Days 122-127: A New Living Room

Sorry for the absence. We have been really busy around here. This summer, Issa decided her project would be to start to learn interior design. She spent all June learning some software that my interior design colleagues recommended. Last week, we told her that she could take a stab at redoing our living room. We told her the model had to be exactly to scale, and we gave her a budget. We were thinking we might implement her design in August. Tuesday night she brought us her finished designs:

Everything met our exact requirements, and we loved it! She had even gone online to research all of the furniture. The only hitch was to do it within our budget we had to do it now. She had found some great sales, and they were all expiring last Saturday. So...off we went. We ordered the couch online from Macy's Tuesday night, and Wednesday afternoon we went to Home Depot to grab paint samples.

Thursday morning, Issa and I were at Enterprise when they opened to arrive at IKEA when they opened. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes because Issa had meticulously made our shopping list including bin and part numbers:

 That was us after we loaded all of this in the car:

 It was also perfect timing because Friday was bulk pick-up. A lot of our furniture in the living room was completely worn out and just needed to go, so Thursday night we started unloading the room and hauling that to the curb.

Friday, Brad repaired our grout:

 And we completely emptied the room:

 Issa even learned how to spackle:

 Saturday morning, we were back at it with the sanding and wiping everything down:

 We also won cool points by letting the kids draw on the walls before we painted:

 After lunch, we were ready to start painting:

 And by the time we went to bed Saturday even the trim was finished!

Sunday morning, it was finally time to start building:

 While the boys tackled the new buffet, Issa and I tackled the chairs:

 And the ottoman:

 Evan loved the building part:

 Issa even chose new artwork, and she and Brad got it all hung:

 The panorama:

 Issa was too excited that she ran fast enough to get in the picture twice!

And the room:

 The last piece, the couch, was delivered today:

For the first time in years, we can all comfortably sit in the living room again. We are absolutely in love, and Issa is taking the rest of the week off--she earned it!