Ahhhhhhh . . . Sweet Silence

For the first time in 10 days I have the house to myself.  I don't have any of my three children home sick.  I'm basking in the glory of a peaceful, mostly clean home for a few hours.  And I'm working on some projects:  laundry (no photos of the skivvies -- you're welcome),

Invitations for Young Women in Excellence coming up, and . . .

before and after shots of my living room:

BEFORE:  Look behind the dorks in the vaguely 80's garb to the UHHHHHGLY slate fireplace.

AFTER:  All gone!!  Well, really just cleverly disguised behind a thin sheet of plywood and some beadboard wallpaper.  A totally quick and temporary fix to the biggest eyesore in my home.  Ahhhhh . . .

Here's my new "office":

Once completely wasted space, now the hub of our living area.

I'm adding a few more photos because I fool myself into thinking you care to see the layout of the room.  This is looking down from upstairs.

And this is standing at the foot of my stairs looking in.

The beadboard wallpaper continues all the way around this side of the main floor.  Now I need to remove those vertical blinds behind the desk and replace them with curtains that match the window on the other side, hang that magnet board, clear up the clutter on the desk, tack down the cable that's running to the armoire, (dust the ledges -- yikes! -- haven't been upstairs in a while) and I'll be in business.  Oh, yeah and we still have to caulk and paint the chair rail.  Brent's parents are coming down on December 22nd which means that project will probably get done December 21st.  'Cuz that's how we roll. Anyway, sometimes I look at my home and wish it was a showstopper -- a genuine Parade of Homes masterpiece, but that's just not us.  Not yet.  Sometimes you just have to go with what works.  Have a great weekend, folks!