White Kitchen Love { Renovation post 2}

I am so excited to finally blog about my new white kitchen!  It's not perfect.  It's an old house so don't look too closely at the walls and such when you come over, but I will tell you I think it's beautiful!  We had a certain amount of money for renovation following the sell of our first home and I told my sweet husband that if I could have a pretty white kitchen, I could wait for everything else.  Life happens in the kitchen.  One of the things I wanted in our new home was an open floor plan where we could all be together.  Most of my days now are spent right around my new island.  My girls do crafts there, we bake and make cookies there, and I have a beautiful work space for dinner prep.  I have NEVER renovated a kitchen before and I'm not sure what I expected, but I will tell you that it was a lot of hard work.  Here is where we began. 

 It's probably hard to appreciate from this angle, but I could see that the potential for space was there.  The floor plan was just very chopped up and closed in.  The lighting was also very dim and the two rooms were just dark, dark, dark.  I initially thought I would try to keep the same cabinets and reface them, but as I met with several contractors, it seemed that my intent to save money was a waste of time and money.  As we looked at our budget and decided to gut the kitchen, I started to get really excited about what I thought I could do with this space.  The wall to the left in this shot shows a built in cupboard and you can see that the fridge takes up so much space into the room.  I decided to peel that wall back a foot and gut the cupboard making a nook for the fridge.  There was actually plumbing already there!  Once I could visualize that space opening up and ripping out the built in divider, the kitchen started to make more sense.  

The flooring was an old laminate that was peeling up and I did a lot of research on tile options versus hardwood.  In the end, we decided to add wood to the kitchen in hopes of making the two rooms feel open and connected.  I am SO glad we did!  

When I say this kitchen project was hard work, I really mean it.  Everything, including the windows and the trim, were dark stain.  We removed wallpaper, chipped off the backsplash, and took down the old light fixtures.  We primed and painted all of the windows, doors, and trim work ourselves.  I can not thank my family and friends enough for all of their hard work too.  There was a moment on our first night of reno, that I thought to myself: "Oh boy, here we go".  That was about 9:00 at night when we discovered there were four more layers of floor under the linoleum.  How cute is my dad delivering the news to me?  

I have amazing friends y'all.  I'm not even sure I would stay until midnight tearing out flooring, but our incredible friends David and Nicole stuck it out with us.  Also, my man looks good there with crowbar and mallet!

With a completely blank slate, hardwood floors went down, walls opened up, and we got to work.  Slowly, the vision I had started to piece together. 

For the next two months, we lived with Mike's parents and every night we put the girls to bed and worked until midnight or later.  Every night...for two months.  We saved a lot of money but it was emotionally and physically exhausting.  Here is my sweet mother in law helping get rid of this 1960s wallpaper!

If you know my dad, then you are aware that he would do absolutely anything for me.  Little did I know, he pretty much knows how to do EVERYTHING.  I mean, who knew?!  My dad spent many long nights brainstorming with me, taking me on multiple nightly trips to home depot, and keeping me sane when I wanted to break down.  He moved plumbing for us.  He put in all my recessed lights and pendant fixtures.  He rewired a lot of our house.  And he also installed my stove and vent hood...and dishwasher.  That might be all, but I'm sure he did more.  He is a rockstar and we could not have done this without him.  

Abigail tells people that Granddaddy built our house and in my mind, he did too.  I love my dad so much and working on my new home together was pretty special.  

After the drywall work and lights were done, my sink and counters were installed.  I am a bargain shopper and I found my sink at the Big Box store in Columbia.  I wanted a farmhouse sink look so I went with a white composite undermount sink.  It is made of granite but is a composite material with resin so it is stain resistant.  You just clean it with soap and water.  If you need a deeper scrub, you can use baking soda and peroxide.  I'm all about natural cleaners so this made me very happy!  I also picked up my beautiful faucet at Head Springs Depot in Franklin which is another liquidation store.  

