Monday Makover- Part 1: Boy Room Update...Baseboards and Some Little Finds!

Goodmorning on this cold Maine morning.  Ohhhh, the beauty of living in a frigid cold state. It's about 9 degrees outside right now so I'm wrapped up in a warm blanket with a cup of coffee in hand, waiting for the house to warm up a bit, while reflecting on the blessings in our life.  Makes me appreciate the roof over our head and the little things so much more when I think about what others have to endure during seasons like this.  Thank You God for Your provision and meeting our basic needs and may those who are in need find You as their source!  Life is hard enough by itself, but to try to live it in our own strength would be brutal. I am so thankful that I can lean on the true source of life.  This old hymnal/prayer has been on auto repeat, ringing loud in my heart the past few days.  I'll leave you with this before I go into the makeover context of this post...

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heav'ly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Now onto Makeover Monday.This week has been a busy one so I haven't accomplished as many projects or blogged as much as I had wanted.  We did however make a little head way in Eli's room.  We bought the molding for the wall and the hubs put up the baseboards this weekend.  We found this tutorial (here) with a great visual description on putting up "Board and Batten."  We bought 3- 8ft x 4ft MDF sheets at Home Depot.  They were $25.00 a piece and molding trim for the top was around $10-$15 (super cheap compared to using real wood.  Once primed and painted, you will never know.)  Nate had Home Depot cut the sheets to the width he needed for the baseboards and the batten molding. The baseboards were cut 6 inches wide and the batten molding was cut 3 inches wide (little wider than most batten molding, but I loved the look).   They cut the MDF for free so it was totally worth it for him because it will save him a lot of time and mess.  All he has to do is cut the length, glue, nail and install.  Easier said than done, I know:)  It's definitely simple, but the measuring and leveling will make it a little more time consuming I'm sure.  Will keep you posted as the process continues.  As for now, the baseboards are installed and here are some pictures of the finished product.

MDF molding after it was cut into strips.  Large sheet is leftover MDF that we can use for other projects.

 These are the small nail holes made with the nail gun.  Will cover those and use paintable caulk on seams once I get to the priming and painting step.  I contemplated priming and painting the baseboard before installation but I decided that I'll just put painters tape on the floor and do it all at once.

 Here are the tools used: Chop saw and nail gun/air compressor (Nate's Father's Day gift this past year and it has come in handy a lot recently!)

 The remainder of the molding will go up this week hopefully, so I will make sure to document it fully as we go along.  Can't wait to prime and paint!

As for me this past weekend, I made a trip to Christmas Tree Shop.  I haven't been there in months so I was looking forward to a girls date there with my mom and sister.  I knew going in I was on a hunt for one mission: Eli's room.  I found a few miscellaneous items that I'm looking forward to using once the room is complete.  Here they are...

Gray chalkboard/shelf- $12.   The color doesn't show its true self in this picture, but it it is a gray color in person.  It has an old/aged look to the stain where it is distressed along the edges.  I thought this would be great to hang his baseball hats and other clothing items on and use it as a message board.

 I LOVE signs like these and I was so excited when I found this at the bottom of a rack.  I had seen this particular saying online a while back and wanted to implement it either in the playroom or his bedroom.  It was meant to be and was only $2.99!  It's a metal sign with gray distressed stain along the edges.

 Since we are doing a "Discovery" room (which can grown with his interests through the years), I thought it would be fun to incorporate maps and globes into the mix.  Here is a plastic globe that is the perfect size that he can put on a shelf and take off to play with. It originally came on a stand so it was tilted on an axis but it was the last one left and didn't have its stand.  I was able to buy it for $1.00.  Such a great learning tool and decor at the same time!

 This globe below is white ceramic and the continents are lightly etched on it.  I love this for display purposes only and could not pass it up for only $2.50.  Thought it would pop out and look awesome on a shelf against the navy blue wall.  Love finding unexpected things like this that are inexpensive and pull all the little details together. 

Hopefully within the next 2 weeks we will have the shell of the room completed so Eli can move back into his room.  Will keep the updates coming as things progress.  Any kid makeovers going on in your world?  I need to find some organizational storage that is functional yet cute.  Hoping to make an IKEA trip soon...that place is amazing and is a must see if you have not been!  Be back soon!