Well, the house was rather clean Friday afternoon. But by Saturday morning the house quickly looked as though it had regurgitated construction mess all over the place. And why? Because dh got bored again! He has a way of getting bored every autumn!

Several years ago I asked him if I could have a garden shed. I had found a cute design in one of his This Old House Magazines and he tweaked it a bit. It was finally done before Thanksgiving! This was relatively easy on the life in the house, since all the mess was contained outside. But the lawn took a brutal beating! It needs to be mown now but don't tell dh that...when I took this picture he was dealing with plumbing!

Then I was looking through another magazine and saw a tv cabinet next to the fireplace. Hmmmmm…..We had this huge empty nook beside our fireplace that was screaming for a tv armoire. So he began the construction of a built in one autumn. This was a mess to endure in our home…and noisy! Additionally, he was on standby to be deployed, so that added to my nerves that he might have to leave, which would be bad enough, much less leave us with a huge mess! Thankfully, it got done shortly before Christmas, and we got to start watching some Christmas movies snuggled together on the couch with candlelight and Christmas lights (in reality we are so exhausted we all asleep, but at least it’s cozy!) Inside there is lots of storage for tapes and CDs and DVDs. Hard to tell here but it mimics the look of a moveable piece of furniture, partly because of bun feet at the bottom. The secret is out when we pull them out to show the rest of the unit is built in! Also, you may think that floral print at the top was my idea. Back then I had sewn some swag and jabot window treatments for the living room with that fabric. But the fabric was a bit too bulky for it to lay right for the particular pattern so I eventually redid the window treatment with silk dupioni drapes when the french doors went in (next paragraph). I was planning to get a solid black fabric for the armoire because behind are the some of the speakers for the surround sound. But he insisted on the floral; I’m still campaigning for the black! Lol Also I want to paint the niche with the heart in it with a deeper shade of yellow. When doing that, it’s best to pick colors on the same color strip from the store. This shade of yellow, when darker, hints at peach. Hmmmm. I had considered painting the room a sage green so I got lots of samples and tried them all out on the walls. They all looked a little too dark. But if the room is painted green, then I’ll need new drapes, because they are green now. Decisions, decisions.

Two years ago, on autumn break from college, he decided to rip out our back door and my window seat to install double french doors looking out into the back yard. Then in 2 weeks college started again so the mess sort of became the focal point of our great room until December. To screen off the mess he put up a false wall covered with plastic to keep construction dust from coming into the room. Thoughtful, but not lovely. Then he labored to get it done because I asked him if it could possibly be finished before Christmas Day, pretty please? The makeover was completed in the jolly nick of time!  I'm thinking of redoing these curtains with a black background, same print.  It will contrast better with the light colors!

Then last year, with bachelor’s degree in hand, he felt he had lots of time to tackle a real man’s project…the entire kitchen! So Sept 1 he started ripping and rebuilding. He made more cabinets, redid all the doors with beadboard, then repainted everything, put in new laminate countertops that look like granite, new tile backsplash, and new faucet. That was finally done the first part of December. Then came my job to decorate and make Christmas while moving everything back into the kitchen and making everything look nice for the holidays (all while homeschooling!). He still needed to lay the tile for the floor and I had begged him to wait until after Christmas. So that was done in mid January, during our ice storm! I think the white is too boring and am contemplating brushing on a walnut stain and then wiping it off to add some interest. What do you think? Although I have sample boards in the garage, I haven’t been brave or energetic enough to try! We're not keen on the flourescent light in the kitchen...one day he'll probably tackle pot lights.

Well this autumn, he has decided to tackle our master bathroom. I’m sort of worn out with the flurry of activity I have to do to prepare for holidays and clean up from construction and decorate, not to mention homeschooling 6^th and 8^th grades! So I sort of asked if this remodel could be done after Christmas. Yikes, he started this weekend! He likes me to decorate the house for autumn, but that seems difficult to do when there is construction mess everywhere. We are also very busy this time of year. Let’s see….there is (ahem) my birthday, ds’s birthday, Awana Grand Prix, Awana Trek hike in hill country, unit celebration of history unit study for the grandparents (this Nov will be the Medieval Feast, which of course has to be huge), then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years…and just wanting to relax and be a family during all of that. Well as I’ve contemplated how long this project will last, he has **promised** me that he’ll be done by my birthday (a little over a week away). Here’s the to do list:

• a second sink in our bathroom
• making the old cabinet wider and putting architectural detail on it
• he already built a wall niche over the toilet
• paint the walls
• prime, paint and faux paint the cabinet (he asked me to do the painting)
• tile sink backsplash
• install new mirror/medicine cabinets
• tile tub surround
• tile the floor
• install new light fixtures
• I have to shop for new accessories in all my free time.

I’m sure I forgot something. So I’ll try to keep everyone posted! Well, I know at least my MIL is, who comes in here very quietly to read my blog! lol

Well, here is day 1, destruction day!