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Before, During, and… During.

Melissa Beene Ford/ before and after+ Big Blue House

I mentioned a couple of months ago that now that my two girls are sharing a bedroom, I wanted to redecorate their room to have actual matching beds that actually matched the walls and window treatments.

Silly, foolish, frivolous = I know. Trust me, I’m married to a man who sees no point in cute, especially if cute involves spending any money.

So to keep BF happy, I’ve been trying to do this whole little re-do with an annoying little budget situation in mind but yet still not going all garage-sale chic.

I started them in one room with mis-matched beds and bedding. This was KB’s room, which was really cute until I moved Annie’s toddler bed in with its black-and-white toile bedding.

Then it was hideous. So I moved them to Annie’s old room, which once looked like this:

Until I put their beds together into bunk beds here, and got this:

I wanted to gouge my eyes out because of the ugliness of the combination of red walls, pink dust ruffles, and 172-year-old blankets that belonged to somebody’s grandmother.

Plus I decided the bunk beds were an accident waiting to happen what with that ceiling fan in arms’ reach, PLUS impossible to make the bed every day for a 7-year-old. Bunk beds are from the devil, I tell you.

I found matching twin quilts at Marshall’s, which were pink and green, took the beds apart, and moved them back to the pink room. Which was already painted pink and matched the new quilts.

BF looooved this whole process, by the way, as you can imagine. I aim to please….

So they’ve had matching twin beds in KB’s old room for the past few months. Fairly cute, I might add, and zero money spent. Win, win.

But I couldn’t be content with that. No.

The other room is bigger, by two whole feet. That’s significant. FURTHERMORE, KB’s old room has a blinding street light 4 feet from her window so its virtually daylight in there 24 hours a day causing certain three-year-olds to have a hard time going to sleep then waking up before 6 every morning. So I made the decision to move the twin beds back to the red room, Annie’s old nursery.

I’ve been having blackout drapes made for the four windows in Annie’s old room.

Have you ever had custom floor-to-ceiling blackout drapes made for four windows?

My kids may not go to college since I have had to cash out their 529 account to pay for these suckers, but at least they’ll be able to sleep in a cute, DARK room. Past 6 am, if all goes according to plan.

Drapes are as yet unfinished. I started painting the bedroom today.

We’ve decided, for silly budgetary reasons , to keep the pink/green theme and work with the bedding we already had. Do you like that ‘we,’ as if someone else around here is helping with the decorating….?

Its cute, but KB is quite crushed that we couldn’t have a little leopard print thrown in somewhere. She also asked for a king-sized poster bed like Crystal’s, some feathers on the lamps, and beads in the doorway. She probably won’t get all any of those items.

Have I ever shown you what this room looked like before?

Blue wallpaper. Ceiling tiles. Hideous fan. RED CARPET.

Red carpet that smelled worse than a wet goat because it was damp and moldy underneath. Somewhere I have a picture of myself on my hands and knees, wearing a gas mask and gloves, tearing the old red carpet out of this room.

And on an unrelated note, in eleven years of marriage, BF has picked up the camera ONE TIME to take a picture of me. There is ONE PICTURE of me in this entire house post-1998-wedding, which OF COURSE had to be from that day I was on my hands and knees, pouring sweat, wearing raggedy clothes and a gas mask, gagging from the stench of the foul-smelling carpet. Though I’m glad to have one shred of photographic proof that I do actually live here with this family, there is a strong probability that picture will never make it into the blog.

Tomorrow I’ll show you the stunning and fabulous paint job.

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Comments

  1. Wendy says

    October 1, 2009 at 3:10 am

    I really like the valances in the originally pink room. Are you still going to use them? And are the kids confused as to where to go when you tell them it's bedtime? :o)

    Reply
  2. Melissa from the Blue House says

    October 1, 2009 at 4:00 am

    More than you know, Wendy!! Mostly because I have been letting them sleep in MY room lately. I have blackout drapes in there…. blackout drapes are a blessing from the Lord. My kids sleep til 8-ish. 😉 <br />This bedroom re-do is MOSTLY about reclaiming my own bedroom and let my children sleep in an actual bed rather than a sleeping bag!! <br />I can&#39;t wait to be able to say, &quot;THIS

    Reply
  3. Jana says

    October 1, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    wow, so many rooms to choose from!!! what a cool house, I understand your need for cute, and the moldy carpet…i had a similar incident recently…

    Reply
  4. Lianne says

    October 1, 2009 at 4:34 pm

    W.O.W.! I love to re-arrange and re-decorate, but I think you&#39;ve got me beat. Thanks for the heads-up on the bunk beds. ; )

    Reply
  5. Elle Bee says

    October 1, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    You have great decorating talent! I love the pink room and the valence fabric is beyond adorable. Did you make them? I can&#39;t wait to decorate my twins&#39; rooms. I&#39;m waiting til they move to twin beds though, so I know what bedspreads they&#39;ll have, etc. But I&#39;ve got shopping carts filled up with potential art, curtains, bedspreads, all over cyberspace just waiting to check

    Reply
  6. Kathy says

    October 3, 2009 at 3:21 am

    Yeah! I love reading your decorating posts.

    Reply
  7. Hillary says

    October 6, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    i love redecorating, but it violates the instant gratification that my brain desires. why can&#39;t a room paint itself?

    Reply

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About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

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I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
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That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
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It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
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Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
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Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
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Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
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I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
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How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
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It’s the goal, though. 
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This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
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I’m working on both.
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