making room

Our school district's spring break was the last week of March. We got the whole week off, and with the additions of the two weekends, our break from school totalled 10 days. It was absolutely glorious! We did a lot of spring cleaning--both inside and out in the yard, spent time with extended family on both sides, played with friends, celebrated Easter, and attended a wedding. The weather was both awesome & sunny, as well as cold & crummy, but the combination afforded us opportunities for both indoor and outdoor activities. The extended break from school was like a teaser for the summer vacation to come--after spending so much time home and with my family, I just wanted more of it!

 

The week started off with an indoor focus. The boys had discussed switching beds with each other, and even switching bedrooms. That sounded like a lot of work to me, so I finally convinced them that all they needed was to move their own beds & furniture around in their own rooms. During the first few days of spring break, I spent one day for each child working on their bedrooms: we deep cleaned, rearranged furniture, and changed out wardrobes. It was labor-intensive for me, but their rooms looked so awesome afterwards and the boys wanted to spend more time in their rooms after they were deep-cleaned, so I know they reap the rewards for their work, too. After 3 days, the transformations were complete and the boys were very happy with their "new" rooms.

 

 

The first room was Kanyon's. We got rid of bags of toys that he no longer plays with. We boxed up and gave away all the clothes that were too small for him. We brought in the "grow box" from the shed with the next size of clothes, and sorted & put away all the ones he wanted to keep in his drawers, and got rid of a lot of excess clothes that he didn't want in that size, too. Then we moved his furniture around, and vacuumed everywhere. We got that room done just in time before the Entrikin cousins came, so Kanyon was happy to have a clean room for them to see & play in.

 

BEFORE:

 

AFTER: (the bed is on the opposite wall than before--his sheets were in the wash when I took the photo, so the bed isn't very noticable in the photo)

 

 

The second room was the twins'. They had decided to move their beds into bunk beds. We cleaned out all their shelves and cupboards, and threw out several bags of garbage. Then we moved all the furniture around, and made the bunk beds. Then we went through their closet and all their drawers, putting away all the clothes that were too small for them, and saving them for Kanyon in the future. Now that the beds are stacked, there's so much more floor room for them, and they've been taking advantage of it!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The last room was Ammon's. He has an awesome bed unit that we got from cousin Seth, but he felt like it just wasn't working for him, and he didn't like being in his room anymore. So we took apart the bed, and changed the placement of the components on it to work better for him--the desk end is now near the entrance to his room, and the book shelf end is near the window. Then we moved around all the posters on his walls, and created some golf club wall art (which is my favorite part). I bought some hardware to help with his room transformation--some wall hooks for the golf clubs, and an over-the-door hanger for inside his closet to hold all of his jackets (apparently he collects them just like his dad). He sold the big TV that was on the floor of the room, because he no longer used it and it took up a lot of space. Lastly, we put away all the clothes that were too small for him out of his closet and drawers to save for the twins when they get older. Ammon now loves his room SOOO much more than before! It's amazing what a big difference a few small changes can make!

BEFORE:

 

AFTER: