Decor...

It has been at least 3 full weeks since we've had any worker men at our house!  Never thought I'd see the day!  Now I get to do fun stuff!

I finally decided to hit the road to Mary Jo's fabrics in Gastonia, NC to find some fabric for some drapes and throw pillows.  I also decided to sew these myself.  It was my MLK Day project.

Now, when I first walked into Mary Jo's I thought I should just turn around and leave...wasted trip.  It was very overwhelming and I am a self proclaimed "non-digger."  I have a hard time at Marshall's, TJ Maxx, etc. because I just have the hardest time looking through all of the stuff.  I can generally look through the home sections pretty well, but the clothes...oh my goodness.  And people find the best stuff, and I get so frustrated because I just can't do it unless there is something I like on an end rack and I happen to see it on my bee line to the home section.  Anyway - I walked around the whole fabric store and finally found a small section in the back corner (this place is huge) that actually had the fabric in nice rows on the rolls.  Whew.  I spent the next 3 hours going up and down those 4 or 5 aisles until I found what I wanted.

I chose this for the panel curtians in the sunroom - it's really not this blue.

Something about this I really loved.  I originally got it for some throw pillows in the sunroom, but I think I'll use it for some other window treatments maybe in the laundry and 1/2 bath area too. 

I tried very hard to step out of my box and go super colorful, but I couldn't do it.  I went with this for throw pillows for my couch in the den.  I'm going to order something geometric and bright to accent with this fabric.

So, this morning, I decided to get out the sewing maching and get started.  I saw an awesome pin on Pinterest that gave a tutorial on how to sew a pillow cover.  The curtians were pretty easy because it's just a straight seem on four sides, so I did those first and knocked those out in no time.  The first pillow was not so quick.   It took me about an hour and a half to get it done but it turned out perfectly.

I got 3 pillows done today!  The second and third pillows I did didn't take me near as long as the first.  I think I did those in about 35 minutes each.  I am so happy with how they turned out.

This is the back of the one bird pillow I did.  I accidentally measured wrong (imagine that!) or something and the back fabric would not close all the way so I had to sew this button to keep it closed.  My mistake turned out pretty cute!  It's sitting on my drapes...waiting on Graham to finish hanging the curtain rod.

Almost done hanging the rod...I'll post a completed pic soon.

Hard to see in the dark, but I'm very happy with how they turned out!

I also am working on the front porch area of the house.  After fall/Christmas, I had nothing out there and it was looking super bland and boring.  I bought a wreath and the 'B' at Hobby Lobby and put it all together.  I thought it turned out pretty well for an "all the time" wreath.  I still need some planters or something tall on each side of the door. 

I'm sure any men reading this are just loving the "decor" posts...just trying to document it all!

Project Central

After a very busy and wonderful Christmas, we have been steady working on tons of different projects around the house.  Graham ended up taking the week after Christmas off and has been keeping me going.  No pj's and LMN for me!

I've been mainly piddling around inside and trying to figure out where I want to put things.  We brought the big recliner upstairs, which is nice for us, but not really want I want in our den.  One day, when we get the basement "hang out" ready, hopefully we will put it down there and I can get something different upstairs.  I'm very thankful we have bedroom furniture and that all of those rooms are mainly done.  The rest of the house is another story!  It's going to take me forever to get this place furnished how I want it!

End shelves in the ktichen.  I found the owl at Theodore Morris and thought he was so cute!  I can't for the life of me get the shelves on the other side looking how I want them...

Got this super cute lamp shade at World Market!  Loved the colors.

Besides hanging the mirror, the foyer is done.  I used the rug we had in our office at our old house and got the flowers at Garden Ridge.  Really happy with how it's coming along.

I think the shelves are just going to be how they are for a while.  I've been looking on pinterest at shelves all the time.  Who would have ever thought that figuring out where/how to put things would be so difficult.

Graham installed a new light for us over the sink.   I'm really happy with it!  It took us long enough to find one!  We originally planned to do a can light but because of the studs or something we couldn't do one.  I brought home at least 3 or 4 other lights before we finally found this one at Stone Lighting.  It's super small, was able to be mounted flush, and gives off plenty of light. 

Love the light...definitely need a valance or something!

Graham has also cleaned out and reorganized the storage room in the basement.  It looks so much better and is way more functional now!  Today he started working on the patio.  There was an area of broken tile that needed to be cleared out and refilled with concrete.  I've ordered a rug to cover the mis-matched patio!  I'm hoping it will fit, but I'm afraid the hole got a little bigger than I expected.

Completed pic to come!

We have also officially lost our minds and decided to have a New Year's Eve party over here.  Oh my goodness!  What were we thinking?!

Done and Done

Dare I say, I think we are officially DONE...with the contractor side of things!! 

