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. 

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!

it’s a money pit.

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. So, yeah.  Kyle and I are 100% alive.  A little overwhelmed thanks to home buying and moving and learning that our house is a money pit. Now, don’t hear me wrong. We love our house. But, it seems to have a million things going on with it.

First: we had to make the garage doors automatic. That was an expensive Home Depot trip.

Second: we move in and learn we have mice. yes. mice. and kennesaw has been hunting them out and leading them to the traps. mulligan has been terrified. i am refusing to cook dinner out of fear and wear my rain boots as protection. Kyle is trying to fix that problem... with the help of Terminex.

Then: the third Terminex guy inspected our attic and  we either have roof rats [gross] or squirrels. both situations suck and are very expensive to fix.

And then: we had a bad storm. tornados. wind. rain. dark skies. the whole shabang. and shingles came off our roof. So, now we’re waiting on USAA to come inspect our roof and may have to either patch it or replace the roof.  Luckily, since it was because of storm damage it will only cost us $2,000 to replace the off. ONLY $2,000 ... which means Bonds will be cashed out.

....all while we are paying both rent and mortgage. so things like new furniture for our  family room have been put on the back burner – the weekend getaway or our 1st wedding anniversary also on that backburner.  Our furniture that looks like it belongs in a frat house basement will last longer than expected.

I may need a part time job and you all should run as fast as you can an invest in Home Depot’s stock. I am serious.

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But. Other than all that. Life is good. We really love our new house.  I am starting a Yoga for beginners seminar tomorrow to find some calm for my life.  Work is crazy busy. And the pups are good {despite Kennesaw escaping thanks to the Terminex guy #1 leaving our gate open. They’re slowly getting used to the new house and love staring out the big front window and barking at people who walk by.  We’re not 100% unpacked, but almost there.  We donated a million and one things to goodwill {hello tax deduction} and will make more trips soon enough. Now, we’re just bracing for the rain tonight and hope we have no leaks in the gimpy roof. {yee haw}

I promise, i will post pictures of the house soon!!!