Tobin & Shav's Room: After the After

Back in October, my friend Sally watched my children and gave me the gift of time; and in that time, I completely cleaned and re-organized Tobin's room.  I thought I was done, and I posted before & after videos.

Three months later, we (meaning Jeff) started painting Tobin's room; and everything was turned topsy-turvy in there...some things shuffled out to the hallway, some things piled on the dresser and the top bunkbed, etc...a complete mess.  But that's a necessary part of the process:  chaos before completion.  Jeff spent a number of evenings giving up his opportunity for rest so that he could serve me by painting; he was speaking my love language, for sure.  ;-)

Not too long ago, we were blessed by our friend Becky who came over one afternoon and spent several hours touching up the paint and adding an extra coat where needed, accomplishing so much that I was able to, a few days later, put the room back together and bring complete order to it again.  What a feeling of satisfaction!!!

Here are some photos to show the results:  :)

Looking in from the hall...

From inside the room, looking back towards the door and the closet by the door...

The bookshelves and antique trunk from my grandparents...

As I arranged these books back on the newly-painted shelves, I was flooded with memories of reading these books when I was a girl/teenager and the influence they've had on me.  To mention just two examples, the Janette Oke books shaped my idea of what romance and marriage should look like, and the Thoene books added fuel to the fire of my love for Israel...  :)

These seven dwarves were made by Ralia, a dear lady in Israel...

The dresser...

Name and meaning signs we got long, long ago for Tobin and Shav...

I like how the colors of the name signs coordinate with the rest of the room...

The bunk beds, single over double size...

There is just enough space between the end of the bed and the door to fit this bookcase...

Above the bookcase hangs a small calendar and, more meaningful by far, a small piece of embroidery that I did when I was eight years old (and just recently discovered in the bottom of my cedar chest!)...  :)

Two memory verses that we review each night as we sit on the bottom bunk together...

Tobin's top bunk with his blue bin for corralling his oh-so-precious things that he MUST have in bed with him...  :)

Shav's blue bin...these were very inexpensive (from the dollar store, I think?)...but I'm thrilled to have them because both of the inhabitants of this room are known for accumulating large quantities of stuff in their beds!...I'm hoping the blue bins will help to organize the random items that make their way into these beds...  ;-)

The wallpaper border...when we got the quilts for the beds in this room, I had not chosen a particular theme, wanting to keep my decorating options open, especially as the boys get older...but when we decided to put up a border, it didn't take too long to decide on a nautical theme.  We LOVE the ocean, the quilts (in my head, at least)  ;-)  go well with a nautical theme, and the yellow walls coordinate nicely with the border, too.  At least, that's what I think...  ;-)

One of my "treasures" from childhood...I'm sure we got this little figure one year during our annual trek to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (which just happens to be my favorite beach in the whole entire world!)...  :)

Lists can be amazingly helpful; and as I try to combine the bedtime routines of Tobin and Shav since they're sharing a room now, I wanted to simplify things.  Making this list was quick and easy, but already it's proven its usefulness as it hangs there on the bed where we can easily check it.  I'm discovering that if I do the bedtime routine in the same way every night, it will become second nature and will eliminate bickering about what to do next.  Less bickering--especially at bedtime--is a VERY good thing...  :)

Glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling are always fun to see after the last goodnight is said and the lights go out...  :)

I've never claimed to be a great decorator; but if I've learned one thing pertaining to that topic through the years, it's this:  do what you like.  In the end, who cares what the experts think?  They don't have to live in your house.  So, when I see Tobin and Shav's "new" room, I don't evaluate it based on what a magazine might tell me about it or what a "professional" might recommend.  To me, I see order...room to play...open spaces...light...color...not cluttered surfaces (glory hallelujah!)..."a place for everything, and everything in its place"; and all of that, in my eyes, equals beauty.  Oh, sure, when I look around, I still see some finishing touches I'd like to make--some kind of curtains for the windows, some new switch plates and outlet covers, some photographs of Tobin and Shav for the walls, maybe one of Jeff's dad's paintings to display, etc.--but I'm choosing to not focus on those.

Instead, this room, to me, speaks peace and happiness.  And I am very well satisfied with that!  :)