Third Project - The BIG ONE

Looking back at the dates on photos, it's hard to believe that we started this project a little over a year ago now.  When we moved into our house, the basement was already finished, which actually gave us a sizable leg up on this project.  It also presented some unexpected challenges. 

When you come down the basement stairs, there was a workout room and salon (the previous owner was a hair salon owner) to your right, and a powder room and larger room to the left.  We turned the larger room into our office, but left the other rooms empty, knowing their future was as the home bar we've always wanted. 

So the before:

The salon:

 The "gym":

 

 And the Powder Room:

 

First we had to scrape about 80 mirrors off of the walls in the workout room:

 



 

Then we replaced the ceiling tiles with a flat white version, installed some recessed lights and tore down a wall:

 Then we installed cabinets, patched the walls, built a bar and painted:

 

 

 

Then we laid down a wood laminate floor and had countertops installed:

 

Then came the appliances:

 

And the tile backsplash and hand made shelves...

 

We redid the powder room with a new vanity, mirror, light, toilet and a granite tile floor:

Finally we put in the furniture...

 

And the big-ass TV

Then we put up the bottles and called it done!

 

It took us four months of nights and weekends to accomplish this whole job, but the work was well worth it.  We finished the bar just in time for our annual Christmas Party, and we were so proud to show it off.  We've made a few small changes since we did the original build, but that will be the topic of a future post. 

Happy 5th birthday!

Dearest Kayla,

It's hard to believe that another birthday has come and gone.  This year has flown by - it's been a fun filled one.  You're now a teddy bear at school and looking forward to starting Kindergarten in the fall.  We've been to Disney world and the beach.  You love swimming in our pool and playing with Mackenzie.  Last night was your first in your big new bed - an exciting transition. 

You love to make art projects and crafts, you still love puzzles and watching shows on Disney Junior.  Although some things seem the same day to day, I see so many changes in you.  I look at you sitting in your booster in the back seat of the car and I'm amazed that you are so much more little girl now than baby.  You have long legs and are chatty like me, but your smile still reminds me of your daddy.  You have so much spunk, attitude and curiosity.  You want to know everything there is to know about the world and everything else around you.  I love teaching you and it thrills me that you still love to read books and snuggle. 

You bring so much joy to our world, little one.  I look forward to your Frozen themed birthday party this weekend and celebrating everything you.  I hope someday you know all the love that we have for you and how special you are. 

Happy birthday, little angel. 

Love always,

Mommy and Daddy

2013: The Year in Review

At the end of last year, I knew that this year was going to be a big one for us.  I never could have imagined how some of the things that happened would play out, but 2013 was an amazing year for our little family. 

In January I took some passport photos.  My little Diva couldn't help herself. 

 

 

In February, I got a promotion at work that was beyond what I could have expected to be offered.  We start making plans for the rest of the year, take Kayla to the Hands on House for the first time, celebrate Shaun's birthday and Valentine's Day as a family. 

 

 

 

March brought us Easter, and the annual egg hunt.  Kayla did an amazing job running out and gathering eggs all by herself.  By the end of the month, we are in talks with a realtor to get our townhouse on the market.

 

 

 

By the start of April, we have a sign in the yard and are going to open houses and other showings on at least a weekly basis.  We put an offer on (and don't get) a house we like in a development we love.  We push on with resolve to wait until we no longer have to put in a sale-contingent offer.  We try to be patient, but it makes us a little nutty. 

 

 

 

It wasn't far into May that our luck turned around.  On my birthday, we received and accepted an offer on the townhouse.  By the 11th, we had an accepted offer in on another house in the same development where we missed out the first time.  The place was vacant and the owners worked with us to get a quick settlement.  This allows us to relax and celebrate the Derby, our annual trip to Dewey and Memorial Day.  I do manage to land myself back on crutches while in Dewey, but that's a story for another time...

 

 

 

June was a flurry of boxes and newspaper at both the old and new houses.  We were fortunate to have lots of help and things went pretty well, all things considered.  Kayla and the dog both settled right in to the new place with minimal fuss, and it became home much more quickly than I ever thought. 

