A Happy Holidays surprise!!

My boys have been sharing a room.  It's pretty small.  I mean, big enough for them when one dresser would hold all their tiny little sleepers and they had a small box of baby toys to play with....but as they've become avid readers (filling bookshelves up with books), and their lego collection has grown beyond healthy, and their pants have grown to fit 9 & 11 year olds instead of toddlers....the room has seemed to shrink.  My daughter, on the other hand, has been anxious to purge (her room and life) and she's had her eye on a bedroom in the basement.  Her options down there were  a.) an old office/storage room that would require quite a bit of insane cornering with drywall, heat duct cutting and all sorts of renos I'm not prepared for  or b.) my old scrapbook room which is an easier reno.  Swayed only slightly by adult logic, she chose B.

So this:

moved to here:  a (temporary?) home for my scrapbooking out in the rec room.  The kids seem to like it out here because they can join me at my giant tables (I think they're re-purposed school computer lab tables) and I can be with them while they're watching TV in the basement. 

 

and the room above turned into this:

 That colour, my friends, is Snow Cone Green.  And yes, it's that bright IRL. The ceiling (not shown LOL) and window and closet are drywalled thanks to my friend Maria's husband Phil, and mudded and taped thanks to my friend Ange's husband Keith...thanks guys - it was a HUGE gift!! The door was hung and the light fixture installed by my go-to neighbour Trevor...thanks so much!!  The bedding is from Target. Thanks for picking it up for me Bev :)  It is one of the deep regrets of my life that I don't live closer to a Target. The day bed is from Maria - thank you so much Maria...she loves it!!  The desk and hutch are MCC finds which she's quickly filling up with art supplies.

 This hutch stayed in the room.  It was in my parents' farmhouse when my Dad bought the farm in '66...it's been a variety of colours and used for a variety of things but when my parents retired off the farm I fought long and hard to get it :)  I have such great memories of this hutch.  The bottom doors held my Mom's fabric and sewing stuff and old magazines and newspapers that we could look through and use for crafts.  The drawers held my Dad's "important papers" (right) and my Mom's "pretty stationary" - both of which were off-limits, and therefore fascinating to me as a kid.  The top doors held Mom's China and fancy dishes. Oh, and right across the top of the front right corner, when I was a kid, there was a black strap.  Just lying there, peeking over the edge.  I remember having Mom or Dad just kinda glance up and the strap and we'd know....stop it, or else LOL.  Ahhh...good old fashioned discipline - a truly lost art.  I turned out OK, I think :)  Anyway....the hutch is now in Mica's room.  Bottom will be dresser, top will be special books.  She's going minimalist so there'll be a ton of books for sale in the near, near future :)

 Mica's not the only one who loves the new room - Wasabi has taken up permanent residence under her desk, and occasionally under her bed.  This carpet has a story of it's own.  It's one of many of my God-moments this winter.

Mica, always the agreeable one, knew that this reno was going to be on a tight budget.  She knew I was looking for a scrap of carpet, and as such, would have almost no say in what it looked like.  She did though, mention that, if she could choose, someday, she'd love thick shag, like Grandma's house - in a dark chocolate brown.  I was so sad that that wasn't something I wasn't going to be able to custom order for her but that was definitely not in the budget.  So, I searched and searched for carpet scraps and every email I sent out they said, "Sorry, sold already," or it wasn't the right size, etc. I'd found mis-cuts in town here but they were in the $200 range - not really good enough.  Finally, this past Sunday, I had no kids for the day and the opportunity to drive into the city.  I debated long and hard about it because I HATE driving to the city without a bunch of errands to take care, especially this close to Christmas, and I'd been sick so the chance to nap instead was quite appealing.  But, I decided to take the trip.  First Home Depot I stopped at, I asked if they had any mis-cuts.  The guy said, "Probably not...we try not to, but let me check."  

Oh...I should mention - the room I was redoing is 9'x13'.  

So, we go to the back.

They have ONE scrap.

It's 9.12" x 13"

Chocolate Brown.

Shag.

I'm pretty sure that's not all coincidence :)

It wasn't free...but it was nowhere near the $200 carpet in town. 

So, once again...we are blessed beyond what we asked for or imagined.

I'm pretty sure that's what Paul's talking about when he refers to God as...

 "...him who is able 

to do immeasurably more 

than all we ask or imagine, 

according to his power 

that is at work within us..." 

Ephesians 3:20 

 

So, that's my holiday reno story.  Next phase, once she's totally moved in, is to separate the boys and get them set up.  But first....tomorrow is Christmas at our house.  There's a flu bug going around so we're spending the day in PJs and hopefully getting a lot of rest!

Happy Holidays