Just a quick post to say

Just a quick post to say that I will still blog in the future!!

We had taken our house off the market for a break over the holidays. We had a meeting with our realtors last week and they felt pretty strongly that we need to paint our house to neutralize it (makes it sound like a combat zone!! Ha!). So, that's no small task in a house this size! We will have painted 10 rooms when all is said and done, hopefully Saturday. We've gone from greens, red, and blues to khaki, khaki, and oh! khaki! (Think "stone" khaki, not taupe.) Honestly, I think it's boring and stripped of all personality, but I guess that's what people want these days. I will say that I believe this about MY house right now... no one take that personally if your house is khaki! It's probably extra boring right now because I have nothing on my walls, so stripped of personality is not an understatement! And 5400 square feet is a LOT of khaki! Jacob has said many times, "It's so dull. I liked it better when it was colorful."

I do have to say what an enormous help Robert has been through this! Typically painting has been my project in the past. (In the past I didn't have 2 children!) I enjoy it and he doesn't really. But he has not left it to me at ALL! Last night he even painted the kitchen's second coat to surprise me while I was at choir practice! :) I was a very happy camper!

My other "staging" plans involve new white down alternative comforters (excited about this!) that we can/will use whenever we end up in a new place. (I'm trying to say "when" instead of "if.) I'll just order the duvet covers that we want and we'll be good to go! And I'll use some colored throw pillows to add a splash of color so our house doesn't look like an institution. In the kids room I'm going to have Jacob color some pictures with some special crayons that we have, frame them in some red frames that I have and re-hang their red/white gingham valances so it's still cute and they'll like it. In our room, I haven't a clue what to put on the walls! In the living room, I'm decluttering as much as I can, packing up books and taking down the barrister bookshelf. The realtors suggested packing up some of the children's books as well, but I'm rebelling. Don't mess with my children's books. (She clearly did not home school!) Anyway, I have thrown away papers and junk that I haven't looked at for a long time, kids toys that just end up spread all over the floor, and random things I thought I would get to.

Lastly, we have a large section of our house that is dark paneling and dark stained doors/windows that we're looking in to getting painted... Actually, one guy was supposed to come by today and measure for a quote. He didn't show or call. NOT a good way to drum up business if you ask me! This area includes 16 doors and windows, not counting the 9 foot slider. A bit too much for me to handle because of the oil based primer. The kids will have to be gone when it's being done and I just don't know I could swing that! Last I heard they frown on leaving your children at Chick Fil A unattended for several days.

I'll post some before/after pics when we're all done. For now, I need to go clean up a bit more before I crash! I'm feeling guilty because Robert is upstairs still working...