The Exciting and Miscellaneous

I recently gathered with some friends for lunch to discuss ways we can develop talents and contribute to our community and feel more fulfilled now that we are finding more free time as our children are growing and becoming more independent. Several of the women have children moved out to college, married, on missions, etc. and are wondering~ now what? While I am reveling in my free time, I wonder if in the years to come I will feel the same way? Is that possible? I do have some goals tucked away that I would like to tackle one day. But for now I am perfectly content puttering around the house, organizing and especially re-decorating areas or tackling projects. It really brings me much happiness, I imagine I could be content this way for years. Here are some recent projects I've been working on:
These doors have gone from white to black, back to white, to now a blue. I love them! It makes the entry feel cheery.

Before. (this was taken right after I painted the exterior doors a darker emerald.)

 After!

This chair.

It was given to us as a wedding gift from Jon's Grandpa, Harry. He had a reupholstering business out of his garage for years and years. I remember Loise showing me some swatches of fabrics and asking me to choose which I'd like a chair recovered in. I didn't love any of the fabrics to be honest, but found one in the few options I could live with. I remember seeing the chair (and small ottoman that didn't hold up so well) for the first time when Harry brought it up from Richfield, and I was surprised at how much I liked it! I didn't even know we'd need a chair. It's been a great chair, perfect size and fit for our space. It's been spit up on, spilled on, pee'd on, drooled on, vomited on- I'll stop there. I've spent countless time scrubbing that thing, re-gluing the chewed wood handles back on, and finally just trying to cover it up with throw blankets and pillows. (You'd think we were raising wild animals here.) I started looking around for a new chair that I didn't have to hide all the time, but my goodness all that is out there are cheap, lightweight flimsy chairs who's cost is offensive. Jon loves this chair, and I knew I needed to try my hand at reupholstering. Millions of people do it, why can't I? As I started peeling off fabric and the millions of staples in every square inch, I could see how Harry had done it. I could see how skilled he was~ he really knew what he was doing! There were spots where he had improvised with scraps of fabric sewn together to make it stretch over to a spot- where it was stapled with a million more staples. (seriously- the amount of staples was mind boggling!!!) I took it one section at a time so I could use the old fabric as a pattern for the new. I added more batting to replace the old matted. There was minimal sewing, only the seat cushion and a seam on the arms. The skill was in pulling the fabric, making tucks and sort of overlapping seams as I went, ending in the back panel to cover the final staples and seams. I chose a $12 Ikea blanket for the fabric! I may regret that, but I really like the look of this blanket, and the stretchy-ness and non-pattern made it so easy to work with. It was fun! But my poor fingers...

I sanded down the worn wood handles and feet and just put a clear matte seal on it. No need to pile throws over it now!

The next project was the fireplace tile. When I picked out this tile 15 years ago, I fell in love with this travertine. Someone warned me it stains easily and is hard to clean with all the holes and pores. I ignored all of this- I had no kids so I couldn't imagine what could possibly stain or dirty this tile? I'd just seal it and love it. Here we are 15 years later- it has cracked in parts- in fact the small square tiles are crumbling off one by one like loose teeth from the kids banging the safety screen against it over the years. The grout is filthy and colored on with crayon. Just so you know- crayon does not scrub out of grout easily. Or at all. This has been a favorite spot for the kids to curl up with a blanket on a chilly day or evening. That tile has been loved on, that is for sure. It's time to go.

You can see how the tile on the bottom is more stained than the top.

The kids of course were thrilled when they heard me banging and hammering and chiseling the tile away and all wanted to join in. As we chiseled and removed I thought of the late night I spent laying that tile by generator and spotlight, going out on the back porch in the dark to make my cuts. The carpet was being laid the next day and it had to get done that night. I never would have imagined I would take a hammer to it- let alone my four kids would be helping me do it! I ended up removing all the sheet-rock behind it and Jon, the doll replaced it with new. I let the kids draw pictures (of Pokemon characters and batman) and sign our names on the new sheet-rock. It sat like that for about a week while I worked up the courage and tried to figure out how I wanted the new pattern to lay.

I love how it turned out. I painted a fresh coat of white on the fireplace, and I feel it is the perfect update for the room.

I have all sorts of plans and dreams to tackle other areas of the house, of course. Who doesn't? But for now, these projects have satisfied me. For now.