Hello there! I’ve been a bit scarce lately, mostly because my MacBook’s keyboard died. I turned it in this weekend for repairs at my local Apple Store, which was a monumental task in and of itself. The Apple Store here is so swamped, you have to make an appointment to turn in the computer for repairs, and they were booking a week out.

In the meantime, I’m using a Acer touchscreen laptop we had bought a few years ago, but had given us so much trouble with Windows 8.1 not being compatible with the built-in WiFi adapter. Last spring I blew away the Windows operating system and completely replaced it with the Ubuntu system (Linux). I found the proper drivers to re-activate the touchscreen with Ubuntu, and things are going decently. I still miss my MacBook, though…I’ll have it back by next weekend.

So on to our next project: changing the guest room from a plain junk-storage space that occasionally hosts guests to a no-kidding guest bedroom. This past summer when Dave and I visited the local Parade of Homes we saw a DIY idea that we both agreed was worth trying to do: planking a wall to look like a log-cabin.

This weekend we’re going to make it happen. Today we will be painting the walls: luckily we have plenty of leftover paint from our previous painting projects. Tomorrow we will be planking the headboard wall with blue-stained beetle-kill pine planking. We were happy to find this wood, at a relatively inexpensive price, at our local Home Depot. We got all the wood we wanted for about $75, and we think it’s going to look fantastic. You can see an example of the planking we’re using by clicking here.

We have picked up some accessories to help give the room a lodge-y feel, including some neat items from the antique stores in Fairplay, CO. I’m very excited about this next transformation.

I look forward to reporting on our progress tonight and tomorrow!