Room Shifting: Part One

A little background:

Last summer, our 20-year-old son moved out on his own for the first time. This sparked an immediate flurry of bedroom shifting, as the youngest two each moved to what they thought was a "better" bedroom. I supported the shift wholeheartedly, excited about the prospect of finally having a guest room.

The kids' rooms came along nicely. First, the 12-year-old daughter moved into the 20-year-old's ex-room. The carpet was shampooed, the formerly black walls, painted a soft blue and green (two walls of each color), and a sweet wallpaper border of African baby animals was hung. The speed at which this transformation occurred disappointed the 20-year-old to no end, but I assured him that we always have room for him if he should decide to move back home.

The nine-year-old then moved into the 12-year-old's ex-room. The carpet was shampooed, the formerly pink and green walls painted a very mature and "manly" burgundy and beige (two walls of each color), and an equally-manly wolf wallpaper border was hung. Nine-year-old moved in everything except his mountain of toys. I believed then, that any toys he hadn't used after a month or so, would be passed on to Goodwill or at least, packed away. I was wrong. I haven't dealt with them at all, and it seems he likes his "space" in his room.

Fast forward to January 2008.

The 20-year-old has decided he'd like to move back home. Given the choice of 9-year-old's ex-room or my "sewing room" in the basement, he prefers the basement. This began a whole new thought process for me -- and a whole new plan.

The plan:

First, we need to finally do something about the toys. Next, remove the baby blue and white teddy bears and rocking horses from the walls and repaint. This room will then become my sewing room/office, and the more I think about it, the more excited I am. I have never had a dedicated area in which to work, and it could make a huge difference in what I'm able to accomplish. I hope.

So, I began the "big shift" this weekend. First, my son's huge toy shelf was repainted, from bright red...


...to that manly beige...


...and moved into his room. We're going for the camouflage effect, painting it the same color as the wall, hoping it won't seem quite as huge if you can't really see it:


Now we just have this to deal with:


It's going to be a long project. But I'm looking forward to it! Change can be hard to take sometimes, but it can also be rejuvenating.

I'm hoping for the latter. ;o)