Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Time Has Come

I have been incredibly spoiled with an extra room in our home where I am able to lock myself away to sew, scrap, wrap gifts, and putter. I figured that my time there was limited, and sure enough, I've been asked to vacate.

Currently, my two oldest girls sleep in bunkbeds in a cute room that they share. They've always shared a bedroom, and it's never been a problem until recently. My oldest daughter turned 12, and with that birthday has come the usual sorts of preteen issues. I'm not one who puts up with whining or silly demands, so my eldest daughter has had to convince me that letting her move into her own private space will be worth the sacrifice of losing my craft room; her reasoning has indeed persuaded me, and I have agreed to move out.

The biggest challenge is relocating all my art and craft supplies to a safe place, where the twins can't get to them. After much consideration, I've decided on the guest room. One, the room has a door that locks. Two, although the guest room is used a lot by visiting family and friends, it's certainly not used on a daily basis. When we don't have company, the room sits there empty and idle, so taking over a corner of it won't get in anybody's way. Three, there's an odd little nook in there that is just perfect for sticking in some cabinets and a counter.

My husband and I disagreed over what kind of cabinetry to put in. My husband is all about quality and workmanship, plus he did not want to ruin the Alaskan flavor of the guest room by installing white laminate cupboards. I, on the other hand, am all about cheap and fast. So I stomped my little foot and demanded the inexpensive do-it-yourself set of cabinets that we could purchase from the home store and put up in a weekend. I had to promise my husband that the craft center is temporary (we can easily detach everything once we find something better) and that, while they are there, I will do something artsy and creative with the exterior so that they don't look like a garage work shop has moved into our guest room.


You and I both know that those cheap cupboards will sit there in all their white glory for the next ten years, but, hey, some of us need our illusions to help keep truckin' on through life.



Dinner last night: tilapia in a sour cream sauce, cous cous, green peas


Exactly one year ago:



7 comments:

Mother Mayhem said...

I LOVE them! :o)

(Does that make me cheap? I prefer thrifty. TeeHee)

Unknown said...

You are a way better mom than me. If I had my own space, there isn't much that one of my kids could say to convince me to give it up. Can you tell I'm in desperate need of some mommy time and space?

Karen M. Peterson said...

Your daughter better appreciate what you gave up for her!

I would have done the same. There comes a point when kids need their space so that the family can have some peace.

Katherine said...

You are very nice to give your daughter a room. I'm pretty sure the time is coming when my son will want his own room...and I'm not ready to transport the office to the basement just yet.

And I like the cabinets.

Unknown said...

Even though I see your husband's point about it not really being the right "look" I am so totally jealous of your nifty new workspace. In fact, I'm bookmarking this for when my oldest goes to college in the fall and his room becomes the guest room / craft room.

Heather~sheaaa6 said...

Love it! =] It looks really nice. Great job. =]

Anonymous said...

That's a great space to retreat to! The girls will love having their own space as well. Hope you have many years of Happy Crafting in your new room :o)