Those Summer Plans….

I am feeling very ambitious this summer.  Very ambitious.  Probably to the point where I will
over-promise and under-deliver.  But, I like to put these ideas out there and let them percolate for awhile (in other words, get Worker Bee used to the idea), ruminate on them, and then execute.

So.  What are my plans?

1.  Finish the Girls Clubhouse OR turn it back into my Potting Shed.

Ignore the dead plant.  You looked, didn't you!  C'mon people!  You had one job....

Before Baby Bee came along our house came with a playhouse.  Very simply built and we almost didn't keep it, but the idea of using it as a potting shed grew on me and, in fact, it was my potting shed until Baby Bee was about 3 or 4.  At that point it became her playhouse.  A few summers ago we had big plans to convert it into a clubhouse for Baby Bee and her friends to hang out in.  But they don't really go outside much when they are here or they just hang on the patio.

The current potting area - I'm afraid the wood potting bench is probably done for, but I found a great galvanized one I need to assemble.

So, I'm thinking about turning it back into MY Potting Shed.  I've got some galvanized things I would love to put in there, plus reuse a lot of what we put in there for the clubhouse.

This is part of the makeover for the playhouse - I think I can reuse most of these pieces in the potting shed, don't you?

What are the chances I get this done?  About 50/50.

2.  Change the Guest Room into Sweet Bee's Studio.

I've got all the supplies to build this desk/worktable.  I plan to use it for sewing and my cricut.  I am so stinkin' excited to get this project going, but Worker Bee needs to finish up some stuff for school before we can get going on it.  HURRY!  HURRY!  HURRY!

I think our guest room is a very cute and charming room with it's vintage plaid and sort of cabiny vibe, but it serves two masters - neither one of them very well.  It's also where I store all my craft supplies.  Worker Bee has already agreed to this change (and we can use Baby Bee's room for guests if need be and put her in the living room or studio to sleep - she's young - she can take it).  In fact, I went on a road trip to IKEA and bought quite a few of the supplies/pieces needed for this conversion.  However, it hasn't been tackled yet, because we need to completely empty out that room and PURGE!  Oh Lordy, do we need to purge.  Okay.  I need to purge.  Not a weekend project and not one I want to live with for several weeks as I work on it during the school year.

Inspiration for the studio makeover!

Chances of this being my first project and the one I definitely complete?  VERY HIGH.

3.  Paint and revamp our master bedroom.

It's been a few summers since we did this and I really loved it at the time, but it's just a little too dark for my beachy summer look I'm dreaming of.  The walls need to be repainted (they are currently a lovely mocha color) and the furniture we painted black now needs to be white or apple green or something more cheerful.  This will be a pretty simple project because I know what I want to do and I just need to do it.  Plus I'm pretty good at purging in there because it is so small and we have VERY limited closet space.

I do need to get a bedspread or dust ruffle/coverlet, some new lampshades, and I would love to find a comfy reading chair for the room (or clothes piling on chair - you know how that goes) but I pretty much know what I want to do so it's just a matter of getting it all put together.

And the chances of finishing this little dream?  Pretty good - better then the potting shed, but not as good as the craft studio.

4.  Stripping wallpaper - kitchen and bathroom

We bought our little cottage in 1997 and wallpapered shortly after we moved in - and I ADORED the wallpaper then.  The kitchen is a Waverly vintage cherry look and the bathroom is a gorgeous bright floral - all bright blues and greens and reds and yellows with white backgrounds.  But I am done with them.  DONE I TELL YOU! (I keep telling myself and my husband and other people and yet I still haven't done anything about it.)  I am going to look for someone to strip it for us and prep the walls and then we will paint.  I think we haven't done it because we DREAD the idea of stripping the wallpaper.  I think I would rather stick an icepick in my eye then strip wallpaper.  (Any my sincere apologies if I've brought up painful memories for any of you who have stabbed yourself in the eye with an icepick.)

There are many other projects we need to do with the bathroom/kitchen, but those are going to have to wait for a while.  In the meantime, I have to --- I HAVE TO --- make that kitchen reflect my current aesthetic.  Somehow.  Some way.

Chances of getting this job done?  VERY GOOD, if I can find someone to strip the wallpaper at a reasonable price.  And….I have no idea what a reasonable price might be.

5.  Replacing the bookshelf under the living room/sun room connecting window with a set of bench drawers (or would it be drawered benches?) that will be a long banquette kind of thing in the sunroom for the dining table.  Similar to this picture.

Here's what it looks like now.  

Again - it was perfect when the sunroom was like a little family room, but when we kicked the dining room out there so we could have a library, it didn't quite work for me anymore.  (yes, I used the pronoun me, not us, because frankly these are all my ideas and Worker Bee is just along for the ride).  That room was so cute - I had it filled with bent willow chairs and tables, a cute tan and green striped couch and floral pillows and the bookcase was filled with books.  Didn't have a blog then, so I never really took pictures of it - or if I do they are in another project box - so you will just have to trust me.

And will I actually get this project done?  The odds are on this one are the lowest because Worker Bee is not on board.  He is worried that one day we will have a very entertaining dinner party and someone will throw their head back in laughter and go right through the window and die.  (He can be such a party pooper.)  But I have gently reminded him that we have the same set up in the kitchen and no one has found us to be so hilarious that they have thrown their head back into the window and shattered the glass and died.

Plus I have lots of furniture to paint!!!  

Please wish me luck on at least getting the craft studio done!  I'm itching to make some things and I don't want to start if I know I'm tearing the room apart!

Thanks for buzzing by for a visit!  It's always so nice to know you stopped by.