Project Schizophrenia

Most of our projects get completed haphazardly, and we are the type of people who have several projects going on at once, rather than focusing on one thing and doing the whole thing from start to finish.  I think this is both in mine and Patrick's natures, and also is more convenient to fit around a baby's schedule.  Smelly projects like painting take place when Zeph is sleeping upstairs or out with grandparents, and noisy projects happen when we have several pairs of hands around (or when Zeph is out with grandparents.  Seriously, this house would never get finished without grandparents.  We love you guys!!!).  Because of this, I was feeling a little low yesterday, like we hadn't made much progress and we were never going to finish.  But  my parents came over for lunch and not having been over for a couple of weeks, I realized just how much I had to show them.  So now you lucky things get to take the same tour!

Last week our contractor Jeff finished up the last of his Round 2 projects.  This included powerwashing the house and garage.  So fresh and so clean clean!

Hi, Schultz!

After getting all that yellow-y mold and mildew off the house, I actually wondered if maybe the house is actually black, but Patrick insists that it is still dark blue.

While we're outside, check it out - some of our leaves are starting to turn red!

Back inside, I'd like to show you our new lamps in the great room.  Patrick and I have been searching for the perfect pair of lamps for this room.  We have traversed all over Central Virginia hoping to find exactly what we were looking for.  Every time we went out for other errands, one of us would ask the other, "Do you want to check out lamps while we're here?"  It was fun at first, but soon turned into an exhausting exercise of self-flagellation.  Either we couldn't agree, or couldn't find a second matching lamp.  Alas, we finally popped into Steinmart looking for something else, and found the perfect pair - 50% off!  Wooot!

I love the size of them, yet the clear bases don't obstruct the open feeling of the room.  Here's a close-up:

 

We've also broken ground downstairs on the small corner den (which was originally the dining room, but won't fit our family for Thanksgiving).  You may remember that we initially wanted to turn the playroom into a space for Zeph, but we have since realized that the whole house is essentially a playroom for Zeph.  We also realized that even though we love the open concept floor plan downstairs, there isn't a ton of wall space for our bookshelves.  So we've decided to turn that extra room into a den/library. 

Here's the room before we moved in:

 Here it is after we removed the stinky carpet last month (and used it as a painting room for cabinet doors):

We picked a deep red paint for the walls, and Patrick began priming the wood molding in the room over the weekend.  We haven't much done yet, but it feels good to have it started.  Plus, it's always easier to jump into a project once it's started, because all the tools and prepwork are ready for you.  Here is the room now:

See the red patch on the wall?  Love it!

And the other corner:

 

I have a few more updates for you all, but they'll have to wait til later this week--Zeph is up from his nap and is zooming all over the place.  Off I go to catch him!