Everybody Still Loves a Before and After -- Right?

There's a corollary to the commandment that the Sabbath should be a day of rest, and it's "six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work."  Now, most of the time in my average daily life, the work that I do six days a week is not terribly physically demanding.  However, when we were getting ready to move here 3 years ago, I remember being so glad whenever Sunday rolled around because it meant I could finally take a break from all the cleaning and organizing and other stuff I was doing to get our house ready to sell.  Perhaps it was because the work I was doing was suddenly much more labor intensive, but having that day of complete rest was a welcome blessing each week.

I've been reminded of that feeling again and again over the last couple of weeks as I've been getting THIS house ready to sell.  It has been hard work!  And very physically demanding.  But the fruits of my labor have been rather rewarding to behold.  At least in the first few minutes before the kids mess it all up again.  Hahahaha.  Luckily, I managed to snap some before and after pictures of all the things I've done over the last week while they still look decent.  

First up is the Family Room.  Saturday's project was to not only clean up the room, but to actually detail and organize it, too.  Those bookshelves back there?  A mess.  The cabinets underneath?  Even messier.  A few hours worth of labor later and voila!  Clean, organized and clutter free.

  

Before...

After.

A Before of the Bookshelves...

And a couple of Afters.

Monday's project was to clean out and de-clutter the glass cabinets in the kitchen.  This took a LOT longer than you would think.  It was pretty much the only thing I accomplished off my list that day.  Not my most productive day's work.

Before...

After.

Yesterday was devoted to painting.  In an effort to neutralize the paint colors in the house, I bought a couple gallons of Sherwin Williams "Khaki Shade" and went to work.  {Sidenote -- I have made 3 trips to The Home Depot in the last 3 days.}  I actually really like painting -- it's such a satisfying before and after -- but even I was burnt out by 11 o'clock last night.  Because, YES.  That is what time I finished.  I started with Alex's room around 10 in the morning {thanks to my BFF, Natalie for taking the little ones until nap time}, finished a little after 4 and then started up on the living room a couple hours later.  I'm sore.  My hand hurts from holding the paintbrush and I'm getting a blister on my palm from using the roller.  Today's schedule was supposed to include painting Ethan's and Grace's rooms, but I couldn't muster up the energy to do it just yet.  Instead I put the living room back together and mopped the floor.  And also, went grocery shopping and made that 3rd trip to The Home Depot.   I'll tackle the rest of the painting tomorrow.

Alex's Room -- Before...

 This color is a lot tamer on camera.  In person, it was a visual assault on the eyes.  And yes, I realize that was redundant.  But that's just how bright it was.  I've been wanting to paint these walls for the entire 3 years we've lived here.  It was clearly not a top priority.  Hahaha.

After.

To end, I'll leave you with the Living Room before and after and a short little anecdote.  The before picture was taken on Sunday afternoon while I was taking advantage of all that resting and looking through some quilting patterns that I had drawn up a little while ago.  What this picture showcases is a Hansen family characteristic.  Every time something like the scene below happens, Scott shakes his head in bemusement and comments that they get THIS from me.  Just what is it that they get?  Well, anytime my family is together -- without fail -- we ultimately ALL end up congregated together in the smallest place possible.  Seriously -- it's like we're in a perpetual game of Sardines.  Hahaha.  In our own little family I am the magnet.  No matter where I go, eventually they will all find me and hover.  Once I sat down on the couch in the living room on Sunday, it was only a matter of time before everyone else would start trickling in as well.  And of course, we are on the smallest couch in the room.  The funniest part was that after Scott took this picture, I had finally had enough and moved to the other couch to have more space.  Jane immediately followed and sat practically on my lap, and one by one the others followed suit.  It was kind of hilarious.  And annoying all at the same time.  Hahahahaha.

Living Room -- Before...

and After.

And that's all folks.  I won't even bother boring you with how many comments I've gotten from Ethan over the last two days about how much he hates this color.  And all neutrals.  And thinks they look like mud.  And how ugly he thinks it all looks.  I seriously had a 20 minute circular conversation with him last night revolving around why I was painting it the color that I was.  He kept asking the same set of questions over and over again.  Why did the realtor say to paint it this color?  Why does it have to be neutral?  Why didn't you paint it the lighter color?  Over and over again and then following it up with some more commentary on how much he hated it.  Fun times!  The end result is that I am now having second thoughts about painting it this color, but oh well.  I'm not going to be painting it again EVER, so it will most likely stay the way it is.

So there you have it.  Wish me luck on tomorrow's paint job!