February 6, 2009

Re-arrange-itis




I'm at it again.

My girlfriend came over on Wed, armed with pepperoni bread,homemade chicken soup and some amazing Italian cookies from a local bakery. Her goal was to help me decide if my family room furniture would work better in other places. That's a fancy way of saying, she was helping me move furniture.

We ended up eating and chatting for so long.....so we only had about 5 minutes to move the furniture(she had kids getting off the bus). She gave me some great ideas and I'm really happy with the change(on the first floor). Our problem is that when we first moved to our house, we bought some furniture for the bonus room(second floor)...and then could not get the furniture through the doorway because the arms are so big! Until we finish the basement, the pieces must stay in our family room. That is why I'm always moving them....they really don't belong there. G-man was happy with the change. Not a big deal.

My friend had also suggested that I switch the boys bedroom with our bonus room....BTW-it's not an official bonus room. It's just a big bedroom that we don't know what to do with. It probably should have been split into 2 bedrooms to begin with. That is a future project.

So, Thursday I woke up thinking -I'm moving the rooms....NOW! We are talking big pieces of furniture and lots of little things. I started and then felt like I was making a mistake. So, my super hero decorating friend came to the rescue-again. After she could sense confusion in my voice.....she said "I'm on my way!".

We've moved to a new town and all our friends live a minimum of 20 minutes away-which is a long drive for the natives. I remember when I lived in Detroit and Minneapolis....everything was at least a 20 minute drive. Here 20 minutes is a day trip(am I right Carla and Carol?!)I was thrilled that she came 2 days in a row.

We started by eating and chatting again.....and then to the upstairs rooms I had already started moving. After moving some more things, dropping a bookcase on my foot and evaluating again....we decided to move things back and keep them the way they were. It was all worth it-we got some good exercise and had fun chatting.

Now, I need to organize, box up toys and dream about all the things in the Pottery Barn catalog I would love to buy. Don't worry, I'm a dreamer not an impulse shopper.

**I welcome any decorating suggestions :)The above pictures are of the bonus room. I feel like there is so much wasted space. Plus the room does not feel very cozy.

9 comments:

Tiffanie said...

How fun!!! What a good friend...and around here, everything is at least 20 minutes away! LOL For a large space like that you need to divide it off into sections for a more intimite and cozy feel..plus to know what each section is for. You can divide the room up with couches, long book cases, different rugs in a particular space and tables. Start by figuring out what exactly you want to accomplish up there, what "rooms" you'd like to have in the space. For example you might have the schoolroom space, lounging/TV space, playroom space, exercise space. Then use masking tape to layout the space. Next find pieces that will help fit into those spots, or purchase new ones :) If I was there I would most definitely drive any distance to come over, EAT, and help you out! :)

Carla said...

Well, excuse me Mary, but YOUR 20 minutes is a real person's 45. And yes, audience, it does take me 45 minutes to get to Mary's house, NOT the 20 that she "thinks"! I think she just says it takes 20 minutes so that we'll come out more often! I love you darlin' but you need to sharpen your map skills!

really.truly said...

Carla....I said a minimum of 20 minutes. Laurie(she was the one visiting) lives about 20 minutes from me. Yes,YOU, girlfriend live 40+minutes. We live way too far from each other. I dream of the day when you could just pop over for a visit!!

Michele said...

maybe you could use your larger pieces of furniture to create several little rooms in one large room, that way it would feel more cozy. we used to have a big bonus room like that and I felt the same way about - a huge space with no flow whatsoever. good luck! Also try googling decorating large spaces.

Carla said...

I KNEW you would post on here! You know that I would pop over way more especially to drop my girls off and go to the huge walmart, with you of course! Or to find a new place to get my hair cut! I need a new doo! Any suggestions?

Alicia said...

LOL, I had fun reading this post!!

I say it needs a couch in there!!

carol said...

I'm so glad that your having fun...enjoy...Your home is wonderful...It's a cozy and safe place!!! Have a special day tomorrow!!!! I'll talk to you soon...

StacyB said...

If your bonus room is your school room, leave it wide open. Some days you need lots of space to STRETCH OUT!
But I do like the idea of making that a HUGE bedroom for the boys. Is it a 2 bedroom, one bonus room house? You could then get a nice office out of what is NOW the boys' room.

Anonymous said...

I'm green with envy that others can drive 20 minutes to come visit (ok, 45, I'd do it!) There is no one fun here.

I'm also green with envy that you have a room that you can actually rearrange. My house is unrearrangeable (my new word). It has to just stay as is or nothing works. I LOVE to rearrange - it's in my blood, I came out of the womb ready to move stuff around.

Lastly, I can't see the whole room, but I love the idea, as mentioned, of defining the spaces. Wish I was there in person! :(

Janainaz

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