Sorry for Going Dark!

I know! I've gone dark again, but truly nothing has been going on at the homefront (as far as home decor!). Between football season, birthday parties, weddings and more - we've done NOTHING to the house short of trying to maintain it!

I expect a few purchases later this year - new rug for the dining room, maybe some decor items for the kitchen, but all projects are TBD! There's been talk of the TV over the mantle dealio happening sooner rather than later - and maybe new backsplash in the kitchen - and maybe a new lamp for the living room but nothing is needed so it's all on hold!

I know, boring. :)

Master Bedroom Update

I've been meaning to post our bedroom switcharoo! I know I mentioned that we switched up our bedroom from chocolate/cranberry to chocolate/green. Here's the new pics! (the green came from our guest room and the cranberry moved to our upstairs den which used to be blue, but now Austin's home office is blue). :)

Basically - we just got two new nighstands, added the green bedding, added some pillows from other rooms, a bit of new art and some green accents!

Austin wanted the closed-off Pottery Barn nightstand

I wanted open shelving - although I need to work a bit more to keep it clean!

Random shot - and poor Reuben has given up! LOL

New art and some new green accents

Here are some before shots:

gotta love nightstand shopping - only took me a year! haha

So much darker before - and we ultimately had to toss the moss A and K from our wedding - they died!

Still love the red- but really like the lighter colors now!

Hope you like the changes we made! The great thing is we can always go back - stuff is just shuffled all over the house. I could see going darker in the winter!

Things I Learned: The Last Project

• Be Flexible. You can know where you want your lighting, but that doesn't mean that pipes, beams, etc. won't be in the way. You have to be flexible and know that it will look good regardless.
• Label your light switches. Tell them up front what you want each switch to do.
• Think about the future. We closed up all of the previous holes (they weren't electrical any longer - they moved it to where we needed it). However, i'll make sure to note where they are in case owners later (or us if we get rid of the pool table) want to add a fan. We know where it fits, where the support beam is, etc.
• Have one person do the whole job. I'm SO glad I didn't piece meal to different vendors for painting, carpentry and lighting. It was great for the team to work together to get the job done and come when they were needed. The schedule changed a lot so if it had been different companies it would have been very frustrating. It was also nice to have one contact.
• Get more than one quote. That's easy, but it really helped. I was able to get this one company to match a lighting quote from a different company, and to get them to match a carpentry quote from yet another company. Basically, I liked this company's painting quote and they matched on the others to do the whole job. Then they did extras, like painting our hall closet for $70 and putting crown in our half bath too for only $145. I hope I can use them again. Later, if we stay here longer, I could see adding crown to the 3 bedrooms upstairs and 2 bathrooms that lack it, and, when I can no longer stand the satin, i'd bring them on in a heartbeat to paint repaint the interior.
• Get buy in. Austin was so supportive. We made the choices together with where lights would go, which lights we would buy (pendants) and worked with the vendor together, especially once they were on site.
• Have a plan. We drew out the room in PowerPoint and indicated where we wanted 6" recessed cans, 4" recessed cans, pendants, etc. We got feedback from lighting peeps and adjusted based on their ideas. Before they came, we sent the diagram we all agreed on and when they arrived they had copies of it and we all knew which direction we were heading in.

I think that's it! Every project is trial and error but I always walk away feeling so much more knowledgeable and comfortable, though i'm never in the mood for another project for a while! LOL

Before & After: Lighting, Painting & Crown Moulding Project...

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE


AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Three Words: I'm So Excited.

Three More: We Love It.

Three More: Hope You Do! :)

Three More: Reuben does too...

The Renovations Have Commenced...

I know I still owe a bunch on this blog - eek! But for now, know that the lighting has commenced - yay! I took some 'during' pictures last night. He was at the house from 3:30 until 9 p.m. He has cut 8 holes for the 8 6" cans so far and has run all of the wiring. He's arriving at 9 a.m. today to cut 5 more holes (for 3 more 6" cans and 2 more 4" cans) and to hang the 3 pendants. Then the lights go in... then the switches are fixed... i'm SO excited!

UPDATE: 12 p.m. Austin sent a few pics. NOTE: These were taken with a blackberry. Also, once the ceiling is white we think it will look SO much better! (so the cans will be flush)

UPDATE: 4 p.m. Austin sent another pic. Note: These were taken with a blackberry. Also, he insists that they just look close together due to the angle. We like.... eee!

Update: 4:40 p.m. Austin sent another pic

Update on Lighting Project!

I signed a contract for our new house project! I'm still working on the date, but I have a remodeling company coming in to do the following:

• remove 3 lights from our kitchen/seating area/pool table area (i.e. large rectangular room)
• install 13 recessed lights and 3 pendant lights
• patch/prime/paint the ceiling (currently tan- I want it WHITE)
• paint our walk-in hall closet/mud room (currently white - I want it TAN)
• Remove crown molding and install thicker crown in entire room.

That pool table light (and the track lighting in the kitchen and chandelier over the seating area are OUT!)

3 of these will be installed over the sink! (sink below!)

The curtain will be replaced with a bamboo roman shade and the three lights will hang above it. Note that dark ceiling and lack of crown - not for long!

I SO hope they can come and do it next week! I can't wait and think it's going to make a big impact!

Need to update...

