House Update

It's been awhile since I've done a house update so while I had the chance I wanted to post some pictures.

Things have definitely gone a lot slower than what we originally planned but everyone warned us of that before we got started so it's nothing we weren't expecting. We originally thought we'd be in around Thanksgiving - now it's looking more like the end of the year. Brett and I are just rolling with what we've got at this point. We just know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and where that light is, there's a new house waiting for us to raise a family in. We can't wait.

So, what's been going on these last few months? Here's what has gotten accomplished:
- New HVAC unit installed (including all new duct work throughout house)
- New wiring
- New Plumbing
- New subflooring in kitchen and both bathrooms
- Wall cut between den and kitchen (probably my favorite thing thus far!)
- Closet removed in guest bedroom to expand master shower
- Drywall up and prepped for tile
- 13 pine trees removed from front and back yard (ready for that driveway we may never pour...)

So it may not look like a whole lot but between inspections and just the tedious nature of what they were doing, it just took awhile. Not to mention it's just hard to see progress when most of what they are working on is behind walls and under the floor.

Progress should be moving a long much quicker now with some fun updates to share moving forward. By this time next week, all our kitchen cabinets should be in which I am seriously SO excited about!!

In the meantime, here are some progress pictures I've taken on my phone:

We're Expecting!

Brett and I are so excited to announce we are expecting our first child in May!

The fact that we have one house on the market, renovating another one and add in morning all-day sickness from the little nugget, the blog has obviously taken a back seat but I had to share our good news!

We found out back in August but have kept it between us and close family until we got the ok from the doctor. We've had 2 great checkups so far and just pray those continue. 

Brett and I couldn't be more thrilled about starting this new chapter in our lives! It's even more exciting to renovate this house knowing we will be raising a family there. We've already chosen which room will be the nursery and have told our contractor he has to wait to paint that room until after we find out the gender (which will be Dec. 10)! 

Tomorrow marks 14 weeks... only 25ish more to go!! Come on May 2nd!! 

Too funny not to share...

So it's no surprise to anybody that I was a social butterfly in college. With that, I had to "spread my wings" so to speak which typically meant going to parties and frequenting bars local establishments. (I'd also like to point out that I made impeccable grades in college and graduated with honors from one of the top business schools in the country with a double major... just had to throw that in there as well!) Work hard - play hard... it should be every one's life motto.

Anyways, as I have gotten older, gotten married and settled down - many (if not all) of the things I considered "fun" 7-8 years ago seem like hell these days. Crowded bars? No thanks - if I want to talk to my friends I don't want to scream over people. Shots? ummmm how about a glass of red wine instead?

So when I found this gem on Facebook and literally laughed out loud at every.single.one - I couldn't help it, I had to share. It's incredible how accurate it is.

Does it make me feel old? Absolutely! Do I miss those college days? 100% But would I give up my 10:00 bedtime on Friday night after dinner, a glass (or two) of wine and Dateline with my husband? Never in a million years!

MUST WATCH

A few new purchases!

Haven't had to much to update on the house recently. We are in what some call the "important" phase of renovating but I just call it the "boring" phase. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC. I know all this stuff will come in mighty handy down the road but I'm ready for some of the fun stuff to start back up! Maybe in a week or so.

In the meantime, I'm trying to start doing some of the essential purchases for the house including (but not limited to):
- Smoke Detectors
- Light Switch/Electrical Covers
- Lights: hall, entry, outside, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, dining room.
- Toilets
- Bath faucets
- Doorknobs
- Kitchen Sink
- Kitchen Faucet
- Blinds

Hopefully this weekend we can go ahead and knock out a bunch of these items with a trip to Home Depot and Lowes but I did do a bit of online purchasing today.

Foyer Light: This will be right when you walk in the front door.

I knew I wanted a light just like this for the foyer so this was an easy purchase! 

