Caleb's Room

Caleb's room is the next stop on the tour.  What did I tell you-- selecting paint colors was not the previous owner's forte.  Maybe I'm just a little bit picky since I used to mix paint in a former job years ago-- or maybe color blindness was an issue.  Anyhow, here's what we had to work with for Caleb's room-- intense orange walls and stained worn out carpet (was it blue?  grey?  who knows! who cares!  It's gone...)

Here's what we did...

STEP 1: Time to repaint.  Out of all bedrooms upstairs, this room actually gets the most natural light (causing Caleb to wake up around 6 am each morning during the summer :)  but it still felt so dark.  After several coats of primer followed by new paint, things were starting to improve in this dark and depressing room.  

A before shot of Caleb's Room

STEP 2: Get rid of that nasty carpet.  We ripped it up only to discover that we had old lino that needed to be removed as well.  That definitely was a fun and joyful moment for Doug and I.

The moment we discovered old lino that needed to come out-- wish I had a picture of Doug's face...

STEP 3:  Lino's been removed, new flooring installed.  Now time to put in the baseboards and casings.  (As you can see-- this part of the process took place last fall-- Caleb sure looks little in this picture!!)

Flooring in... now the finishing begins

And now... a room for my little man.

Some of you may be wondering why we opted to put laminate in the bedrooms, not carpet.  The main reason was Caleb's asthma.  Health care professionals we have encountered all recommend that we keep his environment as dust-free as possible.  Carpet is a big no-no. I also prefer laminate and hardwood over carpet since I grew up in a house that did not have a stitch of carpet-- hardwood throughout.  It always feels so much cleaner to me.   Actually let me rephrase-- it IS cleaner.  If you could only see what my mop looks like after cleaning the floor you would understand why I prefer it over carpet.  And... it's also cheaper!  Purchasing decent carpet is usually more per square foot than laminate, and then you have to pay for installation.  We can install laminate ourselves.  So that's why we chose laminate-- it's healthier for our family, cleaner, cheaper, and I like it!

I do have a small woven cotton rug in his room, but it's super easy to keep clean and dust free.  I just throw it into the washing machine every few weeks and it comes out looking like new-- thank you Ikea!

One thing I love about this room is all of the storage space available for Caleb's toys, clothes, bedding, and anything else a 3 year old boy needs!  When I got rid of his change table and needed to buy him a dresser, instead of purchasing one large dresser, I decided to buy 2 identical Ikea dressers and put them side by side.  One day-- if needed-- they can be split up and used in two different rooms.  The shelves also provide additional storage-- out of the reach of small hands storage...

Wanna know what's stored in those baskets?

Caleb's best friends-- all are needed for nap time and bed time.  If one is missing... he knows.

One of my favorite things in Caleb's room is this Bus Roll Poster I bought for him off Etsy from a shop called MySweetPrints.  Check them out... they've got a really cute customized eye chart poster you can have made with your own message-- I've been "eyeing" that one too!  Maybe I'll order it for Child number 2...

A few other pictures of Caleb on Papa's farm-- driving the garden tractor and skid steer...

And his "big boy" bed-- Doug would love to make a bed frame for it eventually-- but that will have to wait until his back feels better :)  In the meantime, I tried to dress it up a bit by buying an extra fitted bed sheet to cover the ugly box spring instead of using a bedskirt (much to girly for a little boy's room)  Turned out great and it only cost me $9.99 from Superstore-- a great deal if you ask me!

And there's room number two!  Like the nursery, this room was done as cheap as possible.  My sources include Ikea, Craigslist, Superstore, Target, Etsy, MCC, Pier One, and the closets of my own home.  If anyone would like a more specific source guide, just let me know!  Hope you like it!

Oh, and one more thing... Week 38 officially arrived!!!