is your house ever really “done”? (modern southern bungalow week 48)

Thank you for your patience as I’ve certainly fallen off the blogging radar over the last little bit. Yes, that “last little bit” would be 10 weeks, but who’s counting? (Hi, Dad.) I’ve started drafting updates on our house several times, only to find myself wondering how to possibly tell the story of the last couple of months. What you want, I suspect, is a finished product. We are conditioned to look for enormous change, to see the train wreck that was the space before a remodel and compare it to the beautifully styled, perfectly lit photo of the new and improved space. This is not that story. This is the story of a real family who remodeled a real house in real time and who is not anywhere near the internet’s idea of “done”. There will be before and after photos, don’t worry. It just might be awhile.

I’ve mentioned all along that this process has been slower than I could ever have imagined. Remember that story I told you months ago about overhearing the couple on the street commenting on how fast a new house had gone up and wondering what could possibly be taking so long for the house to actually be finished? Those people have never remodeled. And they probably shouldn’t. They sure as hell shouldn’t hire the painters that worked on my house.

shared kids' room (semi) final reveal (one room challenge week 6)

And so we come to the end of another One Room Challenge. Or do we?

please step away from the project (modern southern bungalow week 29)

I had every intention of sharing our progress on picking paint colors last week. I even spent much longer than I’d like to admit drafting a post that I scrapped because it was totally not worth posting. I realized after letting go of the need to stay on an arbitrary posting schedule that I was using the writing process to try to break thru our color scheme for the house. Words are good for many things. Picking paint colors is not one of them.

shared kids' bedroom (one room challenge week 5)

Five weeks down and one week to go in this shared kids’ room decorating project. The kids are excited to finally move into their new bedroom but Mom and Dad have quite the list left to accomplish.

shared kids' bedroom organization (one room challenge week 4)

What to do with all your kids’ stuff is a major dilemma of parenthood. It starts early. Excited expectant parents register for all the things including things that experienced parents know will never be used (hello, diaper wipe warmer). You’ve seen it play out in restaurants across the country a million times: new parent walks in with baby and half a storage unit of stuff in tow. Parent of toddler hardly notices because toddler has a full backpack of toys just to get through a 45 minute meal. Parent of college student observes the scene, sips her beer, and smiles. Her hand bag is big enough for her keys, phone, and wallet only. It is a progression that we all go through. Sooner or later, we all begin to throw things out when our kids aren’t watching. No? Just me? I didn’t think so.

shared bedroom room for W&C - one room challenge week 3

Believe it or not, this is technically the halfway point in our six-week decorating project. Anyone nervous? Don’t worry. We’ve totally got this. Assuming everything actually shows up in time. More on that in a moment…

shared bedroom for w & c (one room challenge week 1)

W, age 5, and his sister C, age almost 3, are about to share a room. Mom's style is traditional and clean. W & C want PJ Masks and Princesses. We have six weeks to make their room come together. Welcome to One Room Challenge.

kids, decorating with kidsadrienne robideauxApril 5, 2018one room challenge, shared spaces, girl boy roomsComment

furniture that grows with your child

One of the toughest things about decorating with kids is that they grow up. Statement of the obvious, yes? But it is more than just a kid’s taste that changes as they grow up. We don’t always want to acknowledge it as parents, but our kids do get bigger. It happens quickly at first when they are babies, then slows down a bit such that when we turn and look one day, we have big kids in elementary school. How did that even happen? Let’s not continue the progression from there.

I know it is a tough reality to swallow. As parents, we plan for the future but we don’t want to think about our kids growing up. We want to savor them today as they are, in our laps and reading a book. Trust me, I am all for that. But I am also for planning a little. There are choices that you can make today for your child’s room that will grow with your child.

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