Home Makeover

During spring break this year, we did not go on a trip like many of our friends did. Instead, we stayed home. And cleaned. And painted. And rearranged. And cleaned some more. And in doing so, we moved four rooms around. It was a quest that lasted 7 days, but our lives have greatly improved because of it! (WARNING: There are a lot of photos to document the journey)

We live in a 2-bedroom single-wide trailer. It was initially a 3-bedroom house, but the previous owners took a wall out in between two bedrooms so a king bed would fit. That was our master bedroom. Living in a small house with 6 people can be difficult, and our master bedroom became the catch-all room as well. There was not an inch of wall space that was not used. Needless to say, Josh and I didn't spend a lot of time in there because it felt enclosed, cramped, and almost chlosterphobic. (These photos were taken on a typical uncleaned day)

In 2004, we added on to our home: a bonus room right off the living room. As the twins grew and another baby arrived, it became the boys' play room. It also served as a partial bedroom from time to time.

(the living room before)









Over Christmas break this year, we moved the bunkbeds from the playroom into the 2nd bedroom because Kanyon had started sleeping through the night. However, as soon as all 4 boys were sleeping in one bedroom, Kanyon's regular sleeping habits returned (up every couple of hours every night).












We knew we had to make some changes because we were all having sleep deprivation problems. Although we could've just moved the bunkbeds back to the playroom, it wasn't the ideal solution because the environment isn't quiet being right next to the living room and Josh and I being night owls. We stewed over what to do for weeks. I finally came up with a doable solution: Josh and I would take over the current playroom as our master bedroom. The three older boys would take over our current master bedroom as their bedroom. And Kanyon would have his own room again.

The first step was cleaning out the playroom, scrubbing the walls, and hanging closet rods (because there's no closet in there) so we could move Josh and my belongings in: the dressers, king bed, clothes, and all the other crap.
























Once our master bedroom was vacated, the boys helped me paint the walls for their future room. I let them each pick one color: Ammon chose green, Jonah wanted blue, and Micah picked orange. We primed the wall, and they each helped me paint their color on a designated wall (the closet in their room is one entire wall, so there was no 4th wall to paint). All their toys, and their clothes, and their books were brought in. They also get two TV's now: one hooked up to the satellite dish and the VCR, and one hooked up to the two nintendos. They got new bunkbeds too, a single on top and double on bottom, and were so excited to sleep in their new beds in their new room! This room is the biggest in the house, and we wanted it to serve as their bedroom AND their play room, to help cut down on the clutter and the noise in our living room.


















Kanyon was moved from a toddler bed to a twin bed during this process, and we rearranged his room. We moved all his toys into his room, and moved his furniture around. He loves his new room. He requires a lot of personal space, and so this new home layout works so well for him.













The final step was rearranging the living room furniture. The new master bedroom is about 1 foot shorter in length, and 2 feet less in width than our old room. So the computer desk and a TV in our room wouldn't fit. We moved the living room TV to a wall that can be seen from our bedroom, and moved around the couches so that a smaller computer desk would fit in that room as well. It's crammed now with 2 couches, a piano, a bookshelf, the TV entertainment center, and the computer desk, but surprisingly it feels more open and larger than its previous layout.
(The view of the living room from our bed)
(the living room now)










During this 7-day project, we got rid of two dumpsters of garbage, took a big load to the dump, and have a shed filled with yard-sale items. That in itself is a great feeling! I love our new home layout!! Kanyon is doing better with his own space and the boys feel like they have their own special place and are enjoying it. Although it was a sacrifice for Josh and I to move into the smaller room, it is opened up to the more peaceful living room, and we spend more time in there now. Our home is more peaceful and calm and HAPPIER!!! Hopefully this fix will work until we buy our new home in about 2 more years!