Since October….

Some of our steady readers may remember hubby and I closed our interior decorating shop of 53 years this past October. Hubby’s health is deteriorating and him at 73 and me heading for 70, it was time to slow down a bit.

You can catch up of my closing our shop here: http://themarthareview.com/where-do-you-see-yourself-going/

Our new venture after 53 years of interior decorating: http://themarthareview.com/chatting-on-the-front-porch/

Wait did I say SLOW DOWN?? We have been busy with our new venture, Mama’s Minkys where we create adorable, super soft baby blankets and pillows. But we are also in the process of re-organizing the house, room by room. It’s time to purge and let go of the things that aren’t needed.

One project I’m working in is making Memory Boxes for each of our 7 grandchildren, ranging from the ages of 31 to 15 . I’ll be adding photos in each box from newborn to current, items that I remember them mentioning they would like to have and other things that would keep the memories going and in turn they can share with their children.

The other project we are doing is painting the interior of our home. I think the last time we painted was back about 10 years ago. Working full time didn’t give us much of a chance to do things around the house so now is the perfect time.

What started this thought process was when our granddaughter and her sweetie took a road trip from South Carolina to Indiana to introduce their precious Lia to Alexandra’s brother and sister. This was my hubby’s and my chance to surprise them and paint Lia’s room.

We already had the paint so early morning after they left on their road trip, we went to their house to paint. The paint was a soft gray and it was a perfect color to bring out the different shades of pink in her bedding and wall accessories.

Now I’m the type of person that hangs on to things, thinking we can use it somewhere at sometime. When Alexandra was younger, she had a white bookshelf in her room, 22 years later, that bookshelf was still here! It was perfect for Lia’s room since her crib and dresser are white. The only problem, the edging on the shelf had yellowed. But for me that was no problem, I painted the edges pink and it was a perfect remedy! The pink edging pop’s it compared to the old yellowed edges.

We had the room all put back together and as I’m looking around, I thought about getting a fuzzy throw rug to put in front of her crib. But I know we didn’t have time to shop for one and definitely couldn’t order one to be delivered before they returned home.

So, the next best thing to do is MAKE ONE!! I had the perfect pink Minky fabric so I cut a huge heart shaped piece, lined it in a gray and Lia’s rug was completed for the next day. When we took it to her house, I realized I didn’t measure the size, I just cut it out. As I put it in front of her crib, it was a perfect size! I call it the size of Great Grandpapa’s heart!

Lia ‘s room was completed the day before the family arrived home and they all were very pleased with the transformation of a basis room into a room for a Princess!

But was it completed? We thought it was until a few days ago when Alexandra and Stevie found the most adorable little overstuffed chair in gray, pink and white chevron print. This as a no brainer to get as a late Christmas present because it was half price! But before we went to the store, I checked online and sure enough, there was a $10.00 off coupon when spending $50.00. The original price of the chair was $99.00, on sale for $49.00. Since I had to spend $50.00 to use the coupon, I bought a package of gum for $1.00, bringing the price of the chair down to $39.00! Now that was a bargain for sure! This will be perfect when Lia gets a little older to sit and read her books!

Getting back to painting our interior, once we finished Lia’s room, I loved the gray walls so that’s the color we are using in our house. We have the computer room, eating area and most of the TV room completed. That will be another blog to show you the transformation but I love the new look!

So when people ask us, “how are you enjoying retirement?” We tell them there is no retirement and we are busier than ever but that’s us, we can’t sit still.