Monday! Monday!

The vanity is in...and I love it!





G's light is in...and I love it!


The dining room fixture is in...and I love it!


The lights above the breakfast bar are in...and I love it!


The island butcher block is stained and the cooktop is in and the hardware is on the kitchen cabinets...and I LOVE it!

The breakfast bar

Another upcycle!

We had this tin leftover from the barn makeovers last summer so I had the guys nail it to the front of the breakfast bar. They got it installed last week and did an excellent job.

I love it next to the concrete counters and I really need to get my hiney in gear and make my tractor seat barstools that I have planned!

Cabinet doors and drawers

The cabinet doors and drawers are being painted. They look so pretty with a shiny new coat of white on them. It seems like every single room is filled to the brim with them...which is actually kind of true!

Here's the master bedroom...

And the boys' room...

And G's room...

And the dining room...

I can't tell you how much work these darn cabinets have been! It might have been easier to just replace them...but not as cool. They look so good. The guys have been sanding them and priming them and sanding them and priming them again for weeks. Robbie started spraying them and their paint gun blew up. Brandon's wife had to bring them a new one and they got a coat on. Now it will take another round of sanding and another blast from the gun and they will be ready to hang! I did get the hinges done but I need to get busy on the handles now!

Mirrors

I did a little bit of work on two of our mirrors tonight. Because mirrors are outrageously expensive, we have saved a couple of the original ones and hope to re-use them. There are a couple of things that are interesting about them.
1. The backs are covered in brown paper like framed art is. There is also a sticker on there with the original building company's logo etc. Did the builder make these too? It's bizarre.
2. The frames of them are the strangest material. Almost like a molded plastic but not.
3. They were completely covered in nicotine...and should be used in an anti-smoking commercial.
Here you can see the before and after of the guest bath mirror:













































Sick, sick, sick. Now the finish is back to pre-nicotine state and I'm gonna paint it. It's got a nice creamy white color to it but the gold flecks peeking through kinda bug me. I'm thinking just paint it white and rub some antiquing glaze over it.

This next mirror was originally in the hall/kids bathroom but we are moving it over to the master bath. It is HUGE but strangely not that heavy. It's got to be that strange plastic-like molded frame. It's a horrific fake 1970s brass and I have NO idea what do to with it. That bathroom is all cool gray tones with the concrete countertop and slate shower tile. The vanity cabinet is white and the light fixture is chrome. So maybe white? I did think about silver leafing it but wondered it that would be too much bright silver with the chrome fixture just above it. What do you think?

The brick backsplash

I would marry this backsplash if I could. I am so in love with it. 

Having a white brick backsplash was probably the very first thing I picked out for this house. I saw an add for white brick tile in my mom's House Beautiful magazine and was certain that I HAD to have it in my future dream home. I wasn't sure when I would ever have either, a new house or a dream house, but when I did by golly it was gonna have white brick in it somewhere.

Fast forward to January and we were contemplating remodeling this house. And the only thing I could think of was that white brick tile. When I looked up the product on the world wide web, I found out they didn't sell to the public and they didn't have a retailer in Oklahoma. Shocker. I could have ordered from an out of state retailer and with shipping costs (it's heavy brick, people) it was gonna be outrageous. So, I had to find a different way.

Easy enough. Every tile place you visit sells brick pavers. They are beautiful tiles made to look like bricks and would beautiful in ANY room. They come in a variety of styles and colors. I could see a wall being covered in them. Or a shower. Or even just your bathroom backsplash. They are so pretty. But every single person that I told that I was painting over them thought I was crazy.

But I never waivered. I picked out the Hickory style. The color didn't matter but I wanted one with lots of imperfections and rounded edges so it would look old and almost original. When it was installed every single person that saw it thought I should keep it raw and not paint it. Every one except my ma that is. But there was no way I was waivering. I had it in my head and I knew exactly what I wanted. When I walked into the kitchen and saw this, I started jumping up and down...

