Merry Renovation Christmas 2014

The stockings were hung by the chimney with (extreme!) care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there. We did find our Christmas decorations, but not many of them fit where they did in the old house. We had a very red and green mantle at our old place, with green garland and silver accents. More of a traditional feel. When trying to decorate this fireplace, I quickly found out our new home had a tiny mantle. Not much fit. We could get our stocking holders safely hanging, but there was no way garland would fit. In addition to being narrow, it is also short in length. Since we'll have a completely different fireplace in a few weeks I didn't want to shell out for new decorations. Instead I re-purposed some old tinsel garland and hot glued left-over ornaments on a cone-shaped foam mold to make a tree. You can also find "Red" (our elf) hiding in the wreath today. Not the fanciest mantle, but festive. I think it goes well with our cardboard hearth and chipped tile.  ;)

D removed most of the tile on the hearth to make room for the gas line for the fireplace conversion a few months ago. The tile was attached with liquid nails and wasn't easy to budge. He chipped away a bit and ultimately used a saw to completely detach the hearth piece. He'll need to remove the drywall to get the rest of the tile off the wall. Since we have a big 5th birthday coming up, we'll wait until after the party to tackle the rest.  

We have our faux-stone on order. We decided to go with Boulder Creek Stone in the "Morgan" color. In print and online it shows up orange/pink, but it's actually more brown and gray. It's marketed as a DIY friendly install... we hope that's correct. Another benefit of the Boulder Creek product is that it has matching hearthstones which we were unable to find with the faux-stone at Lowe's or Home Depot. Plus, I preferred more of the "block" look versus the flatter "slate" look. Just a style preference. 

What is currently a plain wall with a fireplace will become the focal point of the main living area. We have white cabinets for each side of the fireplace just waiting to be installed. We'll put in white shelving to give it a full "built in" look. The TV will get mounted on the wall with a swivel arm and the stand will move to the basement. If D can manage it, lights will be installed over the fireplace. That ceiling fan will be replaced with a more attractive model with brighter lights. 

A few inspiration photos for the stones and mantle. I love the chunky mantles in these photos. We won't go to the ceiling with the stone in our home. We are also keeping the existing fireplace glass doors but will paint the brass to give it a solid look. Our TV will go to the right of the fireplace on one of the shelves (vs mounted over the fireplace) because it makes more sense for our room layout.  

A big impact project coming up for 2015. 

Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Out with the old, in with the new for 2015!

A Tale of Two Bedrooms: Part Two

The second bedroom was orginially a pale blue, with oak closet doors and white curtains. The room's new owner selected a very bright, almost tropical, blue from Sherwin-Williams called "capri." Because it was such a bright blue, I also suggested stripes to break up the color. It was just by luck that this blue happened to compliment the green selected by his twin brother in the next room. 

"Take my picture in my room!"

Taking pictures with his leap pad,
while Mommy used her camera

The first thing D did was to remove the track lighting that was illuminating the closet door. I don't understand why it was placed there in the first place. It's the only light in the room and it shines directly on the closet. Weird. We were able to re-purpose the light in our laundry room make-over; I always feel good about re-using things if it makes sense.  He also added a ceiling fan and wired a new switch to have wall controls for the light and the fan. We had new carpet installed throughout the entire second floor. When we ripped out the old carpet we found original hard wood floors in this room as well. They were in horrible condition. Prior to the large renovation, this room was smaller and had a short hallway. There was also a tiny 3rd bedroom in the area we call the loft. From what we can tell, the wall was shifted over to enlarge this room and the floor was badly damaged. It didn't hurt my feeling too much because I don't prefer hardwood in the bedrooms, especially not in children's bedrooms. I know that goes against most interior design but that's my preference...but on the main floor, that's another story! Can't wait to have new floors throughout the main level. Several projects will need to come before that one....

Painting the built in bookcase

This room is smaller than the "green" bedroom but is still plenty big for a bedroom. It has a neat little nook next to the closet which was set up with shelves. I couldn't decide how to paint that area and finally decided to carry the stripes right through the nook/bookcase. It wasn't easy to do the stripes at times, but I am happy with the end result. 

As with the green room, I painted the gray stripe in the mid-to-upper third of the wall. Then I used Frog Tape to around the room and went back through with the blue paint above and below the gray. The Frog Tape was amazing. I wouldn't bother with any other brand. If there was any bleed through, it was only a tiny amount. I believe was only noticeable because of the bold colors. It took a bunch of tape to do all the stripes, but it was worth it!

