Another bathroom update...

I may have been premature in my last posting.  

My husband has been very sick since Wednesday so by yesterday afternoon I was stir-crazy sitting at home.  I fished out the other "forgotten" gallon of paint left over from our kitchen and decided to paint the bottom half of the bathroom wall and moldings.  Everyone says they like it, I'm still not sure. I think the white brightened it up a bit more and I was hoping for a little glossier of a finish but the current color seems to tone down the dark brown a bit.  

I apologize for the photographer being in the photo. There are not too many options in this tiny bathroom.

The bottom color is called Antique Lace and actually matches the lighter blocks in the shower curtain almost identically.  I am considering nixing the beach idea and sticking with the block/modern curtain.  I have a red mosaic tea light burner that goes perfectly and some square shelves I can steal from the boys' room.

Now the wheels are turnin'...

Bathroom Update

Remember that post from April where I wanted to repaint the boys' bathroom before a birthday party we had:

http://boultonboysandme.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-cleaning.html

I finally got around to that last weekend.  When we repainted the kitchen, shortly after we moved into our house, I bought three colors for the kitchen.  I only used one.  While becoming stir-crazy in this awful heat, I decided to put one of those forgotten gallons to use.

I have a shower curtain with green, red and brown blocks on it that I am going to use for now but am on the lookout for a nice beach-inspired curtain.  I am also considering stenciling sanddollars, starfish and some other kind of sea creature around the top of the walls with a creamy white paint.  They seem rather bland.  Or maybe I just need larger wall decor.  Any suggestions?

Our future goal is to center the vanity and replace the top with a piece that is cut to size.  I also want to get a smaller, framed rectangle mirror and possibly put a small sconce on each side for softer lighting in such a small bathroom.

Office

I posted pictures of the boys' room but wasn't able to finish the office until Saturday -well, its still a work-in-progress but I moved the furniture in there.  It went from this:

to this:

I even made a special spot for Hubby:

The floors are due to be installed in the next month, so I was told by Hubby, which will be the same as my bedroom.  The yellow is looking a bit dingy so I think I am going to paint "bright white" on the walls (Which I learned while touching up the kitchen ceiling is NOT the same as white, it is creamier.) and use various shades of purple to accent.  Oh, and some closet doors would be nice.

Lost In a Boys' World...

The energy in my home is sometimes too much for me to deal with. My THREE boys are running around the house giving wedgies, screaming, wrestling....Oy!  I think I need to sound proof the office I'm working on.

Moving Day...

Today I tackled moving Jacob back into the bedroom with Austin.  Mark moved the mattress back to the top bunk last night.  Here was my starting points:

Austin's Room

Jacob's Room

I got everything moved over into Austin's room (which is once again both of the boys' room) before dinnertime.  I even had the boys sort through their toys, which took Mommy an hour to go back over because the broken toys didn't quite make it to the trash can like I hoped.

Here is the end result:

(The TV and DVD player need to be placed somewhere and hooked up but we have to buy a universal remote for the TV first.)

To free up floor space I put the bookcase outside their bedroom.  It works very well in the little cove and fills in that corner a bit.

Oh, Baby!

I am lucky enough to be surrounded by pregnant women.  Seriously though, I am very excited.  The three couples we regularly hang out with are expecting this winter.  The due dates are roughly a month apart: November, December and January!  I started a baby items collection basket in my closet and finally have a reason to be in the baby section of Target.  An added bonus: baby photos shoots!!!  While I find newborn shoots extremely difficult, mostly because I am afraid of bending and twisting and intruding with other people's babies, I'll have no qualms about manipulating these little bundles of joy into positions they will never again be able to get into.  

For such an occasion, I purchased these from a very talented friend of mine:

Hopefully I will have the opportunity to use both. 

 (November baby is a boy and we will find out in two weeks what December baby is.)

...Although, I can always photoshop the pink a different color...Hmmm...

Stickers!

Free stickers in the mail? Yeah, I think he can find something to do with them...

Home Office, once again

After we decided to allow each of our boys to have their own room, the desk went into our bedroom and the filing cabinet "temporarily" went into our bathroom.  Many months later the filing cabinet is still in the bathroom and I am rapidly overgrowing the desk we have.  So in an attempt to make our room a peaceful sanctuary again, instead of a place to pile paperwork, I asked our oldest if he would be willing to bunk with his brother again.  He whole-heartedly agreed (not a single bribe involved!) and moving day will be tomorrow.

I am not looking forward to once again sorting through the boys' toy boxes and clothes but I have a solution for that.  At the physical therapy office I work at we have a playroom that is in need of "older" children toys. Tomorrow the boys will purge their own things, with Mommy having the final say, and that will free me up to do a little rearranging of furniture.

My plan for the office is to have a desk for myself and one for Mark.  However, this is going to be the room where I will let my girlieness shine!  Since I share the house with three males I do my best to keep things neutral, maybe a feminine touch here or there.  I have become quite partial to black, white and pink, LOVE purple and may display a few Paris-inspired items thanks to the Ashland line at Michael's.  The walls are currently a warm, creamy yellow but I think I will paint them the more neutral shade I used on the wainscoting in the dining area.  And possibly, possibly lilac accents....stripes? partial wall? accent wall?

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Boxador

Mark and I did some research yesterday and there is not a doubt in my mind we have the best breed mix there is: Boxador!  Our Tiggy is a Boxer-Labrador Retriever mix.

"The Boxador is a gentle, playful breed and is sometimes prone to episodes of hyperactivity. It is loving and enjoys the company of other dogs and people. The Boxador is inherently good with children and should be more gentle in their precense. This breed must be socialized from birth. Due to its intelligence, the Boxador is easy to train and will learn commands quickly. This breed rarely barks but may be prone to �boxing� when excited. It loves to run and get plenty of exercise. Some Boxadors may have separation anxiety leaving them sad, anxious or depressed. Generally a walk will snap this breed out of a poor mood."
-http://www.greatdogsite.com/hybrids/details/Boxador/

This describes our dog to a "T" (for Tigger, that is!).  It's still hard to believe we found him through a shelter sponsorship at PetSmart when we were walking in for dog food!

Tiggy when we first got him:

Puppy Love

Bubby and his Buddy

This bed was purchased for a beagle. It was left at our house after we dog-sat and was unused until Tiggy came along many months later. This is still his bed now that he is 60-lbs and sleeps in it every night while Mark and I watch t.v.

Tiggy running around yesterday with Sky and Daddy.  He can now outrun our Aussie. Our clumsy puppy has finally grown into those gangly legs!

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned about 100 times how much I love decorating with nature's bounty.  Here are a couple examples from my living room:

The bright, crisp green of the apples puts a pop of color in my otherwise muted living room.  The crystal bowl is one of my favorite wedding gifts. It has rarely sat on a shelf and collected dust, most of the time it has this purpose, holding apples to eat.

I bought a bouquet of 10 roses for $4.99 at Harris Teeter a couple of weeks ago. While they didn't live long, I knew I could dry them and add a feminine touch to the room.

I actually used my Nikon D50 for these.  I haven't been using it for day-to-day blogging. I find it easier to grab the point-n-shoot than to assemble the other one but the quality is remarkably better with my Nikon.  Not to mention I could use the practice with the various settings and exposures before the weddings pour in.