Did you ever have those little glow-in-the-dark stars that you promised your parents you would only put up on your ceiling, and then of course ended up on fan blades, walls, and anywhere else they would stick? Well I did, and I loved them. I think mine even incorporated designs, including the number of the soccer player I liked in junior high. Fast forward 15 years – hello, Karma. I took (what felt like millions) of those little stars off all the ceilings, walls, doors, and fan blades of our various bedrooms. I took down “Yo” from a door, several different hearts, designer brand emblems and much more.  And, of course, the only way to see all of them is to have the room pitch black. Needless to say, star wars, episode: dallas was well underway. While this took a lot of patience (and balance, it turns out), I couldn’t help but smile about my teenage years and the stars that are still on the ceiling of my childhood room at my parent’s house. Two nights later, it turns out the “force” was strong with me, and I was able to withstand the dark side and remove most of the stars, but there are still a couple lingering throughout the house that were picked up by some innocent and maybe unfortunate bystanders…

Bystander 1: If you look closely, you can see stars on his chest. He was not pleased!

So what did I learn from this exercise?  I will never allow my children to put stickers in their rooms nor put anything up that would need anchors or poster/sticky adhesive… those too, had to be dismantled from the walls. We’ll be simply hanging things the old-fashioned way, with nails. I spent Friday taking down stars, and putty/adhesive from the walls, while Paul removed metal anchors from our walls. Firing a 77 with the blisters and cuts on his hands from removing those anchors apparently gained him street cred from the white-collared country club goers. Adda boy.

My first weekend goal was to get a fresh coat of paint in the office.

Office - The family photos with all that adhesive.

Office - door view

I used goo gone on the adhesive wall, and it worked like a charm. I applied a little amount to a rag and rubbed; then, I let it sit for a couple minutes before removal. The smell was horrible!! You know it’s bad when you’re looking forward to the application of oil-based primer to mask the smell of orange scented goo gone.

Goo Gone in action!

Prime Time

I let the primer sit overnight, so I could have a fresh start the next morning… I started with the roller first. You can see my coffee cup on the desk! I start my day out right!

I must say I really like the mustard-y/tan outcome of this room.  I had Paul pick the colors for this room, and he did a great job! (Benjamin Moore Natura Wilmington Tan HC-34 in eggshell)

Oh sweet progress!  On my list of to do’s for this room:

• new fan
• sew a cushion for the window bench
• paint bookshelves
• organize the shelves
• put up diplomas and artwork

Attic Insulation

Two Wind Turbines

But wait, there’s more! I still cranked out a family room reveal as well!  I was crazy-ambitious this weekend.  I guess I’m really excited to start decorating, but I really need/want to paint all the walls first before I start buying and rearranging furnishings!

Sorry, I didn’t orientate the photos the same in the family room.  I’ll have to remember to look at the originals before I get started… this blog thing is a little new.

And then I started the process again! Roller, check!

We were really looking for a warm and inviting color for our family room, and I think we nailed it. We went with Truffle AF-130 Benjamin Moore Natura in eggshell. It was a great choice for this space. I can picture us cozying up next to the fireplace watching a football game.

Family Room To Do List:

• Paint fireplace
• Art on walls
• Interesting/Unique lamp light
• Mount TV
• New face on fireplace door
• New window treatments
• New light fixtures – can lights??

We ended our weekend with a couple glasses of wine (milk too!) and a household favorite:  Venison Spaghetti.  It was a wonderful, productive weekend at home. Here’s to another work week! I need to get some shut-eye because I’m going to start heading out before work to walk/run.  I love to run and it’s starting to cool down in Dallas to start back up!