I had originally planned to do two accent stripes in each boys' bedroom, but after I did the main stripe in the larger green bedroom...and taped...and painted...and taped...I scratched that idea and went with one larger stripe. But the thing about twins is, I don't want them to feel like they have the exact same stuff all the time. I wanted the rooms to look different even though they used complimenting colors and had the same general design. Plus both boys have the same furniture, same art wall, the same beds and bedding. So I sucked it up in the smaller of the two rooms and added two accent stripes. I'm not going to lie, it look a lot of tape, lots of measuring and time to snap chalk guidelines. However I think it's good that they have different rooms (copying what brother does is a big fight around here these days).

Green Frog Tape in preparation
for the green paint stripe. I kind of liked
the green tape!

I carried the stripe through the bookcase

Speaking of copying, we had a fight over the wall decals. One brother wanted airplanes and the other brother wanted....yep, "the same as T." I can't tell if he really wants to have the same things or if he does it to bug his brother. In the end I was able to convince him to go with paper airplanes and his name written in script. They're hard to see in the photos because of the orange color and the sunlight coming in the window but they are very cute. B has also started copying the scripted writing when he writes his name ("I'm writing it in 'fancy letters.") Adorable.



Without further adieu, presenting the final result....

Attempting to get a shot of the paper airplanes.
Full name edited before posting. 

We still need to battle the oak in this room, eventually replacing the closet doors and entry doors with a six panel style in white. Sometime down the road the closet interiors will be re-done with dual rods and shelving...but that will be after the master bedroom closet is properly organized. 

This room is now bright and cheery, just like the little boy who lives here! :) 

Update 2/23/15: We've finished the closet doors. A much needed update from the flat panel oak ones. 

A Tale of Two Bedrooms: Part One

While we're picking paint colors for the rest of the house, we have always been firm believers that our children should get to choose what they would like for their own rooms. It really helped them take ownership of the new house and to get excited about their rooms. 

If you remember our old house, T had a bright red accent wall with neutral beige complimenting walls. When asked what color he wanted his new room to be, he didn't even flinch.  GREEN. It's been his favorite color for about a year now. Of all the shades of green, he selected this bright "festival green" by Sherwin-Williams. Slightly concerned that the green would over power the room, I suggested adding stripes to break up the walls a bit. We sat down together and we both drew out what we thought the stripes should look like. I wish I had saved that scrap paper- too cute. He had originally suggested several stripes, but we were able to strike a compromise. He also agreed to switch from his choice of a red accent stripe to the blue from his twin brother's room. (whew, can you imagine a green and red room?!) 

The Yellow Bedroom was about to get a whole new look!

The Yellow Room "Before."
We also found out that this was the master bedroom
prior to the huge addition which explains its size.

I painted the gray stripe in the mid-to-upper portion of the wall first, then taped off the edges and added the green on the top and bottom. My master painter, D, worked on the trim. He's quite good at getting a nice line especially with such a bold color. I went back and added the tape above and below the area for the blue accent stripe.

At the same time as the painting, D patched all the holes left from removing the curtain rods and tie backs. We decided to leave the blinds for now. They're not in horrible condition and we know from past experience that our boys yank too hard on the cords and they will eventually break. We might as well replace them at that time. D also added a ceiling fan with light, wired a second wall switch for the light, and removed and patched the track light previously hanging over the closet (*weird*).

And now...... Ta-Dah! 

Under the window we added an "art wall" for the boys to display the things they simply can't bear to get rid of. Our rule is that they need to remove old favorites before new ones can be added. I hope this will keep the clutter down. The supplies are the same from our main floor art wall: Ikea curtain rod wire with Ikea clips. 

Ignore the open closet. As you can see in the "before" photo, this room had hardwood floors which I would describe as "decent" condition. We decided to cover it with carpet. Not the typical choice of interior designers, but for a child's room I think it was the right choice. However, the closet doors no longer fit so we removed one of them. We are working to replace them with six panel white doors to match the trim but the painting is still in progress. We will eventually replace the entry door as well but that's a different project. (There's a lot of oak to battle in this house...)

What kid doesn't love a bunk bed? 

Both boys have lofted beds from Ikea. We debated on bunk beds but buying two sets of bunk beds with four mattresses didn't make a lot of sense. And to have one room with bunk beds and one without...it wasn't going to happen. So the lofted beds were a nice compromise. They are twin sized and can be used flipped over the other way so that they are a "normal" height.

I also ordered vinyl stickers from Etsy. You can see the airplane peeking out near the door. T choose his name in script, a large block "T" and three airplanes with clouds. I did edit the photo to remove his full name before posting, but I think you get the idea.

And there it is. A green bedroom fit for a growing boy. I am very pleased with stripes even though they took a lot longer than anticipated to complete. The owner loves them too, and in the end, that's all that matters. :)

Update 2/23/15: The closet doors are finally painted and installed. Beautiful! 

