Finishes

It’s been 5 months since the big move and my family and I couldn’t be happier. We are blessed beyond measure. This house is a beautiful reminder of God’s faithfulness and grace. Each day is a new opportunity to look around and be thankful. Sometimes when people get what they want, they have a tendency to want even more. I guess it’s (fallen) human nature. But lately there’s been a persistent feeling in my soul that everything is as it should be. Every little nuance of my life in this new home is bringing me incredible contentment. Mundane tasks like turning off the lights and locking the door at night gives me a sense of peace. Making my daughter’s PB&J reminds me of all the hard work that went into building our kitchen. When I vacuum, I feel good about the rugs I picked out. When I dust, I enjoy how the wall art adds to the room. “We’re home!” always echos from my daughter’s voice when we pull in the driveway, and there's nothing sweeter to hear.

We have long since finished our painting and decorating. The curtains are hemmed and hung. The yard is raked and mowed. Toys are displayed everywhere and the house officially looks “lived in.” Our daily routine is sorted out and I’m enjoying my new setting to work from home in. Our commute has changed, and our go-to restaurants are a bit different. We’ve had visitors, overnight guests and family dinners here. We even hosted Eliana’s 4th birthday party at our new house, and I think it was a huge success. Our lives feel simple and calculated, with just enough room left over for day-to-day drama and adventure. Like when my husband’s car broke down, and we decided to get a new one a year earlier than we originally planned. That was a fun weekend. I still work two jobs and enjoy juggling my time for the extra income. I'd like to save more money before tackling any "phase two" projects next year. Like repairing/replacing our stone wall. Do I know any masons?

In other news, Eliana is starting preschool in a few weeks. She is super excited, and asks me every day if it’s time for school yet. She’ll only be going for a few hours a week so hopefully it won’t be too rough on me. Yes, ME. I think I’m the only one feeling the emotional strain of this endeavor. Eliana can’t wait, and every day she comes up with a new question she plans to ask her teacher. “Mommy, when I go to school, I’m going to ask my teacher how people grow.” … “Mommy, when I go to school, I’m going to ask my teacher why the sky is blue.” … “Mommy, when I go to school, I’m going to ask my teacher if she knows about decay.” Good luck to the saints at that school. ;)

I’m grateful for life's transitions. Even the difficult ones always teach me something. I feel older, wiser and more in tune with my husband after buying a house. It reminds me of when we had our child. My love for Zach grew exponentially when Eliana came into the picture. Of course I thought I loved him as much as possible before that. But things change with a baby. Relationships are sweeter. Life is greater. Perspectives never stay the same. I’m reliving these changes once again through our current milestone. The relationships I have with my family and God are once again strengthened in love. How exciting!

So let’s discuss the joys that keep me thriving in my special new place. I worked hard to select specific finishes during renovation and decoration that wouldn’t break the bank. If I had a price in my head, I wouldn’t rest until I found something within budget. Sometimes it took weeks to locate the perfect rug, curtain, table or picture frame, but I’m glad I took my time and bought things slowly. I had no “end date” in mind, and my husband was literally okay with anything I chose, so the stress was relieved and I had a great time. As strange as it may sound, there isn’t one thing I would change. My selections from the lights down to the floors were exactly what I wanted, and now I get to enjoy them daily! Keep in mind, I am no millionaire. When I wanted something, I first checked 5 stores for the cheapest/highest quality version I could reasonably afford.  If I had UNLIMITED resources, I wouldn't truly appreciate the little things, or the favor that come with planning, budgeting, and living within your means. I hope you like the photos and commentary below. Some of you may be buying a new house or updating rooms in the future (like my mother-in-law!) and these pictures may give you ideas. I’ll add links and prices too. Let’s go!

First thing’s first. Let’s do some before and after photos, because who doesn’t like those?

