Transformation Thursday || Hizzy Style

FYI: Hizzy = house  and we have been doing a lot to the house lately. I have a super long list of home improvements I want to do on our house and we are slowly chipping away at the list.

:: Update One ::
We took out the sliding glass doors that lead from our eat in kitchen to the back yard and installed french doors.  I don’t have a before picture, but these doors look so much better than the old ratty sliding glass doors that sometimes would not open or not open all the way.  Our kitchen just looks cleaner and nicer.  Simply put, it was an upgrade that was overdue (K and I were losing our patience and sanity a little bit each day) and surprisingly not very expensive, but it really makes our kitchen area just look so much better.  Now, we just constantly worry about our bad dogs taking the door off its hinges as they run outback and we always scold them for pawing the door to go out or come back in.  They’re too nice to have the dogs mess then up with their disrespectful ways.

:: Update Two ::
We have this sitting room off the foyer that will probably never really get used, but I knew I did not want an “off limits” room like I had in my childhood house and I knew that we couldn’t have anything too nice in that room because we have bad dogs who love to sit at the window and bark at poor innocent people as they walk by.  Add a dog to the mix and good grief, game over. Dogs have lost their mind. So, we could not have nice things.  About a year ago we moved the old love seat into this room, but this Labor Day we added a coffee table and an end table.  I know that the coffee table needed a little bit of additional décor (again, nothing too much because of our dogs) so plan on slowly scouring Target and Home Goods for little items to make it just right.  I am happy with the overall outcome of this room and know it will be better once it is fully done.  But, it feels GREAT to have one more room basically done in our house. …we just need new pillows for that couch  Ones that stand out and add a little brightness to the room.  The hunt continues

:: Update Three ::
I have a handy husband. Labor Day weekend Kyle totally upgraded (what he could) of our hall bathroom.  And this bathroom now looks A TON better.  He just swapped out hardware and added a towel ring, but I love the new look of this bathroom.  The old gold look was dated and not attractive.  Plus, it is nice to have the towel off the counter and hanging.  The only question that remains: will we replace the marble on top with granite?  Part of me says yes.  Part of me says no.  I guess it would come down to price.  The marble doesn’t look bad… but it could look better.  I may also frame the mirror.  There are some easy-ish looking tutorials on Pinterest.  Who knows.  But, I do know it looks a ton better and my husband did such a good job.  No. He is not for hire.  He has 2 more bathrooms to do!!

Next Up: The master bedroom – new paint colors & new over the bed décor and then that room should be done, done, and done.  Kyle is not looking forward to spending a weekend or two painting, but it is cheaper than hiring someone and I have totally volunteered to help him out.  But we have this thing called a baby.  We also have 6 ceiling fans to replace.  The one in our room and the upstairs “foyer” do have top priority. 

Long Range: I would love the have the kitchen done next, but we are still having to save for that.  Granite ain’t cheap.  We have been tossing around the idea of a new door and painting the shutters since it is not as expensive and curb appeal is huge.  But… we will see. And don’t get me started on the major master bathroom overhaul we want to do.  Evidently, we need to win the lotto.  Or maybe we should have bought new construction v. an old house. 

5 things Friday +1.

Alas. Another 5 things Friday where I can literally ramble about things that are fairly unimportant. And by fairly unimportant, I mean 100% unimportant.

[ one ] I have a major, uncontrollable itch to do some home improvements on our house. And I am pretty sure Kyle is getting annoyed listening to me talk about them. So, you get the hear my want list. I want my sliding doors gone & replaced with French doors. I want granite countertops & new cabinet doors. I want a deck remodel – with a fire pit added. I want to redo our master bathroom. I want to pain the shutters and get a new door.  Evidently, I need to win the lotto because with our penny pinching ways McKenna will be 43 and I still won’t have granite counter tops. #truth

[ two ] I think McKenna just may have the largest Easter basket in town. When Pottery Barn Kids calls something a large, they are not messing around. This is a LARGE basket that we need to get filled with stuff from the “Easter Bunny”. So, I am accepting ideas and suggestions. Please comment below. Seriously. Please do. But… …how cute is this thing. And Kyle did ask me, “this is her Easter Basket for awhile, right?!” … Pottery Barn Easter baskets aren’t cheap.  Even with that 15% off coupon code! =D

kyle wants to mention that mckenna is now eating finger foods on her own … something about a pincher finger reflex made this possible. I just think she is growing up a little too fast.