What We're Working on Nov/Dec 2014

The neighbors have all pulled their boats from the lake and the trees have dropped their many, many leaves. It's unofficially the winter season around here.
We took a brief house hiatus to work on Halloween costumes and to enjoy a trip to Disney. Now that we're home the goal is organization. We finally got the garage cleaned up enough to put both cars inside. Just in time for the snow to fly! D has worked had to build overhead storage for the garage and I hope to have the kids toys hung up in baskets on the wall this spring (very similar to our old house if you ever saw that arrangement). I'm also thinking about bike and scooter parking possibilities but for now they can be pushed to the back of the garage. Our kayaks are hanging from the ceiling for the winter and our bikes are mounted on the wall.

Still lots of outdoor things to get organized, but it's progress

I also got the front hallway/mudroom cleaned up. For now we're using command strips to hang up coats and hats but I hope to eventually have built ins. Similar to this...

One of the many mudroom inspiration photos

Our mudroom right now has plain closet doors will be switched out for 6 panel doors that close properly. For now I'm just happy to have room in the closet for our snow gear and the boys' winter bags for school (filled with boots, snow pants, hats, mittens..) and for a place to hang backpacks and coats.

In the kitchen, we removed the old vent hood from the oven area and purchased a stainless steel, mounted microwave. It was really great to retire the small microwave we were using as it was originally sitting in our bar at the old house and is not meant for high volume cooking. Now, without the hood, the kitchen feels more modern. D installed small cupboards over the microwave. We had to think about this arrangement because those cupboards are pretty inaccessible and we were wondering if it even made sense to have them. On the website, Houzz, I've seen people put in wine racks or use the space for decorations. In the end we decided to go with cupboards to store things that we like to have around but don't need to have out all the time: camelbacks for running, water jugs for soccer games, etc.

The original kitchen oven and vent hood

New mounted microwave with cabinets (still need to add the door pulls)

A new double oven was just delivered as well
(I didn't even take the sticker off before snapping a photo).
Drawer and cabinet pulls were added to all the kitchen cabinets.

We ran into a bit of trouble getting cabinets to match our existing set. We decided to purchase the same style but in a different color since we will painting or staining the entire kitchen. The paint or stain color is still up in the air. I love the look of the dark cabinets, especially now that we have some, but I have my heart set on dark wood floors. With the large amount of mature trees in the area, we don't have a ton of sunlight in the kitchen. I am concerned that dark floors and dark cabinets will be too much. An alternative is white cabinets and dark floors. Plenty of time to continue researching, thinking, and seeking examples on Houzz since the kitchen will be a summer project.

Dark kitchen cabinet example with stainless appliances

White kitchen cabinet example with dark floors, modern lighting. 

I'm really leaning toward the white with the dark floors. We'll have to be careful that it doesn't slip into the "country" esthetic...probably my least favorite style. But the white with dark floors is a complete change from our old house and that's what we're hoping to accomplish. Still plenty of time to think about it while I organize the play room and loft.

What's up next: 1) Finishing the ceiling and walls in the loft area (that's what we're calling the bonus play area between the boys' rooms). We removed an oddly placed ceiling fan and added recessed lighting but still need to patch and paint. 2) Selecting stone for the new fireplace surround. We replaced a wood burning fireplace with a gas insert. In order for the guys to run the gas line, we had to demo the existing tile. It was on our list of things to do anyway, it just jumped to the front of the line. We are absolutely loving the gas fireplace! 3) Post about the boys' bedroom makeover. So excited to share this one! I finally finished the paint and I am waiting on two deliveries before the "final reveal." 4) Find our Christmas decorations! 

Laundry Room: Final Reveal!

I am happy to be able to post the "after" pictures of our laundry room make-over.
First, a quick refresher of what it looked like when we moved it. Remember the whole "paint melting off the walls" thing? So glad to be past that.

The "Before." 

Wasted space that was piled with boxes when we toured the house.
Flat panel oak doors, wire shelving, single light. 

Now...the final reveal!!

It's very hard to get a full shot of the laundry room since I'm backed up against the hallway wall as far as I can go.
New cabinets from Lowe's. Newer front loading washer and dryer brought over from the old house. Folding counter (mostly used as a stained clothing pre-treating area). New sticker from The Vinyl Letter shop on Etsy. Replaced the outlet covers with clean white ones. Drawer pulls from Ikea.

Right hand side of the room

On the right hand side of the room we put our Ikea drying rack brought over from the old house. It folds down when not in use and is mounted high enough to walk under when it's out. You can also see the new 6 panel folding doors. We decided to go with solid core doors here to help with sound dampening. We also were able to re-purpose the lights from B's room. They make much more sense in here vs the previous owner's choice of over the closet in the bedroom.

