yoo hoo, I'm back

Been there.  Done that.   I'll have to do it again when the next grand child turns seven.  But I will have time to rest up!

We mixed a little business with our pleasure.  hmm, maybe some pleasure with our business.  ahem, the proportions for little and lot may vary. :O  But we did have a LOT of fun.   DD#1 asked for some help with decorating her apartment.  She had three requests.

1) Hang a favourite big picture.
2) Revamp a boring bathroom.
3) Paint the basic builder beige living room.

You kinda need to pay attention  so you can understand how 1, 2, 3, became 4, 5, and 6!  Laura is still trying to do the math.  It is quite simple, really.

Upon arriving I immediately made a mental note that her bedroom had a poor furniture placement.   First job was to shift things around.  Much better but hmm, this room definitely needs painting.  Her favourite colour for bedroom decor is Wedgwood blue.  No problem but there is indeed a different problem.  The man who designed things placed a fire alarm smack in the centre of the wall seen from her pillows.  :(   There is definitely a need for a creative solution.  We slept on it.

The favourite picture after unpacking turned out to be not quite so big. It doesn't really work in the front room.  It is leaning precariously above the fridge.  It does compliment the cupboards and fits nicely above the sink.  :)

It is surely evident that painting the living room must include kitchen, dining room and well, the hallway.  Right?  Poor Joshua, he moved those boxes twice.  :{

So with a general plan in mind, a list and camera to store our memory we were off to consider our options.  Laura likes colour as you can see from her cranberry coloured couch.

She also needed a table and chairs.  First thing we clapped eyes unto in the furniture store was this:

So now she needs a hutch, table and chairs, etc. and that is what happened to the travel fund.  It was also a SALE!!!   But she is a book lover and she can be an arm chair traveler enjoying beautiful surroundings as the fund replenishes itself.  ;^)

 I had brought the quilt blocks.  They will work.  I brought large paint samples and we had good options.  We fine tuned our 'to be purchased' list and went shopping the next day.

focus for living room

focus for dining area

focus for bedroom

If we move a cranberry cupboard from her entrance to the bedroom and position a shelf nearby we may be able to camouflage the fireworks!

Unfortunately the bathroom dilemma was proving harder to solve.  :P

We rode around gathering accessories, ordering table and chairs, arranging deliveries, and purchasing primer.

 whoo hoo then became whoa ho!

The bedroom seaside picture proved to small for the bedroom.  aha!  Bathroom!!!  She wants fun so I shall make a shower curtain and send it later.  She has three black and white photos we can frame and put above the bed.  :)

The poppies were red and orange, not butter yellow.  There is also no yellow in the dining area picture.  The gold walls won't work so my understanding is to use the background of the focus picture as the wall colour.   Blue grey?  We got samples and carried them around.  Works wonderfully for couch area. Works well for the dining area.  The bedroom was to be Wedgwood blue and this is similar.  The hall works.  We laid up the sample alongside the kitchen cabinets with fear and trembling and it works. :}  But it doesn't compliment the  'used to be big' picture.  :{  We relegated it to the book/hobby room where it will help disguise another fire alarm situation and reign until I return with grand kiddie #2.  But thank goodness they didn't put fire alarms in the main area!

It took us the good part of a day to prepare for painting.  I figured out nail and screw placements.  Tape was unrolled by the mile.  A ladder was purchased, tarps laid out, and primer applied.

We had a willing crew!   We also had great music that had us waving the brush  as we joined in the chorus throwing down the roller for a few impromptu dance moves! lol

 The initial start proved alarming as I had visions a living in a battle ship but we persevered and reserved judgement.

Originally, we had planned on a cranberry feature wall behind the hutch but the advice from the paint store to think hard about possibly up to five coats to cover the wall made us like all one colour much more.  And this paint is a complex colour that changes as the light changes.  We decided not to do that overhead piece  as it blends into the ceiling and it widens the narrow living area.  We were behind schedule but agreed we needed to do two coats.  And if I never see another popcorn/stucco ceiling it will be too soon!   Clean up took longer than prep!  duh!

But we are very happy with the results.  Tired; make that exhausted, but happy.  Easy as 1, 2, 3.  Whoops, better make that 4, 5, 6!  LOL

Bedroom

Hall and dining area

kitchen

living room

A few more things to acquire.  A low modern cabinet for books and DVD screen. A bakers rack for the kitchen/living room wall. Picture frames and mats for for 8 ink drawings for above the couch.  A fake tree behind the big chair. A few lamps, etc.  Oh, and she wanted somewhere to hang her apron but that'll figure in the laundry room which is make over part 2!   I hope she'll send photos of the dining set when they arrive.  She chose a round wood table to match the top of the hutch.  The chairs have a matching wood seat but the chair frames will have be one of four colours that will match the flowers in the dining area.  sweet!!!

okay...

 Time to throw the suitcases into the car and start the sight seeing part of our trip!