Hallway: We will have 2 of these going down our main hallway. I'm interested to see how far down they hang. There is another version that sit closer to the ceiling that I may end up having to get (these are the problems you have when your husband is 6'5"). 

The hallway will be a grey/pewter color so while the doorknobs will be oil-rubbed bronze, I like the brushed nickel for these lights. We are also using the brushed nickel fixtures in our bathrooms so we will have a mix in the house. 

Doorknobs: We just had some friends order all new doorknobs and hinges from Amazon so I went and checked them out and found some I really liked. I just ordered 1 of each for now to see how we like them. (and by one of each I mean 1 privacy knob for bedrooms and baths, 1 closet knob and 1 dummy knob for our linen closets). 

I knew I wanted to use the oil-rubbed bronze doorknobs in the house. They just look so clean and updated and I love the oval shape of these! 

So we have a long way to go with purchasing but we are getting there.

Kitchen Design

Last week we went to Home Depot with our contractor to pick out our cabinets. 4 hours later, we had a bit of sticker shock, eyes glazed from staring at a computer but we were thrilled with the results. It's amazing how technology works these days. I just can't wait for these puppies to be delivered in a few short weeks!!

These are scans of the printout we got so the quality isn't great but you can get an idea of why we are SO excited about this transformation! Brett and I love to cook and we love to cook together so the kitchen has been a really important part of this whole process for us and one we've put a lot of thought into. We plan to be in this house for a long time so we've really loved being able to customize everything to our liking.

But first - let's not forget what we started with:

And for the "in-between" (not ready for "after" just yet). You can see we kept the basic layout of appliances the same since it really worked for the space.

Getting rid of the small peninsula and adding an island. I think my favorite part of the kitchen are the white cabinets offset by the dark island.

Or maybe my favorite part are the glass door cabinets by the window... don't they make that window look so much bigger?? 

This is the view from where the kitchen table will be. We will also have 2 barstools on the send of the island.

View of the left side of the kitchen - oven/microwave combo and gas cooktop (Brett's special request).

And the right side. To the right of the fridge is the door outside.

Next up is for us to pick out the granite and backsplash. We've decided to go with a cream/white Travertine tile for the floor. We will use the same tile in the bathrooms as well.

Demo: Done!

We closed on the house last Thursday, got a text from our contractor on Friday saying they were going to start the demo and within about 4 days, it was down to the studs. We couldn't believe how quickly it all came down and what a difference it makes. We hardly remember what it looked like before!

So here is where we stand today.

Kitchen Day 1 (Closing Day)

Kitchen Day 2

Kitchen Day 3 - I somehow can't find the pictures of how the kitchen looks now. They've ripped all the floors since this picture was taken.

Laundry/Pantry Day 1

Laundry/Pantry Day 2 - They've since removed all the walls in there. Once the electrician moves that box, we will open that wall up.

Master Bath Day 1

Master Bath Day 1

Master Bath During Demo

Master Bath After Demo

Master Bath After Demo

                                     Guest Bath Day 1

Guest Bath - During Demo

Guest Bath - During Demo

Guest Bath - After Demo

                                     Guest Bath - After Demo 

So there we are! The next few weeks will be a little slower as we have electrical, plumbing and HVAC going in. Then, they start putting things back together! Can't wait to see more progress!

Kitchen Design Ideas

We are going to design our kitchen layout and pick out our cabinets tomorrow. Here are some ideas of what I'm thinking.

Let's not forget the "before" picture...

We plan to keep the layout of the appliances the same and just remove the random peninsula over in the corner and add an island. Something like this:

Here is my "inspiration board" I put together for our contractor so he could get a better idea of what I wanted. 

1 - Want to use a dark brown/espresso color for the island cabinets

2 - White or slightly off white for the rest of the cabinets

3 - Paint (Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams) Currently have this color in our sun room and just love it!

5 - White subway tile for the main back splash

4&6 - Accent back splash for over the gas cook top. Love Penny Tile!