Before Kitchen (photo from listing):

After Kitchen:


During Reno:

After Reno:


Old flooring... yuck! (Elle is cute, though):


New flooring, yay!:


Priming the living room:


Much better:


Old color:


New color:


Empty and drab:


Full and beautiful:


Priming the bedroom:


My dream bedroom:


Empty:


Full:


Before Elle:


After Elle:


This room needed help:


Muuuuch better:



The dining room is one of my favorite places in the house. It really came together nicely.
Here's a birthday present from the Hubby! Totally my color pallet; blues, whites, GRAYS:

Art from Home Goods - $50


I was so stoked when I saw this rug at home goods. Hanging in the store, it looked darker green, but I was pleasantly surprised when it lightened up in this sunny room!

Rug from Home Goods - $125 on clearance!


The best part about this room is the natural light coming through, so I knew I wanted sheer curtains. It took me a while to find because I refused to pay more than $20 bucks per set. Good ol' Ikea to the rescue.

Blue curtains from Ikea - $15/pair (I bought 2 pairs)
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30312905/
White curtains from Ikea - $15/pair
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30291309/

The original table we had (that matched the chairs) was round and not very conducive to a long, slender room. I opted for this rectangular one from Target that fits the space much nicer. It took weeks (and 3 different tables) to finally have an undamaged one delivered to my house. UPS has a problem with giant heavy boxes.

Table from Target - $150
https://www.target.com/p/westville-59%22-dining-table---beekman-1802-farmhouse%E2%84%A2/-/A-51116170

This light is great. We could have bent it in different directions, but I preferred straight to match the length of the kitchen.

Light from Lowes - $130
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Galaxy-6-Light-61-in-Brushed-Nickel-Dimmable-Flexible-Track-Light-with-Brushed-Nickel-Shade/1000138883


This light can be assembled with the glasses hanging upward or downward. But downward looked too much like a spider, so no. Zach hung the light WAY higher than I would have liked, but it's nice not to hit you head if you move the table.

Light from Lowes - $70
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Portfolio-Roseall-22-97-in-5-Light-Brushed-Nickel-Etched-Glass-Shaded-Chandelier/1000002934


For Eliana's room, at first I bought two smaller rugs in the same style. The website said the high pile would allow two rugs to be joined without noticing a seem. HA! Not so much. I'm glad I returned them for this larger size.

Eliana’s rug from Ikea “Adum” - $150
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00185640/#/00185640


Again, I refused to pay a lot for curtains. I can’t believe some places can charge 30-40 bucks for ONE PANEL!!! No ma’am, not me. These blackout curtains from Ikea are beautiful, thick and good quality for so much less! And added bonus, they come in my favorite color - GRAY!

Bedroom curtains from Ikea - $15/pair
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60325299/

This is the art above our bed. I used a $50 birthday gift card AND a 20% off coupon on this baby. Only ended up costing me like 20 bucks out of pocket! Thanks Dad and Charleen!

Art from Bed Bath and Beyond - $80
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/blossoming-branches-36-inch-x-51-inch-3-piece-canvas-wall-art-set/1061036055?Keyword=wall%20art


These were the most expensive rugs we bought, but I think it was worth it. I needed a low-pile rug that was big enough to cover the large area of the office and bedroom. Every other place I looked online and locally wanted well over $300 for rugs that size. The design is great, and duh... white and gray!

Bedroom Rug from Ikea “Dynt” in beige- $180
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50322649/


Office Rug from Ikea “Dynt” in gray - $180
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60325893/


A real pain to put together, but worth it for the price.

TV stand from Ikea - $60
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10302295/#/70302297


Gotta love me some Home Goods art! This one matched my living room color pallet nicely.

Art from Home Goods - $30 clearance


I found this rug at Ikea well before we even bought the house. I knew I wanted it for the price. It's a great size and design.

Living Room rug from Ikea “Valloby” - $130
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40328091/


These living room curtains have a great chevron pattern on them. I like that they still let in light when I close them for privacy. I can always pull down the shades if I need it darker. The shades are from Ocean State Job Lot, too. They are “cut-to-fit” which is nice. $25 each for the light blocking style. We have the shades in both the living room and bedroom, but they are mostly for Zach when he’s feeling quite vampire-ish. I crave natural light and never seem to use them.

