House Tour

I'm so excited to give y'all a tour of the house today! 

It's not done yet, and I'm sure we'll continue to update it over the years, but I'm loving the upgrades we've made so far. I felt inspired by Young House Love to add a to-do list for each room. This is to remind myself of how much we've done and keep inspired about where we want to go. Some of the projects we still have to go will be done in the next few weeks and some won't be done years.

Take a look around. Hope you enjoy!

Foyer:

Anyone surprised that I'm obsessed with the front door? Ya, I didn't think so. It almost makes me want to forget about getting a new one. Call me crazy, but I want a door with a little more privacy. Like no big window and a peep hole kind of privacy. But, the pretty color will tie me over until the time comes to replace it. 

To Do: 

• Remove parquet floors and replace with hardwoods
• Paint front door, wall above and below chair rail  
• Replace foyer light
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint 
• Add a bench
• Put down rug
• Replace blinds on door with roman shade
• Hang some art (collage wall?)
• Replace doorbell
• Paint or upgrade door handles
• Replace front door

Living Room:

This room is starting to come together. I think with a few more chairs, nice big ottoman, and a rug it will have a more cozy feel. And can we please talk about how excited I am to have a mantle? Can't wait to hang something on it at Christmas!

To Do:

• Remove parquet floors and replace with hardwoods
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint
• Paint walls
• Add furniture
• Put down rug
• Do something with the fireplace (paint? tile?)
• Make/hang curtains
• Change ceiling fan
• Get gas logs for fireplace
• Find/make a large square ottoman 
• Paint red table

Dining Room:

If I had to pick a favorite room based on color it would be a hard choice between this room and the master bedroom. I love the blue and grey together. Fun fact: that dining room table is the same one I had growing up. I can't wait to give it a facelift.

To Do:

• Remove parquet floors and replace with hardwoods
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint
• Paint walls above and below chair rail 
• Add furniture
• Put down rug
• Paint chandelier
• Take down blinds
• Sew and hang new curtains
• Replace sliding doors with french doors
• Stain table

Kitchen:

This is probably the room I have the biggest plans for, but also going to be the room that is a work in progress for years. Most of the plans I have for this room are on the 5+ years plan, but hey, a girl can dream!

To Do:

• Remove tile floors and replace with hardwoods
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint
• Update old lighting
• Remove desk and cabinets above
• Get table for eat in area
• Paint cabinets 
• Add hardware
• Upgrade sink to farmhouse sink
• Add backsplash
• Upgrade appliances
• Add curtains
• Put down a rug/rugs
• Add open shelving
• Install vent hood
• Do something fun with pantry doors

Stairs: 

This may sound strange, but this is one of my favorite updates! They turned out better than we hoped and I'm so happy we choose to stain and didn't re-carpet them.

To Do:

• Remove carpet from wood stairs
• Paint walls
• Stain and polyurethane stairs
• Paint stair risers
• Add hardwoods to landings
• Hang art
• Demo short wall on stairs and half wall in hallway
• Add railing and stair spindles

Master Bedroom:

Gotta give James props for trusting me with this accent wall. He was a little unsure of the idea when he first heard it, but he's totally onboard now. 

To Do:

• Replace carpet
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint
• Paint walls
• Add furniture 
• Remove blinds and upgrade
• Replace ceiling fan
• Hand headboard
• Add something above headboard (art? saying?)

Master Bathroom:

Probably one of James' favorite features in the house is this vanity. No, not because it's for him, but because I use it. I've always done my makeup sitting down which, since I've never had a vanity, meant I did my makeup sitting on the floor in our living room at the apartment. I would say it's not as odd as it sounds, but he would disagree. He hated it. He loves that my makeup has its very own special place in our bathroom. 

To Do:

• Remove old carpet and replace with tile
• Paint walls
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint
• Renovate shower
• Paint cabinets
• Add hardware
• Update sinks and counter tops
• Upgrade lighting

Hallway

 To Do:

• Remove old carpet and replace with new
• Remove popcorn ceilings and repaint
• Paint walls
• Paint doors?
• Upgrade or paint door handles
• Demo half wall and replace with rail and spindles
• Hang art

And that's it! 

There are a few other rooms I may introduce you to at some point. However, right about now they are home to boxes that have yet to be unpacked, and nobody wants to see that!

DIY: Story About Doors

I've received a few emails asking about the wedding doors. Rather than answer each email individually I figured I'd answer as many questions as I can here. I received question like: how did we put the frame together, how did we stabilize them, and did the doors actually open and close? 

Before I answer what I can I should preface this post. My dad owns a construction business; he builds things. I don't and I most definitely didn't build these. However, I spoke to mom and dad about how he build this and what materials he used. He used a bunch of words I didn't know, but I tried my best to keep up.

So, here is the wedding doors how-to as I understand it!

Here is the diagram I drew based on what he told me:

• To build everything "we" used 2x6 boards i.e. these
• The doors definitely opened and closed (that was the whole point for us). We used black hinges that attached to the doors and the frame
• We attached handles to one side of the door and not the other. They swung out, so we attached them to the outside side. 
• For extra stability we drove cut rebar (15 inches) into the ground. Your local hardware store will probably have other stakes in various materials that would work.
• We placed large ferns in front of the A-frame so you couldn't see it. You can see that better in the picture below.
• The platform 2x6 boards on both sides of the frame (that laid flat on the ground) are important to keep the doors and frame upright preventing them from falling over on your guests!
• To attach the sigh above the doors we used metal brackets (can see better below)
• The frame was built and assembled beforehand. The doors and sign were attached at the venue.

The three pictures below may give you a better idea of the frame, hinges, and how we tried to camouflage the ugly important stuff.

I hope this helps at least a little bit! Good luck!

A Story About Doors

Hi sweet friends!

I've been waiting for this day for a while. You see, James and I have been headboard-less since we moved into our apartment. In reality this is not a big deal; however, I've been waiting/working on this headboard for over a year.

I'm getting a little bit a head of myself though. I should start at the beginning.

When James and I choose out outdoor wedding venue there was really only one thing missing: 

the big door opening entrance. We immediately started thinking about how to solve this dilemma.

Sis and Micah's wedding venue also happened to be outdoors. So the ideas started forming and we decided if our ceremony sights didn't naturally have doors we would make them ourselves! 

Plus they would make perfect headboards for each of us once we were done with them.

Sis, mom, and I spent a weekend searching for the perfect doors: old with character. We finally found 100+ year old pocket doors that would work perfectly with just a little work.

James and I sanded and sanded and sanded.

Mom and Sis painted and stained till the color was just right.

Dad added door handles and built the frame.

Those doors really were a labor of love.

Having doors was important to me because the song I wanted to walk down the aisle reaches a crecendos around 3 minutes {2:45 to be exact}.
The doors opened right then and I got to see James for the first time.
It was totally worth all the sanding!

Our wedding:

For Sis' wedding they "built" an outdoor church complete with old windows, an alter, and the doors.

Their wedding:

And finally, no longer doors but the perfect headboards!

Our headboard:

Their headboard:

Find out here how we made the doors.