7 - Accent wallpaper for the half-wall

8 - Granite: Want a grey granite with specs of brown/black/white in there. 

And here are a few pictures I just love!

I was a little worried our kitchen would be washed out by using a tile with white cabinets but this picture proved me wrong.

Love everything about this kitchen! 

This gave me a good idea of what our layout would look like. Also love the glass cabinet doors on either side of the window. Almost makes that window look twice as large.

This is the look we are hoping for with the half-wall we are cutting down between the kitchen and den. We want to still keep some division in the space but keep a full sight line. 

Week 1: Progress

While we haven't crossed a lot off the list this week there was A LOT done! It doesn't even look like the same house and it's already hard to look back on the pictures of the "before" so I can't imagine what it will be like in a few more weeks. I will share some of the demo pictures next week.

Next week the electrical and plumbing are getting done and we are quoting out the tree removal then the following week is HVAC.... nothing exciting but important nonetheless!

Happy Friday!

Kitchen/Laundry: GUT!

• New Cabinets
• New Countertops
• New Appliances
•  Backsplash
• Flooring
• Add Island
• Take down top half of wall between kitchen and den
•  Expand doorway in laundry
• Add pantry shelves in laundry
•  Add upper cabinets in laundry
• Add a dryer vent

Den:

• Redo/build new built-ins for TV
• Add 2 new windows on either side of door
• New sliding glass door

Guest Bath: GUT!

• New Tub
• New tile surround in shower
• New flooring
• New vanity
• New toilet
• New Fixtures

Master Bath: GUT!

• Take out extra closet in guest room to expend shower
• Tile new shower
• New flooring
• New double vanity
• New toilet
• New Fixtures
• Switch placement of toilet and vanity

Outside:

• New entry porch Roof and Railings
• Remove Trees
• Add Gutters

Misc:

• Paint (every square inch of the house)
• Refinish hardwoods
• Update Electrical
• New HVAC
• New closet doors throughout
• New Front/Back Doors

DIY:

• Remove Interior Shutters
• Install new closet systems in bedrooms
• Initial Landscaping
• Install new light fixtures in house
• Update hinges and doorknobs throughout house
• Replace outlet covers
• Install blinds

The LIST!

So now that I have shared with you all the before pictures of the house, now it’s time to know what we plan to do with her.

Here is our detailed list of items our contractor will be taking care of:

Kitchen/Laundry: GUT!

• New Cabinets
• New Countertops
• New Appliances
•  Backsplash
• Flooring
• Add Island
• Take down top half of wall between kitchen and den
•  Expand doorway in laundry
• Add pantry shelves in laundry
•  Add upper cabinets in laundry
• Add a dryer vent

Den:

• Redo/build new built-ins for TV
• Add 2 new windows on either side of door
• New sliding glass door

Guest Bath: GUT!

• New Tub
• New tile surround in shower
• New flooring
• New vanity
• New toilet
• New Fixtures

Master Bath: GUT!

• Take out extra closet in guest room to expend shower
• Tile new shower
• New flooring
• New double vanity
• New toilet
• New Fixtures
• Switch placement of toilet and vanity

Outside:

• New entry porch Roof and Railings
• Remove Trees
• Add Gutters

Misc:

• Paint (every square inch of the house)
• Refinish hardwoods
• Update Electrical
• New HVAC
• New closet doors throughout
• New Front/Back Doors

Yes, we do plan to do a few things on our own:

• Remove Interior Shutters
• Install new closet systems in bedrooms
• Initial Landscaping
• Install new light fixtures in house
• Update hinges and doorknobs throughout house
• Replace outlet covers
• Install blinds

And of course, there is always a “down the road” list that we like to call “Phase 2”:

• Pave Driveway (would love to do a circular drive once those trees are out)
• Replace Windows
• Add Interior Plantation Shutters on front of house
• Wainscoting in Dining Room and down the Hall
• Crown Molding the rest of the house
• Add a storage shed out back (for Brett’s beer fridge)
• Fence Back Yard
• Add a patio/deck

So there you have it! We’ve got a long way to go but our contractor and his team has been busy with the demo which should be done by the end of the week. Should have a post coming soon with some pictures from that! 

