Death and Creativity

ON DEATH

Sad but true--we experienced a little death at our house in the last couple weeks. After we worked so hard to plant our little garden (and I admit, we did put things in the ground before Mother's Day by a few days, but still), we had a cold snap that did our tomatoes and peppers mortal harm. I chanced it by not covering them, and I lost. They did NOT survive.

So we had to find replacements for them all. It was actually touch and go for a bit with the new plants (I think they may have suffered a bit from the cold at the nursery as well), but I think they are pulling through at last. It seems that warm weather is here to stay. So hopefully that means a good yield after all.

ON CREATIVITY

So how do you celebrate living four years in the same house you were SURE was only going to be a two to three year house? You decide to paint several rooms and shake things up a bit. After looking at the same yucky builder's paint on the walls for four years (while saying in my head that it didn't matter because we weren't going to be here long), I decided enough was enough. The past few weeks have seen some big changes on the upper floor of the Tolman abode. We redecorated the girls' room, moving and painting furniture and adding some things, and swapped rooms for Josh and Jack, taking down the bunk bed in the process. And we added new colors to all the rooms.

And here is something I have discovered about myself and creativity. While washing out paint brushes for about the seventh time, I realized I don't really like messy creativity. My creative juices tend to lean toward things that don't have to be cleaned up. I don't really enjoy cooking, mostly because I don't like that when the meal is finished, I still have a messy kitchen to tackle. Sewing and scrapbooking are the same for me. Once I have finished the project, there is still a lot of work required. This project was no different. Messes everywhere--not to mention all the living going on in the house at the same time (laundry and the like). Boy was I glad to put the finishing touches on this project and get back to normal. I think I will stick with my preferred non-messy forms of creativity for a while now like singing, writing, dancing, etc. I get to express myself and there is no clean up after it's done.

Check out all that laundry right in the middle of the paint paraphernalia.

But even though I didn't love the mess, I do love the finished product. Feels almost like a new home.

The girls did a complete change. Gone are the pink butterflies of their younger years. They hope this look (complete with new desks that Emmie is loving--she insisted on being in the shot doing her homework) and these colors will take them into their teenage years gracefully.

My favorite feature of Jack's room is this little $20 desk from IKEA. Gotta love IKEA!

Josh is really happy with his final product. He "designed" his wall layout on his new white board before we hung anything to make sure it was just right. His walls are a little busy for my taste, but he loves it. And that is what matters. This wall, in particular, is his favorite. Each piece of art work is an original by him.

Our bathroom was a beast, taking three gallons of paint to cover the streaks.

And finally, our bedroom. I got a little brave after painting so many things before and opted for a navy blue accent wall behind our bed to offset the light cream I chose for the other three walls. I LOVE it. Now I just need to find the perfect accent piece for over our headboard. I am thinking a beautiful white wreath or some poignant statement in white vinyl or something. Still a bit undecided.

Now that it's all done, I won't be opening a paint can for a while. But I am happy with the final product. I guess we can stick around here a while longer.