[ three ] In case you missed it. the debate over how a toilet paper roll is supposed to sit on the holder was put to rest this week.  And the toilet paper is supposed to hang OVER not under.  So for all those years that my OCD behavior has fixed this other people’s homes was not just me being OCD, it was me being 100% right. HA!  And I will no longer apologize for my toilet paper changing ways, but I will continue to fix it when I see it because it drives me NUTS.

[ four ] I get to see my best friend and her husband to be this upcoming week and to describe my feelings … I am REALLY EXCITED!  She gets to formally ask me to be a bridesmaid and if she is lucky I will say yes! I will be really sad when this client of ours closes their doors because it will be the end of random middle of the week visits with by bestie.

[ five ] I have a personal goal to get better at this blogging thing… …like I want to go back to the days of my running blog with most consistent posts and more followers and more comments – I miss engaging with people. I just have to make time for it and well, being a new mom + a working mom sometimes time is limited. But… I need to make it a priority.  So if anyone who reads this has any recommendations, please comment below.

[ +1 ] I am 15 classes deep in the 20 in 31 #purebarrechallenge – 5 to go. I CAN DO IT. I just have to pencil it in and stick to it because my available days are few and far between for the rest of the month. And by available days, I mean my lunch breaks!

WELLLLLL.  That is the 5 +1 … have a good weekend!!

List of Home Improvement Ideas

I want to start this blog post by saying that WE love our house.  We bought our house because we loved the neighborhood – it was big, looked like it would be full of families, was quiet and had good school systems.  When we started house hunting, we wanted a house that we could stay in and raise a family in.  Kyle was always jealous of me that I was raised in the same house and came home to the same place every holiday and summer of college and then after moving to Atlanta.  Kyle and I wanted the same thing for our family and future kids. 

Since my 30 before 30 list won’t really be all that accomplished since I turn 30 in like a month and some odd days {I can’t exactly go zip lining or horse back riding or to a brewery in my condition} I am moving onto our Home Improvements List.  This has no rock solid due date – just as we can afford it.   We had 1 savings account already established called “college education fund” and now that we have moved that to a 529 and the money is taken out of our account automatically – we renamed that account to “home improvement fund”.  {when did I become so old and mature?!}

Some of the things aren’t major upgrades and {thankfully} can be done on our own, but they bug me and need to be done.  I just need to spend a weekend at Home Depot or Bed Bath and Beyond or The Container Store and say I AM DOING THIS NOW!

With all that.  Here is our list.  And pictures with ideas {thanks pinterest}.

1. Kitchen Upgrade: Granite Counters
2. Kitchen Upgrade: New Cabinet doors {thankfully the cabinet boxes are solid and strong. We just need new doors that won’t have laminate that peels. G.Ross.}
3. Kitchen Upgrade: Backsplash

Obviously. I love the light color granite and the light color backsplash.  We do like the white cabinets that we already have and want to keep the white when we swap out the doors and we already upgraded everything to stainless. So the neutral granite + backsplash is the plan.  And… we think we could do the backsplash on our own. Can’t be too hard, right?!

4. Laundry Room Redo DONE
5. Hall bathroom upgrade: new sink fixtures + toilet paper holder/towel holder. DONE
6. New paint job of foyer/upstairs landing
7. New paint job of weird sitting room. NO LONGER WANT: WE DIG THE RED
8. Hardwoods in the foyer – take out the weird uneven marble tile area.
9. Remove the sliding doors – install French Doors DONE & AMAZING.
10. Replace all the ceiling fans upstairs – all 6 of them
11. Master bathroom upgrade: new floors
12. Master bathroom upgrade: new shower. bigger shower.
13. Replace all the door knobs upstairs.
14. Repaint the master bedroom.
15. Redecorate the master bedroom.

and when I say “redecorate” I really mean upgrade the artwork above our bed.  And then since the dogs are no longer crated. Figure out what to do with that big empty space. Plus, new bedding and curtains. To match the new paint job. I really like the 3 above ideas. the 3 wooden picture frames would house family photos though // and I love that Song of Solomon verse.

