Talk about a cliff hanger! I sort of left you all hanging there when I teased you with a color scheme for our master bedroom project. Well, I’m hanging right there beside you, because the project has been suspended since the news of my pregnancy. One day I’ll have a relaxing little getaway in that corner of our home, but for now we’re focusing our efforts on making over the untouched third bedroom for Lucy’s big girl room. Her nursery has evolved quite a bit since it’s debut, so I thought I’d share one last look at her room before it becomes the new baby’s nursery and Lucy’s things are moved next door to her new room.

It’s been fun to put away Lucy’s baby toys to make room for her cute new toddler toys. A particular favorite of mine are these Calico Critter toys (bunny family and elephant family) that live in my old childhood Sylvanian Family dollhouse that my mom and dad refurbished for Lucy’s Christmas present.

These toddler years have been my favorite so far, thanks to Lucy’s bubbly and affectionate demeanor, but also— the toddler toys! The fact that she is so excited about Easter and hot air balloons! Everything is just so much fun. You should see how she walks around enthusiastically babbling about her new bedroom with “boo waa” (blue walls), a “boo beh” (blue bed), and “white eets” (white sheets). She’s two and a half, and life couldn’t be sweeter.

Things in Lucy’s room are a bit mis-matched and quirky as of now, but soon all of her toys and some of her artwork will be carefully placed in her new bedroom with a bit more polish and pizazz. I’m not sure who’s more excited about it— her or me. But I’m also nervous about transitioning her to a twin bed. Life is changing a mile a minute.

Here’s a picture of Lucy last summer drawing on the chalkboard that used to be in her room. It’s hanging out in storage now because it just takes up too much space in our little house. We’re thinking about doing a chalkboard finish in her new room somewhere. Maybe a closet door? Any tips or advice for toddler friendly chalkboard walls?

It was about halfway through our kitchen renovation that I started feeling incredibly anxious. It might have been my irrational feeling that my kitchen would never ever be clean again, or maybe the real struggle of keeping a toddler from constantly climbing one of the two ladders that were always standing about. After I forced myself to let go of the pressure (and sent Lucy to my parents for the night), I decided to just plow forward, nose to the grindstone, and bust out as much work as possible so we could get back to normal.

Two 4AM bedtimes later, I went from a near breakdown in a cluttered house and ripped up kitchen with no counters (see image above) to exhaustedly sipping fresh coffee in an almost finished kitchen! (See last image for our current progress.) We still have a few things left to do, like install the ceiling ventilation to replace the hood vent, change out the overhead light, mount the under-shelf lights, and a little bit more accessorizing. But we’re almost there, and I’m so excited to share my post recent progress today at A Beautiful Mess.

Check out all of my kitchen renovation posts below:

• Planning a Budget Kitchen Renovation
• Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets
• Cleaning, Painting, and Drilling into the Brick Wall
• Reconfiguring Existing Cabinets for a Fresh Look
• How to Make an Inexpensive Plank Backsplash

Our home has been covered in tarps with the contents of our kitchen displaced in boxes. It seems I’m always looking for something or other, and usually what I’m looking for and can never find is that elusive thing called time! Oh, but it’s gratifying to be in the midst of a kitchen renovation and see such dramatic changed take place in our home. I’m documenting the process over at A Beautiful Mess, so you should go over and check it out! Here are the kitchen posts I’ve shared so far:

• Planning a Budget Kitchen Renovation
• Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets
• Cleaning, Painting, and Drilling into the Brick Wall
• Reconfiguring Existing Cabinets for a Fresh Look

There are already quite a few dramatic before and after photos! I can’t wait to share the grand reveal! (When it’s all finished, that is. Will it ever end?)