{house 2} Home Tour

This is super brief, but I spent all of naptime tidying up for these pictures. Sometimes it's just hard to get the ball rolling and clean up after a weekend trip.

Ethan's room pictures will be added later as he was asleep during all of these so I couldn't get in there! He has a huge room with a sink area between his room and the shared bath (hollywood style).

Welcome!

half bath off entryway

Our very gated stairs

Formal living with view of gameroom
(up) and dining

Dining room: table to come

Kitchen & breakfast nook
with table I refinished

Master bed

Master bath

Upstairs game room

Shared upstairs bath (another vanity is in
Ethan's room)

Upstairs hallway: large closet, bath,
Ethan's room, Hannah's room, and
an office around the corner on the left.

Sneak peak of Hannah's room

My new vinyl print! I love it.

Austin's (messy!) desk nook

Purple shelves and green walls (why?)

xo,

UPDATE:

Here are Ethan's room pictures!

out with the old, in with... a different old

I sometimes wonder if I'm a special kind of crazy. I did this project in my only down time (evenings) and during naps (not down time, chore time - I postponed chores, which sent my type-A personality into a tailspin). Just this evening I read a devotional on outlining your talents... can my special kind of crazy be my talent? :) I think I say yes, if I get to have such a pretty (and CHEAP!) new dining room set!

For a while now, I've asked Austin for a new kitchen table. We have only bought brand-new furniture from IKEA/Target/Amazon because we can't stand the idea of paying thousands for furniture - EVERYTHING else has come from Craigslist, or other resale sites. While we know furniture is a worthy investment, it definitely puts a dent in the pocketbook, which is rough when you just paid off a car and a bathroom. Ouch.

We have had this kitchen table and chairs for a long time: it survived Austin and his roommate in college (his mom no longer needed it so he inherited it - a VERY nice table for a guy in college!) and we kept it through our early (3.5) years of marriage - until Sunday. We had a garage sale Saturday, sold off a few things, and sold our old table through Craigslist the next day. Since our dining room is Ethan's play room, this table is too large for the breakfast nook.

I think the flowers really sold the table!

I found a set of 6 chairs, which were black, through OfferUp. Austin picked them up and warned me that they might need work, but I didn't realize that meant I'd have to totally re-paint them!

I sanded down some scratches and spray painted them - I used 3 cans and 3 layers on each chair. I then took a piece of sandpaper (150, if you want to know the grit) to attempt to copy the classic Pottery Barn black finish. I rubbed the sandpaper on the edges - careful not to scratch the finish elsewhere - to give it that worn look.

I'm so artsy!

BEFORE: I added wood filler where a cat or dog dug into a seat 

Layer 1

Layer 2 + sanded edges. Hard to see here, but the edges of the top and the front of the seat
have been sanded.

As for the table: we picked it up Sunday, and I doubted my ability to sand and refinish the table from the minute I realized it wasn't an easy patch job. I skulked about it and eventually was persuaded by my parents to attempt the refinishing. We started the sanding process on Monday night with the sander Austin's Grammie gave us (it's a Black & Decker Mouse. We used 100-120 grit), and I finished it on Tuesday with a more heavy-duty one my dad has. Without the electric sanders, it would've been a much harder job!

Top shot! Scratches are worse than they look in this picture

Another "before" angle

This sanding just took a few minutes, but we were getting used to the Mouse

Austin pitched in for the sanding!

Where we paused Monday night

Finished sanding! And my dad's awesome sander.

I cleaned it off with tack cloths (also provided by my dad!) to get all the sawdust off the table, and I swept it off the floor as well. I really didn't want any sawdust to get disturbed and end up on my table. I immediately applied one coat of the stain to the table top, and I wiped as I went (though the instructions said I could leave it on for 15 minutes each time) because it knew it was going to be uneven if I didn't. I let it dry as long as the instructions called for (8 hours, I believe). At this point, you can add more layers of stain every 8 hours, until you like the color. I liked it a lot after the first layer, and Austin agreed, so I started the polyurethane coating today. We kept the garage door cracked for ventilation and to aid in the drying process.

