What just happened??

I've been a very busy girl, since last I wrote.....


When I walked into my house last Sunday, I was struck by all of the things that I've been ignoring. The disorganized mess of the mud/laundry room (room is a bit generous... it's more like a walk in closet leading from the garage to the rest of the house), the state of the carpeting upstairs (I'm pretty sure it is original to the house which was built in 1997 and it's gross), Chey's disused "playroom", Chey's crowded bedroom, the fact that, aside from some small changes, we have not painted since we moved in and the ENTIRE house needs a paint job..... in other words, I lost my marbles and went, for a lack of a better term....completely off the rails.... and Dale let me (not that he could stop me, mind.... when I get like that, the best thing you can do is smile and nod and hang on for the ride......). I immediately dropped my bags  and got to work.... my first goal.... making Chey's room a little less crowed.

My plan for Chey's room was to move the two tall Pax wardrobes from Ikea into her "playroom" which I would then convert into my studio (leaving her toy area intact). This would allow for more space in her room and more storage in mine. I then planned to buy her either a captain's bed or a loft bed. After a quick perusal of various sources of children's furniture I decided to check Kijiji and found a solid maple loft bed with an included dresser for super cheap and the plan was born......

Chey's room Before: (this is really before.... like way back when she moved from a crib to a bed... I've reorganized her room several times since; you can't really see how crowded her room was, so you'll have to trust me). It had the two Pax wardrobes, plus a desk and a bookcase and that ugly fan... I hate ceiling fans! There was only a narrow alley between the bed (which was against the wall at this point) and the rest of the furniture.

Chey's room Now:

Much better, eh??

In case you were wondering what I did UNDER The bed.... I made it a little library and attached some book slings, that I made, to the bed frame. I also made a book sling for beside her bed.

Under the bed

The end of the underbed area

Bedside Sling

I made the slings after being inspired by THIS tutorial, although I didn't follow it at all. I used a double curtain rod set (it was cheaper than buying all the parts separately like she recommends in the tutorial), but the downside of using a double curtain rod bracket is that the book sling can't carry as many books because the rods only sit an inch apart (a problem for fatter books). I'm not sure how this could be solved, but it's something to consider if you make your own book slings. Perhaps off-set, single brackets or extended arms or something..... The fabric was purchased at Ikea and I still have a bit of the bug material which I plan on using to make a body pillow to replace the flip chair that is currently under there (it takes up too much room).

The other big craft project that I did to make the room tidier and roomier, was to make a stuffy storage thing-a-ma-jig (it's a stuffy jail, there is no better way to describe it, I'm afraid). I was inspired 

by a stuffy Zoo that I found online, but decided to try to make one myself. I re-purposed a VHS storage cabinet that my Mom made for me in the late '90s that has sat empty since we converted, first to DVDs, and then to Digital movies. I didn't want to get rid of the cabinets though (they are solid pine and my Mommy made them) so I've been lugging them around for a years.

First I took off the doors and installed a dowel.

Then I stained the entire thing green (Chey's favourite colour)

Then I took a hammer and expressed some lingering frustration in a most satisfying manner...... this is known in DIY circles as "antiquing"

I then added hooks and bungie cords

And made this pile of stuffies (which were contained in TWO overflowing, pop-up laundry bins)

Look like this.....

Now that Chey's room is done... I can move onto my studio...... which currently looks like the place where our extra crap goes to die (it was tidy before Chey's room was demolished, but I have no photographic evidence to support this statement). I should paint first, but I can already feel the urge to skip that part setting in..... must resist?