We bought a house!

Yep - it's officially "official". We've found our dream home. The house we've always wanted. One we can spend holidays all together in, have lots of guests in, entertain in and grow our family in.

So... without further adieu here she is in all her glory.

Yikes, not much to look at is she? No, not now but once we are done she will be a beauty!! We've got a TON of work ahead of us (errrr well our contractor does) but we are so excited for this adventure ahead of us.

So you may ask yourself, why would anybody want to renovate an old 1960s house? Well, here is our answer. It is the exact location we wanted (Lake Katherine if you are familiar with Columbia), exact square footage and bedrooms we wanted (2500 with 4 bedrooms) and the layout was almost perfect (minus a few walls that are coming down)... and it was the right price. To buy a house that was already completely renovated we'd be paying a whole lot more for it and get none of the benefits of picking everything out to our liking. This way, we may have a lot more stress involved but we will get to pick out and customize everything. It will be like a brand new house when we are done with it.

I've already got a TON of ideas floating around in my head (thanks Pinterest and Houzz) and can't wait to share all of them with you. I hope to keep the blog updated throughout this whole process so if we ever decide we want to move we can look back at all the blood, sweat and for sure tears that went into this project and we may never want to move again.

So buckle up... I know we are in for the ride of our lives over the next few months. Wish us luck!

New House Tour

So now that we've shared our latest project, I wanted to fully introduce you to our new baby and some of the plans we have for her.

Foyer - from this picture to the right is the living room/dining room and behind where there person is standing is the den. To the left is a long hallway that leads to the bedrooms.

Formal Living Room (I sound so fancy saying that).

Formal Dining Room (I can't believe I will finally have a place to put my china!).

Ahhhh the kitchen and all that wood panneling. We think it is actually pretty perfect and plan to keep it this way... sike! This is a gut job if i've ever seen one. Next to the fridge there is a door to the back yard.

This is the other side of the kitchen. We plan to cut that wall in half to open up the kitchen to the den. To the right of this picture is where the washing machine is. Yup, no dryer vent so we are expanding that doorway and adding a dryer and pantry.

The Den - and more paneling. We are adding a new door, 2 new windows and sprucing up that built-in unit. And Painting. lots and lots of painting.

The Hall - the storage in this house is incredible. 3 closets and 2 linen closets JUST in the hall!

Guest Bath - we were going to to spruce this up and leave it as is for awhile until the inspector found mold in the floor so this will be another gut job.

Guest Bedroom 1 - also called the "blue room" since every.single.thing. is painted blue. This room has a private access to the guest bath and also has 2 closets so we are knocking 1 out to expand the master bath.

Guest Bedroom 2

Guest Bedroom 3/Office - this is the smallest of the rooms so we will put a small daybed and our desk in here for now.

Master Bedroom - The whole left wall is closet space. Again, I can't get over the closets in this house!

Master Bath - Another gut job. And as mentioned, we are taking out the closet in the room on the other side of this wall to expend the shower in here. With a husband that is 6'5'' this just wouldn't work the way it is now.

So there she is! I know the pictures don't do it a whole lot of justice but we just can't wait to get in there and make it our own. Over the course of purchasing the house we've gotten to know the daughter and son-in-law of the lady who owned it. She lived there for over 50 years before moving to a nursing home and eventually passing away at 96 years old. It's been so fun to hear stories from the sweet family who grew up there and can't wait to make our own memories there. One of my favorite stories is the lady telling me about her dad planting a fig tree in the back yard years and years ago. Well that fig tree is HUGE now so I told her I would have to get my grandmother to teach me how to make fig preseves!