 

 

 

 The beginning of July found us enjoying the gorgeous little island of St. Lucia.  After our return home, we celebrated Kayla's fourth birthday.  Once again, I'm stunned at how fast it all goes.  Kayla goes to the dentist for her first real checkup and does fabulously. 

 

 

Thankfully we were able to take August to relax after all the excitement of the previous few months.  We enjoy our new pool, take bike rides around the neighborhood and a visit from Aunt Paula.  At the end of the month, Shaun and I embark on our biggest DIY project to date. 

 

 

September came in on a beautiful warm day, and brought us a family gathering for labor day, Kayla's first day as a Teddy Bear at school, and her first try at ballet classes.  In between working on our project we enjoy the final throes of summer and then close up the pool. 

 

 

October brought pumpkins, leaves and another trick or treat as a black cat. 

 

 

November gave us more leaves, and lazy days at home.  We also all but finished our home improvement project.  :-)

 

 

December we called our basement officially done.  We made our annual trip to the tree farm, had an amazing Christmas party, Santa's visit, Kayla's first sledding experience and getting her ears pierced. 

 

All in all, 2013 was incredibly good to us, I can only hope that the coming year treats us as well. 

 

 

Our trip to St. Lucia

While we are on hiatus from posting home improvement projects (we are working on a big one though!) I wanted to make sure I chronicle our trip to St. Lucia.  We booked this trip back in October of 2012, not having any idea how things were going to change over the following six months.  A promotion for me, putting our house on the market, accepting an offer on that house on my birthday then spending a week or two sweating it out while we worked out details and tried to secure a house we loved that would allow us to not have to move in with family temporarily.  We were lucky enough to get a 30-day settlement on this place, so we settled, moved in and two weeks later took off on vacation.  Out of the country.  With an almost 4-year old.  Insanity, right?  Maybe so, but it was worth every moment on so many levels. 

For our first time traveling, everything went super smoothly.  All of the things that had me worried (airports, security, long flights) were a non-event.  TSA really does handle families well, even at 4 AM.  Kayla was happy and cooperative and napped on the second (longer) flight on the way down.  During the week we ate and drank our fill, enjoyed the lazy river and pools, and had a blast with our friends.  Every now and again, Kayla asks me when we're going to go back to St. Lucia. 

Second Project - Master Closet

The second project we decided to take on was our master closet.  Shaun wanted to move all of his clothing in there to avoid the in and out of the bathroom in the morning, since the closet is attached to the bathroom and not to the bedroom. 

First I had to choose the paint pallet for the master suite.  Voila:

From left to right (all Behr paint) Heavy Cream (ceilings and trim), Natural Grey (closet), French Court (bedroom - subject to change, this might be too dark) and Minted Lemon (bathroom).  It may not be super creative, but I like it and I think it suits us well. 

So, from there we started with this:

 

It worked well enough, but needed sprucing up.  There was a lot of wall damage...

 

And some of the storage solutions just didn't work for us.  I can't stand over the door shoe racks, for example. 

 

So we took everything out, patched, painted, installed Closetmaid Impressions storage on both sides, added a new light, a stool for putting shoes/socks on (and a mirror, which wasn't up yet when I took these) and some 5 1/4" trim around the new shelving, and now we have this:

 

 

Now we have an organized, functional space for clothing and shoe storage, as well as dressing.  I'm very happy with how this one turned out. 

First Project - Pool Opening

The outside of this house has been a challenge.  A year of neglect aside from lawn mowing left us with half dead shrubs, a laurel that was swallowing the pool pump and air conditioning condenser whole and three foot high thistles everywhere.  Thanks to a lot of elbow grease and a lot of weed killer donated by my in laws, we came home from St. Lucia to a yard that was cleaned up and ready for pool opening. 

Then the pool looked like this. 

Not pretty.  Approximately 3 days and a gazillion dollars in chemicals later, it looked like this.

 

Only slightly better.  Finally we called in a second pro to help us out, and we ended up draining at least 1/3 of it.  Finally now, it looks like this.

 

As much of a PITA as it was, we really do enjoy it... now if we could just get one more good heat wave before it's time to close up...