Katie's Room...Before and After

Katie's room was so much fun to put together! When we first viewed the house she and her brother were told to choose who got which bedroom. She chose this bedroom because as soon as she saw it she could envision built-ins on either side of the window with a desk in between. She drew her ideas out for Mark and he built them. The color choices were all Katie.

Daniel's Bedroom - After

As many of you know, Daniel is a filmmaker. We wanted his room to reflect what he loves. We went for a monochromatic theme. The border was designed and executed by me. Katie and Daniel picked out the 'screen shots' they wanted to include on the film strip, then I printed them off and used spray adhesive to attach them to the white painted 1 x 6 that Mark cut to fit the walls. I then used electrical tape and black car pin-striping tape to create the outline of the 'film'. I painted the 'sprocket holes' by hand. Afterwards I used some spray gloss finish to protect the project. The headboard is a simple upholstered board. I used letter stencils and white fabric paint to do the letters. Xavious Pictures is Daniel and Katie's production company. The movie posters were created by Daniel. They are from two of his short films.

Daniel's Bedroom-- Before

Now, as I said, this house photographs really well. What you can't see in this picture is that the paint on the bottom was a very high gloss green painted over wallpaper. The baseboards and window and door trim all had peeling paint. The walls had patch marks everywhere.

Our House!

So, I think it's finally time to start posting some pictures of our new house. Well, it isn't exactly new, it was built in 1969, but it is new to us! We had been searching for well over a year following our move to Indiana. We walked into this house and within 10 minutes were ready to write and offer. (When you house hunt for over a year, its not that hard to figure out what you like and what you don't like) This house was full of potential in our opinion. It's in a great golf course neighborhood. Because of its age, the lots are large and the trees are even larger! To say this house has a lot of work that needs to be done is an understatement. Although it shows very well in photos..as you will see when I post the before shots, what you can't see is the years of neglect and bad paint jobs! And so, without further ado...we present to you...our home.

The War- The kids' latest video

Weekend Getaway

You know it just doesn't get much better than this! We spent a fantastic family weekend in Southwest Michigan, driving along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The beaches were comfortably quiet. The warmth of the sand between our toes was strangely unfamiliar, even though we had lived only 50 miles from a beach in Oregon. Could that be because the beaches in Michigan were actually warmer than those in Oregon? It would appear so. We visited quaint little beach towns with all of the usual artsy stores. Although the temperatures were only in the 60's the feel of the sun on our faces made it feel so much warmer.

Spring?

We have not quite figured out the weather here in Indiana. To be honest, I don't think the weathermen have either. It changes so rapidly. This morning as I sip my coffee I have to shield my eyes from the sunlight coming through the window. It's a very deceiving sight as currently the 'feels like' temperature is only 18º. My weather widget on my IMac assures me that on Wednesday we will see highs in the 60s.