Taming of the beast

After coming to the realization that my vision for the former dining room just wasn't happening and that the behemoth would unfortunately never see the protective shelter under roof in a temperature controlled environment I had to change directions. My car has been living outside in all of Mother Natures fury lately and it has made for quite a few dangerous nights under those old towering sweet gum and oak trees. Alas I came to grips with the fact that the beast would never leave the garage.. The problem is our garage, not unlike so many other families in America, is overcome with most things that do not belong in a garage.  No longer are there paths to the door since they are so cluttered with bikes. toys, trash, tools, lawn equipment, furniture treasures, paint, office equipment, files and all the other random finds that never make their way back to their appropriate home and/or their appropriate home is already too overburdened to take on another ounce of junk.



Interrogator Pride



Let the cleaning commence! As with all great projects around my home this one began with someone making the floor a public restroom. It has almost become like a right of passage for any cleaning project. Last weekend it was the 'Swiper' pee on my new bookshelves as they were being assembled. Not to be outdone, the Interrogator wanted to make sure she made her mark as well.   



Hubby performing his
civic duty (or doody if you ask the kids)


In our meager attempts to 'potty train' around here the Interrogator spends her weekends diaperless and/or in big girl panties. This day began like most with a double layer of Tinkerbell big girl panties and the threat to not 'tee-tee on Tinkerbell because she would be very upset'. And as typical it only took about 30 minutes before Tinkerbell was completely soaked which resulted in a 2 year old running around commando....thus the poop on the floor. Now....I know...this is not appropriate posting detail but she finds it humorous to see herself in pictures and I'm hoping (in my own twisted way) to find a means to use this one day when the appropriate situation calls for an all out embarrassment. Don't criticize...those of you with kids know exactly where I'm coming from!

The beast was finally lowered from the car jack down and feeling strong, hubby and I began the push....IT BUDGED!!! With a few twists and turns and pushes and grunts we got her into place and you know what...I just figured out why my focus has not been on this thing for a while. I think a higher power was moving me around to other areas in my life so I would eventually give up and allow the beast to stay just where it came to reside back in March. I think this is where it was meant to be all along. It is now situated between the parking area and the pathway to the door making a hallway of sorts. It allows storage on both sides - exterior side for those true garage related items. The interior side for those things usually dropped just inside the door; shoes, school papers, uniforms, hats/gloves, dog supplies.....I'm pleased, hubby is pleased and the kids just think its cool that all of their junk is in one place (for now)... This was an all day project that we will now begin day 2 of. Day 2 will be the balance of the organization so both cars can once again peacefully reside back in their respective sides of the garage. How sad is it that something so simple makes me so happy?

Those bookshelves from last posting....well, they're still there with no molding. Guess what (as if this will surprise anyone....) my molding idea ain't gonna work due to all of the existing molding already in the nook. They are extremely functional and necessary storage at this point so hmmm....how can I mask the chaos it they aren't going to give the appearance of a permanent fixture in the room? AHA!!!

Inspiration for covering the clutter

Sliding barn style door. They do make the hardware where it can be attached to the ceiling ....hmmmm....I feel another project coming one. This time, I think I'll study up and take some measurements and talk to a few experts before I go drilling into the walls again. I have always loved the idea of pocket doors but installation to an existing wall takes a construction expert from what I've been told. So...I'm not there just yet and I think this option gives me just what I need...plus, a nice punch of a bright color in there will be just lovely.

  

 I promise I do live in the world of organized chaos. My problem is one inspired moment drives multiple inspired moments and before you know it I've got more ideas than days and tools and help to get them done. I've decided that procrastination isn't necessarily avoidance, it just may be a higher level of intelligence for those of us who seek to conquer things more fulfilling in an instant. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...









Home Sweet Home

After another hiatus from the blog I'm back. 4 weeks on the road with my new job and I'm finally home where all of those glorious procrastinated projects have been patiently waiting.

I was successful in making my pilgrimage to Ikea to purchase those Billy Bookcases over the past few weeks at which point they made their home in the middle of my foyer. After flying home last night and stumbling over them on my way to bed I made up my mind to tackle that project first thing this morning. 

Theses bookcases 'organized storage facilities' are desperately needed at this point being that the beautiful dining room that was on its way to being my decorators paradise was so abruptly uprooted and turned into a home office no so long ago. The boxes of supplies, books and computer equipment were overcoming the room and the walls were slowly closing in.

First thing this morning hubby and I started this task. All 3 of the little ones scrambling just under our feet as usual. Taking turns changing multiple diapers, two total baby bladder unloads all over the bookcases & floor, breaking up a few disagreements, feeding breakfast and snacks we were a determined pair. The cases went together like a dream and once assembled were ready to be tethered to the wall. With little ones running around there is bound to come a time where they decide to make their trek up those shelves to see just how high they can climb so you can never be too careful. The task of tethering to the wall around here always results in more holes than necessary and let today be no different. Two tethers resulted in 5 holes in our meager attempts to locate a stud. Stud finder be damned! We've got 3 different variations, none of which have ever perfected the art of actually locating a stud. Cases assembled and tethered....let the load down begin! Haven't decided yet what the look will be since today was just a rush to get them assembled and in place before the moldings are measured and cut.

 

You're seeing a rough draft here..the final version is yet to come. Sorry for the quality of the photo. I took beautiful clear photos with my camera but the USB cord is hidden somewhere in the mess of cords I've tried to corral into one spot. This poor dining room/office has seen better days. I'm grounded for a few weeks and with a little TLC hope to turn this into the office/dining room of my dreams. Wow have I got my work cut out for me!

What the heck just happened???

It's been a week away from my thoughts...not just via my blog, via my life. The last week is a bit of a blur that hasn't really become clear just yet. A long drive to the airport for a cancelled flight that led to a long drive back home and a long drive back to the airport the following morning... a flight to Alabama and from Georgia in 24 hours...and another long drive home and here I am. Gainfully employed again I think... computers, phones, missed appointments, drives all over town to find a FedEx hub, forgotten trips to the grocery...I think I left my brain somewhere around here!

Still a mom, still a wife and still a project list a mile long....well, some things will always remain constant and it is that for which I am most grateful for. As I embarked on a new career working from home I have glorious thoughts of a clean house, laundry done and put away all in the same day, a nice hot meal to greet my family each evening and check marks down the long list of things to get done around the house...

Now, at the time our doors closed at my former place of employment, we packed our personal belongings and headed home. What I found is that over the course of 12 years I had become a bit of a pack rat in my office dwelling as well as my home life. The boxes that made their way home (via 2 car loads, 2 SUV loads and a flat bed truck load) overwhelmed the balance of the garage. The boxes of books, pictures, random samples, art, note books, pens/pencils, odds and ends were enough to fill in my significant others side of the garage making for sweet revenge from the placement of the behemoth from prior blogs (still there by the way...). I just learned the quickest way to get something done is to block hubby from getting his car in the garage because those boxes were all unloaded and spread about the interior of our home in no time.

Remember that beautiful clean slate of a dining room just a few brief blogs ago...it has now become the mess of a space that is soon to be my new home office/dining room. It needs a lot of work but I'm taking a relaxed approach this go round. Right now it is functional (not pretty) and actually a nice place away from the other living spaces in the house where I'm so easily distracted.

Ok...so it does need a little lot of work but hey, now that I'm home working I can actually take some time to make it that special place I want to spend most of my day in. Still on a mission to get those Billy Bookcases from Ikea and now I really need them more than ever. I feel a swell of ambition coming on....