The Basement, it is A-Changing

I am amused that I started this blog to chronicle the process of turning Julia & Maya's nursery into a big girl room and spiraled completely out of control as all things in life seem to do. The basement is finished (for now) and February begins our KITCHEN MAKEOVER!!!! Very excited about that!

Onto the basement improvements:

Before: solid color concrete wall, cluttered, exposed wires & hazards

After: painted concrete blocks in 2 different hues to create "brick" effect, break up the monochrome, and add warmth to the area; purchased CD cabinet to control & hide the sprawling CD collection

Before

After: Bookshelf filled with toys all binned by type for requesting. 

After: Ikea swing replaced with  platform swing with interchangeable hammock swing 

Before: cluttered, unusable space

After: work area for the girls
Work table, PECS board, favorite activities binned for requesting, bubble tube and cushioned platform base for chilling out

Lay, Ladies, Lay

Maya & Julia enjoying their new beds!

After a loooooooooong pause in updates I am proud to post pictures of the girls' beds from Crib Bed by Mountaincraft!

The girls LOVE their beds! They are very sturdy, look nice and are made well! They both jumped on the beds, squealing in delight the day we got them!

My niece with Julia & Maya

It has been a trying several months since my last update. I am excited to be back on the blog with the news that I won a $20,000 Kitchen Make-Over from Platinum Kitchens & Designs, Inc!

I will happily update the progress of our new kitchen here!



Julia loves her new jungle themed room!



Repainted bookshelf

Repainted Wardrobe

Wall Stick-Ons added to ceiling fan

Highlights of some of the other decorating I've done! Both the bookshelf & wardrobe were repainted from white to bright colours to match the new theme. Both pieces can be seen in their original form in "before" post!

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

We have purchased two new swings to take the place of the IKEA swing.

We will install one chain to the ceiling beam with a hook which will allow us to change swings. Will post pictures & reviews of products when we're done!

This is a less expensive mini-version of platform swings used in sensory therapy for vestibular issues.

$138 at especialneeds

The Airwalker Swing! A favorite of every child at Hearts and Hands Therapy

 $296 at especialneeds

Other great sites for therapy products:

Southpaw Enterprises

Amazon

When you purchase online at sites such as Amazon, Target, Home Depot, and 100's of others visit

Give Back America

first, then click on the participating retailer, and that retailer will donate a portion of your sale to

the Dare To Hope Foundation at no extra cost to you!

Shiny Happy Color

I just finished painting the upper walls! I love the color-it's very happy!

Thank you all who voted!

Sensory Overload: AKA "The Basement"

It is time I mentioned the side-project gone awry, turning the basement into a more functional play & therapy room. This immediately went from "Julia & Maya-proofing the basement" to "major project".

Before:

The weird-looking apparatus is a mook jong, for martial arts training



Ikea Swing: great in theory, but the girls have low muscle tone so they must be monitored in it at all times.
Translation: it's gots to go!



Trampoline (a favorite), climby-thingy, and tons of wires & hazards to be removed

Shout-out to Troy for WiFi help! Old computer set-up in the basement for You Tube Yo Gabba Gabba videos, HiYa, and Dynavox programming! We hope to get a "Big Mack" switch for the girls to use computer learning programs like they use in school!

Special thanks to Miss Mary from Clesia Ventures for taking time last Saturday to help me clean out a good deal of the basement hazards! Not only an awesome speech therapist, but a fantastic decorator as well!



Maya enjoying speech therapy with Miss Mary!
(which usually involves a lot of snacks)

 Now that the basement is cleaned out, we have both an Airwalker Hammock Swing & a mini-platform swing to install in place of the Ikea swing. I plan to paint one of the walls in brick colors & install a blacklight over it.

I will post pictures & links to where we got everything as I post the new pictures!!!!!! I am very excited for Project Basement to get under way!!!!

The Final Countdown

Options 2 & 4 are neck-in-neck. I'm having difficulty deciding how to paint the room! I need to start painting next week the latest!

Here is a picture with the top 2 paint samples & decals:

On the left is the light purple on top with the dark green on bottom. The right is the light green on top & keeping the same purple on the bottom.

Left or right? Whatever will I do?

Rug-O-Rama

I am far too excited over these rugs I found today! I felt the need to share:

by coffeeandtv

 Julia's favorite toy is her Zebra Bounce & Spin (how fitting for a jungle theme!) which needs to have a rug under it.  

Julia loves her zebra!

    

Twistin' the night away



I am having trouble deciding which rug to get!

I wish I had room for them all.

The circular one would fit the zebra really well, but I just can't get over the cuteness factor of the lion, cheetah and tiger! And of course, I can't pick between the three!

Ideas? Opinions? I'm in "cute over-load"!!!!