I never could have imagined the experiences, challenges and rewards that come along with the title and responsibility of being "Mom". Everyday my little ones present different needs to be met, new attitudes to understand, stages to conquer, and find new ways to unravel my patience. Despite the challenges, the rewards that come from a genuine I love you mom, a moment of 3 children happily playing together, and even a simple accomplishment bring feelings and emotions that words can't describe. I am ever so grateful for my Precious Little Ones; for their individuality, talents, and the completeness each one contributes to the Cox Clan.

September 10, 2009

Experiencing "Labor" Day

I have always looked forward to Labor Day Weekend...not only is at an extended weekend, but it is usually spent camping, having barbeques, and hanging out with friends or family. That's how I have always spent it.  This year, instead of doing something fun and relaxing, Alan and I decided that we should finish a long, overdue project.  Back in March, I started painting the boys bedroom. Between wrong paint colors to begin with and Alan slowly working on the wood work, it had been 5 months and we still weren't done!


Now the design/appearance we were after looks something like this:


Only the bottom half would be light brown/tan instead of white and the top blue.

You would think, not too hard, right?? Alan is very talented with building things and he has done several projects for our home that have turned out great so I trust his opinon and judgement.  However, this project turned out to be a nightmare!  Something that should have taken two days from start to finish ended up taking 6-7 full days. We truly worked hard or "labored" all weekend! 

Our first issue was of course paint colors.  After that was solved, our next biggest problem became the wood slats. Painting on top of the wood slats next to the textured walls did not look good, so we had to figure out what other options we had.  Alan did not want to spend more money to buy wood to cut and put in between all the slats and there was no way we were going to rip out all the woodwork.  So our last option was to make stripes out of the slats. The big battle became what colors to use.  We tried all our options for the slats, baseboard and chair-railing.  We couldn't agree and didn't love one thing in particular.  We finally decided to go with all chocolate brown....

But when it was all painted, we didn't like it!
After looking at it all day Sunday, we knew we had to change it. By this point, I told Alan, he could do whatever he wanted. I was done!
He chose all white, which did look better. It just wasn't the look I was going after. Alan thought we could have it all repainted by noon on Monday.  Since it was his birthday that day, we wanted to do something fun later on. Unfortunately, that's not how it went.

We really struggled making all the stripes have nice straight lines.  The paint kept bleeding through the tape on the textured walls.  We would paint white, touch up blue, touch up white, touch up blue, etc. etc.  We finally discovered that a little caulking and "Monster" painters tape did the trick. Eventually, at 11 pm, we finished...3 full roles of painters tape, 8 different gallons and colors of paint, and hours and hours later we completed this project! 

Now, there's still lots of decorating and some finishing touches, but here it is...

While talking with a friend about the challenges and frustrations of this project, she said "I think there is a lesson to be learned for you and Alan, not just the project itself."  After thinking about that, I have to agree completely!  We learend a lesson the hard way about communication, compromise, and patience! By Saturday night we were both exhausted, very frustrated, and disagreed about anything and everything!  On Monday, we really had to pull together to finish this project. Our attitudes changed and we really worked well together. I know it sounds silly, but I really think future projects will go much smoother next time. That's when we're up for doing another project!! It won't be any time soon, I can guarantee that!

14 comments:

Jenna said...

Jalen was telling me all about you finishing painting his room! I'm glad it all worked out, I think it looks great!

The Bluths said...

I love the bed spread colors! I think it looks great!

We'll be tackling painting the kitchen this weekend...

Shannon Morgan Photography - Bainbridge Island, WA Photographer said...

it looks amazing!!! great job!!

The Dyreng's said...

Jennie I love it I think that it looks so cute. Me and Travis did that project in Kera's house so we know the frustration.. lol. I am sure the boys love it. And I Love your new header on your page it is darling.

Jayci said...

I'm not much of a painting fan. So, having to paint, and then re-paint, and re-paint, and re-paint...well, I'da been pretty peeved and non-communicative. I think it turned out way cute, though. Happy Birthday, Alan!

Jayci said...

I LOVE your new pictures at the top of your blog. You are beautiful!

mindy said...

I love your new header pictures!! Those are so sweet--especially the one on the right.

Great job on the room...labor of love I guess!

Mark and Jessica said...

The room looks great and you're the only one who has trouble looking at it because you know everything you had to go through to get it.

Oh, and your kids aren't the only ones without ducks. Robbie is gathering things from the house to sell for those stupid ducks! I am so done with it!

Rebecca Barlow said...

I really like the white. it looks great. Decorating can be really frustrating sometimes. I am glad that it all worked out. We need to hang out soon.

JaKe and NaT* said...

jennie is turned out so dang cute!! that doesn't suprise me one bit though because you can take anything and turn it into a masterpiece.. maybe someday when we get a house I will for sure be callin you on your opinions of how to do rooms:) Happy birthday Alan!! love and miss you guys!

Shelby said...

I LOVE the room. You and Allen are very talented! I also love the new header, it has Shannon writen all over it.

Brooke said...

First of all....I love your header and new pictures!! Adorable!!

I love how you tell it like it really was....because these are the things that are so hard to get through...but then you can look back and laugh at! The room looks great, I've been wanting to see it!

Shannon said...

:) I think it looks great! You guys did a great job! I bet ya even learned something too ;)Hehe!

peterson said...

Hey I think the room turned out so cute! and I know all about paint color issues. I still want to repaint stuff in my house but Adam isn't going for that just yet. And tell Alan Happy Birtday. I totally spaced that one!