16. Repaint Kyle’s “man cave” / McKenna’s playroom / the family room.
17. Upgrade the TV in the downstairs room – move the downstairs TV into the “man cave” DONE (AND THE NEW TV IS NOW IN THE PLAYROOM)
18. New furniture for the downstairs family room. Move the current furniture to the “man cave” / random weird sitting room. DONE
19. Decorate the random weird sitting room. DONE
20 .Dining room furniture for the dining room
21. Decorate the large landing thing over our foyer under our big window.  {I want large oversized lanterns from Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn}
22. Organize the hall closet upstairs.  DONE.
23. Organize the pantry.
24. Organize the laundry room.  DONE.
25. Organize our master closet.
26. Organize the hall closet down stairs.
27. Change all the sink fixtures in the bathrooms in the house.
28. Get a new front door + paint all the shutters to match.

….we have A LOT on the list to do and I am sure that it will only grow longer.  But luckily, a lot of this can be done on our own and all the organization projects {I blame on nesting} are quick weekend things.  But then we have some major projects to save our bonuses and money for!

.Bullet Points.

I spent 2 days in Birmingham this week and I REALLY like the client that we gained and  that I am working with.  If we didn’t just buy a house and if I didn’t love my job and if it didn’t mean moving, I would have totally volunteered to go work and manage that site in Birmingham. But, I love the site team I found and we hired. Loving the people I am working with make all this travel totally manageable. Even though, I do miss being away from Kyle J and the dogs.

Evidently, me being away gives the dogs major stress. Kennesaw gets pukey and Mulligan gets poppy. Kyle is a really good single parent. ...And I am heading back to Birmingham on Monday.  The dogs have had a traumatic few weeks.

....speaking of the dogs. Kennesaw is NUTS. She is obsessed with “hunting” mice in our house. But, we don’t have mice anymore. So we think we have domesticated her so much that she has lost her hunting instinct. She loves pushing boxes around and being a menace. and. she loves kyle to pull out the fridge and the oven so she can hang out behind them and hunt. needless to say, kyle is not moving the appliances for her crazy butt anymore.

I have been enjoying the weekends and doing NOTHING since my weeks are so crazy stressful and long. I have LOVED sleeping in too because I do not sleep well when traveling. Kyle actually greeted me with breakfast in bed – a bagel, but it was still so good! I really do need to hop into the office this weekend and do some catch up, but I won’t. I want family time. After all, my family is what is important. We’re making bad for you food for dinner tonight & watching a movie.

Kyle’s birthday is coming up and I NEED to go get his present. I am going to go to FlyWheel tomorrow & then get his gift. I feel like I am getting him something so super lame, but he really wants what I am getting him. I guess as we get older we get really really lame!  ....And, I need to plan his birthday dinner. {must plan.must plan.must plan.}

Speaking of old and lame, but my Erin Condren Recipe cards and dividers came today! Sadly, they were too big, so i got the joy of sitting in front of my DVR cutting 80 cards + the dividers down. WEEEE!!!

It only took almost a year, but I FINALLY took my wedding dress to the drycleaner to get it both cleaned and preserved. Yeah – I am a total gross slacker. I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with it.

in addition. We FINALLY got our wedding album. That also took almost a year. And it looks fabulous! =D I really loved our wedding photographer and could not recommend him more.

Kyle finally hung the curtains in our living room and they look great and our living room looks great. So, our bottom floor is finally basically decorated. Now, we need to have for new furniture and then it will really be done! :)

We are planning a trip to the Dominican Republic this summer. I was shocked how cheap it is to travel there. WAY cheaper than St. Lucia. But we figured we need a vacation and a way to celebrate our 1st year of marriage [delayed] so instead of buying 1st wedding anniversary gifts, we’re both transferring money to our “vacation fund”. And then we will have 6 days in the sun! Compromise.

We are also planning our trip home to VA for the summer.  Luckily, Kyle’s friend JL is getting married in June so we will plan our trip around that.  ...speaking of. I need to start buying their wedding gift.

Life for me is passing me by. I have my last beginners yoga class tomorrow and then I get to start taking for real classes – well, i could have been doing that all along, but i wanted to make it through this “seminar”.

