Remember...

this:

My design board for our master bedroom.

Well, it's finally happening.

I know I wrote about it way back here, but then we worked on a few projects I thought would go after the bedroom. But, the Mr. had other ideas in mind that included ripping out carpet in our study... and putting in recess lighting in the study and removing linoleum in the laundry room... and then putting tile (ourselves) into those very spaces... while we were at it, we thought we'd go ahead move our whole house to the tiled area and refinish all of our hardwood floors and have them installed in our linoleumed kitchen... and then installing bookcases in the study and building my desk. Not to mention ANY work that's been done outside including having FIVE TREES removed (due to poor cutting by the power company and disease) and planting five in their place... and bushes... and flowers... and more.

I'd be lying if I told you there was a part of me that, while I loved all of the great things happening around this place, was becoming increasingly more distressed over the state of our bedroom.

It's supposed to be your retreat. Your safe space. And it was my least favorite place to be in the whole entire house. It had no unifying decor... no connection to the bedroom I envisioned when we picked out Jamestown Blue back in October of 2009 when we bought the house.

But now?

Our second IKEA trip of the year!

Giving up the ghost (our 16-year-old, hand-me-down mattress...) for this AMAZING NEW MATTRESS (on our new bed).

A fuller perspective, including NEW LINENS & SHEETS (and no, that's not paper bag art taped to the wall, it's the guiding template for my frame collage).

Another perspective, this time with the collage added and one set of curtains up (the other were mis-marked on length and have to be returned).

 

We're making our way. You'll have to rely on my trusty iPhone pictures as we continue putting together the pieces, but you can bet it'll be getting a photoshoot of its own.

This is the space I've been dreaming of, and it's all coming together at JUST THE PERFECT TIME. Lord knows I'll want this to be a comfy, cozy haven in less than seven months.

Holes, Holes, Holes

In the ceiling...

I don't know what the creepy fuzzy animal is in the corner, and neither does my father in law, who found it in the attic.  Let's just say, I hesitated touching it with my bare hands. Wendell is responsible for the perching.

Let's see what was up there before? Yep, I think we made the right decision.

And in the ground...

Yeah, we use gutter ramps and blocks as markers around this place. Notice the layer of ice on top of the hole? This will be home to a Ginkgo tree in about a week.

Look at those roots from the old maple we had cut down. This is the half-dug hole my super-hero husband began in the wee hours of the night and morning a couple of days ago. We've since hired the nursery we purchased the trees from to plant the trees :) This will be home to an Eastern Redbud tree in about a week!

In other news, we've also managed to get the linoleum up out of the laundry room:

I'm telling you, a bright and happy laundry room is the only kind of laundry room for me.

Moving Along

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before we actually even started moving everything, because no, this:

is not what it originally looked like.

Imagine a red loveseat in the far right corner. The rusted orange seat in the corner just right of center. The black desk in the corner to the left. Yet another bookcase, this one black, stacked right about where the black one is - the brown one moved then to your left - both OVERFLOWING with books. And... just stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff. The black metal shelving and dehumidifier and vacuum, well, those were all the last of the laundry room that I was moving as well this week. Study, laundry, and utility... all now housed in various other locations throughout our home because we're doing this:

Well, for starters at least.

I'll keep you updated as we move along.

I Love Our Imperfect

Bet you thought I was piled under a rubble of old ductwork by now.

Well, I've lived to tell the tale of our first adventures in having contract work done on the home. And not just any old work, but the dirty, ugly labors of cleaning and refitting the underbelly (and a little bit of the outerbelly, I guess) of a ranch home built in 1967.

But I have to admit, it's not much of a tale of how it was done, really. Because while I have learned more than I ever thought possible about foundation piers, hydraulic lifts, masonry, ducts, and mold removal... I couldn't tell you the first thing about actually doing it. I just watched a variety of skilled men come in and out of my home and loitering around it doing just that. Well that, and making a lot of noise and requiring the shutdown of our HVAC system on a not-so-warm week in March.

I fought this whole process much like I initially fought the idea of going to marriage counseling last fall. Things aren't falling apart, everything looks good, so why do we have to work on it now? So what if things are a little messy in just a few places? We can just avoid those areas anyways, and be just fine, right? Right?

Naah. Not so much.

And counseling - well - if you haven't heard from us about it in person... I'll just say we glow when we talk about it. Really. It wasn't a magic 8-ball or a fast fix or really anything life-changing except to open up our marriage to an expert who helped us tidy up some areas that were in particular need of it for a season. We loved it. We miss it. And we know we'll go back the second we sense the need. Because we will always have a need for tidying because we are imperfect. And I love our imperfect marriage because it's what makes the journey... well... an actual journey.

The same way I love our imperfect home. The one we opened up to some experts to come in and do some work (which isn't exactly finished yet, but doggonit, the bulk is and I'm going to CELEBRATE!) on. Because while the money spent on working on these things could have gone to prettying and decorating and who-knows-whating, it went towards stabilizing and grounding and making room for healthy... for safe... and for longer-lasting. And sure, I'm probably romanticizing common work done on our home but it's been a huge lesson for me.

And believe me, I was front row for the lesson so I might as well take something from it. Working from home and still not having a car put me in prime location to take the whole of it in.

And as I sat there in our living room this morning, in complete and serene quiet (compared to last Monday) and looked out over our front yard (which is part of the next project, which is the grading/drainage work soon to begin tomorrow) and reflected on the progress that had been made in a week - I am just overwhelmed with a deep love for this place.

We'll never have all of the right dressings or furniture or trees. There will surely be weeds and scuffs on the walls and nicks on the floors. There will always be something I want to change or that Cliff will want to fix. You don't arrive at perfect in a home or in a marriage, and I love it not solely but in part because of that.

It will always be a day by day process of getting closer to where you want to be, and as maddening as that can be sometimes, it makes us better people.