Trying to Get the House Back...One Mess Leads to Another

The newlyweds and I have been running on empty.  But after a refreshing day away yesterday, enjoying a family friend's outdoor wedding and a lazy afternoon in the sun, I woke up this morning, energized to organize the house.


We are still surrounded by gifts, flowers, cups, napkins, mints, and all sorts of accouterments from Wedding #1, and a few gathering for Wedding #2.  
Add to that, the normal clutter of living in a busy house with 10+ people for the last few years and an extra busy summer, and there are messes everywhere.  It's bad enough for us to live in it all... And we have wedding houseguests due Wednesday night.

Before...

I started by sorting out what Wedding #1 stuff had to be saved out for Wedding #2, then set to packing away what wasn't needed.  I assigned the 2 youngest princesses to sorting out the wilting flowers from the numerous bouquets,

After

      


so we could arrange the still-healthy flowers into something more reasonable.  The princes took the rest to their next life as compost.







While they did that, I climbed up to add stacks of silver plates and napkins to the storehouse of similar things we already have.  This far out of reach upper cabinet shelf holds excess paper plates, the bamboo trays to support them, and a wide assortment of colorful napkins leftover from showers, birthday

parties, etc.  I hit the point years ago, from which we should never have to buy dessert napkins again, but we seem to anyway. 






 At least the silver napkins that Princess Sassy and Prince Steadfast will have to use for probably years to come, will be more useful than Hubby's and my green napkins, complete with our names and wedding date.  We have 3 such bags of them in that plastic storage drawer in the photo above.  The number has dwindled only by the 2 napkins-per-occasional-year the kids get out for our anniversary dinner.  Maybe we can use them for our 50th...

Before...

The few left over silver dinner napkins from Wedding #1 weren't enough in number to warrant storage in that high cabinet, so I took them to join the everyday napkins...where I found a growing mess that I'd ignored far too long.  

Things discovered in the drawer:
Markers, pillow case, paint brush,
and the brand new,
bought-months-ago dog leash!!

(After all, the drawer would still close, so why get in a hurry?) 

After!  Phew... One organized place
 in the house is better than none.

Tomorrow's project...

...gifts sorted, then put away, or boxed and stored, as necessary.

The Garage Situation...Before

The Dream...

Monday Hubby submitted our plans for the attached garage with space above.  He also submitted a list of materials to the lumber yard for a cost estimate.  So we are presently at the mercy of others in our impatience to get started and, meanwhile, must find other ways to organize, and possibly reduce, the too-ample contents of the existing house space.  

It's no thing of beauty.  The kids & I started to paint it the
house colors, but we ran out of paint and DH declared it
not worth the work or expense.

When we bought this property, besides the 30+ year old single wide mobile we lived in while we built, there was a fairly large carport/shop building.  It has 3 enclosed rooms, the 2, open parking spots, and other partially enclosed spaces around its perimeter.  Hubby has always hated it, and dreamed of tearing it down to replace it with something spacious and 'properly built.'  It's a little rustic in its construction and without power since the house went in, but it's served us fairly well, so I often nixed plans to destroy it.  

We call this the 'Pantry Room.'  It held the freezer and kitchen
extras during the build... Now, Christmas decorations, picnic
gear, and odd things for the kids, like snow tires and tile projects.

It offered cover and protection while I hand-finished the interior doors for our house.  While we lived in the trailer, it held an extra fridge and freezer, and kitchen tools and homeschool materials that wouldn't fit inside.  It's even taken a lot of pressure off the new house, and gave the princes a place to store tools and work on a disabled pickup truck.  

The tool room with evidence of efforts toward organization.

We will need to take down part of the open carport to fit the new garage, but hope to save the enclosed rooms for additional storage...We can never have too much!  I also hope we'll be able to spruce it up a bit with trim and complete the paint job to match the house.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

There have been several requests for more wedding photos, but all I have are those taken that day with my own camera, and I didn't have a lot of time for taking pictures.  But here a few more...

Our bathroom salon.  
This photo is not set up, but just the way they worked things out: 
Princess Bossy doing Princess Sassy's hair...
while Princess Sassy arranges Princess Artiste's curls...
while Princess Artiste straightens Princess Eager's hair!

2 of our princes were big fans of the Best Man, a great guy.
Here you can see the ceremony setting and the perfect weather.

The guys supporting the groom as he awaits his bride.

Here she comes...
I really wanted to show you the back of her dress

That first glimpse of each other in their wedding garb...
"We're getting married!"
They smiled like that all day.

Twosome Tuesday: Reception Table Centerpieces

Wedding #1:                                                                                            

This was the wedding party before the event.  We really
did have more guests than this!