My counter tops are Classic Cararra Quartz.  I shopped around several fabricators and warehouses across Nashville and Franklin.  In the end, I found a fabricator in Columbia, TN where I'm from to install them for me.  I got the same slab for 700$ cheaper just driving to Columbia.  Shop around! I chose quartz because I really wanted a white kitchen, but realistically I have two sweet little girls who love to draw on my island and spill things regularly.  Quartz is man made so if you desire natural stone, this isn't for you.  I wanted the look of marble, but something more durable and kid friendly.  You just wipe them down with soap and water.  They are stain resistant and harder than granite.  You also don't need to seal them because they aren't porous.  And in case you were wondering, Violet has drawn on them a few times already and it comes right off.  Win! 

 My cabinets are beautiful, but they have been such a headache.  I purchased them through the Big Box Liquidation in Columbia, TN.  The owners are wonderful and I appreciate their help with my project, but I will warn you that you should expect problems if you design your own kitchen and let them install for you.  In hindsight, I should have gone to another warehouse that had better reviews and a solid team to install.  After mistakes and claims...new cabinets...crown moulding corrections...different contractors...missing kickplates...I'm still waiting to finish this job.  2016?  Here is where we are with the fridge nook.  I love how we utilized this space and allowed a better walk way through the kitchen!

It's been a long journey so I try to keep a good perspective when things go wrong.  When I get frustrated, I go back and look at where we started.  I am learning that renovation is just hard.  My backsplash is A-mazing though.  My co-worker Brad installed this for me and I can't look at it without smiling.  I just can't! In fact, when so many things were going wrong with my cabinet installation, there were nights I just sat and stared at my subway tile because it could literally change my mood.  Thank you Brad!

We hosted our families in our new home for Christmas brunch and I love how open our home feels now.  It was wonderful having a bigger space to work in and lots of natural light flooding through the house.  One of my concerns when we first walked through the house was how dark it felt.  Here is an older shot taken just after our floors were stained.  You can see what a difference lighting and open walls can make! 

By installing recessed lights in the kitchen and den and opening this wall between the kitchen and dining room, we totally changed the space.  Lightening the paint helped as well.  It took two coats of primer and two coats of paint on that lovely panelling, but I actually really like the texture on the walls.  It turned out fabulous! 

My sweet Abigail is waiting patiently to make cookies with me for her daddy.  I am so thankful for my pretty white kitchen and the memories we are making in it! 

Happy New Year!!

Dining Room Reveal {Renovation post 1}

In full transparency, my house is NOT always staged and I have learned a few tricks over the years when it comes to "strategically" framing things out of a picture... That being said, I am happy to finally share some of the progress from our home renovation.  I love to document and take pictures so here we go!  

When we first looked at our new house, there were charming details that I simply fell in love with.  It was certainly unchanged from 1967 with dark paneling and closed off rooms, but the dental crown molding and vintage light fixtures helped me see past that.  I'm so thankful that I had a vision for what this little house could be, because I absolutely love it!  I really wanted to restore this little ranch house and not strip it of all it's charm and character, but I also wanted to update the spaces and brighten it up a bit.  The dining room is completely transformed now and ready for Christmas brunch!

Here is where we began.  The kitchen was closed off to the dining room and the chandelier was not centered with the window.  My first project was to create a cased opening from the kitchen looking into the dining room which would allow more natural light to flood through the house and would create a more open concept space.

Y'all, this was a game changer.  The house immediately felt more open and as I redesigned my kitchen, I loved how connected these spaces felt.  The light fixtures in this house totally speak my love language.  Brass is on it's way back in and I'm riding that wave! 

Next, I was on to the wallpaper.  This wallpaper is fabric.  I thought about taking it down or shiplapping over it, but in the end I decided to paint it.  Turns out, it may be my favorite wall in the house.  The design is beautiful and I feel like I was able to bring that out with a little bit of paint!  

The entry way has the same accent wall and another vintage light fixture. Swoon.  Can you believe I almost covered this up?  

