Near and Dear

As I welcome myself back to blogland after a hiatus brought on by sick kids, I am excited to share one of my favorite projects of all time.  A room re-do for the sweetest Grandma I've ever met!  My husband's Grandma to be exact and it was a surprise re-do while she was in Branson seeing her favorite singer, (besides my husband, of course) Daniel O'Donnell.

Grandma lives in a small 2 bedroom house but one of those bedrooms wasn't even usable.  It was dark, dated, dirty, full of stuff and poor embarrassed Grandma kept the door closed at all times.  After a renovation that -thank the Lord- brought her washer and dryer out of the basement we decided it was time to do something about that room!

After the renovation the wall was left as you see it.  

The To Do list for the room was pretty long but we jumped in and in  1 weekend got it done.  We ripped up flooring, shoveled out the carpet pad (yup, that's how old it was), paid someone else to install new carpet, tore down the ceiling, installed a new ceiling and painted.  Lots of painting! 

I was about 4 months pregnant at the time of our surprise re-do so I wasn't allowed to paint but I kept myself busy doing the sewing, cleaning the rest of the house and bossing everyone around.  :)

We primed the walls with tinted primer and since there were 2 types of paneling we filled in some of the deeper grooves on half the room before doing the top coats of paint.  My wonderful sis-in-law, Melodie did most of the painting and did a fabulous job!   

Grandma had some gorgeous furniture that we were able to bring to life by lightening and brightening the room.  I love the finished product and it's one of those rare instances when I get to see the "after" again and again. Also, blue is her most favorite color in all the world and she said she loves to leave the door open now so she can enjoy her pretty room.

 I gave the guests more privacy by hanging longer cafe curtains in the windows AND still gave Grandma plenty of room to see out the top.  

Her beautiful hand painted pottery is featured in the nook. A lovely tribute to the wonderful creative woman she is.  

 Her amazing antique organ finally stands out instead of blending in with old paneling!  (We had wrapped the door in streamers and bows for her arrival :))

Sweet Grandma, home from Branson, shocked and amazed that her grandkids love her so much to spend their time and money making her house a little prettier. It is a wonderful memory for all of us!