Putting Up Walls

In our attic master bedroom remodel project, that is!!!!

After a much too long hiatus from any kind of progress up there, we finally got some more work done!!!

The best part about this portion of the progress, is that it's finally starting to look like a room again :o)

For a quick recap...

This is what we started with:

(can you believe that the sellers actually tried to pass this as a livable bedroom?!)

This is what we did (complete gutt job):

Then we re-wired the electrical work and re-insulated:

Here's where we're at currently (the rebuild):

We still have quite a bit more work to do - finish drywalling this half of the room (including tape and mud), finish insulating and drywalling the other half of the room, paint, put up trim and molding, and finally have new carpet installed. But my father is promising me that this will all be done and we will be moved in up there by September, when Owen gets here... fingers crossed!

I am dying to get started on his nursery, but we need to get out of that room first!

Cold Front

So... you know how it's like "Murphy's Law" that when you're trying to save money, inevitably something will happen suddenly that causes you to need to spend an unplanned for large sum of money?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Last week while I was out of town at my conference for work, the electrical company decided that they were going to do some work in our neighborhood - ok, no big deal. They came to the door and warned Bryan that they would be shutting off our power for about an hour, we went on with our lives.

Well... apparently when they flipped the power back on, it caused a significant surge and blew one of our circuit breakers. Usually no big deal, after all that's what circuit breakers are for - right? Apparently not when they're "protecting" your 10 year old refrigerator.

I am sad to report that our fridge bit the big one last week - it still runs, but the cooling system is shot.

Luckily we have an extra older fridge in the basement, which is currently acting as our primary food cooling unit. But it is becoming a pain to walk up and down the stairs for every little thing, especially when you're used to just being able to walk to the kitchen for it.

We got really lucky with our home and the people that we purchased it from left all of their appliances for us. Most of them were new or new enough and all were in really good shape, so we really lucked out in that aspect. So really this is our first official new appliance purchased, even though we've been in our house for over a year new. All-in-all, I guess I really can't complain too much because of that.

However, when you're planning for a baby and trying to save $$$ there is never a good time to need to make an unexpected large purchase. And yes, it could have been worse - a fridge is on a lighter side of the "big purchase" scale, so again I'm not complaining.

But we did go out this weekend, in search of a replacement fridge.

Somehow, we got really lucky again and were able to find a new fridge that is almost the exact same as the one that we lost AND it was among the cheapest that we saw - ScOrE!!!!

Our Maytag 22 cu. ft. side-by-side refrigerator, with in-door ice and water dispenser... will be delivered on Monday. We ordered it in white, to match the rest of the appliances - so s/he should fit right in with the gang.

It's actually kind of nice - our old fridge also had an in-door ice and water dispenser, but it didn't work for some unknown reason. Bryan and my father tried for hours to fix the damn thing, but they were never able to get it working. So now we will have one that finally works, which will be very nice to have.

It's obviously not my dream appliance, but it's perfect for our home and we're glad that we got so lucky as to find such a great deal on what we needed. Thank you Home Depot lol

Progress

We took an impromptu hiatus from our remodel over the holiday season - I honestly don't think we've worked on it since before November. But today's work holiday finally provided the opportunity to get back into the swing of things, and so we continued to trudge forward.

The last time I gave any kind of an update on the remodel was back before Thanksgiving, in my "ketchup" Busy Bee post, where I mentioned that we had been working on the electrical work and purchased all of the building supplies. So yes, that was the last time that we did any work on the remodel up until now.

Today we hooked-up or installed the light fixtures to the new electrical work. So we now have light up there!!! Which will make working into the wee hours of the night, much easier with that warm glow lol

We also installed the ventilation system for the ceiling and roof, raised the ceiling beams to heighten the room, and extended the rafters to accommodate the depth of the insulation.

Now we just have to finish installing the insulation strips, and then we can start putting the drywall back up! It's going to start looking like a room again very soon, I can hardly wait!!!

Just to recap and give you some perspective...

Here is what we started with:

This is what we did - completely gutted:

Now we're in the process of building it back up:

Someday soon, it will hopefully look something like this:

That's the plan anyway :o)

I am finally starting to feel like we're at a point in the project, where we're really going to start seeing the progress. Once the walls start going back up, it's really going to start looking like a room again!!!