We worked so hard right up until our move in date, so we have been taking a break from all things reno but I am itching to finish our projects!  We finally hung curtains yesterday and I have restored my great grandmother's dining room table from 1964.  It fits the house so perfectly!  I have never restored a veneer piece and it was NOT easy.  Hence the tablescape...  I mean, if you put enough pretty things on a table, you will certainly not see all the flaws right?!  

We are going to have family over for Christmas brunch and I can't wait to enjoy our first meal at this table.  Four months ago, I stood in a very dark kitchen and imagined an open wall where I could entertain friends and host parties. Now, as I stand at my kitchen near our new island, I am in love with the view!

(A shot from our sitting room)

Merry Christmas!

Violet TWO years old!

And just like that...she turned two.  My sweet Violet celebrated her second birthday two weeks ago.  We are mid renovation on our new house and currently living with family, so she had a sweet little birthday party with just our family.  Our world has been a circus for the last several months and I have struggled to balance working on our home and being really present with my family.  A little cake and laughter was exactly what we needed!

My little birthday girl!

I'm sure moms say this all the time, but I really want to freeze this age.  She is two and full of opinions, but I love this age so much.  These are a few things I hope to remember about Violet at two years old.

*When she "runs", she swings her arms back and forth but her little legs barely move
*She loves to snuggle 
*She adores her sister and is constantly watching and learning from her 
*She calls Miller " Milmur" 
*She started Mothers Day Out and loves her new teachers and friends
*She was Lambie for Halloween
*Her favorite foods: blueberries, mash potatoes, spaghetti, and applesauce
*She loves Minnie Mouse, Princess Sofia, and Doc McStuffins
*She plays with her toy kitchen and "cooks" for me.  She loves to tell me it's hot
*Those blue eyes

My friend, Susan Hudson Photography captured so many sweet moments of my family in our recent photo session.  These pictures are priceless to me.  I can't wait to share more, but this post is all about Violet!

To my sweet girl, Our life is richer with you in it.  I wish I could bottle up the sweet moments early in the morning and right before your bedtime when you snuggle up on my shoulder and play with my hair.  When I pick you up from MDO, I smile and watch you before you know I'm there.  The best part of my day, is seeing your eyes light up as you squeal and skip your way over to me!  I think you look like me when I was a toddler, but you have the cutest curls and I missed out on those!  Your big sister...she adores you.  I catch her smiling and watching you play and it warms my heart when she hugs you and talks softly to you.  I hope you both take care of each other as you grow up.  And your daddy, he loves you so much.  He tells me every night how much he misses you after you are asleep.  We thank Jesus every day that he lets us be your mommy and daddy. Happy two years sweet Violet Anne.

 November 2015

Homemade Apple Crisp and Waiting

Fall is in the air in middle Tennessee.  This morning, the air was crisp and the sun was shining.  It was a beautiful day to spend outside with my sweet little family!  We packed up early this morning and drove to Mt. Juliet to visit Breeden's Orchard.  

The last three months have been a little crazy for our family.  With our house on the market, most of our Saturdays have been spent cleaning, staging, and staying out of our house.  Half of the girls' toys have been packed away in the garage for three months. Since showings can be scheduled on a short notice, we have tried to maintain a clean house with minimal clutter.  Our emotions have been up and down as we have had three different contracts on our house since July.  

But today,...we played in the sun!  My poor camera is packed away somewhere in the garage so I was only able to snap pictures with my cell phone, but I am so happy to document our first family visit to the apple orchard!  

This was a sweet little orchard y'all!  I saw a sign stating this was their last year to run the country store and allow picking so if you live close by, this is worth the drive.  They have homemade apple slushies and apple fritters in the little store that will make your day!  You're welcome.  

God is teaching me so much through this season of uncertainty and waiting, but in all transparency, I have pouted through most of it.  I trust the Lord's plan for my life and I know when He makes me wait, there is a purpose.  So as we packed up this morning for yet another inspection on our home for a potential buyer, I reminded myself that I don't want to miss precious moments with my family.  Difficult circumstances and hard seasons of waiting can steal your joy and trap you in your self pity if you aren't careful.  So today, we picked apples.  We laughed and I watched my babies giggle through beautiful rows of apple trees! 