Curtains from Ocean State Job Lot - $12/pair
Shades from Ocean State Job Lot - $25


This vinyl flooring was a breeze to install, ya know ... after I was a pain about the "random" design not being random enough. ;)

Flooring from Lowes - $2.50/sq ft
https://www.lowes.com/pd/STAINMASTER-10-Piece-5-74-in-x-47-74-in-Washed-Oak-Cottage-Locking-Luxury-Commercial-Residential-Vinyl-Plank/999948282


Cabinet hardware can be SO expensive. I always check pricing on amazon before shopping at the hardware store. These were less than $2.20 each! That's fantastic for such heavy duty pulls.

Drawer pulls from Amazon - $54/ 25pk
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008932AYO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


This is the ONLY thing my husband argued with me about. He thought the faucet should have two handles. One for hot. One for cold. I hate that about faucets and I prefer one handle to control the temperature. However, I don’t like the faucets that have the hot/cold handle sticking out the right hand side. Moving a handle forward and backwards for hot/cold messes with my brain. After learning left/right = hot/cold for so long, I always end up burning myself. So ...to make a long story short, we agreed to let me choose the kitchen faucet since I didn’t get my original choice of kitchen flooring (too expensive). All’s well that ends well. :)

Moen faucet from Amazon - $160
https://www.amazon.com/Moen-87999SRS-Weatherly-Collection-Stainless/dp/B00PCHMXHY/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&qid=1503884586&sr=8-37&keywords=moen+faucet


Love these countertops. By far the best decision we made was to upgrade the kitchen, and the countertops were the most important thing in that room. Do you truly enjoy cleaning your kitchen? Like, does it give you JOY? If not, maybe you just have the wrong countertops. ;)

SenSa Granite countertops in “Magestic White” from Lowes - $49/sq ft Installed
https://www.lowes.com/pd/SenSa-Majestic-White-Granite-Kitchen-Countertop-Sample/50142029


Hope you enjoyed a tour through my home! Let me know what you liked, or if there's anything you would choose for your place! 

My family sure is happy with the finished product and our day-to-day lives here.  I know it's not a mansion with beach front property. Instead it's a small cape on a busy street with a tiny yard ... but it's OURS and we appreciate every little piece of it. Take some time to be grateful for your own little something.

Until my next adventure ... 

Xoxo Liz

Home

Well folks, we did it. My husband and I bought a house. I am so full of joy for this incredible gift from the Lord. We saved our money, waited patiently, and worked very hard to get to this point, but I still know the hand of God has been guiding us from the beginning. We did pretty good this time around as far as "trusting God" with this big life decision. I should remember this for future endeavors, because it really works better than the whole, "I'm going to do it my way and then make myself sick with worry," alternative. 

To recap from my last post, we put an offer in on a short sale in town and it was accepted. We decided to move in with my parents while we waited the 3-5 months for everything to go through the proper channels. We knew there was a chance something would fall through with the sale, but we also knew the longer we lived with my parents, the more money we would save for the next home that came along. Of course there was always the chance we would NEVER find a house, and live with my parents forever (a thought that terrified Zach), but we took a leap of faith. We packed up our tiny apartment and traded 3rd floor living for basement dwelling. My gracious parents became the live-in grandparents my daughter always dreamed of. It was a great time of bonding for my family, and I enjoyed feeling like teenager again in the house I grew up in. We seriously had a lovely 6 months there. 

On the perspective house front, the short sale fell through when the property suddenly went into foreclosure at the beginning of the year. My realtor frequently forwarded me new listings in my price range, and one day our short sale house was listed right there among the others. New listing. Price reduced. Foreclosure! My realtor called the listing agent in a panic, and he literally had no idea it wasn't his listing anymore. Funny how things work in the real estate biz. Or is it the banks? Or the government? Who knows why things happen the way they do, but suddenly our house was no longer our house after waiting 6 months for it. We had to put in a blind bid through HUD and hope and pray that if this house was meant for us, we would get it. Not too long after that our offer was accepted (truly accepted) and a contract was signed (truly signed). Anyone who has ever purchased a home knows the headache of inspections and contingencies and blah blah blah, so I won't bore you with the details ... but a month later the house was ours (truly ours!!!).

