Ok everyone… this is Ryan writing on Kelly’s behalf as she is sitting next to me 6cm dilated, contracting, epidural streaming, The Office playing in the background. Life is good. So, the next post you’ll see is pictures of Bennett (born on his aunt’s birthday - Happy Birthday Meridyth!)
Michael Scott is calling us…
Did a high pitched buzzing sound stop ringing in your ear? Well that is because I stopped whining because renovations are FINISHED!!!!!!
I seriously never thought I would say that. I mean I love hanging out with middle aged men at all hours of the day and night, breathing in a white cloud of dust by the bucketfull and shelling out money like water…BUT…all good things must come to an end.
Last night I painted the bathroom…minus the trim…I will leave the ladder work for Ryan. I am clumsy enough without a watermelon hanging off the front of me. I am too anxious to wait for Ryan to finish painting so I decided to debut the bathroom early…just look past the unfinished trim.
Now to fully appreciate the bathroom transformation, because it is RADICAL…let me bounce back and forth with some before and afters.
BEFORE: Single pedestal sink, ugly radiator, the wainscoting was painted a dark color, linoleum floor, claw foot tub with shower kit, which Ryan’s entire head stuck out above and the shower spicket sprayed into his chest–not adequate for someone 6′6″.
AFTER: New double sinks and brand new plumbing, all new fixtures, no more radiator, new ceramic tile floor, two walls built to support new tub. We painted the wainscoting off white and the walls a burnt orange (although they look kinda like mustard in these pictures…they aren’t yellow in real life)
BEFORE:
AFTER: new floors
New ceramic tile shower….that beeotch of decorative tile was a huge bone of contention…but it came out really nice.
Oooohhhh ahhhhh close-up. Don’t you want to lick the walls? I do!
And of course. my favorite, all the copper details. They make me smile and my belly get warm.
MY FAVORITE FIND!!! The riveted mirrors. I hemmed and hawed for weeks on whether to buy them…they were a bit exponsive…but when I went back to the store they were on sale for 25% off…YEAH!! Back away slowly so you can appreciate them.
I couldn’t find the right lens to show you what is on both sides of the shower walls. But let’s just say you won’t have to jump if someone walks in on you on the toilet…you are nice and covered. The other side has shelving for towels and toiletries.
I LOVE IT! It makes me happy every time I walk by….the memories of all the renovation hell are fading. We definitely have a lot of finishing work to do on the bathroom….but I still think she is picture worthy already! SIGH.
Good morrow sweet readers. We are still recovering at Casa De Portnoy, you know the residual nose running all day long and the emphysema-like cough that rattles up from your toes. So both Chloe and I sound like we have been smoking since the beginning of time…but still we are in a MUCH better place than 12 days ago. AMEN.
So I am going to talk about something that makes me happy happy happy. Decorating! Many of you have asked me where I buy things or how I pick colors for my house. I am going to start out by saying…DECORATING IS SUBJECTIVE!!!! It is a form of art. Just like some can find beauty in a Picasso while others think it is a big ol’ mess…..so is decorating. I usually get two reactions to my color choices: “That is SOOOOO Kelly” or “I love it!” The first comment translates to: “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING…I would never do that.”
I am in no way an authority nor do I have “rules” to live by. I can only say how I make choices. If I have the means to own 5 homes I would decorate them in COMPLETELY different manners. I appreciate so many styles and color is seriously an aphrodisiac to me. Love it! I happen to have a husband who would love a 60’s mod home with all super sterile, streamlined furniture….screw comfort, give him funky style and architecture. I can totally appreciate his taste and try to incorporate some retro taste into my style.
I just walked around my house and snapped some pictures of either fabrics or nooks that I personally enjoy looking at. I do feel like a home should be practical, especially if you have kids…but I don’t feel like you need to sacrifice taste for comfort. I come by the philosophy of buying neutral furniture rather than trendy colors or patterns because furniture is MUCH more expensive to replace than decorations. I happen to get extremely bored with my house every 6 months and like to switch up my color pallets. Some people want to decorate once in their lives and NEVER decorate again. Tisk, tisk, tisk…live a little will ya!!!