The table - stain only

I painted on one coat of the polyurethane during Ethan's nap on Wednesday, and when Austin got home, I lightly sanded it  the table (220 grit, per the instructions) and applied another coat. Two to three coats are suggested, but I thought my second coat was generous enough that a third would be overkill.

Finished & drying! You can see a  little bit of a shine.

COSTS:

Table: $60

Chairs: $75

Spray Paint: $10

Wood filler: (already had)

Sandpaper: $15

Stain: $5

Polyurethane: $7

Total cost to us: $172

I'm in love!

MAJOR shout out to my 'rents. We used their truck to get the table, we used their sander, they watched our kid. If you want to see service, look at them! THREE of their kids are living with them (Meghan is totally one of us) and they still offer to serve us because I'm crazy and take on big projects on a whim. I also took their advice on refinishing the table, which looks awesome.

I can't wait for Ethan to splatter some yogurt on this bad boy tomorrow morning.

xo

master bath renovation: week 3 {completed project}

Aesthetic White

The bathroom is FINISHED, and I just want to scribble hearts all over these pictures as I figure out how to decorate this new, pretty space!

The paint color is Aesthetic White 7035 - Sherwin-Williams. Clearly, it's not very white. I picked it after playing with their Color Visualizer online, which I used to contrast this with (Sherwin Williams' most popular beige!) Kilim Beige which is all over our entire house. Not so much anymore, since I painted all of the trim white, but prior to that, everything was beige. We got rid of the window in the bathroom, so I wanted to use a brighter, cleaner shade. We are REALLY happy with it!

We are so thankful that this renovation was successful. We've seen horror stories on HGTV where the contractor walks out, or they spend too much, etc. We did have a lot of work done, and there were a few surprises, but ultimately this renovation was good for us and our house. We no longer have black mold growing in the base of our shower; we don't have any issues with our dryer vent pipe; we don't have to worry about the mixture of galvanized piping and copper joints causing a major catastrophe in our home (well, at least not in the master bathroom... sigh). Now we get to enjoy a beautiful bathroom!

I'm totally exhausted, so the pictures are going to speak for themselves. And the ones of the floor in the shower are meant to illustrate the way the travertine looks different when wet (I poured water down the drain).

Gorgeous floors

SPACE to dance in the morning

Main bath area. Three mirrors because we are vain...

The vanity looks small here but it is PERFECT.

Looking into the potty/shower area from the closet

Shame shot, more floors <3

Got that curtain at Target for $7 y'all!
Squealed as I left with it.

See where the water was? Love the color variance!

Again!

Crooked (darn it!) but I love my new wall art
from Target (I promise this is not a Target ad).

Again.
Sometimes, love is a Tyler Candle. Mmmm.

Can you tell our counters are pinkish?
Ironic homage to the old bathroom.

I am moving into this room.

THE SHOWER! We haven't event used it yet!

Who knew a toilet could look so gorgeous?
Keeping the stickers until we are un-lazy.

This tiny light is perfect for early mornings!

Another view with the dim light.

Old Bathroom Reminder Photos:

NEW, Safe, Expensive Bathroom Photos:

My last note: we believe and follow Jesus. It was a struggle to spend this much on a bathroom. Do we love it? Yes. Does it seem like it's too good to be true? Yes. Did our jaws drop when we found out that we could have had our house burn down or have pipes burst had we not done this? Absolutely. There's a blessing in this, though it was costly. We know we spent quite a bit on this, but we also think of it as an investment. If the Lord ever calls us to move anywhere, we like to think this will help our house sell like a hotcake and prove to be a point of good stewardship. And we hope it blesses other people... So, now that we aren't embarrassed by our bathroom, take the one-gallon-challenge (come over, drink water), and use our bathroom!

XOXOXOXOX (happy girl),