New Year, New Us!

Hoping everyone has a very merry Christmas and a safe happy New Year!

I know, I know, I know... I've been slacking with my blogging duties lately. Things have just been absolutely crazy the past few months, but hopefully they will start to settle down now for 2011!

As I mentioned before, I started a new job back in November and with that came a lot of new responsibilities - including an entire Orientation event that I needed to organize and throw the week of Christmas (yikes!). So needless to say, I have been super busy with that - but I am proud to report that it was a success and now it's onto the next thing lol I am actually going out of town for a conference in a couple of weeks, so that will be keeping me busy for a short while as well... it's always something!

Aside from that, we just got back from our Christmas vacation to Arizona a few days ago as well. We were just north of Phoenix visiting Bryan's grandparents for the holiday. It was a great trip - on Christmas day I was sitting outside in 75° weather!!! It really did not feel like Christmas at all, which was just fine by me this year... it was perfect!

So clearly, we've had a lot going on recently. We haven't even really had a chance to do anymore work on our upstairs renovation, but hopefully that will get back on track now that the holidays are over.

It sort of has to get back on track, we need our new master bedroom finished soon because this year in 2011 we are going to need that extra bedroom for a nursery! That's right, we're expecting again!

Given our struggle to conceive and after our loss back in September, I really struggled with how to handle everything our next go-around (God willing we ever got the chance again). But then I  was reminded that most of the worry surrounding pregnancy is in regards to pregnancy loss and we've already survived that! So this time I am going to take each day as it comes and enjoy every single moment that I get to be pregnant! We're thinking nothing but positive thoughts and enjoying it all - "today I am pregnant and I love my baby" :o)

And what better way to start 2011 than that?!?!

Anyway, we're really excited and hope that you will continue to follow us through this journey as we become parents! Thanks again for reading and Happy New Year everyone!

Fall Decor

Received my Fall Pottery Barn catalog in the mail today, and it really got me thinking about the fall decor for our house. Since we closed and moved into our house at the end of last November (yay!!! it's almost our 1 year homeowners anniversary) we didn't really get a chance to decorate for the fall season last year, we just kinda moved in and went straight to winter/x-mas/holiday decor.

So in honor of our first opportunity to decorate our home for the fall season, I have decided to share some of the ideas I am loving this fall, with you guys - my lovely readers!

love the whole look and feel of this pic - wish I had a big porch :o(

LoVe this wreath!!! I've been looking for a great fall wreath for our front door :o)

I've talked in previous posts about how I absolutely love Pottery Barn, but how they can also be quite pricey. I've pulled off PB knock-offs in the past, and am going to attempt it again with some of these fall decor items... so wish me luck and stay tuned to see what I come up with ;o)

Green Thumb Part II

We finally got around to putting the edging bricks in our landscaping!!! Hey, better late than never right?! No less, it's finally done and only took a couple of hours with the help of my wonderful mother :o) I clearly didn't get my green thumb from her, because she is just awesome!!!

So, here's what we started with

then we planted some wormwood bushes and day-lilies

and now FINALLY we have the finished product

Tada!!! Please excuse all of the dead spinners laying in the mulch - our neighbor has a tree that drops them every spring and of course they blow into our yard, but it would take a million years to pick them all out (ugh) so there they sit until they decompose lol! Aside from that, the plants are growing beautifully!!!

Overall, the curb appeal for our house has skyrocketed since we moved in...

This was the listing photo from the previous owners

 
and this is what the house looks like now

Maybe I'm partial - but I really think it's come a long way :o) We still need shutters, a new driveway, and to do something with the front steps and walkway - but other than that I think the lawn itself looks a thousand times better, the landscaping is a HUGE upgrade from the dirt, weeds, and random tree that they had growing waaaaaaaaay too close to the front steps and foundation of the house, and our white SUV matches the house much better than their red pickup truck did ;o) What do you guys think???

Our Own Tuscan Vineyard

Painting has finally commenced on our 3 season porch turned Tuscan Vineyard - the lights are hung and the ambiance is magnificent. Don't have a ton of time to write now, but here's a preview and more to come later :o)

Of course this is still sans new neutral carpet, but you get the idea. Enjoy!!! 