Need to update this blog for:

• New nightstands! Finally - woo! I'll take some pics.
• New frames - got tons of new frames, had pictures printed, etc. - really think it makes the house more homey!
• Austin's office - it's come a long way and we have a bit more to do - will post soon!
• The Big Project: Lighting/painting/crown - this is coming along a bit slower than I want as I gather quotes, but I know that once I push the button we'll be good as done! Hope to get this done week of July 19 - 23 - we'll see!
• Outdoor: I've been getting a lot done outside and it's really coming together! I'll take some progress pics once it's a bit farther along.

So yes, I have quite a few things to post about! Woo! Hope to post the nightstands this week!

Who Doesn't Love a Pendant?

Three of these will be mine in 5-7 business days per Pottery Barn.

I can't wait! Here's a pic of them in action:

Now, let's just cross our fingers that we love them as much in person, so we can have the lighting guy install them over our sink.... eeeeeee!!!!!!

New Grill

Sunday Austin was ready to go get his grill! (a gift from his parents!) We headed to Home Depot, had great service, and bought the grill Austin had had his eye on/been researching – yay!

The new grill in its new home

We want to replace the bench with a small table/chairs so when he grills he'll have some company! After this pic was taken he cut back the branches a bit


We were so excited to start grilling! This grill was our favorite because of this red heating whereby it cooks evenly, and easy clean up (It has a 'clean' button that turns it all to ash then you just dump it). I liked it because it has a burner on the left so I could cook a side out there, and because it's cute! We got a great price (guy even gave us $25 off in store), and we got a cover for it which is good as it's rained every day since we got it. We were able to grill some shrimpies and chicken last night and they were SO good. Can't wait to use the grill even more - thanks, Paul & Michelle!

Lots 'o Changes

So I haven't updated in a while! And this post isn't really so much of an update, but a list of things to come!!

• New Office: Austin's office is now in my scrapbook room! I'll have to take some pics when we finish it!
• New Guest Room: Our "green" guest room is now white/orange and has all of my scrapbook room/office furniture in it - cute!
• New Master room: Our "brown" master room now has the "green" guest room bedding in it! Austin got a painting at Ballard's, we got a new pillow in NY and lots of stuff is changing up!
• New Upstairs Den: The den is no longer "Austin's office/den" so we're going to make it JUST like our old loft and use our cranberry-colored pillows, candles, etc. We're also going to hang the M canvas in there and some of our other framed items (i.e. wedding invitation).
• 2nd New Pillow: Another new pillow is in the seating area - need to get a shot of it!

So yes, quite a few changes around the house!! We're hoping to get it all squared away this weekend and then i'll start taking some pics so stay tuned!

Hi Kitchen, Let me Introduce you to 2010!

Yay - I have finally have a modern-day kitchen - woo! Here is some before and after. Note: I realize that my "old" kitchen was a 90's kitchen, not trying to be dramatic. However, I feel the 'before' kitchen SCREAMED 90's and that the new one is much better for the new millennium. Just sayin'. Here goes....

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

What we did:

• Had granite installed.
• Had a new sink and faucet installed.
• Bought and installed new hardware for all drawers and cabinets.
• Bought stainless steel appliances to replace white appliances (had them installed; had plumber fix gas line).

What we didn't do:

• Replace backsplash. If I replaced it i'd want white subway tile. But it's already white tile so it's hard to justify changing it for a different shape!

What's left to do:

• Rip out all lighting. Have two pendants installed over island. Have one pendant installed over sink. Have pot lights put in kitchen and under-cabinet lighting installed.
• Have ceiling painted white.
• Have crown installed.

The last project isn't just the kitchen - it's that WHOLE room. It's going to be the last big project we do and I think it's going to make a big impact!!

What do you think?!

Range is In!

The plumber was able to come on Friday - only $125 to recess the gas line! (which was set off by the 15% off on the range due to the dent in the side that no one will see!). I'll get better pics once the microwave is in... and without smudge marks! :)

Two more to go! The D/W and microwave are being delivered on Thursday but here is the range so far!

Nightstands I Think I Want...

I like the Pottery Barn nightstands below... I've had my eye on them for a while. They were cheaper before (I had a wedding offer... I'll have to find it on this blog from like last year! At least I know this won't go out of style - clearly!) It's normally $400... today it's $350. But I need two... so $700 before tax. I think my favorite part is the size: 28" wide, 18" deep and 27" high. I also think it will complement my headboard well! Thoughts??! Should I buy? Or should I wait and try to find them at the outlets? Or should I ask Michelle for the discount her friend used to get?

Green Guest Room Gets Wall Art

I finally got some good pics of a new project – wall art! For our wedding we had guests sign a piece of canvas that my sister had written a big M on! Then, 2 years later, my lazy butt had it put on wooden backers at a framers. Now, it hangs proudly in our guest room – I love looking at it. It’s about 3’x5’ – and I personally think it looks better in person!

close up!

farther away!

what do you think?!

Chop 'Em Down... Chop 'Em Down...

Before (note the for sale sign during March 2009)

After (and exactly 1 year later; March 2010)

Close up

Close up of the two!

I'm pretty happy! Stacy says, "it looks like your house got its eyebrows waxed." I totally agree, and I think it's like a haircut, it takes some getting used to! Devon agrees, we definitely need to remove that bush "the gum drop" in the front by itself looking all random.

My only complaint? I asked for 6' tall. It's on the quote. These seem 5' to me... I know that may seem picky, but that's like 15% shorter... I'm going to measure tonight when Austin gets home...

What do you think?