It's exactly what I hoped for. Yes, it's a lot of white, but with the shiny gray countertops and the dark floor, I think it looks beautiful. Turns out, the guys started coming around too. Though they won't come right out and admit it, they have let me know in certain ways that they like it. For example, my stubborn hubbie says, "it looks good both ways and as long as you like it, I like it."

Here's a close up...

And looking into the laundry room from the kitchen...

So, even if you liked it unpainted better, don't tell me because I LOVE it!

Vanity update...

I think she's done. I've got to screw on some cute teal knobs that I got at Hobby Lobby

 but other than that I've finally finished her!

Last weekend Brad helped me rig up the plastic bins that go under the lift up tops. It was pretty easy...for him anyway! :)

Then I was able to cut and install the metal grate to the front. It looks so cool! I can't wait to see what it looks like with the sink on top!

Hinges

Throughout this process I have struggled with the thought of getting rid of stuff that is still usable. Sure it may be as ugly as sin, but to just toss it? It seems wasteful and irresponsible. The guys have learned to not throw anything out that may be of use and my garage is quickly filling up with things to list for FREE on Craigslist. Some of the stuff was easy to let go of. All the things that went to the junk sale was good because someone else was sure to need it or enjoy it. Ryan has taken several loads of metal goods to the scrap metal place and not only was it recycled but he got a few dollars out of it. Even the ugly stained glass windows in the bathrooms went home with Katie and Jenna and will surely be turned in to something beautiful again. I just hate throwing stuff in that dumpster and I'm gonna do my darndest to find stuff a new home.

These hinges are a prime example. They were an ugly brass color and COVERED in a very thick coat of grime and nicotine. I spent hours and hours soaking them in paint thinner and scrubbing the varnish off of them. It was nasty and stinky and I went through 100s of latex gloves trying to protect my skin from the chemicals that just ate right through them. 

But after the long process of cleaning them and the quick process of spray-painting and poly-ing them they look beautiful. I saved around $500 maybe more on hinges for all of our cabinetry and I kept something out of that dreadful dumpster.

Exterior update

Just a peek to see that the inside isn't the only thing looking better...

All the doors still need paint but some of the lights have gone up!

And the back porch looks completely different with the gray paint on the trim and the beautiful columns! 

Pantry door

I originally wanted a screen door for the pantry. I thought it would be a cute place to add a little architectural flair and some fun color. Then after weeks of searching and talking to a couple of carpenters we discovered not only would it be near impossible to find an old one (the size of the door was an odd one) but it would be pretty expensive to have one made. Then Robbie made the excellent point of having three kids in and out of the screen door pantry and how many times a day I would hear it slam. Hmmmm. So instead I decided to go with a frosted glass door with a funky paint color on it. I'm not sure if it will still have the feel of the old screen door, but I'm hoping it adds a little interest.

I had no idea what color I wanted to do but while at Lowe's one day I took a peek at the mistints and found this awesome eggplant purple for 3 bucks. I was sold. I grabbed and went on my way not giving it another thought until last weekend when I was under strict orders from Robbie to get the door painted! He had primed it for me and I was excited. Until I went over to paint and saw that what I had picked up wasn't paint, but STAIN!

That would have actually looked super cool, but I had Robbie PRIME the thing first! Grrr. I took a deep breath and plunged ahead. It took several more coats than normal and took a looooooong time to dry but it eventually took hold and was a beautiful color.

It was super easy to paint because the protective film was still over the glass so I would just run over and glop a coat on and then hurry back home. You know, cause of the 3 kiddos I am raising. :) Don't worry, I left their daddy with them too.

I wanted the door to really be eggplant-y in color if that makes since so I bought a tiny can of ebony stain and rubbed that over the top to put a sort of black glaze over it. The pictures are terrible because it looks super streaky, but in real life it looks awesome!

The guys accidentally got some white paint splatter on it and smeared some of the glaze off when they hung it, so it needs a bit of touching up but I think it looks pretty good.

