Upstairs

What a sad little outlet…

I know! I’ll put a bird on it!

it's so pretty!

Spruce it up! Make it pretty! This is Portland, after all.

Sifting through past entries, I noticed we’ve never posted photos of the upstairs/playroom bathroom.

Our girls love lavender!

Originally, I was reluctant to photograph the space until the bathroom door and trim were finished. Since we are unlikely to get around to finishing the door anytime soon, I decided to take some photos for your viewing pleasure.

I quickly remembered the other reason we’ve never posted pictures.

This room is so incredibly tiny, it’s nearly impossible to photograph without perching on the toilet lid or on the lip of the sink – hence the weird viewing angles.

view from hallway outside Chloe's room

bathroom sink and mirror

alternate view from hallway

Looks like I spoke (wrote?) too soon – I just found the black and white damask rug on another website.

I can’t decide how I feel about olefin though. On the one hand, I don’t want to spend a fortune on a wool rug which might get trashed, and getting trashed is a distinct possibility in a playroom. Click to continue »

Sorry we’ve been so quiet lately - we’re suffering a blog-deadly combo of work-overload and renovation fatigue, leaving us without much to report here at the bungalow.

I should, however, admit that I really blew it with the playroom.  I took so long trying to make a decision on the playroom rug that the one I’d finally decided on – the black and white damask with the black border – has been discontinued.  Serves me right for being so wish-washy! 

The rug hunt continues…

view from outside chloe's room

Chloe turned six earlier this month, and while it may be sort of an odd fixation for a six year old to have, she is nonetheless obsessed with Paris. Santa must have heard about her francophile tendencies, because he left some brand new Parisian-themed bedding under the tree on Christmas morning. Click to continue »

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for taking time to to share your thoughts and opinions on our playroom rug situation.

If you’ve been following the commentary accompanying my original post, you know that lots of people have had lots of opinions on this topic. However, three clear favorites have emerged: the white and black damask, the pink and green circles, and the black with large pink and white dots. Click to continue »

As Julio will tell you, I’m not exactly decisive. I tend to agonize over the simplest decisions. Sadly, this is especially true when it comes to rehabbing the bungalow.

I can spend months researching something as simple as a kitchen faucet. But even if I do eventually place an order, I will drive myself crazy wondering if I’ve made the right decision. I’m always absolutely certain I could have found something better – the “perfect” whatever – if only I’d searched a little bit longer.

What does this any of this have to do with Photoshop, you ask? Well, we really need to find a rug for the girls’ playroom. As you’ve seen in recent photos, the floor up there is rather bare and uninviting.

playroom in its current state

I’d love for Chloe and Ginger to be able to sprawl out comfortably while they play or read books, but that isn’t really an option on the cold hard floor. Click to continue »

A few months back, a local photographer – Kim Campbell of Campbell Salgado Studio – came to the bungalow to photograph the insanity! Actually, it wasn’t all that insane – just a relaxing couple of hours of parents, kids and pugs soaking up the sunshine and smiling for the camera.

Click to continue »

Happy New Year everyone!

One of my resolutions this year is to get our house more organized. The scattered toys and endless clutter are making me positively crazy (as is renovation burnout, but that’s another topic for another post.)

Lately I’ve been thinking that if our house felt less chaotic, I might be able to enjoy it a bit more. So, to that end, I’ve been trying to establish a workable storage system upstairs in the playroom and in the girls’ bedrooms.

toy basket from Chloe's room

Click to continue »

Last summer, just prior to Ginger’s birth, we posted some photos of Chloe’s room just as Julio was wrapping up construction of her bed.  The hot pink paint on the walls was Chloe’s idea.  I thought it was a touch toxic, but figured, if you can’t have a hot pink room at age 4, when can you?

Chloe's bed

The room is still bare as we’ve let other projects get in the way of finishing it, but the bed itself is functional, and Chloe loves it!