Prest-O Change-O... From Daughter's Old Room To Guest Room/Craft Room

Before you get all excited and think I'm really a Martha Stewart type, let me just admit that it took over a year to go from the old to the new. Yup. Nothing happens quickly in this household. It really started during Christmas holidays of 2010.



The black cabinet I found at a local consignment shop & talked the dealer down to $10.00 for it. The red bedside table was found by Moi at Goodwill for $10.00. I worked like crazy on both pieces and am quite proud. I found the red microfiber ottoman at a local flea market mall, as is. The bed belonged to my great-grandmother. The black trunk at the foot of the bed was our daughter's old camp trunk, which I spray painted black. The curtains were freebies from some friends who had bought a new home but they have allergies, so they gave the curtains and rods to us. Ka-ching!

When our daughter came home from law school for Christmas 2010, she already knew that she had to clean out her room after we had kept it like a shrine since she'd left for her first year of undergraduate school in 2003. We kept it that way for 8 long years. What in the world were we thinking? We didn't want her to come home to live with us again. She's off on her own life adventures now, so I'm not sure why we kept it that way for so long. Laziness perhaps? Nah. No way.




 

So, she begrudgingly cleaned out all of the *stuff* she'd accumulated over the 17 years she lived in her room. It wasn't an easy task and it made her extremely grumpy, so we just kind of left her to it, while trying to avoid her altogether. Yes, we're great parents like that.

She made something like 8 trips to Goodwill and several to the Salvation Army with her car completely full. I have no idea how many trips she made to the dumpster in the alley but it was a lot. I couldn't believe how much she'd accumulated! I mean, her room is the smallest of our 4 bedrooms, but the junk just kept coming. I can't imagine where she picked up that trait.



Once her room was cleaned out and she'd gone back to school, the room was no longer a shrine but it was definitely an eye sore. So, enter 2011. I didn't do much more than sell her old trundle/day bed (along with all the bedding) and her wicker vanity and stool.

The hubby finally hired a man to paint the exterior of the house (yes, just one man) in July. I swear it took the man 2 months just to paint the freaking carport and he was beginning to really test my nerves. By Halloween the painter was ready to paint the front porch area (which is right next to the carport). You know. AFTER I had gotten it all decorated for Halloween. I couldn't believe that anyone could be so freaking slow. Then there were days he had to go do a job for someone else, then he was sick for 2 weeks. I'm sure you're beginning to get the picture now. The Painter From Hell.

I wish I had the nerve to ask my hubby why he hired one person at $15.00 per hour rather than hiring a crew that could have knocked down the whole job in a week. But, not wanting to rock any boats I keep my smartazz mouth closed. Everything has turned out fine in the long run. Forget the fact that we STILL don't have our house on the market and the house I wanted was sold last week. Sniff. Such is life, right? 

Anyway, the hubby told him to come work inside the house (once cold weather hit us), painting our daughter's room. Oh. Joy. I was so not thrilled about it, but the only alternative was to paint the rooms myself. Been there. Done that. So, inside came the painter for nearly a month. Yes, it took Mr. Molasses (my nickname for the painter) almost an entire month to paint the smallest room in the the house.

I do have one more item to add to the wall. I spray painted this old pair of deer antlers black and mounted them on an old award plaque, then hid the ugly parts with cardboard covered in red velvet. I intend to hang it inside an old empty frame that I also spray painted black. 


I also have yet to start painting the laminate counter top in the tiny bathroom, but I'll get to it eventually. Frankly, I just finished getting all the Christmas things neatly put away....

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