Since then our lives have been a hurricane of cleaning, fixing, and updating. My mind is now, and forever will be, flooded with paint colors, window treatments, curtain lengths, backsplash shapes, countertop materials and flooring textures. I have been to Lowe's and Home Depot more times in one month than my husband and I have been in our entire lives, combined. Okay, maybe not my husband; he used to be a contractor. But seriously, I've been there a lot. And everyone I tell this to agrees with me! They all nod their heads slowly as if I've been inducted into some hall of fame for homeownership. It's a fun crowd, I must say.

This house needed some minor repairs and a fresh coat of paint on ... everything ... but for the most part it was in good shape. The kitchen, however, needed a serious facelift. My husband was okay with repainting the cabinets and calling it a day, but the perfectionist in me knew there was much more to be done. The countertops were sagging and stained. The cabinets were falling apart and layout was not living up to its potential. We went back and forth on what to do, but in the end we decided to go for it and gut the kitchen. We got such a deal on the house that we knew any money we put into upgrades would be an investment. And why upgrade your home 10 years from now to help it sell, when you can spend that money now and ENJOY the perks of living there? In the "Love It or List It" show on HGTV, I'm always the "love it" girl. ;)

The work is nearly complete and I can confidently say we made the right decision. However, I will add that without my husband being who he is, this would never have been an option. Not even a pipe dream. There's no way we could have afforded someone else to do all this work for us. Zach is an incredible asset to my pursuit of home renovation. If you're lucky enough to have a "handy man" in the house, you know what I mean. I am in no way "handy," but I brought the design side to the project, and I think we made a great team. So let's talk business. What have we been actually doing for the last 5 weeks? Here are the highly anticipated photos to show our ongoing progress. Enjoy!

Signing the paperwork at our closing. Way to be, Zach!

The ceremonial "sold" pics.

We did the best we could with meals on the living room floor. Eliana didn't seem to mind.

Oh Ikea. We bought all our rugs and stuffed them into Karie's van.

Started work right away on Eliana's room so she would have a place to nap and play while we did the rest of the house. The black portion of the ceiling was fun to cover up. ;)

All finished. If you keep the lights dim, the pink doesn't look so Pepto-Bismol-y.

Painting the office a nice gray.

Bathroom didn't need much. Very happy we went with a curved shower curtain rod. Grayyyy everwhere!

Painting my bedroom. Thankful for my Dad's spot lights because our ceiling lights were broken. (Don't worry, Zach fixed them.)

Living room paint from blah to beautiful.

Doing yard work on the nicer days.

Look, I have plants growing! Who knew something nice was under a year's worth of leaves!

 

Here's us beginning the kitchen reno. That square thing in the back corner that looks like the chimney was, in fact, NOT the chimney. It was taking up precious countertop space, so it had to go.

 

Tearing up the many floors. The worst!

Wall's down! Time to put a new one up.

Cabinet time. Thank you Zach for your awesomeness.

Skim coating and sanding the ceiling is a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Ready for countertops. So exciting!

They're here!

Finally looks like a kitchen! Now to put in the new floor. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

There's many little things left to do, and the dining room still needs to be painted, but I think we'll officially move in very soon. We've been spending a few nights a week here on days we work late, but it will be nice to get our big stuff here once the kitchen is done. I've really enjoyed choosing the finishes for this home. Maybe I'll do another post about that once things settle down. But for now, you've got the basic idea. Home = ours. Work = hard. Decisions = worth it. Life = good. Let me know what you think of our progress so far. And as always, you're welcome to stop by and see it for yourself! Thanks for all the kind wishes and happy thoughts that have been passed our way these last few weeks. We have been dreaming of a better place for Eliana to grow up in, and I couldn't be happier.

xoxo Liz