A beautiful snow day

We awoke yesterday morning to a beautiful blanket of snow.  Although a day earlier would have made for a white Christmas, we'll take this pretty white snow any day of the year.  I love it!

And no, I don't have any fun pictures of our boys playing in the snow as they didn't get out of the bed until around 9:30 am, and neither did their mama.  We were lazy in the warm house all day long, and it was wonderful.

That's what Christmas Break is all about, right?!

Half-Bath Update

Another update for you... the half-bath.

This bathroom is located in the hallway, it is a small space so we began with removing the lovely green and aqua blue tile. :)

And here are a few updated pictures... everything is new! 

A new American Standard pedestal sink with a brushed nickel faucet by Delta, and a new Kohler toilet.  

We went with a basket-weave tile.  This was one of Russ' choices, and it turned out so nicely.  We are very pleased with it, and can't wait to finish it up.

A new light, mirror, and accessories will complete this bathroom, and once that is complete, I will share final pictures!

Thanks for reading, stay cool, and have a Happy 4th of July!

Boys' Bathroom Update

So, once again, I've decided to take a quick break from the boxes, {yes, we are still unpacking}, to do a quick update on the boys' bath.  

It's been a long time coming with regard to moving in, but 6 months and 15 days later we finally moved into our house!!!  Can you believe it?  We are LOVING every square foot of this house and are so thankful to be back in Martin!  We will forever be indebted to Mr. Richard and Mrs. Jane for ALL they did to accommodate us as we remodeled... I hope we can repay them in a special way at some point in time.

I will not take you through all stages of the remodel, but here are some before pictures...

And the after pictures... we love it!

Glass shower doors will be in soon...

A light and mirror are to come for above the vanity... didn't the "knock out" turn out so nice?!  Russ did a great job!

A custom cabinet shop in a neighboring town built all of the cabinets in the house, {excuse the dust, and thanks to my mom for a great cleaning before we moved in}.

The counter tops are quartz made by LG.  There are SO many options out there, and after a lot of research we decided on the quartz due to a few qualities that we preferred over granite, living stone, marble, or formica.  The completed vanity exceeded our expectations, and we are very pleased.

Once again, hats off to Russ... he put so much work into this overhaul, and we are both very proud of how nicely it turned out!

Thanks for reading... it's almost the weekend, stay cool, and I will try to post some other pictures!

A Sneak Peek

I just realized that I haven't shared many general pictures of our new house, so here you go...

Russ' Office, like almost every other room in the house, has had lighting added or upgraded. {We still have lights that need to be upgraded, but for now, all are installed.}

A childhood friend, Benjamin, has been the brains behind the electrical additions.  He is the best and Russ couldn't have ever done it without him.  

All wood flooring in the house is being refinished as I type.

There you go... a few more pictures of our new house.  I have a kitchen/hearth room update, and more bathroom pictures coming soon!

Boys' Bathroom Update

The renovation of our new house is moving right along... projects seem to be taking twice the amount of time to complete as planned, but most people whom have done the same type projects seem to mention that this is normal.  Isn't "normal" comforting? :)

Anyway, we've still got a ways to go, but here are a few updates from the boys' bathroom which is located down stairs.

I decided to take you all the way back to the beginning...

Lovely, isn't she?  

The pink and gray didn't quite meet the boys' look.  

These pictures followed the demolition...

Look closely as you will see the mentioned changes as you scroll through the pictures below...

The remodel begins here...

 We love the new tile on the floor! 

On both the floor and and around the shower, we chose cultured marble with a honed finish verses a slippery shiny finish.

Here's the shower... Although it's hard to tell with the lighting, the glass accent tile matches the color of the tile on the floor.

That's where we are as of today.  Look forward to getting the vanity installed, paint on the walls, crown molding and trim back up, and new lighting installed.  

I believe we are really going to be pleased with the finished look.

More to come.

Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend!

Front Living Room Update

We feel fortunate to have two living spaces in this house similar to our last house.

The front living room will be a little more formal as it will hold our previous upstairs living room furniture, but we have all plans of using this space every day.

Here are a few peeks...

We should have a color for this room on Friday... I can't wait to share more pictures once we start painting!  I just know how quickly "the look" will change once we break out the paint and paint brushes... stay tuned!

Kitchen Update

This is a hard one... the kitchen is the largest part of our remodel and has involved the most decisions, by far.  We've been back to the drawing board a million times, but are pleased with our final plan.

It is entirely too difficult to go into a lot of detail on the remodeling of this space, so I am hopeful that the pictures will do their part for now. :)

Here are some before pictures... 

The "after pictures" begin with the removal of the wall paper...

And then the removal of the cabinets, appliances, flooring, and the old wall... 

And the building of the new wall...

Daddy got a new saw to build the new wall... did I mention that he is totally awesome?

And here's where we're headed... 

Give us two more months and you'll see this!

Appliances have been purchased, cabinets and counter tops have been ordered.

This week we've got to make our final decision on faucets and cabinet hardware, and also install the lighting.

As to the two months... we hope to move in the latter part of March unless Mr. Richard and Mrs. Jane kick us to the curb before then. :)  As long as I can keep my monkeys tame, I'm hoping that won't be a problem!

 A BIG pat on the back to my sweet, sweet husband.  He totally rocks on this house business, I tell ya.  I can't believe all that he has done as we are transforming this house into our home.  I am continually impressed with him.  I'm certain he's even amazed himself a time or two. ;)

I am really proud of him, and so appreciative.  He's awesome.

Thanks for reading!