Wait, I take it back… I have a rule: NO WHITE WALLS!!!!! Hospitals, school, work….all white walls. Are those your favorite places to be? HECK NO!!!! I don’t care if you pick linen white for your walls, show some stinking contrast with your moldings. People are SOOOO scared of color, but let me tell you….NOTHING will more dramatically change the look of your home and furniture for CHEAP, than a gallon of paint. You can ALWAYS paint over it if you hate it. I have picked some doozies in my time..but live and learn. IF you go out on a limb…live with it for three days in all sorts of lighting before you decide to change it.
I tend to use fabric to inspire my wall colors.
This is our evolving kitchen. I love this fabric and the green in the flower was my inspiration for the wall color:
Not everyone’s cup of tea..but I love it. I love all my red appliances and dishes contrasting it.
Better yet, frame some fabric and use it as art. Super cheap way to put punches of color up and tie in your pallet.
Pick a punch color and run it through all your main rooms. I happen to LURVE orange. It is fresh, funky and plays off of the earth tones of my furniture and wall colors throughout my house.
Fun pillow
New bathroom pallet
kitchen window, My Chloe bird that my very talented friend, Candace, made.
Don’t be afraid to mix unlikely patterns together.
Fill a space. Nothing irks me more than a person who has a huge wall and they put a tiny little frame on it. The proportions are all off and it looks silly. Also you are not suppose to hang anything on your wall higher than eye level. So take it down a notch! Don’t be afraid to group different height items.
Be careful of clutter. If it is a space you use often….skip the decorations. Clean spaces open up a room.
Use real plants, skip the fake flowers. I do have a couple of fake flower arrangements in my house, but they are more like “sticks” rather than flowers.
It’s a slippery slope in the fake flower world. I am a huge fan of sticks and curly willow ( see two photos above)
So let’s review a few points:
1- USE COLOR….don’t be afraid to paint your walls or pick a punch color and weave it throughout your house.
2- Stay away from themes: palm trees, asian, animals, etc….not timeless and borderline tacky.
3- Use fabric as art, in layers against each other, or to inspire a color pallet. Fabric is what set’s you apart and puts a unique twist on your house.
4- Fill your wall space in the correct proportions. Mess around with arranging your furniture to maximize your space.
5- Have a consistent style in your house. If shabby chic is your thing, don’t have the adjacent room decorated in modern decor. It is confusing to the eye.
Have fun with decorating. So many people are intimidated by decorating or don’t feel like they can do it. Lot’s of people have some great things laying around their house that just need to be rearranged. You don’t have to spend a million dollars on decorations and furniture. Most of my furniture is from Big Lots or dent and scratch stores, but I shoot for all real wood in the same stain so I can mix and match in my rooms. I am a HUGE bargain/clearance shopper for accessories. I know sewing does help because you can custom make pillows and curtains in fabrics of your choosing, but you can still get some great and affordable decorations at Target, even Walmart is seriously stepping it up.
I still stand by painting. If you can’t decorate, you CAN paint and that will transform your space!
That is my two cents. Take it to the bank and cash it in for all it’s worth.
You can all breath a sigh of relief. We finally got to see Bennett’s face and boy oh boy was he a cutie. The ultrasound was so awesome, we saw SOOOOO much. It is such a crazy thing to watch your child on the screen and at the same time feel them moving inside of you…very surreal. It is also hard when you realize it is the last time you will “see” your child before you SEE your child. I wish I had an ultrasound machine at home, I would watch him all day.
So check it out…..
This was Chloe at 24weeks….can we say siblings!
But I ask you moms out there…don’t all babies look the same at this point? I mean how much difference can there be? We were just pumped to see him and watch him in action. Nose….check, two eyes….check, two lips….check, a chin….check. He had a little bit of a fascination with his package a few times during the ultra sound. Do we have a future jock on our hands? Yes Bennett, it is still there, it did not float away.
So I went and spent our life’s savings at Lowes and Home Depot last week purchasing a tub, tile, sinks, faucets, etc…. It was really fun to shop but not so fun at the cash register when the hammer dropped. The good thing is I get my brother’s discount so that really really worked in our favor. Her is a little taste of what’s to come.
We are doing copper accents. That is our new sink/vanity that is sitting in our upstairs hallway. This actually feels like a big girl bathroom. You know you are moving up when you leave press board cabinets and linoleum behind. It is going to be really pretty when it is all done. The big question….what color to paint the walls. Oh the choices!
