Holes, Tape, Plans and Selections!

As the date of the Renovation gets closer, we had to have exploratory holes cut in various places in the house to determine what walls were retaining and if we had room to expand the media room bar a bit into the ceiling in front of the back staircase. 

Holes over the back stairs--We won't be able to expand in here because this is where all the roof lines meet. I am not moving roofs! We are able to take a small amount of space in there which will allow us to make the bar a usable space. 

Dining room hole. Looking to see if the wall we are taking down is load bearing--it is. We just have to change the load bearing to the basement posts. Hoping this is not an expensive fix!

Steven, our contractor, came with a big roll of blue painters tape and put tape where all of the new walls would be. It was really fun seeing what it would look like. It was a great way to be able to "walk" around in the new space and see if the doorways were big enough.  The kids had a blast pulling it all up when it was done! 

The space in the front of the picture will be the pantry. The green box in the middle of the picture will be a desk. We decided to move the desk into the pantry so it would be out of the way. My amazing neighbor came up with idea! The space in the bottom of the picture will become foyer. The green tape will be a wall. The box in the middle left of the picture will be a refrigerator and a very small cabinet next to the pantry door. 

The top of the picture is the pantry door 

                                        

Standing at the front door looking into the existing dining room. The line closest to us will be a wall. To the left will be a doorway into the kitchen.

New doorway into the kitchen

Selections! I was so excited about selecting our, well, everything! I had to select our lighting and cabinets so we could have an idea of what our cost of the renovation would be. I was given a price point and then promptly ignored that and picked something way above. Seriously, nothing I liked was within the budget. I have heard that story over and over. I think they should have things sectioned off so you cannot even see the stuff above your budget. I kept thinking--well, it's only "such and such" dollars over and I will have to live with this for 30 years, I might as well pay the extra now. Poor Billy! 

I knew I wanted to do crystal pulls for cabinets and nickel for drawers--something like this:

At first I wanted to do pendant lights like this:

But quickly realized it would not really go with my overall look of the kitchen. So we decided on this:

We are replacing the light fixture over our kitchen table and have chosen this:

                                              

Then I had to choose tile, which was awful. I have decided to wait on the backsplash until I pick the countertops (which will probably be in February). I had to choose flooring and shower tile for the new bathroom we are putting in upstairs. I decided that I hate tile. I do not appreciate  tile and think it is way too expensive. I am still working on it but these are a few of the ones I looked at. 

This is probably the combo I will pick. Opinions welcome!! 

Floor on left, shower/bath tile on right

Now for Faucets! This was a lot more fun than tile!

For the wet bar in the kitchen

Kitchen sink

kitchen sink

Kitchen Wet bar sink

We are going to a square hammered copper sink for the media room bar and antique bronze faucet. I want to keep it pretty dark and masculine in there. 

We are refinishing all of our hardwoods and will probably have a color similar to this. I don't want it too dark but darker than the color we have now. I like a cooler color pallet so something without yellow or red in it. and not shiny!

Next up, moving out and demo!!

A Closet Fit for a Doll(house)

Nora Kate's closet is done! I had mentioned before that I came up with an idea about creating a dollhouse in Nora Kate's closet.  The amazing Holly Romm created it!  First, I met with Holly to explain my vision and if we could do it. She loved it and made me even more excited about it! I met with the Closets of Virginia and we got to work. And by we, I mean my dad who did the demolition and painting, the trash guys I paid $40 to haul all the existing materials away, the closet installer, and Holly.

My dad came for 2 different relaxing visits to see us and do manual labor.  Sometimes I forget that my dad is 71. Seriously, can I still be doing manual labor when I am 71 (probably not since I don't do it at 34--but you know what I mean).

Here is the before picture of what her closet looked like. The closet did not have a lot of space to hang clothes up. It was mainly shelves and cubbies, which just collected crap, but not a lot of clothes.

The cubbies are the first thing you see 

the hanging room was small and difficult to use

I'd made some crack at my dad--that's his "watch it kiddo" face! ha

Starting the demo: It was so loud in there as he was pulling everything off the walls. It echoed-we finally stuck cotton balls in his ears. He's a trooper!

A little helper! 

After the mud and all the holes were fixed, my dad painted the whole thing with "Super White" by Benjamin Moore. 

Ready for new shelving!!

Next the new shelving was installed. The bottom half is where we will store her doll stuff. When she gets older we will remove the bottom shelf and add another bar on the left side and the hanging right side will be left open to give room for longer clothing.

Holly came and started painting! She first painted the whole closet a beautiful blue color and then clouds all over, including the ceiling. 

Holly came back the next day to complete the dollhouse look.  

The grass and flowers continue all the way around

All we need now is some doll furniture and a little girl to play in it!

