The living room needs a makeover.

It's a well known fact that I can't leave anything well enough alone. I've always got to be changing things, moving things around, planning, dreaming. I think it annoyed Jeff for about the first 5 years we were together, now he's all "sure honey, that would look awesome..."

...

So anyway, I just go with it. I'm 100% capable of moving crap around myself because I've always been like this, but I haven't always had a man around.

->tangent: years and years ago I bought myself a bed from Ikea *insert choir of angels* and being the impatient sort I am, decided to jump in and start building it all by myself. Building a double bed complete with headboard, footboard, and side rails is advisable only with TWO people. It even says so on the instructions. However, after a lot of sweat and a frustrated tantrum or 2, I got it done. I rock.

Where were we. Oh yes, I regularily move shit around in my house. But me moving things around doesn't have a whole lot to do with this post. Focus, Chantel. No, this post has more to do with the lack of anything decorative in my living room. Everything kind of looks like it's just floating around in there.

You know Jon & Kate Plus Eight, and how the living room in their old house had a grand total of 3 peices of furniture in it? That's so my living room. A sectional, a shelving system, and a coffee and end table. That's seriously it. And do you know what is on the coffee and end table? Nothing. So 2 out of my 5 peices of furniture are not even functional.

I blame it on my toddlers. Liam was not like this. He was SO MUCH MORE calm. And since I'm inherently lazy and would prefer to parent from the comfort of my butt on the couch, all ornaments and such have found alternative homes on higher surfaces or in boxes in the storage room.

I'm KIDDING about my lazy parenting. Kind of. I'd like to parent that way but my reality is FAR different.

Today my floating living room is really picking my ass. So I decided to start with something small and put a lamp and knick-knack on the end table and a couple trays and a handmade box on the coffee table and see what would happen. Those kids were all over it in a heartbeat. Banging things around, moving stuff so they could squat in the middle of the table as per usual.

With a little gentle (ha!) reprimanding from yours truly, Nicky quickly got the picture. Josh...we're still working on it. He's pretty stubborn. I'm more stubborn. I'm making it my mission to prevail over the 1 year old.

However, there are a couple more things that need to happen in the living room to take it from "floating" to "what Chantel wants". We (Jeff) need to finish putting baseboards up. And I need to find a bigger area rug. The one we have now, which I love, is just TOO SMALL. I think the rug is what makes everything look like it's just floating around in there. There's no anchor. But it's not easy finding affordable area rugs that are at least 8x10 feet. Lotsa 5x8's, but that's what we have and that's what is too small.

So ya, there's really no point to this post except that this is what I've been obsessing over today. And maybe to let Jeff know that this is the direction we'll be going in henceforth? Ya know, with the baseboards and such? And that he also will have to at some point go and pick up whatever rug I find on Kijiji?

We have such awesome communication skillz.