Weekend Warriors

Apparently we are making up for the un-productivity of the past couple weekends, because we are just knocking out projects like crazy this weekend! My wonderful husband graduated from graduate school this past week - he passed his thesis defense and finished the last of his research, he now officially has his M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry (woohoo!!!). And so on Friday night we went out to celebrate with my in-laws. We had dinner and drinks at a beautiful little restaurant on a nearby lake - Conesus Inn

Everything was delicious, and it was a great celebration.

For his graduation gift, my generous in-laws bought him a new grill.

He was very excited, and actually managed to get it all put together in a few hours yesterday. Hopefully he will be grilling delicious dinners for his wonderful wife in the very near future ;o)

Saturday I decided it was time to get started on a project of my own - painting the ceiling of our enclosed porch. The previous owners had painted the entire space this nasty and depressing blueish shade of gray, and I mean everything! A few weeks ago we painted the walls a nice light green, and the trim white. Now it's time to paint the rest of the ceiling white, and the exposed beams a darker brown.

We're going for a Tuscan vineyard look in this space. That was a sneak peak, so stay tuned!

Green Thumb Part I

The weather today was absolutely lovely, so we decided it was the perfect day to work on our landscaping! I can honestly say that I do not have a green thumb on my body, but I think that it actually turned out quite well.

BEFORE

AFTER

They are all perennials - the 3 taller plants in the back are day-lilies, and the 4 smaller green ground covers in the front are wormwood. The mulch is actually brown rubber, made from old recycled tires - compared to typical wood mulch, this stuff wont decompose, blow away, attract bugs/insects/ants, create dust and/or dirt, etc. It's guaranteed for at least 12 years and the color isn't supposed to fade.

The plants will obviously grow larger and fuller with time, and the flowers will blossom. It's still missing some stone edging, which is our project for tomorrow, but I think it looks much better than it did before! The previous owners had left a hodgepodge of rose bushes, random plants and weeds - so this is a HUGE upgrade from when we first bought the house. We may still fill in some of the empty space with random colorful annuals, but I want to get the stone edging done and allow the day-lilies to bloom first before we add anything else.

Here is the stone edging that we are considering - 12x6 stamped blocks from Home Depot

What do you guys think?

Homey

So I am on a mission to make our 3 season porch feel more homey - more like another functional room in the house, rather than a random storage space off the back of the house. It really is a great space and we have actually come to love being out there, but it is definitely in need of some TLC.

We've gotten a good start on the process, by purchasing some patio furniture

And also by adding some other pieces to room, that didn't previously have a place in our house yet. Overall it's starting to look a lot better, but it still feels like kind of an unfinished hodgepodge.

My most recent attempt at making this room more homey was to add some window treatments. But given the unique size of the windows, that task proved to be much more difficult than I had anticipated. Working on a frugal budget and limited extra wall space, this is what I came up with

 What do you guys think? I wanted something neutral and natural - something to make the space feel like another room of the house, but also to bring the outdoors in and maintain the true identity of the room. I wanted the window treatments to accent the windows and view, not take away from them.

We are actually hoping DID to get some painting done in this room today. I want to bring a lighter more earthy color to the walls - we're planning for a very light green, with white trim. EDIT: We did get the painting done and the above photo features the room with freshly painted light green walls and white trim!!!

And eventually I would like to bring a more natural color outdoor carpet into the space as well.

They're Heeeere

My new Pottery Barn Painterly Paisley bedding set and entertainment tower that is :o) And I absolutely love them!!!

The PB bed set was purchased to go in our soon-to-be second floor master bedroom, which is currently being remodeled. But I really wanted to see what it looked like all laid out, so I decided to try it out in our current bedroom. Here's what we got...

Can I just say, that I am head-over-heals in love!!!

Our bedroom was already painted a baby blue color, and I wanted something a lil darker and more turquoise-blue-green for our new master bedroom. But I have to say, the baby blue actually kind of works well with this set.

My obsession with this set, began with an inspiration room -

Items from the inspiration room totaled $1,053.20 (yikes!!!)

