Top Decoration

We had a very productive day in the dining room yesterday, or at least, we think so!

We would love to be able to *snap* our fingers and have it all be done, but we're learning things as we go and, the way I look at it, it's never a bad thing to learn a new skill set.

Will has done all of this before, but for me, this is all new!

Yesterday afternoon we started putting up the sheet rock. I think it went pretty smoothly. Although, at one point Will said "I can definitely appreciate why people sub-contract out for drywall installation". It was a lot of work. And that was before we had even started mudding...

We let the boys color inside the walls before sealing them off...

They had fun with that!
Probably because they felt like they were getting to break the rules!


By about 4pm the sheet rock was done.

We maintained most of the arch for display, and french doors have been ordered to hang below...

The archway by the front door has been completely sealed off. I like it so much better! Once this project is complete it will look as if the house was built this way. That's the plan, anyway! I'm hoping to put a bench there with hooks that the kids can use when they arrive home from school...

The kids already love hanging out in their "new" room and are busting at the seams for it to be finished!

After we got the kids settled into bed we started in with the mud. And by "we", I mean Will. I had fully planned on helping, but he was doing such a great job that I figured I would just let him keep going on his own.
(Think the compliment will make up for me not helping him? I just didn't want to screw it all up!)

I cannot wait until the doors are installed (they don't arrive for another week) and I can show you my plans for the ledge...

We, I mean...Will, finished mudding the interior of the room before deciding to call it a night. This morning he finished mudding the exterior side of the wall by the front door, but had to stop because he ran out of mud, so he's at Lowe's right now picking up more.

I have no idea how long this part of the project will take - he said something about multiple coats of mud, but I'm hoping that maybe we can get to spraying on the texture after the kids are in bed.

We'll see.

Finger's crossed!

P.S. Have you checked out DIY Day over at A Soft Place To Land? Head on over to see all kinds of DIY projects - from big to small, you're sure to be inspired!