So I am learning to be flexible….LEARNING it, not perfecting it. Things feel totally out of control right now. I have a tub sitting on my front porch (WHITE TRASH!!!) I have ceramic tiles and new plumbing pipes sitting on my kitchen floor and sinks, vanities, and lights cluttering up my hallway. Do you realize how this makes me feel? Like an elephant is sitting on my lungs! I have to constantly give it to Jesus and just learn to live in the moment. There is a constant white powder cloud floating around so cleaning is futile until this is done. How do people do this for months and months by living in a renovated state for long periods. Kudos to you!
I decided to show you Chloe’s room. There isn’t anything that mind blowing about it and we haven’t hung everything up yet…but she finally has a really big room to play in and that makes me so happy. Her last room was 9 X 10 feet. An absolute matchbox! Now she has tons of room to play in and KILLER walk-in closets at each end of her room. The closets were a major selling point to me.
Let’s let Chloe take us on a little tour. Come on ya’ll.
The best part of this house is the 9 foot ceilings. The windows are so huge and every room is so light and airy….total 180 from our last house.
Now a little disclaimer. The chair in the corner is electric blue ( I went through a funky lime green/electric blue phase in ‘98…shame on me) I desperately need to recover this chair so right now I ghettofied it with some sheets…classy I know!
I love her little table and chairs. I picked this bad boy up at a garage sale for $20.00…solid wood…tea for two!
My pillows I made for the trade show fit perfectly.
And a peak into one closet. There is so much stuff in here I need to organize. You get to see my dirty little secret. Shove everything into the closets.
You can get a little scope if you can imagine that that is a queen size mattress against the wall and there is still all this space above and to the right. These closets are amazing.
Let’s end on a high note with a few Chloe shots.
She was reviewing our new price sheets….what do you think Chloe? Can mommy and daddy sucker some more brides this year?
There you have it. Chloe’s stomping ground. Come again.
Oh the joys of home owning… especially a 90 year old house. Just as I thought we were about to put the finishing touches on our house….WHAM…..the sky falls in. Let me back up a bit. We knew when we bought the house we were going to put two major upgrades in. One of those was the plumbing, the other a heat pump. Galvanized, gunked up, old school plumbing was not ideal for us over the next 5-7 years that we plan on being here. We wanted to remodel the bathroom and kitchen too….ceramic tile, new tub, new counter tops…those kinds of things. We also wanted to choose when we invested in these upgrades.
Well you just have to laugh when your upstairs bathroom sink decides to spring a mammoth leak over your innocent kitchen below. The result…..well see for yourself as my brother came over to open up the ceiling to stop the leaking and then trace the plumbing to see what exactly we would have to do to update everything.
Oh sweet ceiling holes.
After spending 5 hours with my mom hand vacuuming and polishing the hardwood floors last week….now every square inch of my downstairs is covered in a fine powder of ceiling dust. I wanted to cry. As I sit here ready to go to my chiropractic appointment in two hours to correct all that I inflicted on myself from moving and cleaning just to see 50% of it undone. Oh man…patience, patience Kelly.
All this to say, God has a way of taking care of us. The day before this happened we booked three weddings. The Lord provided all the money before the sky fell down on us. It is going to be a major investment, but within the next 3-4 weeks we will have a beautiful new bathroom with ceramic tile floor, tub, linen closet, double sink vanity……Something REEEEEEEAAAAALLLL nice, Clark! (That is from Nat’l Lampoons Christmas Vacation…hilarious movie)
OH here is the kitchen color scheme and inspiration. I must stare at this picture and repeat to myself, “This will come together, this will come together, this will come together.” We are doing a nice funky contrast of red and sort of a pea green meets chartreuse in 2008 color like you see in the material and place mat. Go there in your brain…it will be delightful when it is finished and the cavernous holes in my wall and ceiling are all but a memory!
So let’s change the subject shall we? Let’s look at a finished room, one that is a place of peace and comfort. We finally have a nice big love den for Ryan and I. No more “scooting” around all our big furniture. Now we can do cartwheels and play Twister in our big boy/girl room and we have our own little half bath for extra privacy. So here is a looksee at the room where all the magic happens. OH SNAP!
Oprah says the best way to class up a bedroom is through monogramming. We got these little numbers courtesy of The Company Store.
and our wee bathroom.
There you have it. Part II of the Great House Unveiling!
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Angela\’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt
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