My mission is to recreate this look in our new master bedroom, for less than $500.00 (ahhhh, much better :o)

How do you think I did?

It's obviously not complete yet - aside from the fact that it's not even in the correct room, the furniture still hasn't been painted, the hardware (lamps & curtain rods) haven't been upgraded yet, and I would still like the walls to be a little richer in color. But other than that I like to think that we're off to a pretty good start.

Our entertainment tower also arrived this weekend, and I have to say it's a wonderful upgrade from our poor wine butler that was being used to house our media equipment.

It's everything we wanted and more. It matches the rest of our furniture, has a beautiful glass door and extra storage drawer, and it fits every single one of our media devices with room to spare. What more could we ask for??? Oh yea, the $2.95 shipping helped too :o)

Needless to say it was a very exciting Friday when I woke up to all of these special deliveries on my door step. But last Friday was exciting for another reason - it was also a holiday, which meant that I had the day off from work. And not only did I have the day off from work, but it was gorgeous outside - 80° and sunny to be specific!!!

What better way to celebrate this magnificent day than with a lil shopping trip ;o) So my BFF and I headed out for some shopping and lunch. And of course, I can never come home from a shopping trip empty handed - this trip was no exception.

I have been on the hunt for a patio furniture set for our three season porch, and I finally found my dream set at Target!!! The minute I test drove these bebes, I just had to have em!!!

They are magnificent... dark brown resin wicker, extra deep seats, and plush neutral colored cushions. 

This space still needs a lot of work (that nasty grayish-blue walls, ceiling, and carpet just needs to go... ewwww!!!). The plan is to get some new neutral colored carpet, then color splash the walls with lighter brighter yellow and green accents, white trim, and window treatments. It's a work in progress, but we're getting there.
 

Camouflaging the Coat Closet

One of the goals for our house is to re-route our front walkway, which currently goes from the sidewalk to the porch and front door, so that it curves from the porch and front door to the driveway. This would allow us to begin utilizing our front door as our primary entry way, as opposed to the side door. As we get closer to spring and summer, this plan is slowly becoming more of a reality.

However, in the mean time I am able to work on other indoor side projects for this larger outdoor project. The first of which is changing the appearance of what you see when you walk in the front door - the coat closet.

We love having a coat closet and even a nice contained (albeit small) entry way. But the view into the house when the front door is open, and especially as you walk into the house for the first time definitely leaves something to be desired. Don't get me wrong, I am a self-proclaimed coat fashionista and so they are very nice to look at. But we just didn't want a mass of coats to be the first thing you see when you walk into our house.

My solution to camouflaging the coat closet

After we rearranged the way in which our living room curtains were hanging, we had an extra curtain panel. Combine that with the tension rod that the previous owners had left in the bathroom,

and voila, you have lovely drape coverage for our coat closet!

So now when you walk in our front door you will see this

As opposed to this

The best part is that I was able to accomplish this look using supplies the we already had in the house AND it matches the look of the attached living room, so the flow is maintained continuous from room to room!

Media Masters

I am fortunate (or financially unfortunate) enough to be married to a self-proclaimed electronics guru. My husband loves his electronics, especially as they relate to movies/TV and computers.

Our home is currently graced with the presence of a

• 42" LED flat screen TV
• 22" LED flat screen TV
• up-converting DVD player
• bluray player
• HD digital DVR cable
• 7.1 sound bar & sub-woofer 
• terabyte media hard drive
• Xbox 360
• 2 laptops (his & hers)
• desk top computer w/2 flat panel monitors

And we still have yet to complete the second floor master bedroom, which I am sure will have plenty more room for even more electronics. Hopefully our bank account survives!

Since moving into our first house, we have slowly been working out the logistics of owning so much electronic equipment. I (finally) recently got our 42" LED flat screen TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace - saving us a ton of floor space in the living room -

but we have yet to acquire a media tower with which to organize our electronics and complete the look. 

Until now...

We found this lil number on Overstock and thought it would be the perfect solution to our media problem!

Just to give you an idea, this is what we're going for

Yes, it's only a rough idea - but I think you get it.

We placed the order this morning (only $2.95 shipping!!!) and will hopefully find it on our doorstep and then in our living room sometime next week! Stay tuned...