Mistakes parents make

I have really been enjoying repurposing furniture.  Since our house is 2 1/2 times the size of what we had previously, there is a lot of space to fill!  But I didn't want to spend too much money on filling it.  So I've been frequenting the thrift store near us, going to yard sales almost weekly, and taking furniture off of the hands of my in-laws who are in the process of down-sizing.  Many pieces that I find have good bones, but just need a little love on the exterior, so I'll pull out some spray paint or use the chalk-painting method (google it- it's amazing!) and bring the pieces back to life.  I have an artsy side of me, but absolutely no artsy skills, so this hobby fits the bill perfectly!

Evie joined me on one of my yard sale-ing adventures.  She and I found these adorable folding chairs for $1 each.  I purchased them right away with great ideas in my mind of how to do away with the bold primary colors.

So after a little spray paint and reupholstering with an outdoor tablecloth that we had laying around, these chairs now fit perfectly with the color scheme of our playroom.

Well, at least that's what I think.  Evie, on the other hand, as soon as she saw them burst into tears and said, "But Mommy, I wanted the red one."  Oh dear.  My heart sank.  In my desire to have my house furnishings flow well together (even in the playroom), I crushed the spirit of my little girl who is also figuring out her own style (see previous post).  Thankfully, her sadness only lasted a moment, and after seeing how her new chairs fit under her art table, she was excited to show them off to her friends.  But it was a good lesson for me.  I'm not saying that I need to consult Evie with decorating tips for our house (because, oh my, we would probably look like a Dr. Seuss house), but it is important to allow children to have some ownership over things of which we probably need to let go.  As a result of that lesson, I had Evie do an art project on a canvas that she was able to hang in her bedroom.  As she was painting, I had to catch myself from saying, "Oh, but wouldn't it look lovely to use just pink and green instead of black," or "Oh, how neat it would look to have dots instead of smearing the paint."  But she made her own creation that she is proud of and it hangs beautifully over her bed!

And thankfully she did decide not to use the black paint! :)