Progress.

Before we started painting, this room was all blue. It is now a very nice brown with white on the ceiling and trim. I like how the room turned out! It feels new and clean and very happy! :)

Old bricks...

I really like these old bricks. Part of me wanted to keep the brick wall up because I like the old style and the feel it added to the house. However the option to put up a wall between the front room and dining room sealed the deal.

After the bricks came crashing down, we were able to salvage a few ... hmmmmmm where to put them? Outside perhaps - we'll explore that when the cold days of winter pass us by and the colors of spring show their happy faces!

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall...

Super Woman AKA: Wendy holding up the 800 pound wall of bricks ... Yipes! :)

Boom! Down came the wall of brick.

Bye bye brick wall!

We ended up keeping a few of the old bricks to use outside.

We needed to remove the bricks so we can frame in a wall between the front room and dining room. There is a plan to this madness! :)

Inspiration ...

Sitting on the buckets of mud ... waiting for inspiration about tile, paint and where to put a book shelf...

Consulting with the Expert :) ... "Here's what I would do with that bathroom!" Thanks Dad!

Thank heavens for the Pottery Barn mailers ... full of great ideas - I love how they include the paint color and numbers on the side margins. [Brilliant]

The kitchen light fixtures.

Vintage light fixtures in the kitchen ... THEY STAY. :)
I love old lights - love them!

{The bathroom}

LOVE those glasses babe ...

The tile must come out...!

On the job - Tory and Kade Christensen

Saturday night LIVE.

In the kitchen ... Jill and Robert Lichfield

Busting a move ...! (I love this shot - spontaneous happiness on a Saturday night).

Fixing the corners ...

To do: Remove all the contact paper from the kitchen shelves.

Done. Off to the garbage.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun Saturday night in our old house! :)
We love you.

A clean white

Goal: Turn those blue middle trim pieces WHITE ...

This box you see to the right will be turned into a reading cubby for our daughter!

Colors used in this room - Clean white (trim and ceiling), a natural brown on the walls.

Taking a break for some 'hugs' and Christmas fun!

Stopped working on the house to enjoy the holiday :)... YUM!!
Now it's back to the house to paint ....

*I call those peanut butter hug cookies.

Upstairs room #3 ... (bye bye blue!)

L is for Lauren ... :)
Object of the day: Turn the blue into a nice brown.

Painting (upstairs room #2) -

Painter: Wendy (Working magic with the Gray Timber Wolf)

Tape Guy: Kaleb ... "MOM! I've been taped ..."

Kaleb - Working with the tape

Middle of the room = Gray Timber Wolf

Colors in this room: Gray Timber Wolf, Clean White and Windsor Haze

We're going to call this room The Mariner Room (After the Mariner baseball team)

Music on the ipod for this job: Michael Jackson, George Strait, Air Supply and the Rocky Soundtrack

May I have this dance?

Kaleb and Lauren dancing to George Strait ...

We spent all day on Saturday working on the house and I loved seeing the kids find ways to add fun to the working moments :) ...

Thanks George for the hits.

Painting (upstairs room #1) -

Colors used: Creamy Buttermilk, Gray Timber Wolf and Clean White (ceiling and trim)

Painter: Kade (white and gray)

Painter: Lauren (3 strokes of gray)

2 walls in Gray Timber Wolf

2 walls in Creamy Buttermilk (Painted by Wendy)

Painter: Kade

Music for this job: Bread, Air Supply and George Strait

MUD MEN ...

Tory, Robert and Robby - THE MUD MEN

Robert Lichfield

The Mud

Working on the ceiling in the front room...

Simply mud.
More adventures to come! :)

Thanks Rob and Dad for all your help!

The pantry door ...

I can hardly wait to get my hands on that little door and create some magic! :)

Look: It's a tool pile and a ton of work!

Tool time for the Christensen family ... Bring on Christmas break - WE are ready to work! :)

Green shag carpet ... Hmmmmm!

OK see the green shag under that brick work? Interesting huh? I wish this old house could talk and tell me about it's days long gone. I'm sure it would have some very fun info about the green shag and purple walls ... YIPES! :)

NEW Windows ...

I love old windows - love them. But they are not energy efficient (darn it) and I believe these windows might actually be sealed shut by paint and years of use ...

With that said, I'm happy to report that ALL the old wonderful windows in the house are going to be replaced! Most likely in January ...

The ceiling

We're not crazy about this blue but we do love the shape of the room! Check out the ceiling and the floors ... Color subject to change (during Christmas break)!!

On a snowy Saturday afternoon in December ...

We found out the walls used to be purple ... Before someone covered them with brown

Now we'll fix them up and change them to the color we like!

One step at a time ... :)

Thanks Gary Christensen and Robert Lichfield for your help today! :)

We're off and running now ... Let the hammers swing, the paint rollers roll and the good times continue!