I know more than a couple people are curious about the Big Ugly House and so I thought I would give you a tour... in installments. You've already seen the
kitchen and guest room and a bit of the
dining room and the
schoolroom. (The room which I am in the very slow process of redoing. I'll have something to show you once I work up the nerve to cut into the fabric I bought to recover the futon. Oh, and it desperately needs better lighting. I've decided that's why I find it depressing.) How about we go upstairs and see how we fit 9 children into four bedrooms?
First up is the little boys' room. That would be TM, D. and K. Their room is actually a tandem room which connects with B.'s You can't see it in these pictures, but there is a large opening to the right in the picture below. We have it covered by a curtain and blocked by dressers to make two distinct rooms.
As you can see, the boys don't have a lot of stuff in their room. They each have a bin for special stuff under their beds and a couple of baskets of books. Anything else and it becomes impossible for them to keep it clean. Their toys live on the third floor in the playroom.
If you were to go through the white door in the above picture, it would take you into a small closet which also has a door through to the girls' (everyone but M.) room:
That white door in the above picture is where you come in if you went through the closet. B. was taking the pictures for me and forgot to include the bunk beds which A. and P. use. If the camera panned just a bit to the left you would see them.
Opposite the bunk beds, if you turn around are the babies' cribs. It is a tight fit to get everything in this room. Plus, A. and P. are the classic odd couple when it comes to cleaning, with A. keeping a fairly tight ship and P. ignoring her cleaning frenzies.
The white door in the picture below leads to the children's bathroom. Yes, you could travel through bathrooms, bedrooms, and closets between all the children's bedrooms but M.'s.
Speaking of M.'s room, she is much further down the hall in her own little hide-away. When we redid the kitchen, her room was completely redone as well. It had formerly been the maid's room and the way it had subsequently been configured, it was a room without a door. We fixed that detail plus gave her things such as insulation and windows which work. She started out with the most questionable quarters and now has some of the nicest ones.
It is very purple... her choice.
Lastly we'll go back down the hall to B.'s room. If I were doing this in order, I would have started with his. B. is the possessor of the coldest room in the house. It is west and north facing with big drafty windows. His is in the very front of the house. And as I look at these pictures, I realize that perhaps he is due for a makeover... to a style more in fitting with a 15 year old rather than the 10 year old it was decorated for.
B. also has his own bathroom... if it worked. It's through that white door in the picture below. Three winters ago, the pipes which run to this bathroom froze and burst. In trying to stop extreme damage, we disconnected the pipes and unseated the toilet. Maybe someday we'll put it back to rights.
There you have it 9 children, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms in various states of functionality. (Plus, they now all have somewhat tidy rooms. It's amazing what the power of blogging can achieve!)
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