Distraction

The signs of sickness are apparent in this house.  If you were hanging out around here you'd see the signs-- signs like the fact that I'm now on day four of wearing Doug's shirts... that Caleb's ASKS to have naps and ASKS to go to bed early... that Emerson napped for 5 hours straight during the day and then went to bed at 6:30 (20 hours of sleep in a day ain't bad if you ask me)... and the state of my hair and the state of my house is a little bit shocking... in the BAD way.  We're quite the sorry bunch.  Yesterday when Eme curled up on the couch, pointed at her throat, and moaned "owie... owie..." over and over with these big sad eyes my heart just about broke.  Oh sweetheart.

If I was going to share about life around our house today I'd be sharing about puke cleanup, coughing, excessive amounts of snot, and the fact that our meals have consisted of smoothies and toast lately.  Honestly, who really wants to hear about the daily details of a house over run with sickness?  I sure don't.  So instead let's think about happy things.  Time for a little distraction.

How about a good before and after?  Actually, make that after-- and then the before.  I like it better that way.  This sounds like fun distraction if you ask me...

Okay... first up...

Check out the after's... love this!  So airy, and open, and inviting.  It's a fairly neutral room-- but there are a lot of unexpected elements that keep it interesting...

And the other side of the room...

And now the before.  It's amazing what a little paint and some great decorating skills can do!

You want to see more?  How about the dining room after-- L-O-V-E this.

And before...

And now the after of the kitchen...  I might look that happy if my house looked like that... and if it wasn't inhabited by sick people.  I'll bet you that house doesn't have the lingering smell of barf.

And the before... really, this was probably a pretty affordable transformation-- they didn't really change the layout or tear down walls... nicely done.

Bedroom after...

And the bedroom before-- I was tempted to leave this picture small-- ugliest headboard award-- right there.  Anybody above the age of 3 should not have an Elmo-ish headboard.  So wrong.

Bathroom after... (love that tile-- although I'm certain Doug would say "absolutely not" if I ever suggested it in my own home... tons of tiny tile =  SO MUCH WORK)

And the bathroom before.  Ugliest sink award.

country living via a life's design

See... I told you that a good "after-- and then a before" is great distraction.

I think I feel better already...