Family Vacation

One thing that I've learned is that working hard requires playing hard to keep up the endurance needed to run the long haul race. And family vacation this week is just the way to do it. One of the best parts of vacation is getting up out of bed early while everyone is sleeping not to clean the house or get some work done, but just sit with my home magazines watch Dr. Phil reruns and enjoy the mountain sun.

How do you find ways to relax?

My Dressing Table Reno

I am so in love with my updated dressing table!

I have had an old Target dressing table for a while and while it was nice, the quality was a little lacking. Finally the leg broke off if it when I moved it and I knew that I needed a super high quality piece that would stand up to abuse and always look beautiful.

So, after some convincing my mother gave me her mother's old dressing table that had been hiding out in their shed for years. If you want to talk about something that stands up to the test of time take a look at this beauty.

Yup, I'm not even sure what that white stuff on there is, but it was caked on. There was a mirror on the top, but the wood was peeling off, and I may have used too much water when washing it, because I couldn't get it back into the slots. So, in the interest of safety I've put it into storage in hopes I'll get back to it and repair it later. And, after a little cleaning and some test paints I settled on a blue grey paint.

After a few coats (I'm an avid spray painter) it was looking good, but I realized that there was just too much grey. So after about five colors (yeah, I tested that many) I decided that I wanted to add a pop of color to the small drawers on the table.

And here's the final product! I went with the gold drawers and added in glass knobs to make things a bit more girly. I also put plexiglass on the two sides to protect them from spills and drops. I'm so happy with the outcome!

We Did It!

We finally finished our basement reno! After alot of time, late nights with a contractor who preferred to start at 6pm most days, and a few heated ... discussions about the budget we finished our basement playroom. I will admit that it is a bit much for a two year old with no siblings, but I love it and had decided that if we were going to do it we just needed to do it and be done with it.

I think it was the absolute best choice. I'd love to know your thoughts!

 We solved our dangerous ledge problem by adding a row of shelving down the walls. It allows for awesome storage and a pretty nice way to hide the 2 feet of cinder block before the dry wall starts. In the corner you can see the awesome play kitchen our neighbors gave our daughter when their kids outgrew it.

This is a full look at the room. I'll post more detailed pics and a tour of the ceiling soon!