The Great Room Redo

The time has come for the great room redo. This room has been Duncan's for 10 years, and in just a few weeks (she says optimistically), it will be our office. I spent a year preparing the former upstairs playroom into his new bedroom. (It's not fancy; it just took me that long to paint and clean.)

The dark blue walls are the first thing to go. This is paintable wallpaper, courtesy of the former owners. I'm going with the same light bluish/aqua color that Laurel used for her room, partly because there is a full can left but also because I love the color.


These built-in cabinets have been fantastic for storing all of Duncan's games, toys, puzzles, and assorted junk, as well as serving as a hiding place for many children over the years. A new coat of paint and some incredibly cute fabric panels will make this our new office storage center. Also, we'll have to find that one door that we took off at some point for reasons that made sense then, and I'll trade in the airplane and fire engine hardware for some new cabinet knobs. That's very exciting. I love hardware.

This dresser... hmmm. We are actually contemplating giving it a paint job and new knobs and relocating it to our bedroom. We really could use the storage, plus it's so very heavy. Do we really want to carry it down to the basement for our kids to have when they need junky furniture for their apartments? It has potential.


Speaking of potential, this desk! Randy brought three of these lab tables home a long time ago when his department remodeled. They have been fantastic for the kids, but this is going to become my sewing table. I'm toying with lots of ideas for painting it.

My little chair. My poor, poor little chair. My grandparents gave this to me when I was 4. We carried it all the way from their home in Florida to ours in New York one vacation. It has never been repainted.

But guess what? It's time has come. I am even going to be bold and remove the drumstick (above) that has been lovingly rubber-banded onto the back of it. Snip.

This black chair. I'm not really sure what to do with it. My parents bought these and somehow we ended up with them. I don't like spinning chairs, and the black isn't going to go with the room decor. This may get a new cover, or it might get carried up to Duncan's room.

The window! I love the view out this window—a perfect Smoky Mountain scene. I'm mulling over window treatments.

And now, the work begins. I have only a few small piles of odds and ends to take to Duncan's room, and Randy is disassembling the extra twin bed and carrying it down to the basement. And the painting will begin! I'm hoping I can keep feeling motivated so that this is all done in a few weeks. Yep.