What I did on Sunday

A week ago Laura & I decided that it would be a good idea to give the girls the own rooms. Their room is awfully cramped, and we were starting to feel guilty having one room dedicated to an office while they were stacked up like sardines. Oh, and also, all the home-staging shows we watch always advise people to make their bedrooms look like bedrooms so potential buyers visualize it that way. We figured for the sake of being able to eventually sell our house, so that we could buy one with four bedrooms (so the girls can have their own and we can have an entire room dedicated to an office) we’d sacrifice now by letting them spread out into their own rooms. So we gave up an office, so we can get an office. Go figure.

First was the fight over who got the new room. Then there was the fight over who got stay in the old room. When it became clear to them that although I was willing to move all this furniture around, I was not willing to paint for this move, somehow that resulted in a happy decision for all that Zoe would move into the office and Sophie would stay in her room.

Today was moving day. Behold the before and after pictures.

Office – just after I started pulling stuff out to begin moving:


Office bookcase.


Shared room – before. And yes, this was a pretty typical day for their room.


Before…



Zoe in her new room, it’s starting to look a little better. She was afraid we were going to leave our great big desk in there…


And, after… Zoe’s actually in bed already. And let me tell you how much easier it is to make her bed without having to climb a ladder! Making a bunk bed is a nightmare. Needless to say, we’re quite happy we bought bunk beds that convert to two single beds.


Closet, after. No more big bookshelf.


We left the sleeper sofa in her room because the girls are the only ones who really use it during sleep overs, so now Zoe has her own couch. Such a big girl.


And here’s Sophie’s “new” room…much better for her too!


Ok, so perhaps I forgot to clean that mirror before taking the picture. Or maybe I thought about it, and said screw it – I’m way too tired to windex!


So where’d we put all of our office stuff? Well, it’s not all put away yet, but (obviously) I got the computer hooked up at least, and the desk back together. And the great thing about moving it all downstairs is this wall of cabinets next to the desk. With a little rearranging of those, we were able to hide most of the clutter from the office. Not too bad…




Now If only I could capture a picture of the way my back felt before and after. Ouch.

Drainage Day 3

Concrete form in place:


Concrete poured:






That’s the cleanest my basement has ever been! (And yes, I realize that's not saying much.)

Drainage Day 2

In which a big trench is filled not with fish and water, but with perforated pipe and gravel, and an enormous hole is dug for the sump pump. Exciting stuff this home maintenance, isn’t it?
Here’s the trench under the stairs:


Digging in progress:


Hole for the sump pump. I can't tell you how happy I am not to be doing this work myself!


Construction workers are getting younger and younger, aren't they? And cuter too.


Prepping the gravel:


Sump pump container, backfilled with gravel:


Gravel in place. Sophie's finally realized that fish aren't really going in here.


And that's it for Day 2. Stay tuned for the exciting details of Day 3 in which Concrete is poured! A sump pump is installed! And Stacey chokes while writing a big fat check for the least exciting home improvement project EVER!

Minor construction...

Do you remember my basement? Good, because I managed to not take any “before” pictures before the drainage guys started working. Here’s what’s going on in my basement this week. It’s meant to stop the water that leaks in during the winters. Hope it works!

For the record, jackhammers in your house are not fun.

Day one


Laura was slightly alarmed by the big trench in the floor. I told the girls we were going to fill it with water and put fish in it. Sophie believed me. Zoe however, said “Mama, you’re just being facetious.” That’s my girl.