It's fall break...

And no time to rest for my hubbie! He's been busy building us a new farmhouse table for our dining room. Here's the pic he just sent me from his workshop. Looks amazing!

October 15th!

So, we are 1/2 way through the month of October. Here are some shots I got as I walked around through the house last night. Ryan came in to work on the floor over the week-end and new Ryan stayed late last night to work on the backsplash tile. These guys are busting their behinds and it shows. Everything is looking amazing. Robbie got the doors painted in the last couple of days and they are being hung. They look beautiful. More light fixtures are going up and there is still constant touch ups for the paint. 

The office is probably the closest to being completed. It was the first room to get the flooring in and  does it ever look good. The closet is getting more shelves added right now, the bathroom still needs a sink, toilet, lights, and a mirror. The exterior door needs paint, the outlets are being replaced and we are contemplating installing quarter-round to the bottom of the baseboards. But it's mainly just small details left!

The kitchen is further along than it looks. All the appliances are out in the garage, the countertops are done and the backsplash and floor are in. They still need to paint the cabinet fronts, modify some of the cabinets, install the appliances and paint that brick backsplash...and of course 100 other little things.

Here is a close-up of the backsplash. It is brick pavers that we are gonna paint white. Of course the guys (including my hubbie) think we should leave it like it is. Oh boys...

Another shot of the kitchen. Did you notice they installed the light pendent off center AND crooked? No?

How about now?

It was Robbie's idea to extend the brick backsplash around the kitchen under the breakfast bar. I love it!

Here's how the living room is looking. Floor 1/2 way done!

I didn't get one of the dining room. They have it full to the brim with scaffolding and saw horses right now with doors drying on all of them. It's hard enough to walk around in there much less find a spot to catch a photo. But the doors look amazing with a coat of shiny white paint on them! I did get a picture of the entry way. Remember when they tore out the tile that they weren't supposed to? And remember how it tore up the concrete foundation? Well, after 38 or so bags of filler, they have it all smooth again...

Here's the living room from the entry...

Here's the boys room...G.'s room looks about the same but with no light fixture. It arrived today!

And here is the update on the hall bath...it is tied with the office for my favorite room...as of today anyway. :)

The siding looks amazing!

And so does the marble. We are still waiting on the marble shelves to be cut...but I love how the floor turned out.

So, think they can be done in the next two weeks? :)

The sofa

I dropped a sofa off at the reupholsterer  2 weeks ago. It was the tuxedo style couch in the dining room's sitting area. The fabric is a terrible printed velour and the cushions are in pretty bad shape. However I really love the clean lines and the size is just perfect. It's going to be rebuilt and covered in a ticking stripe canvas.

I found some fabric online and ordered it and it came in and was so thin you could see through it. I went back to the drawing boards and after searching stores and websites, I am waiting on my second order to come in. 

The best part of this whole process was when G. and I loaded it up into the truck to drive it over to Shawnee we found a completely intact, non-moldy dinner roll behind one of the cushions. I can tell you the last time we had dinner rolls at my grandmother's house was Thanksgiving 2001...AND this couch has been in a BARN for 10 months. So, that's disgusting. And hilarious. But mainly just disgusting.

This week.

It's been another week and when remodeling that means a week of no sleep, constant worry, life or death decisions, forever putting out "fires", and taking deep breaths when things aren't as planned. A few things were put on back order this week, a fabric I ordered for the sofa came in and was all wrong, the oven was delivered with a dent, and we won't get our doorknobs until November.

Little things in the grand scheme of life. Big things when your life hinges on this completion. Micca sent this to me this week and had no idea how perfect her timing was...





But, my guys keep me happy. They are working their tails off and everything they do is amazing! It's easy to forget the stress of it all when I walk in and see columns going up...



I mean really...what was up with those old spindly things?



And yes, they started the floors Monday. Just like they promised! Whoa. It's all I got, whoa.