So last weekend after the marathon, we ended up getting a treadmill.  Casey works from home and works a LOT.  Between work and school, finding the time to commute to the gym and back is a huge pain, so we finally buckled down and got a treadmill so that he can run at home.  Did I mention I had to help carry the treadmill from the car to the house the day after I ran 26 miles?  Or that the treadmill box weighed nearly 300 pounds?  I am a good wife!

When the treadmill came home, the most logical, albeit least romantic place for it, was our bedroom.  There was a lot of space for it, plus we have the extra tv in the bedroom, which we wanted to use when we were running.  But after a week of the treadmill/bedroom combo, something had to give.  It just didn’t work.

Enter Casey’s master plan to flip our house – and I’m not just talking about rearranging some chairs!  The entire office came downstairs (sooo many cords!), and the bedroom went upstairs to the loft!  Now the gigantic master bedroom is more of a rec/family room, and I absolutely LOVE it!  It’s really nice to have our desks on the ground floor, and I think sleeping in the loft is really fun.

Of course a new arrangement creates weird new space though, and our big rec room was feeling a little empty.  Originally we planned on getting a small couch to round out the room, but I had been pining for a book shelf since August, so we scrapped the couch idea and headed to IKEA to get my coveted book shelf!  Our books have been in boxes for months, and are finally freed from the closet!

After wasting three hours at IKEA (standard), I headed home and began my assembly…

The dogs really hated the moving at first – their favorite spot to hang out on was our bed!  But they discovered that with the furniture moved around and the blinds finally opened, there was a perfect sunny patch for them to enjoy.

They appear to be adjusting just fine…

Upstairs, the bedroom is totally awesome in the loft!  (The dogs followed me up the steps, making sure to not miss any photo shoot opportunities.)  At first I thought having the bedroom so open might be weird, but it would really only be an issue of noise the very few times we have overnight guests.  Is that really enough to base a decision on?  We decided no, and I totally love it!

Plus the dogs can still hang out on the bed and see what’s going on down below…

Back downstairs, the office/family room has really come together!  There are still a few things to finish, but for the most part we are re-settled.  We both can’t get over how much better this setup is than the old one!  Now we sit side by side, and we can both see out the window too (which has a chilly draft, brrrr).

Good thing he likes his desk – poor Casey worked almost 70 hours this week!  Literally non stop, other than moving the desks down.  I even set up the entire bedroom, including queen bed assembly all by myself!  Who needs to go to the gym when you can just rearrange large pieces of furniture?  :)

Here’s a shot of the other side of the room!  The treadmill has our signed and personalized Brian Sell Chicago Marathon poster behind it, and my fabulous new bookshelf to the side.  This room also has my two favorite lamps – courtesy of Lindsey and Blake – thanks guys!

Check out the close up of the poster hanging above the bookshelf…

Casey’s grandma gave it to me last Christmas when we went home – he made this when he was SEVEN!  Pretty good for seven, don’t you think? 

“Give school (and life) your best shot!” – I’m definitely giving both my best shot this year.  In fact I just got my first term grades – 4.0 GPA and made the Dean’s List!  I think seven-year-old Casey would be proud.  :)