A little bit about our renovation process: The floors on the entire downstairs (except the kitchen) as well as the stairs and an upstairs bedroom were carpeted. We were originally going to live in the house as is and assess things for a longer term picture, but Jason is allergic to cats and we discovered that there had been cats at some point in the house. His allergies would not allow for that. Darn it, I guess we had to move quickly instead. :)
While our friend, Ryan, helped us sand the entire downstairs, we decided to move in upstairs. There is access to the outside through the staircase, so we were able to go in and out accordingly. This week or two (I don't even remember the duration!) was crazy. The sawdust was everywhere and there were fans blowing it out of all fo the windows. There was a nice film on anything that came in and out of the house and surrounding. I'm a little bit traumatized over it. Ha!
Anyhow, it was a special time upstairs with the kids. Jason and I shared a room with Lu and the boys all shared a room while I worked on painting two of the bedrooms. I think we'll all remember snuggling together around a heater, living in sleeping bags, and doing schoolwork on the floors.
During this time I was able to work on the kids' rooms because we were kind of at a stand still. We were working on demoing the kitchen and dining, but that had to be within certain hours because I can't do all of that myself...unfortunately!
Carter wanted a very subtle blue/ grey (we used Kelly Moore's Feather White) and didn't want much on the walls. He's my super simple guy, always preferring clean lines and nothing too loud. I can appreciate that! When I don't know where he is, I can usually find him on his bed reading maps, his Bible, playing with his calculator (haha!) or playing an instrument. Below is his desk space.
Those are some of the topographical maps the sellers had left.
This is from standing in the hallway... the twins' room and Everett's attic room are on the left and Lu's room is behind me.
The office already had these built in cabinets, however, we adapted them a little bit to make the desk space wider as I believe it was designed for a small child. :) Now we have a larger work space and more leg room. Color on the walls is Valspar's "Honeysuckle Delight".
The twins' room was already painted white, SCORE! This is the room that was carpeted a nice, orangey red color. We replaced the flooring with Coretec's Calypso Oak flooring. I researched high and low for a durable floor that was soft underfoot. This was about the only one I could come by besides cork, but the bonus is that the underlay is cork, so sound is muffled and it's softer on the feet.
They wanted minecraft and science in one room. Not sure how to do that, but they also are the most laid back with color, so I got to do my favorite color palette, which is naturals. :) They chose the pillows and blankets, both from Target.
I used Beddy's as their main bedding because I am such a big fan of their concept; developed for little hands that may struggle with making a symmetrical bed.
Light is from Lamps Plus... it was a tester to see if I wanted additional lights in the dining area. :)
Lu's room is the best room in the house. It's big and bright and charming. The wallpaper was installed in 1941! While the pattern was a little too much for the entire room, I really wanted to keep a majority of it as an ode to the home's history... and because removing it is not the most fun. So Jason and I added board and batten, painted it white, and called it good.
She wanted pink everything. Oh man, that's so hard! We used the curtains we had at our last place and my friends generously added the gauze ruffles to lengthen them. The twin beds were left here as well as the armoire that I painted with the remaining paint from the office. I'm not sure I have a photo of that? Anyhow. There are some scale issues in this room, like the rug being too small, but that is pretty standard with me and my fast clicking, no measuring skills. :)
Lu wanted horse ribbons hanging in her room, but I think you have to compete in horse competitions in order to get them?! Instead, I bought a pack of silk remnant scraps off of ebay and we tied them on her bed and hung them on her chandelier. And she was happy. :)
Below are the befores... we didn't have to do anything structural, so there's no real jaw dropping transformations, but I do always enjoy seeing the before and afters, so there you have it. Also, you'll recognize some furniture!
I realize I totally forgot to take photos of Everett's attic room. I'll just update those when I get a chance, like next year or something. :)