Simon and his crew finished up this week.  They lowered the mantle, installed knobs/handles on the cabinets, and touched up a few things.

Finally found some glass knobs I liked for the cabinet doors.

We ended up doing knobs on the doors and handles on the drawers.  The drawers are a little hard to get open, so Graham felt like we needed a little more to hold on to. 

Mantle is lowered!  I like it much better, and watching tv is more pleasant.  The bookshelves are still a mess. I think I'm happy with the bottom four, but I'm still working on it.

The painters also finished up yesterday!  They finally came back and worked on the kitchen cabinets some more and did all of the touching up they needed to take care of in the bathrooms, etc.  I forgot to tell them about the cabinets in the mudroom area, so they might have to come back...oops!

We finally got mirrors hung in our bathroom!  It's nice to finally be able to see ourselves when we get ready.  Graham has also been working on a new mailbox.  I don't think I have a picture of the old one, but it was camo or something awful.  The new one is looking much better!

Graham getting ready to put in our new mailbox!  The mailbox standing in the picture is our neighbor's who lives down behind us.  I believe we'll be dressing hers up a little...

New post is up and set in concrete!

All is level...

I can't actually see myself in this mirror that's over the sink, but Graham is super excited about it!  Haha...

This mirror is over my vanity area.  I've still got to get a small chair or bench or something.  I also think I'm going to do some glass shelves on the wall next to the mirror.  Didn't see the need to have 3 walls full of mirrors!

I have still been moving things around and trying to decide how I want things.  I put this chest in the den...still trying to decide on it.

My goal for these next two weeks (while I'm off work) is to get everything a situated as possible.  I still have a whole bedroom full of stuff that needs to be put out and made pretty.  ***sigh***

I'll post a completed picture of the mailbox soon.  Graham should be done in a few!

4 Months In...

On Thursday, we will be exactly 4 months into our renovation project....

I feel like we could have been finished a month ago, but we are not!  We lack just a few small things being done.  I'm currently at a very frustrated level on the getting finished scale.  There is so little left to do, that if four (maybe less) solid hours were spent working over here, they would be 100% finished and I could get started getting back to my normal life.

Inside, the mantle still needs to be lowered, a window pane needs to be replaced, hardware needs to be installed on the closet doors, and the sunroom door needs to be adjusted so that I can get it open more easily.  There are some small paint touch ups that need to be done and the cabinets also need to be finished...yes, STILL.

Outside, there are some things that the gutter people need to finish up and I think that's all.

Last weekend, Graham worked really hard in the yard and I tried to get some things done on the decorating front.

Graham (with a little help from Brian, our brother in law) trimmed all of the shrubs out front and even straightened our crooked light post!  It looks so much better! 

Here are some before and afters..

Still need some landscaping, but looking much better!

Our ugly, crooked light post...haha

Definitely not as pretty of a day, and the grass isn't summer time green as the before pic, but the post is looking much better!

I have been working with things inside trying to get them put away pretty.  So far, the only thing I've seemed to be able to complete is the Christmas tree and getting the presents wrapped.

I have decided that decorating shelves and glass cabinets might possibly the most difficult thing I've done this whole time!  I've had lots of help from my mom, Audrey, and my stepsister, Katie.  Things are finally coming along!

Bar Cabinets...

Corner cabinet in the kitchen/mudroom...still in progress.  Thinking of adding some small bud vases with some pretty flowers for pops of color.

Mom and I spent forever on the china cabinet.  Anyone have any thoughts on spray painting the hardware silver?  I think that would look much better with the chandelier and my china.

I bought these lamps for the foyer.  Definitely need a mirror or something, just haven't gotten that far yet.

 Here's a before and after pic of the foyer...

Just love the gorgeous green trim and green, nicotine stained wallpaper!

Another shot of the foyer.

I've done 3 of the 14 built in bookshelves in the den.  I think I'm happy with these, but I'm not convinced.  Thoughts/suggestions welcomed.

Decided to go ahead and put some stuff in the kitchen even though they are still working!  Couldn't stand it any more.

1/2 bath is complete!

So, all in all, things are coming along.  I'm looking forward to getting some pretty window treatments, fabric for pillows, a couple of small accent chairs for the den, and just some decorating stuff.  Maybe we'll win the lottery so that I can afford all of that! 

I'm counting down the days until they are 100% finished over here and I can take up the sheets in the floor and finally really get everything clean clean and put away like I want it!  Hopefully this week will be the last one!

It's the Holiday Season!

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Simon, Tyler and all of the other guys worked really hard getting us finished up.  The painters worked on touching up all around the house and getting the cabinets finished (I'll have to explain more on the cabinets later).  We have a newly installed mantle (more on that later, too), a nice wall and column outside by the carport and patio, painted carport steps, a cleaned outside, no dumpster, and shutters!! We also have most light fixtures installed all over the house. 

No more dumpster!!

