Origin Story: Kid's Bedroom Remodel

So here it is Christmas Eve.  Kids awake at 6 am (not bad in our opinion), excited to start the Christmas festivities.  This is our first year at home during the holidays so we have a week-long extravaganza of Christmas awesomeness scheduled as we host relatives excited to spend the holidays with us.  We like to keep Christmas pretty low key and simple around here so today we are opening gifts that were mailed to us and keeping track of what time it is by spreading various, scrumptious appetizer foods throughout the day such as breakfast flatbread, roast beef sliders and spicy-rubbed chicken wings.  YUM.

So what do two, renovation crazy people decide to do right at Christmas, preparing for lots of visitors and expecting baby #3 in 4 weeks or so?  This.

Considering just a week ago we were still in a project-break around here a lot has changed.  We jump into new projects for a variety of reasons:  necessity, boredom, extensive planning, etc.  Ripping out E's walls and putting in new insulation and drywall have been on our necessary list from day one of buying the house when the room looked like this.

We we first moved in, I was 9 months pregnant with F and we were already overwhelmed with the work we wanted to do before moving trucks appeared- mainly painting all the white walls in the house (which is SO much easier to do before you are moving furniture) and replacing the flooring in the two kid's rooms.  Ripping out walls at this time was not a high priority so we decided to put it off a bit.  We spruced up the room with new flooring (really inexpensive linoleum tiles), painted walls and trim and a new ceiling light/fan.

Over the next two years, we could tell that the walls had minimal insulation as proven by the extreme temperature changes felt in there.  Or the insulation is fine and a ghost is inhabiting the room...  We also were concerned by sounds of mice running through the walls in what must have been a dream play land for them.  Other projects came up such as the bathroom remodel that took precedence so the room kept getting put off.  Despite that, I collected ideas from magazines for the room.

This was my first plan- an idea from This Old House but it is hard to pull the trigger of the expense of built in beds that then stay with the house.

I found this in Country Living last month and was obsessed with the metal beds.

Flash forward to about a week ago when I discovered a twin bed that I couldn't walk away from at my favorite shop Adourn, located in Chatfield, MN.  I had been keeping my eye out for twin metal bed frames to put in the room so E and F could share the room and baby #3 could move into the nursery room.  Finding a wood bed was not in my plan but after driving away, a quick phone call to Andy convinced me to turn around like a crazy person and buy the damn bed.  Love at first sight.

Adourn purchase- you can see the footboard behind the headboard at the bottom of the picture.

Bed in car, the project was finally in full swing but we had to decide if we would go ahead and deal with the walls at this point or just leave them as they were, put in two beds and fix the walls later.

Andy was charged with creating a budget so we could decide what direction to go.  Andy hates that I have him do this but I really have no clue how much things will cost- even with all the renovations we have done.  For example, I was expecting something around $350 for insulation and drywall so when he came back at $750 I almost shit a brick.  Next step of the bid process is going over every line item and me nickel and diming or questioning every choice.  Marriages are broken up over stuff like this but luckily we got through it.  Scaling down his original lighting plan and deciding to reuse the current trim, we worked the budget down closer to $550.  Still painful right at Christmas time especially considering would would need to buy one more twin bed as well as mattresses.  After creating a pro and con list of the project, we decided to go ahead with it.  What put us over was the fact that he would have 2 weeks off of work as well as family visiting that could lend a hand so hopefully we can get it finished quickly.  Haha... famous last words probably.

Project a go, I took a day to visit some antique stores and Habitat ReStores in Winona and Lacrosse.  I couldn't believe it when I stumbled on a head and foot board at the first store I walked into (minus the pre shopping stop at a donut shop)- the Winona Habitat Restore.  It was the right size and a similar style to the bed from Adourn plus it was $10!

The bed did not have a frame with it but I was pretty confident Andy could make something work and at $10 I was willing to give it a try.  A few more stops in Lacrosse netted me some chalk paint (Esther picked out a pretty light pink) and stripper for $25 so I could refinish it.  $35 total at this point-  a huge steal and a big help to the final budget!

Side by side beds- bed on the right needs to be painted still

So we are a "Go For Launch" and now that Andy has starting ripping out the walls, too far to turn back now.  As you are visiting with family, opening gifts, feasting on meats, sides and pie or resting after Christmas check back to follow our progress as we work on "Project Kid's Room 2014!".  Our goal is to put up quick updates daily (we may even try our hands at Vlogging).  Happy Holidays!