(her latest smile face--sigh)

I am so happy with how the closet turned out. It is better than I could have imagined! 

There was one wall in her room that I never knew what to do with. It was the first thing you see when you walk in her room and because of the roofline I never knew what to do with since it is a half wall. I did not feel like I could hang pictures on it. Holly suggested painting a print on it with her name written on it.  It is so cute! I love it and really completes her room. I told Billy it really "needed" it, he told me I need to learn the meaning of "need". Nevertheless, I'm happy with it!!

Here is the wall plain before

The after!

A bonus sweet little brother in this picture!

Now I am going to fill the closet back with her clothes and get settled back into her room.  I love her room and feel like it is complete now.  

We are getting closer to the renovation-our start date is January 11, 2016!! 

Ready, set, keep waiting a bit longer & a new dollhouse closet

We are getting closer and closer to the renovation.  Thankfully, I am running after 3 kiddos or I would not think about anything else. But like most big events in my life, I try not to think about how I am going to handle the difficulties until the day arrives.  I was telling my best friend that I wasn't worried about what we would do during the reno because I had bought a $40 toaster oven at Costco.  She looked at me sideways and asked if that was I all normally cooked in at home.

It went something like this:
"have you decided if you are going to move out during the renovation?"
"No, I bought a toaster oven."
"What?"
"At Costco, for $40, it is great"
"What?"
"So I can cook and we can just hang out in the basement"
"What?"

It made me realize that I will be much more disrupted that I had thought and we are going to move out for a couple months. Hilton has a branch that owns apartments in different buildings in the area-they are fully furnished and there is a set daily rate that includes insurance, cable, internet, electricity, etc. I am not going to move our furniture.  So if we can show up with our clothes, I will move out.  Billy is so excited that someone else was about to talk some sense in me and I can stop talking about this magic toaster oven.


A month ago, I took Nora Kate to the American Girl Doll store as a celebration of potty training.  We had a blast. My parents gave us my Samantha doll when I was growing up.  We had her cleaned at the store and she is as good as new.

We also bought a "just like me" doll that we named, Molly.  Nora Kate was obsessed with the doll house at the store.

I knew we wanted to buy her this doll house, but I have a weird thing with their rooms being clean. I feel like if you have a clean clutter free sleep space, you sleep better.  I came up with the idea of transforming her closet into a doll house.  Her closet has existing built ins but I never felt like they were a good use of the space.  There were a lot of cubbies but not a lot of space to hang her clothes.  Billy's work partner's sister does faux finish so I called her and we came up with a plan. We are completely gutting her closet and going to start from scratch. I am having new built ins put in and Holly, the painter, will come and make the inside of the closet look like the inside of a dollhouse. She is also going to paint a print on the low hanging wall due to the dormer in her room.  I do not know what exactly to do on that wall, so a paisley print and her name will be put there.  I cannot wait!

This should all be done mid September, so i will post all the pictures when it is completed!

BUT I have plans for the kitchen and I am meeting with the cabinet people next week when the kids are back in school...ohhhh it's getting closer and closer! More on that later!

It all goes by fast...

A little off topic of my renovation journey....

My uncle John's public memorial is today.  Our family traveled to Florida a few weeks ago to gather  to celebrate his life privately.  It was everything I would want my life celebration to be, filled with love, laughs, tears and the people who held him the most dear.  It is impossible to watch my aunt and his four daughters go through the pain and suffering of losing him.  I once asked my mom if she missed her parents.  She said, "yes, I think you miss your parents forever".  I am afraid that she is right. My uncle was one of those people that you always wanted to be around.  He was funny, loving, smart, made you feel like you were the most important person in the world.  He listened intensely. I never felt that he was just waiting for me to stop speaking so he could say something. He loved his family fiercely and I am grateful that I was lucky enough to be part of that love.

When you start having kids people are constantly telling you to cherish every moment because it all goes by so fast.  As my oldest just turned 5, I completely agree.  I feel like I just had him.  His tiny hands and feet have been replaced by "kid" feet and hands. He was just an infant and now he is a boy.  It was fast and I know that it will only go by faster. I realize that my time as a child must have flown by for my parents.  I can now appreciate how it must feel for my parents to see me with my 3 children.  I wonder if they think, "but she was just an infant, how can she have her own infant".

As I reflect on my time with my uncle, I do not understand how his life went by so fast.  I think about his mom holding him as an infant and how he must have grown so fast in her eyes. My time with my parents generation has been so special to me, but I always assumed they would always be around.  There is something so sad that this bubble has been broken.

So yes, lady at the supermarket, I will cherish every moment with my kids, but also with my parents, uncles and aunts.  It all goes by so fast.