Hopefully, this buyer will stick and my family can stop packing and cleaning, but in the meantime, I am going to do my best to stay present for my family.  I don't want to miss any more sweet Saturdays full of giggles, because I'm feeling sorry for myself.  Baking homemade apple crisp with my girls is a much better option! 

My marriage lesson of Year 7

Mike and I celebrated our one year anniversary by backpacking through Italy.  We traveled through five cities in twelve days and packed in a lifetime of beautiful memories.  We are both explorers and we really enjoy new adventures together.  This picture was taken in Vernazza, my favorite little town of Cinque Terre.

Before we had our girls, friends and mentors urged me to guard my marriage by carving out time for dates and quick getaway trips.  At the time, I never thought I would blink at the opportunity to take a trip with the love of my life, but those little babies are sweet y'all!  

The last four years have been such a sweet season for us as we became parents and learned how to adjust in our new roles.  We love being parents and if you talk to either of us long enough, we will tell you how special those babies are to us!  But, that handsome man in the picture is my first love.  I think I really learned a valuable lesson this year and it's that I need to keep dating my husband.  

I realized this Spring, that Mike mostly gets a depleted version of myself.  When we finally get to have some time together each night, we are exhausted.  We usually team up to get both our girls fed, bathed, and in bed.  Most evenings I sound a bit like a drill sergeant or a referee trying to maintain order and peace.  If I'm lucky, my sweat pants might still be clean but my shirt is usually covered in snot and food.  As we make our way to the front porch with a glass of wine, we smile and somehow keep talking about the little girls we are blessed to raise. 

This year, we decided it was time to leave our girls with family and get away for a few days to celebrate our seventh anniversary.  A friend told me about a little gem tucked away on Monteagle, and I fell IN LOVE.  Sewanee, Tennessee is such an adorable town and was the perfect destination for us to do all of our favorite things!  I felt like we had taken a trip to Cambridge or Yorkshire! 

We stayed at The Sewanee Inn, which is a little boutique hotel right near The University of the South.  The architecture was incredible and we were delighted with our stay.  The Inn has complimentary bikes that we were able to explore with and they even packed us a fabulous picnic lunch for our hike the next day. 

We spent our first afternoon on a leisure bike ride exploring incredible overlooks and beautiful churches.  It felt so good to be with my man, doing the things we enjoy most.  I am learning that I need to be intentional to spend more quality time with my husband having fun.  

{All Saints Chapel}

If you take a trip to Sewanee, I would highly recommend a romantic dinner at High Point.  You will feel like you are stepping up to a quaint little cottage under a gorgeous tree, and every thing you put in your mouth will taste amazing!  You're welcome.

I feel so lucky that Mike and I actually enjoy doing the same things.  I don't know if everyone wants to spend their anniversary trip running and hiking...but we loved it!  There is a beautiful four mile run through the middle of the campus and at your half way point you can see one of the most beautiful overlooks and check out the Memorial Cross.  

There are great hiking trails along the perimeter of the campus as well.  Abbo's Alley is one to check out.  We spent our last day hiking out to Foster Falls and enjoyed a lovely picnic by a beautiful 80 foot waterfall! 

There is about a two mile trail that loops around the waterfall and back to the trail head and it was really scenic.  You will most likely pass rock climbers on your way because there are a few sweet spots to climb, but watch out for the rattle snakes! 

I think this trip reminded me how special my husband is and how thankful I am for our love story.  I am grateful for friends along the way who urged me to continue exploring and traveling with my first love.  Being a mommy can make it a little more challenging, but I saw how refreshed and recharged we both were after our night away.  I hope I can encourage other young moms to continue dating their husbands.  Raising children is hard and I am learning that I have to be intentional with my marriage.  Getting out in nature and doing what we love was exactly what we needed! 

{Happy Anniversary to Us}