Never-Ending Projects.

Back in the spring Nick and I ripped out 14 rose bushes that were in our front yard. We put down topsoil and evened out the ground. Then, we planted grass-seed. The weeds in the area grew faster than the grass. We ended up having to start from scratch. We pulled weeds, and tilled the ground again.
The second time around we purchased and planted sod. Grass is so much easier to maintain than rose bushes.

After that experience, we should have learned our lesson and quit doing "projects" while we were ahead.

But we didn't.

Next up I TORTURED myself by undertaking the project of painting a bed for Elsa. I found a cute twin-size sleigh bed (with a trundle) on the KSL classifieds for an amazing price. The only problem was that the wood finish was ugly. I thought it'd be a quick fix to just paint it white.
So, I drove out to Lehi, UT and purchased the bed.
It sat in our 3rd car garage for weeks.
Until, in the middle of July, I pulled it out to paint it.
Reagan wanted to help me, and I didn't see any problem with that. I viewed it as a fun Mother/Daughter activity.
Wrong.
Reagan had an idea of what was supposed to happen. She put paint on a roller and slopped it on to the bed. I was using a roller too. About an hour in to the process I realized that it just wasn't going to work.
The temperature outside was insanely hot, and it was drying the paint as quickly as it was put on.
When I tried to wipe off the areas where Reagan had made her paint globs I realized they were dry already.
The bed was a mess.
So, I put the bed away for a week.

The next time I got it out I attempted to sand the paint off. It didn't work.
So, I made a trip to Home Depot and bought paint stripper.
That stuff is lethal!
I hope I never have to work with it again.

After I stripped the paint, I still had to sand.
It was an exhausting process.

FINALLY, 3 full weeks after I started (what should have been an easy project); I was back at square one.
I got a paint sprayer and sprayed white paint on the bed frame.
The temperatures were near triple-digits so the paint dried instantaneously, again. The bed didn't turn our anywhere near perfect. But after all of the time I put in to it, I deemed it acceptable and set it up in Elsa's new room.

Of course, in typical; ironic fashion... the bed frame is longer than an average twin-size mattress. I put a body pillow at the foot of the bed to bridge the gap; but if anyone has any ideas about other things I can do to fix this I'd love to hear about it!

After a little decorating, Elsa's room is finished and ready for her to move in to when the new baby arrives.


Reagan moved in to, what used to be our Toy Room. A lot of toys went to the DI; and after I got rid of them I wondered why I hadn't done it sooner?!
I decorated her new room a little bit too. Reagan seems to love it.


The Nursery had been decorated with pink polka dots. Obviously, they were going to have to go before baby boy comes.
I already had safari animal crib bedding. So, my nursery theme was decided.
It took HOURS to get the vinyl polka dots arranged on the wall in the nursery. I was a little sad to take them down, just because of all of the effort it took to get them up.
If only I had known the effort it would take to get the vinyl down... Baby boy would have had a pink polka dot nursery.


As you can see from the pictures, the vinyl dots came off, and took the paint (all the way down to the drywall) off with them! I tried everything to avoid this. I researched how to remove vinyl from walls online. But no amount of blasting a hair dryer on them had any effect.
In the end I just started ripping the dots off, paint and all.
As always, a small project turned out to be the exact opposite.
I had to putty and sand the walls, and then I repainted.
I'm not done decorating, mostly because I am having a hard time finding items to decorate with. If anyone sees any brown and yellow safari animals for sale somewhere, let me know!
But the room is coming along.


I told Nick that I was never going to do another project, ever again! It seems to me; it is far less strenuous and probably cheaper, in the long run; to just buy exactly what you want, or to hire a professional.

A week after I said this, (maybe)? I asked my little brother to come over to rip out our kitchen tile. I was intending to have Nick install new tile after the old tile was ripped out.
I justified this by thinking it would be Nick's DIY project, and not my own.

Well, my brother started ripping out the ugly white tile. And I tell you what: that stuff would not die! Eventually, my brother just got a pick axe and started going to town on the tile. But that tile was so durable that it literally cracked the wood handle on the pick axe.
It was a lot more work to get out than either of us had anticipated.
My kitchen is tiny, and it still took two days to get all of the tile ripped up. Oh yes, there was also TWO layers of the most attractive linoleum flooring you could ever imagine, underneath the tile.

I was hoping that laying the new tile would be an a good Saturday afternoon project.
Why do I even think?
Nick and my Cousin, John, spent 10 hours laying tile.
The tile was down, but they didn't have time to grout.
So, I've been without a kitchen stove/range for a week now. And it looks like things will remain that way for another week.

No more projects! At least until I find that I can't live with my bland-vanilla kitchen countertops any longer.