Carport steps are finally completed.

We have a newly poured concrete wall against the patio where we had to tear out the brick support wall.  The carport column has been replaced and made pretty.  We still have to figure out what to do above the wall.  Possibly a built in bench or something.  Not sure about that yet.

We still need to trim back the bushes out front, but we do finally have shutters!  I've also gotten started decorating for Christmas.  YAY!  (Ineed a better picture of the whole front of the house but it was sort of rainy and wet and I didn't have on shoes to go further out and take a picture.)

I am confused on the upstairs bathrooms, but I do know that they are not finished for whatever reason.  However, we were able to use the bathrooms for the first time this weekend!  It makes such a difference to actually be able to shower upstairs!  The painters tell me we can go ahead and put all of our stuff in there and that they can work around it to finish whatever it is they need to do. 

There has also been a problem with getting off the old faucets in the hall and master bath.  They needed a different tool or something and were going to have work on that Monday.

This is the hall bath.  I found a shower curtain at Target that I loved and matches perfectly. 

Back to the mantle.  We decided to go with a more rustic, wood mantle.  When it was first installed, I thought I was going to die because I just really did not love it.  I think everyone knew I wasn't thrilled, but it is growing on me.  I think I'd just been staring at a blank fireplace for so long that when they put the mantle up, it was so different than what I was used to I just had to let it grow on me. 

Anyway, now that I've come to like the mantle, I do think it is too high.  I feel like I'm watching tv on the front row at the movies.  Simon suggested we hang it lower, but Graham and I swore it needed to be higher.  Clearly, we are not the professional.  So, after drilling some long bolt/bar things in the fireplace and hanging the mantle, they are going to have to undo and redo it lower.  Woops!

Like I said, it's growing on me and I am starting to really like the rusticness of it.  However, it is WAY too high.

Another shot.  Thoughts/suggestions welcome.  We also got the Christmas tree this weekend!  I ran out of lights toward the bottom and am going to have to get some more to finish it. 

Christmas Tree Side Note
For the fourth year in a row, I tried to go cut down our Christmas tree.  For the fourth year in a row, we bought the tree at Carolina Garden World. 

Graham did his part and brought the tree in and got it in the stand.

Accidentally scraped the ceiling with the top of the tree.  Good thing the painters still aren't finished!  ; )

You can see in the mantle picture that the lights towards the bottom of the tree are a little sparse.  I have got to work on that before I can put the ornaments on.  I am determined to have out my Christmas decorations, even if nothing else is unpacked yet! 

I am really struggling with where to put things, how to arrange furniture, etc.  I feel like I finally had everything how I wanted it at our old house, and now I'm back to square one with twice the space to fill.  Omg.  It is super overwhelming!  I'd love to just come home one day and it all be done.  My mom and I spent forever last week just getting the china cabinet put together.  I'm slowly realizing and constantly reminding myself that this is just going to take some time.

I'm still working on the dining room some, but it is the only room that is basically finished.  I need a sideboard for more storage/pretty display, but it is coming together.

All of my sit out pretty stuff now lives in the middle bedroom.  I just don't feel like I can get it settled until I don't have people in and out moving things and finishing things everyday.

Okay - getting back to the cabinets.  We were standing in the kitchen Wednesday (the day the cabinets were "finished") and I see Simon just staring at them.  Apparently they are not right and are going to have to be done AGAIN.  For whatever reason, the painters sprayed the new cabinet doors with a laquer.  (I'm feeling like I've talked about this before).  Anyway - the actual cabinets are hand painted.  The laquer and the paint are the same color but look different in different finishes.  So, when they glazed the cabinets (I was really happy with the new glaze color, btw) the glaze looks different from the doors to the cabinets.  The cabinet doors look more grey and the cabinets look more brownish.

This picture makes it hard to tell - but we did finally get our missing doors!  They have not been painted, obviously.  However, you can tell how the drawer fronts look different than the doors and that the wall to the right of the fridge (far left in the picture) looks way more brown and glzed than the doors do.

I think it's most obvious (especially in person) on that huge cabinet door.  It looks really blue/grey to me - a lot different that the part above the microwave.

I have no idea what will be done to fix it, but Simon says (ha - that has taken on a whole new meaning) that the painters will be making it right.  So...we still wait on the painters.

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at our house was a success! We clearly are not put together, work is not 100% finished, but we still had a great time.

Graham and Gil went down to the neighborhood Thanksgiving Day "turkey fry" early on Thursday morning and fried a turkey for us. I think they had a great time eating, drinking bloody mary's, smoking cigars, and talking to all the other men that were there. Luckily, frying the turkey was all we were really responsible for and everyone else brought all of the sides and goodies.  It turned out to be  a great day and I think everyone enjoyed it!

Maybe this time next year, we'll be finished! Only 2 more weeks...