A Room for a Sports-Man

We all know the saying, “When the cat’s away the mouse will play”…well around these parts the saying goes like this; “When the hubby’s away, the wife will…redecorate”. And redecorate is just what I did.

I’ve realized that once I get a vision in my head, 1-no one get in my way, and 2-I need just two days (give me more than that and it won’t happen.

Eric has been wanting a sports room for years. A room that is “his”, and a place where he can display all of his Philadelphia Sports paraphernalia and the plethora of  signed baseballs that he has. When we moved here 7 years ago he staked out what is supposed to be the “study”. We painted the walls and he put some stuff out. But, let’s face it…the room became the “junk room”. Everything got thrown in this room which drove me cra-zy because it’s on the main level and everybody and his brother saw it…ugh!!!

This past weekend, Eric and our son, went away on a weekend trip, so I thought it was the perfect time to transform this room. In a matter of 48 hours I painted the room, took down a ceiling fan and hung a new light fixture (thanks to my good friend, Laurie),  painted shelves, made curtains, and put the room back together literally 10 minutes before he walked in the door. I swear, I could have my own HGTV show! LOL

Now before I show pictures I will tell you that it’s not quite 100% yet. I still want to buy a high top table and there is a TV on the floor that will soon be leaving, but for the most part the room is ready.

Well, here you go:

What started out as a tan mess with stuff crawling all over the floor and very disorganized, has become a nice clean museum if you will for his sports “stuff” (don’t tell him I called it that ).

After moving in, I painted a faux finish on the walls in a very light tan…but honestly I’ve never liked it. However, with it being the only room in the whole house with stained wood trim instead of white, I wasn’t sure what color to paint it. As I contemplated what colors would work with wood trim and then taking into consideration all the colors of Philadelphia sports teams, there was only one color I knew I could use…white! That’s right, people, I painted a room white. I think this is a first ever in my life. Hey, there’s always a first time for everything, right?

The color I chose was actually called “Cool Grey”. Now, don’t be getting all excited…there is not really a hint of grey in this color, it’s just not stark white. I love how it turned out. It really makes the wood stand out and look rich.

 

If you notice the latter shelves on the left of the door and the dart board on the right side, those got a face lift too. They were both weird wood colors and really wouldn’t look good against the new wall color, so I painted both of them black. The Dartboard was small and fairly easy. Then it came to the shelves. I knew I was on a time crunch so I decided to spray paint them. Yep, you just read that right. I went to Lowe’s and got their Rustoleum spray paint that you could use on wood. I also picked up some grey primer spray paint made by Valspar. It took a few hours and probably a little more inhaling paint fumes than I needed, but they turned out awesome. I love them black now!

The light fixture was an unplanned event. I was not thinking of changing it, but when I saw this beauty at Lowe’s I knew I had to have it. No one needs a ceiling fan in a study/sports room, so I decided to change them. I’ve changed bathroom lights before no problem, but the fan part actually made me nervous. My friend, Laurie, came up the street and helped me out. It wasn’t hard, just awkward positions, but we got it done and I love it!

Over the fireplace, I just cleaned it up, got rid of clutter, and made it more of a gallery wall.

The jersey wall looks a little sad. I’m hoping to get a high-top table to go against that wall. We’re also waiting on an old school Phillies jersey…it’s at the framers now. But, I love how the McNabb jersey stands out against the white walls.

I love how this wall turned out. The shelves were a pain in the neck to hang, but I love how they support the lighted case. Eric’s looked for a long time for a case to hold some of his things. He found this one on Craig’s List. We hated the color so I restained it a while back….loving it now.

And then there’s the curtains! It’s the reason I started this project. It’s always the fabric’s fault. I spotted this killer fabric while shopping for fabric for our new porch. I knew it was it…and this project snowballed from there. They were super easy to make, and I just love how the bring a very stark but masculine feeling to the room.

Well, there you have it…my quick 48 hour project. Now I won’t be so embarrassed when people walk through this room to our new porch.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you come back again real soon!!

S~

Life As We Know It…

…has changed. Changed for the better? Changed for the Worse? Neither really it’s just changed. It’s very different around these parts now that I’ve re-entered the working world after being a stay-at-home mama for 7 years.

I knew when I left the classroom 7 years ago to raise my children that it was the right decision. I never looked back. Well, there were those occasional days when I was dealing with the 5th meltdown of the day that I thought to myself, “Why did I stay home for this?” But like everything that was just a phase, one day of 7 great years of being at home with my two precious babies.

The day came and the opportunity arose for me to just step back in the classroom. I just slipped right in like I had never left. Ha! Well, let’s be honest…it’s NEVER that way. To tell you the truth, the first few weeks were a breeze. It was like I never left, like I had being a full-time working mama all this time. Then Wham, the reality set in and right then and there I knew that life was different. A dear friend of mine went back to work last year. She in some weird way had the same kind of situation happen to her. A door opened and in she walked back into the working world…easy as pie. I remember sitting on the playground one afternoon and her telling me how at different times everyone in her family had this “freak out” moment (or week) where at some particular moment they realized “Mama was no longer home all day, and Whoa what a change. I can’t handle this.” We laughed at how each person reacted to their freak out moment and how they got through it. Well friends, it does exist…the freak out moments from every family member when mama is no longer home all day. I think even our fish had a freak out moment because he wasn’t getting fed like he’s used to. Like everything else we worked through each moment and we are all still alive and well. All body parts are still attached and there are full bellies at the end of the night. We are surviving.

Our life just looks different. I shop and do laundry on the weekends. We have a lot of leftovers and crockpot meals. And sometimes I don’t get anything made before I’m running out the door and we either eat cereal or have take out…and guess what? We’re still living. On those nights when I don’t get a meal made and we’re eating out of a bag or a box and I think I’m a failure and I’m not sure I can do this, I have to remind myself…I am certainly not the first stay-at-home mama to return to full time work and there are many mamas who don’t stay home and work full time. They survive. They can do it…so can I. One (or three) cereal night meals or take out won’t hurt us. Is it my ideal supper, no, but I’m surviving. I’m getting used to this new life I have and it is quite ok, in fact all is good. Yes, I still have my freak out moments where I’m a crying lunatic babbling about how I don’t know how all will get done around the house, or the endless school work. But it does. Somehow, someway it all gets done. And we survive.

People ask me all the time how it has been going back. My answer…It’s an adjustment. On one hand I absolutely LOVE being back in the classroom. I love my class. I love love love my team. I love having a job. I love making a little money and being able to contribute (just a little), but that goes and in hand with whoa this is a huge adjustment. There are so many things I miss about my old every day life. I miss having coffee and catching up with all my friends. I miss being able to call my best friend 3 times a day just to chat. I MISS THE GYM. I miss sewing and crafting and blogging. However, life now is great, just different. The kids are at school with me. We’re on the same track so we’re always together. I love that. The school work does get done and only because I have the best team on the planet. Without them I don’t know if I could do this…well, maybe I could but it sure as heck wouldn’t be as much fun. I have the most awesome husband who is so supportive of me. He hugs me and tells me everything will work out. He’s so patient with me and my rants, and he is always game for cereal for supper. He is wonderful.

Yes, life is very different these days and much has changed around here, but I will be completely honest and say I wouldn’t change it for the world. I miss my friends. I miss my “me” time, but I am so happy to be doing something I was put on this earth to do…teach!