You've already seen a glimpse of what we'd been working on for Princess Sassy's (now Mrs. Steadfast!) reception centerpieces.  We bought various frames, mostly black, gray, and silver, from Goodwill, and I printed photos of the prince and princess...about 1/3 of him as a youngster, about 1/3 of her growing up years, and 1/3 of photos with them together.  





We placed 3 or 4 frames per table, making sure we had at least one Steadfast, one Sassy, and one of the couple on each.  Very simple but effective, visually, and gave the guests something to do, as they checked out photos on their own table and throughout the room.

We also used vases of flowers in special spots around the reception,
made with the leftoversafter creating corsages and wedding party bouquets

Wedding #2:
Princess Bossy was working on her centerpiece idea this weekend.

Inspiration from The Knot

Several weeks ago, we visited Goodwill on her behalf, to look for vases and bottles to suit her centerpiece vision, based on the inspiration she got from a photo on TheKnot.com.                                                                                                               


Each of her tables will have a variety of these glass vessels, some with votive candles, some with a Gerbera Daisy or two, some with glass colored stones, and some empty.                                                                                                                      

Prince CuddleBunny saw all the vases, and ran out to cut roses,
since they seemed to need some flowers.  :-)

She'll have ivory linens and bamboo plates to create a soft and elegant, but rustic look with the wood floors, walls, and ceiling of her venue.                                                                                                                                                                                              
Like her sister, she is utilizing some found frames and will showcase photographs, but at the guest book table only.  There will not only be
photos of the couple, but wedding photos of their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents to share a history of loving marriages behind them.

I still don't like the paint: In-laws' Remodel

I know that you probably can't believe I'm posting something that is not wedding related! --A temporary reprieve.  ;-)


The carpet was the last to go in.  The cabinets, counters, tile, plumbing fixtures, hardware, lighting, other flooring...all in.  It all needs a thorough cleaning, then a "For Sale" sign.  


I first complained about the paint in I Could Just Cry... I lamented the paint choice, being nudged more than slightly by brothers-in-law who feared my choice would be too dark, I gave in and went lighter.  I hoped that when the carpet and lighter cabinets went in, the shade of the paint would come through and not look like "Builder's White."  Nope.  The walls now look the same color as the cabinets, which they aren't.  It still makes me want to cry, because the impact and impression I wanted is just not there.  The joys of decisions made via committee.  


Some reminders of where we started.                                                                                                                     

The uppers over the peninsula were already removed here.
And you can't see the dropped ceiling...at 7 ft.

Original kitchen layout

Master Bath...A little past 'Before'

Anyway, the place, as I said, is far from clean, and some of these won't be much different than the last ones I shared, but here are the 'after' photos of the remodel... kitchen, living, and master bath:

New kitchen layout

Dining

Dining to Living

Through Living into Entry

Entry toward living and dining.
The carpet is NOT pinkish.  It really blends
well with the stone

Kitchen to family room...Still missing the railing along
the wood floor edge

And I believe you've already met the
Master Bath  ;-)

Lesson Learned...Live a Little

Moms can look good, too.  I have discovered a little about spending on myself during the weddings-prep journey.  I can have a little fun and do something nice for myself without breaking the family bank.

The old stand-bys

During my too-many shopping trips, I found some nice dresses on clearance racks for $13 to $25, that I picked up for wearing to rehearsals, showers and other weddings we have to attend this summer.  So WHY have I gone, literally, years with only a couple dresses in my closet from which to choose?!  I have also found pretty and useful shoes between $20 and $35.  Hubby is very OK with me spending $20 to $30 every month or two to add to my wardrobe.  It's fun for him to see me in something new, too.

Also, more time spent seeing what's out there, and the opportunity to have more dresses, has opened my eyes to new options and greater variety.  I am having fun stepping out of my box and away from my 'look like that all the time' choices. Not every selection has to fit every occasion.

$24.  Great for a friend's son's wedding, and
anything else a little dressy.

$13. Wedding #1 rehearsal & the dinner at a fairly
casual restaurant.  Summery & fun, similar in tone
to Princess Sassy's choice for that evening

$22.  SO comfy.  Totally unlike my normal
choices, but really fun to wear to the joint
bridal shower for both princesses.

$22.  Another fun & comfy choice. These will go with two of the above
dresses, making them suitable for our niece's wedding in her
grandparents' field, or a for a summer outing almost anywhere.  

$35.  These will go with all the above dressees,
making them suitable
for dinners, weddings, or anything
 evening/semi-formal.

$9.  I usually have 1 purse & use it 'til it's well past its prime.
My previous one was ORANGE.  This will be more neutral,
while still a fun color.  (I had a gorgeous red purse
a few years ago.  After that, I couldn't go back to black or
brown, and have had yellow, green, and the orange...
So it was blue's turn!)