Dining Room Remodel

You know when you have a baby that takes two naps a day and is bright and playful during all the other kids' quiet/nap time? Yeah, me too. It means I get to spend a lot of time at home. So, when I'm craving a project, it means I must find one that is kid-friendly and nap-friendly and mostly at home or a place where little kids are strapped in to shopping carts.

When Alice was this age, I took up sewing.

Sewing isn't exactly Robert-friendly or James-friendly. They like to sit on my lap and push pedals, spin dials, or use my tools to stab/cut/threaten things.

I would have done something outside, but it was cold raining and I wasn't in the mood to be cold wet. And then what the heck would I do with Matthew once he woke up?! I can't do nearly as many outside things as I would like now that he's mobile.

Anyway, today I needed a project that the boys could help me with during Matthew's morning nap. I attacked the wood paneling in the dining room.

What a horrible idea, right?! I just wanted to see what was beneath it...just get a peek. But to assess it at all, I had to remove base boards and some tacked on molding at the top. Well, once you've got the molding off you might as well give it a little tug to see how it's attached...within ten minutes, Robert was helping me like this:

Robert must be 3/4 monkey.

...and I got a sick feeling that Bobby might not be pleased with this surprise development. When I heard the garage door open I accidentally said out loud, "Oh no. Daddy's home." Alice and Robert stared at me wide-eyed. I confessed that I hadn't discussed the timing of this particular project with Daddy yet and I wasn't sure if I would be in trouble or not. Alice let out a scared gasp. Robert ran right out to the garage to tell Daddy that we took down the wall he didn't like (little stinker...was he trying to get me in trouble or help me out by warning Bobby?). When Bobby finally understood what I/we had done, he just sighed and acknowledged that I'm on a roll with this house updating stuff.

(whew)

There was a real wall beneath the wood paneling, but the glue they used was crazy strong. It ripped off the back of the wood paneling, or ripped off some of the drywall paper, or just stayed in a thick, crusty, yellow streak across the wall. I'm thinking I'll need to install new drywall. (Easy, right? Dad?).

Now my dining room is SO much brighter and uglier. The boys and I had a riot, though, and I'm glad I did it. Now to learn about drywall...