I hope everyone is doing really really well!! =D

 

House + Life Updates

WHAT A LONG WEEK! But... I survived. We survived. And it looks like the weekend will be just as long – between setting up our new house and picking up our current house since it looks like a bomb went off and we have our 6 month walk through this week. Beh. I am not amused.

.life.
Well. Most importantly. Alabama is officially back to back national champs. ROLL TIDE. And that made for the start of a great week. Monday was a long night, making Tuesday painful.  But it was 100% worth it to watch my boys raise the crystal again! Mulligan was obsessed with my shaker and wanted it, but he eventually gave up and sat his 90 pound body on my lap! ... now we have to wait till September for the fun to begin again!

I am super bummed that my #1 FlyWheel instructor got fired this week. something about “complaints from customers” – but hey hello – there are SO many other classes and teaches just take another person’s class. Duh. But –that gives me an excuse to try out the weeknight classes since I going from work is WAY closer than going from the new house.

I had an impromptu trip to Birmingham on Thursday for work and it was scheduled to be a 2 day trip, turned into a 1 day trip... making Thursday a long day. But it was good. A good productive day for the big project I am heading up. Now. Our client needs to pull the trigger so we can get rocking and rolling.

.the house.
last weekend was a mess. i will spare you the dirty details, but long story short we had appliances scheduled to be delivered and they were cancelled last minute. but. after i was a total bitchface to every best buy employee that crossed my path we had a new appointment. and then today... dun dun dun...

I love the upgrade. it was stressful and a pain, but it makes the kitchen look so much better. between the knobs i changed out a few weekends and the appliances our kitchen is a great spot. Now, I just need to get the counters upgraded to granite. And... that won’t happen for a few years. Sad. The only bad: our oven is sticking out about 2 inches because of how the gas pipe is. it doesn’t bug me – but it drives kyle crazy. he will have to deal!

I also spent HOURS putting contact paper in the drawers and cabinets and I am not done yet. And let me tell you. Contact paper is a freaking nightmare. No one warned me how pesky and uncooperative it is. And to think, that project continues next weekend or the weekend after that. Le sigh. if anyone has tips please, for the love, share.

I also decorated our guest bathroom/kyle’s bathroom and it looks great. and kyle actually does not mind the shower curtain. it is the little victories! {i promise, the walls aren’t yellow.}

And my most favorite.  My wrapping paper organization from the Container Store. It was expensive, but 100% worth it to get it all organized and in one place.

But, I am going to spend the rest of the weekend lounging, packing, and trying to clean up the mess that is our rental house. Anyone want to come help?!

new home decor ideas // breakfast area

 

The room that needs immediate attention is our “eat in” breakfast area. My dad has wanted us to invest in a table since Kyle and I moved in together over 4 years ago. But we always had excuses. Apartment too small. A table goes where Mulligan plays. A table goes where Kennesaw and Mulligan plays. A table would block Mulligan and Kennesaw’s direct path to the backdoor to go outside. But now we really don’t have an excuse. It is our home, we need a table– that will block the sliding glass door, Mulligan and Kennesaw’s direct exit out back. Bah hum bug.

But. on a positive note: that gives me the opportunity to play interior decorator. So, this is what I am thinking.

Buffet. IKEA Stornas Collection. Gray Brown. {not pictured in the correct color} // Table. IKEA Stornas Collection. Gray Brown. // Picture for over the buffet. World Market. //

I want a buffet for our placemats, napkins, and napkin wear.  And a place to store all our serving dishes and other dishes things. I like this one because it has the 2 long drawers plus the 3 little ones.  And I love the open shelving for a wine rack? Or other more decorative/fun bowls {for example my Parker Bowls from Crate and Barrel}. Plus, I love the idea of decorating the top of it and I already have ideas.  Fingers crossed when we measure the wall it isn’t too big.

I just LOVE the picture and thing it will go great with the green wall color and the rustic looking furniture. I spotted it at World Market this week and had to literally hold myself back from buying it.

And the table matches the buffet.  They’re a package deal. And need to be the same material. I cannot wait to decorate the table too with all our fun wedding gifts!

And... I promise... as rooms start to come together I will post the real life, not just my fantasies!

I hope everyone has a really good weekend.  If you need Kyle or me we will be at Home Depot and at our new house... hanging curtains, changing locks... being domesticated and married. :)