Repurpose

When we moved into this house, we had ugly dated curtains. I know I shouldn't say ugly... and at one time, they were in fashion. In about 1992, when the house was built. I mean, they would look great on someone's windows with a fake straw hat decorated with large flowers on the wall next to it.

I spent May through July taking down those curtains and the modly shower ... thing... (valence?) that hung in front of the shower curtain.

Camille's room was easy. I got purple and white curtains at WM for 15/each. Her walls were already a light pink so her room is done.

Joseph's room was easier. I hung the "Cars" curtains that were in his old room. They are still slightly crooked but look much better than the "teenage boy's room turned guest room" valence that was in there.

Georgie's room was harder. I knew what I wanted but he had NOTHING for a bedroom since we knew we would move after he was born. I was eyeing some brown and green valences at BRU and I snapped those up when they went on sale.

Today my IL's took the kids for the afternoon. After a lunch of Jimmy John's, I began dragging boxes out of Georgie's room. I had packed up all the boys clothes by size and wanted those to go in the basement. Now his closet holds all Camille's old clothes (going to a friend), pumping supplies, bedding for the crib and cradle and toddler bed, newborn/small diapers and preemie/newborn clothes. There is also a box to toss clothes into as Georgie out grows them.

As Adam carted the boxes to the basement, I swapped his crib and dresser around. We need a new (tall) dresser and discussed where to put it, the toddler bed and the rocker. It's nice that his room is cleaner and beginning to get ready for the baby. We want to make small changes at a time for him because a new, needy baby, a possible new bed and all his things in different places will rock his world.

We organized the basement. I found the crochet blanket for Cheesie, a quilt to hang on their wall and some books to donate and bring upstairs. We found a winter coat for Camille. Adam stain-treated the carpet.

All that morning, I had been surfing Overstock.com for curtains. We had NO IDEA what color we wanted for our beige and white walls with our white comforter. We thought maybe light blue to bring out the blue in the ocean photos on the wall.

I had a DUH moment. The only tolerable curtains were in the playroom. They were white with white wall and a white couch. Borning much? The curtains fell down when a kid walked by them so I washed them. When I tried to re-hang them, the hooks holding them into the wall fell down. I bagged them and put them in the basement, thinking I would use them when we repainted the dining room.

Well, DUH, stupid! Hang them in the master bedroom! And guess what! The shear white curtains from Camille's room in our old house fit perfectly in the windows in the bath area! We now have curtains in our bed and bath room for free when I had budgeted 60 dollars to buy new ones! The room looks nice and I think I am going to stalk stores for light blue-grey pillows for the bed. We think we are getting a new to us rocker for the boys' room so the blue gluider will go nicely in the corner near our bookshelves.

I am thrilled with this "repurpose" (the yuppie word for being CHEAP). Little by little the house is beginning to feel like "ours" and we are "claiming" it. Plus, I am excited to nest and get things ready for Cheesie in a way that I couldn't with Georgie.