumping, people fishing from shore or rafts, hikers galore. A very sweet little place to explore, indeed. We stuck to the trails around the lake this time and let Sebastian run the whole time. He insured that we got in quite a bit of running, as well.

Sebastian got Daddy to carry him part way, after much rock climbing and chasing...

His pants kept falling off & he would not sit still for mama to adjust them.

After all of that, the kid had the nerve to sit on a rock and rest. It's tiring work keeping the parents on their toes.

So tiring, in fact, that he lay down on the pathway and pretended to go down for a nap. The passersby thought this was particularly hilarious.

Another fun day exploring... and only a half hour from our house. Next time we are bringing the day hike baby carrier. That way, I'm thinking, we will get in some real hiking (and less toddler chasing).

Something old... Something new.

Ahhhh... How I love a completed project!

Within the last few weeks, we put the finishing touches on Sebastian's little bedroom: a new-to-him bookshelf salvaged from a yard sale ($7!) and painted a sunny orange & a sweeeeeeet ceiling fan that makes his room the most coveted in the house. I actually look forward to being awakened for nursing in the middle of the night and find myself sleeping out the remainder of the morning under that cool cool fan.

Onto the next project? Naturally. A wild hair spurred me to randomly begin ripping out the nasty old wallpaper in the mama and papa bedroom. Now I just need to muster up the energy and willpower to scrape the wallpaper backing off of the wall and get it all primed for painting. Lavender, here we come!

It's a bit premature, but I just couldn't pass up the awesome vintage pillowcases and pillow at the flea market this weekend. We enjoy Ben's Grandmother's bedroom set, so we may as well add to the theme.

And speaking of gifts... Our neighbors treated us to some currants from their yard; a treat indeed. This was my first experience with fresh currants. We will be ordering some bushes for the yard by next Spring.

But the best gift of all...

Something new to me, yet charmingly aged and ageless. Benjamin made me the keeper of his Grandmother's pearl ring. We aren't sure of its history, but it was in her collection. I have always been enchanted with pearls and secretly hoped to find a pearl ring to go with my wedding band. It looks like this was meant to be.

Sebastian's little nest.

Sebastian just *LOVES* his new bedroom. Besides, what kid wouldn't... really? It's chock full of his toys and treasures, comes with a big boy bed, has a reading area + a table for doing puzzles and the like. 

In all honesty, the decision to get Sebastian at least part time into his own bed was mostly selfish. I want my husband to stay sane. ;) There were lots of complaints arising about going days without cuddles (and other physical forms of loving expression). I mentioned that I'd like a full sized bed for Sebastian for ease of nursing him to sleep, and strangely was met with another case of instant manifestation. Ben's dad was wishing to downsize to a single bed... so he went out and bought one and we took the full bed off his hands. It has been one of the best decisions we have made in awhile. Sebastian asks to go to sleep now! There is no struggle. He is on a schedule, even. About 9:30pm we go off and cuddle up in the bed. We read a book or 2 and then it's lights out and candle on. He's asleep by 9:45 every night. I get to cuddle with Ben until at least 3:30am; sometimes until 7am! When Sebastian wakes up, I go in and sleep with him. This has made him totally uninterested in the parental bed. Let's just say, Ben is much happier. 

I am much happier, too, as I find myself with little bits of free time. Sebastian disappears and I hear him singing to himself and spreading his toys all over the room. Sometimes I find him reading or just staring out the window. Talk about making the mama's heart soar... Though this project took 2 months to complete with wall paper removal, wall mudding, primering, painting, etc., his happiness has made it all worthwhile. 

Of course, there are a few details left to iron out. One set of curtains needs hemming, one side table needs painted (the reddish one by the bed) & we have a super fantastic modern ceiling fan to be installed. Beyond that, this kid is set. We even added vintage inspired ABC prints as a border. Sebastian points up and says, "A. B. She. D. hee. hum. who.". I guess it's all gibberish after D anyway. :) 

Shasta totally approves... and as a cat, I suppose it is her prerogative to think that her opinion is most important. Actually, I think Sebastian agrees with her. He is always so happy to see the kitties in his room. I just love coming in and finding them curled up at his feet. So sweet. 

Thanks for taking a peek! We are so relieved to have finished our first major house related project. Looking forward to sharing the next. <3