Change in Focus

A couple weeks ago, we finally made the "big move" to move our television downstairs to what someday will truly be the family room.  For now, it has sheetrock but no mud/tape/paint.  It has old stained carpet from my brother-in-law's old house but no pad/tackstrip.  It has functional lighting and outlets, and it is completely wired for surround sound and projector.  When my father-in-law decided to give us his old surround sound system (and mother-in-law offered an old couch), moving the tv down made sense, despite the... uh... rough edges of the room.

As soon as we made the decision, I started re-arranging living room furniture.  I've always wanted a nice room where the focus is on people and conversation, not on the large ugly rectangle on the wall.  I've always struggled to decorate knowing there was nothing my limited (a.k.a. non-existent) budget could do to pull focus to somewhere more interesting.  I've always given in and oriented the couches to provide ample seating around said large ugly rectangle.  Finally, I was able to try out new combinations of furniture, bring the piano - my most prized possession - out of banishment, and purchase a few nice looking, albeit dollar-store, wall hangings.  Finally, I enjoy being in my own living room!

I expected that by putting the television in to a largely unsupervised, child-run area of the house, I was probably in for a fight if I wanted to regulate how much television was watched and how much Wii was played.  Interestingly, the opposite has happened!

The kids have the ability to go downstairs and watch tv or play the Wii pretty much whenever they want.  Adam takes after Daddy in his abilities to understand and manipulate electronics and remotes, so navigating multiple menus is no deterrent. 

But they rarely do!

I filled a storage ottoman with picture books (where there used to be DVD's), and Alex spends much of his time on the living room couch, book in hand.

Adam spends most of his time with Dylan, playing with the baby toys in his room.

The house is quieter and definately more peaceful.  Except of course, for right now, when the kids chose to turn off the tv downstairs and are now sliding down the stairs instead.  Hm... that's kind of against the rules.

Blog done.  :)