Happy House, part 2

 

  I have been slowly working on my Happy House project (see this post for part 1), and am gradually finding ways to be happier with our house and to make it more of a home.  Here's some of the results:

 

When our cat Escher first came home, he tried to claw the speakers below the TV. David came up with this lovely solution:



 

 I purchased some fabric on Ebeye and and covered the cardboard.  A little black spray paint took care of the edges and viola:

 

I'm using the same fabric to make a permanent table cloth for our dining room table:

 (I know, that's not even and it's only on half the table.  That's a test piece to see how dirty it will get and whether or not the kids can ignore it- so far so good!)

 

And look at that lovely new table top!

 I bought white-board contact paper and David and I covered the table with it.  I used black electrical tape to go around the edges so that the kids can't peel it up (and to bring the bright white together with the pattered "table cloth" below).  So far it's been a huge hit.  The kids love being able to draw on the table and I'm enjoying the change to our dining room. 

A few other changes around the house:

I made these for the door to the kids room.  I printed the signs from this blog and then made the frames out of an old manila folder and black spray paint

 

Another change to the kids room is this bookshelf:

I think Ciela is old enough to have some of her special things in her room and to be able to take care of them.  The second shelf is hers and has a box from my mother, a box that she made in school, a music box, a puzzle box and her piggy bank on it.  She has a small stool that she can climb onto to reach them and she is in charge of putting them back when she's done so that Teshie doesn't get them.  It's working out well so far and I think Ciela feels like a big girl now that she has control over more of her things.

 

These bamboo-style shelves are issued by the furniture warehouse on Kwaj and would be great except for the ends:

If the books aren't held in place, the slip out and fall off the shelves, so we haven't used them for bookshelves until now.  I made these little end-caps out of cardboard and spray paint (both essential items in Kwaj DIY projects!) and then used zip-ties to attach them to the shelves. 

 

 

And this is new in the kitchen

We hung the paper towel holder where the cats can't get it and I found the perfect thing to cover an unused phone outlet.  I was able to reuse a frame and the sign inside says "My Family is a Blessing" (from this blog).  I see it every day when I'm cooking and it's the perfect reminder when I need one to be thankful for my (challenging, annoying, loud, messy, wonderful) family.