Slow Changes...

Although I am not really back to myself yet, and unable to do much, we have begun working on some of the changes we felt were necessary to make before the baby arrives. When we first found out about this new little one, both Matt and I felt a bit pressed as to how we were going to physically make the room for another little body in our tiny house. 6 kids in two small bedrooms meant getting VERY creative with space. And although we have a basement, it is not really accommodating for a bedroom. Adding on, moving, and remodeling is completely out of the question-so we were a bit stretched. All of the sudden, with just one more child, we were beyond maxed out in house and vehicle! But, of course, it didn't take long for the Lord to send His peace our way and His wisdom, reminding us, SPACE, is not the all important ingredient in raising the gifts He has given us! So, with all of the changes to choose from, we decided to begin on the girl's room. The 3 girls seem to have a never ending struggle with how to make their room function and there was one feature we have known we could change to help make space a bit more functional in their room. There has been a door from their room to the kitchen since we purchased the house over 7 years ago. We believe they must have actually used the room as their dining room since we have no dining space anywhere else in the house. But, while the door was nice the first few years as a fun pass through their room, once all 3 of them were in regular beds, it proved to be a real challenge to keep it in use. About a year ago or so we finally decided to shut it off to use and use that door as wall space, but it looked so completely awkward. With just that little extra nudge, we decided to make it permanent, the door had to go completely! So a few weeks ago, when Dad and Mom were out to help me, Dad ripped out the door and put up the drywall in it's place. But the mudding, sanding and painting has been left unfinished for a few weeks. Matt and I finally began tackling the girl's side of the new wall-with a BIG emphasis on MATT. The work of clearing out the girl's "stuff" began weeks ago with my direction. Let's just say "crates" are my best friend! After sorting, cleaning, and trashing was done. Matt began to dismantle the beds which will not be going back in exactly the same, but instead be rebuilt in a more space efficient way(hopefully);) Matt and the girls have worked together to mud the drywall and holes in the walls, and I have slowly painted the base boards (5 minutes here, 5 minutes there-and 5 days later-remember I told you projects take a whole lot longer now for me). The last 2 days have been extremely unproductive for me though because of a migraine which left me in bed the majority of the 2 days. The girls are fortunately enjoying their mini camp out in the basement this week-it is like one big slumber party down there. Matt has also gotten the ceiling tackled as well-amazing the difference that makes. Here are the pics from our project so far.

Hopefully this weekend, we will be able to get the walls painted and put together some plans for their beds. We figure they will be on platform beds for awhile so that we can get a sensible design put together. The girls have not had dressers for years and we would really like to see that added back into the design hopefully. I am praying for those perfect fit ideas and furniture to find it's way into our not so perfect budget;).

What Was Promised...

Each time I have worked with the girls on their room, we always only get so far... fitting their 3 beds , 3 dressers, and a closet in a small room always leaves such a challenge especially the older they get. I promised each of the girls that we would figure out and build or find a shelving unit for each of them to at least have a little space of their own, but I have always come up short for at least one of the girls. So often they end up storing their jewelry boxes or keepsakes and collections in a crate in the garage because there is just no room to put them. But today, I finally figured it out and finished it-I was finally able to keep my promise to all of them. I was happy to finally carve out a small corner to give Madison, our oldest daughter-a small taste of privacy. I did this with an old shelf almost on it's way out to the curb. Maybe it has just a bit more life in it to give. Madi and I sanded it , took off the backing, painted it, and made a curtain for the one side. Here is a peek at the room after.

Here is the old shelf that will give Madi a little privacy...

We made the shelf into a little wall at the head of her bed. We added a curtain so she coul access her shelf from either side.

Bell and Joslyn are loving their shelves too. Noah had to join in all the excitement as the girls organized each of their new shelves.

I am just so thankful to finally have been able to fulfill a promise!