Quick Update:

July has come and gone in a flurry of activity. The kids took two weeks of swimming lessons, Eden and I worked on her bedroom make-over and I spent endless hours planning our 2015 summer road trip. Today, we hit the road at 5:37 a.m.!  I have 13 hours in the van with wi-fi (tethering) and I hope to knock of a few posts! One of the goals of this trip is to “unplug”, but I’m beginning the trip by breaking my own rules because I’ve hardly had the time to breathe, let alone blog and really miss it. We will be in Alberta until Monday, so I want to take advantage of my data plan before we leave the country for 3 weeks. Of course the kids weren’t the least bit disappointed when I told them they could tether as well! Let’s face it, the prairies don’t exactly captivate your attention. There will be plently of time to connect in the remaining 90 hours we plan to spend on the road!  Once our “official” road trip begins, I will try to do regular posts, but I’m guessing they will be mostly pictorial. We are so excited about this vacation and all that we have planned. Hopefully you’ll enjoy following our journey.

Bedroom Update: Slowly, but Surely

I recently posted some pictures of Eden’s bedroom. The make-over was a huge amount of work because it wasn’t just a matter of changing the paint colours. The large mural wall had to be completely sanded to remove all of the ridges that were formed from the application of so many different colours. Eden and I spent about 10 hours hand sanding the ridges of the mural and the painted border in the little alcove. She wanted her new room to have white walls. Of course, white couldn’t be more different than the previous explosion of colours that basked her walls. I should have known better, but made a judgement error. We used Benjamin Moore “simply white”. The paint says its “paint and primer in one”. I should have went with my gut and primed anyway, but didn’t. The result was 4 coats of “simply white”. You can imagine the frustration. Hours of sanding and 4 coats of paint all of which required extra dry time due to the humidity. Remember, we live in a 2300 square foot 1920’s house with nothing more than a window air conditioner. It was hot and sticky to say the least!

When all was said and done, I must say white seemed a bit blah! White is actually one of my very favourite colours, but it just seemed so plain going from the colourful mural. Of course, Eden was quick to remind me that it “wasn’t my room” and she knew exactly what she wanted. To off set the white, she wanted the wall with the closet door and entry to the alcove painted in black chalkboard paint. Although she hasn’t taken much time to personalize/decorate the wall, it has already been a hit with friend’s signatures and little notes!

The only colour on the walls is found on the back wall and angled ceiling of the alcove. The palette Eden chose is black, white and red. I must say its very contemporary and even some what sophisticated. We still have lots to do, but she is already thrilled with the progress we’ve made.

Here is a picture of the mural mid sanding.

I already knew we were in trouble after the first coat of paint.

Here you can see the black and red walls.

Here is the red wall and ceiling in the alcove.

I loved the black and red with the plain white walls! However, in order to make the black wall “chalk friendly”, we had to prime it by covering the entire surface with chalk.

With the walls done, it was time to tackle the furniture. Eden had been asking for a bedroom make-over for about 2 years, but I think I had been putting it off knowing what a huge job it would be. Her original room had everything colour cooridinated…from shelves to upholstered chairs. Pretty much everything in the room was painted or made to fit the old colour palette. It was nice, but makes the change that much harder. Of course, not everything is getting done right now, but if you want to see some of the projects we’ve completed check out tomorrow’s post!