2 Story Foyer to Larger Bonus Room

Happy Saturday!  I started a new job January 12th has my head spinning!  I have a lot to learn and I am loving it.  I don't know if it's the career change or the fact that it is a new year, but my creative wheels are spinning in terms of our house.

We built our house and shortly after moving in we wished that we had the builder frame our 2 story foyer as a 1 story foyer which would then provide an additional 60 square feet to our bonus room upstairs.  We are currently reviewing quotes from contractors to do just that.  In the mean time, this is what I am picturing for the space.  

I am no longer in love with our big, brown sectional that was in our old living  room, but it is comfortable and practically indestructible.  I really can't justify replacing it in our boys' hangout room.  

My goals for the new space include:

TV Watching

Gaming

Beverage & Snack Center

Desks

Floor space to wrestle (they are boys after all)

The boys will still use the Dining Room aka Lego Library for lego building.

To meet these goals we need:

2 desks on casters and desk chairs

Bean bag chairs

Mini fridge

Wall Art

Window treatments-shades and cornices (this is embarrassing...we have paper shades in here still)

Pillows

Do you have a kid/teen hangout space?  What are essential functions in the space?

Mirror mirrors on the wall

We finally hung the mirrors ya'll!

I started by laying them out on the floor.  I still couldn't get a good idea of how they would look hung in the corner. Please forgive the horrible lighting and crappy iPhone photos, but they will give you an idea of the process.

Luckily the Target mirrors come with templates printed on the back of the packaging.  I cut them all out and traced the other mirrors onto newspaper and cut them out too.  Then I hung the templates on the wall with painters tape.

Then all we had to do was hammer in some nails and hang the mirrors.  Easy peasy!

And here's the final results!

I am sharing on 

I am loving how Lisa at Shine Your Light updated her Living Room.  It looks classic, comfortable and just gorgeous!

Check out This is Happiness too.

Craigslist Finds

Bless'er House recently posted about 18 Tips for Better Craigslisting.  Lauren also shared a breakdown of items purchased and their price tag.  You should check it out!

Lauren is definitely a Craigslist Pro!  I got to thinking...I have gotten quite a bit of furniture myself from Craigslist.

Here's the breakdown:

Desk  $100

Bamboo nesting tables $20 (not pictured yet).

Gorgeous french cane wingback chair for $75 (worth $1200!!!)

Solid oak kitchen table $150

Dining table aka Lego Table $75. Check out this before shot!!!

After:

  

Close up of the faux zinc base

Chandelier $30 (pictured above)

Buffet $60 (not shown on other side of room).

Mantel $30 (shown above, cut apart and hung as a shelf)

Dresser $150  (not shown) 

Bar cart $3

Wood curtain rod $2

Bedroom set (2 dressers and 1 night stand) $150

End tables $110

Chifarobe $60

Bookshelf $20

Closet bookshelves $75 for 3

Grand Total = $1,110

I think that is a lot of furniture for the money!  I don't know what I would do without Craigslist. And that doesn't even include the furniture that I have purchased, refinished, used and then resold.  I was not in any way compensated by Craigslist, I just love their site.  If you are local to Raleigh, please leave me the good stuff :)

Don't forget to check out 

Happy Hunting!  

Disney World Part 3

Are you sick of hearing about my Disney trip yet?

Day 3 was spent at the Magic Kingdom.  It was PACKED!  The lines were soooo long!  We took the long route to get there: water taxi to France in Epcot, hike across all of Epcot, board the monorail, depart monorail, and board another monorail to Magic Kingdom.  We came back the much more direct route by taking the Disney bus straight to the Disney Dolphin.  Oops! Lesson learned.

 Anyway, since Magic Kingdom was so busy we decided to cash in our Fast Pass rides and then go swimming at the Swan & Dolphin pool.  Mason & Lucas LOVED the Tomorrowland Speedway!  We rode it several times over the next two days.

Ice cream break!

Did you know they now have 2 Dumbo rides?  We had a fast pass, but if you have to wait in line the kiddos get to play in a jungle gym.

Me & Mason 2015

Me & Mason in 2012

Then I dragged everyone on the Teacups because that is what I remember riding when I was 4 years old at Magic Kingdom.

Our boys love maps!  It was the easiest way to keep them entertained while waiting in line.

Now

Mason reading a map in 2012

Last but not least was a ride on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.  Lucas thought it was scary too!

Back in 2012

 Look how much Mason has grown!

 

At least Lucas didn't get a huge bump on his head this time!

Our boys will always have to make a pit stop at the Honeypot at the Pooh ride and take a spin on the Tomorrowland Speedway on all future trips.  I just love seeing how much they have grown and changed.

Thanks for sticking with me on my journey through time...where were we...oh yeah, MK was packed.  Fastpass rides, then pool.  Then we showered and came back for another spin on the Tomorrowland Speedway, the People Mover and fireworks.

Cinderella's Castle lit up Frozen style was Incredible!

What do you remember from your first trip to Disney?