In to win!

So, I heard about this blog contest today, and I just can't resist -- I'm desperate for help!

Help me Wilsonart -- you're my only hope!

My family used to spend about 30% of our life in our basement. We love this room, I sew, the kids play, we watch movies. Most of our family time together is spent in our wonderful basement. At least until March 30, 2010.

I went down that morning to turn on a video for my son and my foot stepped in 3 inches of water. I suddenly realized that all of our treasures were floating. It didn't stop -- about six hours later we had about 10 inches of water.

Pictured here is only about 3-4 inches. It was flooding so fast we tried to get all the valuable things out before they were ruined.

Because we were so distraught, we forgot to take a picture at full water depth. Just imagine the couch resting on large food cans to try to keep it above water.

After the waters finally receded four days later, we had to move everything from the basement so that it could dry outside.

All of the family treasures(toys, fabric, sewing machine, tv, stereo, etc) are now waiting in the garage for our all-purpose basement to get fixed.

We've cleaned, replaced the ruined drywall, painted and are preparing to finish the walls with wainscoting. In the next two weeks I hope to have the carpet back in too. Here's to hoping!

But, I still have all of this stuff to organize and put back downstairs for my family to use. Oh, how I would love to have a wonderful organization system to store all the toys, games, crafts, and electronics! Please help us!

Can't you just imagine a beautiful storage system for

toys, sewing/crafting and games?

Even though I really want to win I'll be good and share all the contest information so that you can try too:

The contest runs through April 30th (so hurry over!), and one winner will receive expert design advice, as well as a customized cabinet/counter top organization utopia for your room valued up to $5,000!

Take a photo of your family room, craft room, or basement. Whatever you think needs some organization love.

Post the photo on a blog post and tell us more about the room. Who uses it, what takes place in that room, etc. Also include what you’d like the design team at Wilsonart to help you accomplish with the Spring Clean.

Learn more about the contest here. Submit the link to your blog post here and you’ll be entered to win the $5,000 Spring Cleaning Room Makeover!

Furniture Re-vamp

Do you ever get so excited about a project it starts to consume your every thought? I'll admit it happens to me often. I obsess on an idea or a project and I just can't get it out of my thoughts.

The past month my dining room has been my obsession. I have driven to furniture stores all over the state looking for a black dining room table and hutch. They are outrageous expensive! I just can't spend the money required to get a quality set. So, my mind shifted gears and I started wondering if I could create such a set.

I've spent hours and hours researching how to paint furniture, looking at furniture on Craig's list and talking to the experts at Lowe's and Sherwin Williams.

Last weekend, I dragged my family to a town about 30 miles away to purchase a small hutch on Craigslist. It's now sitting in the garage, just waiting to become a beautiful piece of re-created glory. I have all the supplies, all the tools.

But, my excitement is starting to wane, and I'm terrified I'll screw it up! What if I ruin a cute little piece of $50 furniture and my new vision for my dining room is not going to work??? I know I have to get over this sense of fear and just get out there. I do. I understand that.

Time for the internal pep talk and to change into painting clothes.

Color Transformation

Our painting project is finally finished! It makes such a shocking difference in the room! I can't believe how dark it was with the red.

I will say that going from the dark red to white was a pretty intensive project. We had to use Kills as a primer to cover it. Then we did a coat of each color. When we took the tape off, we learned that the Kills was pulling off at the edges with the tape. What a pain! We had to do about 4 hours worth of touch up painting. But, I can honestly say that the paint job is the best one that my husband and I have ever done.

If you wondered if my husband is happy with the new room -- yep. He is. He can't believe the change and how much brighter it is in there. We spend a large portion of the day in there since my computer office is also my dining room. I love being in there and I really enjoy how classy it looks. I can't wait to pull together the wall decor and really make it shine!

Painting Day 1.5

I know it's almost impossible to see the differences in paint color here. And, I had to take the pictures out of focus because the camera couldn't find something to focus on. But, you get the general idea of where we plan to go.

Right now I think we're going to go with 'Hanoki' as the color. Check back. It seems to be changing by the hour.

Painting Day One

Here's what it looks like after one coat of primer. I think we'll do the color next -- that is if we ca decide on which one.

Temporary Hiatus

I've had to put a hold on sewing this week. I've forced my family into accepting a re-model of our dining room. I'm the only one that's really excited about it. My husband is a very reluctant participant. He has really enjoyed the red and isn't sure he wants it to go away. I have to give him credit though -- he's doing the work right along with me and not complaining one bit.

This red is where we started. I can't wait to see where we end up!