Left wall of the room

On the left hand side of the room we mounted a fold down ironing board...not that we do much ironing. Mostly I have the iron for my craft/sewing projects. This was a clearance, spur-of-the-moment purchase from Lowe's and I love it. Our previous ironing board was big and bulky. It made a horrible screeching noise when it was opened. We rarely used it because it was so awkward to get out of the closet where we stored it. The built-in is so convenient, readily available, and takes up minimal space. D had to wire an electrical outlet on this wall because the room had none. You can also see my Life Expressions Decor sign made by my friend, Jill, which I had in our old house. It says, "The most memorable days usually end with the dirtiest clothes."

View of the built-in ironing board. 

Not everything is new. We kept the flooring which is vinyl but in good condition. We re-purposed the lights. The paint was left over from the kitchen in our old home.

The finished product is just how we envisioned. I feel like it really reinforces our plans to make this house into something special.

Bedroom Paint Teaser

I think we have been painting off and on for about 7 weeks now. It's my fault because I decided to do a more elaborate paint pattern in the boys room. I thought I would try out stripes in one bedroom and decide after that if I wanted to do the second bedroom. Unfortunately/Fortunately it is turning out better than I expected. That means I have two bedrooms to do....two bedrooms that are larger than the bedrooms at our old house.
Since we only seem to have evenings to work on projects like painting, the boys have been taking turns having "sleep overs" in the other brother's room. Once they are asleep, they don't hear a thing and we can work on whatever we want. I think we've run saws in the next room while they've slept!

Here are the colors that they chose. They had free rein to pick whatever they wanted in their rooms. I guess I should say "free rein within reason" because we had to veto the first idea. B was really pushing for a rainbow room. It wasn't that I didn't think rainbows were a good idea, it was that we didn't want to buy all those different colors of paint!
See if you can guess which kid goes with which color. If you've spent time with the boys over the past few months, this will be easy for you. :)

Bright Blue with Greige
(Slight color cast in this photo, sorry). 

Bright Green with Gray

We purchased the light switch covers this year at the Ann Arbor Art Fair (they also decided to buy the same covers).

The green room is 90% done. I'm scaling down my original paint plans but I still want to add in an accent stripe. The blue room is about 70% complete. I think the final results will be very cool and very grown up...more "boy" room versus "toddler" room... and should last them a number of years. 

Halloween is fast approaching so I have some other projects taking up my time. Hopefully the bedrooms will be done by Christmas. Kidding! I hope.

I also learned a nifty little paint trick...wrapping and putting your wet paint tray and rollers in the freezer until your next use. If you haven't heard about this one, you can read the tips here from Home Depot, although I originally saw the article on This Old House. This has saved me countless hours in clean up. The article says store overnight, but I've put the rollers in my chest freezer for a week and they were fine.
If you have heard about this then I ask you, dear friends and family, why did you not share this with me?!! It has been the biggest time saver especially since I only paint for about an hour at a time.
And on that note, I'd better get back to work. Up next...Laundry room reveal! 

New Garage Entryway

A simple project that I had been wanted to tackle was the garage entry door. It's the door we use most and, therefore, I see it the most. It was dingy and dirty from years of hard use from the previous owners. The door itself was in decent condition but the streaks of unknown origin could not be scrubbed away. Gross. Paint to the rescue!

Garage door during our epoxy phase. Cream door, very blah. 

Several things I learned in this project....
One, read labels carefully. Just because you picked it up near all the other paint containers at Lowe's, does not mean it is water-based like you are used to. Probably shopping with twins in tow is not the best choice...tra-la-la...oh! Paint for the door! It says "door paint." Perfect! *drops in cart without reading*  

Two, do not try your new additive for water-based paint in the oil-based paint.They will not play well together and when you turn your back, it will have eaten through the cup and spilled entirely on your husband's freshly painted garage floor. Black paint everywhere. This may or may not have resulted in one tearful phone call to said husband and a trip to Lowe's with black paint covered hands to purchase mineral spirits and rags. Thankfully the cashier had the brains not to comment on that one. (Hubby was awesome about the accident, by the way, and used his lunch hour to help me clean up).

Lesson three, sometimes ideas from the internet are awesome.  :)

New garage entry door. Sorry about the grainy photo from my phone.

I love the final result and I could not be happier. Now I just need to find an equally cute entry mat.
Black paint, brushed nickle kick plate, coded lock in nickle finish all from Lowe's.  Custom vinyl applique from The Vinyl Letter on Etsy.