My Little Life

If you happen to enjoy my mishmash of photos on Instagram ( @mama_m ) then you've likely already seen this news. However, for those of you that don't peruse Instagram...boy, have I got a treat for you in this blog post! The remodel. Yes, I'm working on a "Before and After" post...I'm dragging my feet a bit because there are a few things we still need to do, but I think I'll do it anyway and hope that maybe you won't notice our missing backsplash or lack of appropriate floor transitions. However, in the meantime, there IS something I want to show you (missing floor transition and all)...remember the barn door plans I talked about? Well, it was something I tucked away on a wish list when we realized we had worked ourselves into a custom door. But then, we need more wood work stuff done and we decided, what the heck. Let's just do it. And it was like Christmas ALL. OVER. for me! When I came home from work the day this beauty was installed,...

It's been 12 days since my last post...TWELVE!! (There once was a time in the history of this blog that that would've been a sin! Blasphemy! TWELVE DAYS WITHOUT A POST?! Gah.) And guys...this project is really coming together!! Our flooring is (mostly) in...thanks to the help of some amazing friends who persisted in asking us if we needed help (we did) and more amazing friends who showed up day after day to see this through. We are blessed and thankful for these people in our lives (and NOT just because they help us...they are all incredible friends that we cherish!). Part of my purpose in blogging this is so that we can look back and remember the pain and agony we went through if we ever decide to do any major renovation again. Which, I'll be honest, there's not a whole lot left in our house to renovate! (We sorta did it all with this one!) The last time we "talked" I had left you with some before and "during" photos...and while we aren't ...

I have officially and ferociously reached the "GET THIS DAMN PROJECT DONE!!!!" part of our remodel.  I'm tired of having plywood floors and drywall walls.  I'm tired of having a rouge oven in the middle of my kitchen. I'm tired of my washer and dryer being in the middle of my dining room. I'm tired of the dust. This isn't moving fast enough. I just want it done...like, yesterday. In the spirit of seeing forward progress, let me share with you a few before and after pics...more for my own mental health than anything else. Here we go: Before: View from Living Room: During: Same View Still During: Same View: Before: View from end of stairs: During: View from end of stairs. Whoa: Okay...that helped. I now see the forward progress...but HOT DAMN let's hurry up!!

There's a little four letter word that I hate. Oops. I just used it. Yes, the word "hate" is not on my favorite list...and I use it way more than I like to, b ut you know what? Sometimes, a situation calls for the use of four letter words. Like HATE. As in, "I HATE (loathe, despise, dread) HATE HATE HATE removing wallpaper.". See? Totally justifiable, no? I know I totally need to do a remodel update for y'all, but for now...just lemme vent. The entire time we've lived here, I've always assumed that the previous owners (not the original owners) updated the wall paper in this house. Well, when we removed the cabinets, we discovered the wallpaper went BEHIND the cabinets, which leads one to believe it was original wallpaper, no? And 40 year old wallpaper shouldn't be THAT hard to remove...right? Wrong. (If you look closely, you can see some of the wallpaper ...thankfully, most of this was removed with demolition...crazy to me already, ...

Before I start...let's be honest; I am CERTAIN I will learn a lot more before this project has reached completion! We've sort of reached the "putting it back together" part of our remodel...today, the "stair project" will start and by tomorrow, I should have a new area in which I can walk downstairs! Hoping to start painting next week so that we can be ready to start installing the flooring! Okay, so let's get started with things I've learned: 1. (Speaking of stairs...) Have you ever tried to calculate the rise and run of a staircase? I did. I consumed approximately 300% of my time and absolutely fried my brain. And I'm still not sure. Calculating rise and run of a stair case is infinitely more difficult than anything in the whole world. 2. Recessed lights: 2nd most infinitely difficult task is figuring out where to put the dang cans. 3. When demolishing things, make sure to check to see if they contain asbestos. 4. Remodeling during ...

Well...all throughout this remodel plan (even whilst in the planning stages) we kept hearing about the bumps along the way, the "issues" that crop up when you start tearing apart on older home. Behind every ripped off piece of drywall, I expected to see termites, rotting boards, leaking ceilings, alien creatures destroying our home from the inside out...you know, all THAT stuff. All we found, however, was just a whole bunch (like, a whole, WHOLE bunch) of cobwebs. Until last night. We had a piece of paint that had been peeling on one of our walls and I kind of ignored it for a long time. Like, years. Then, as we're tearing apart everything else, a little one tugged a bit on the paint and GAH. Mold. And a rusty screw. Well, we decided to rip off that piece of drywall, figuring we'd replace it AND make it easier for the plumber as well, and wouldn't you know...mold on the other side too. (Please ignore the cobwebs...it's hard to dust inside your walls......

You didn't think I forgot about the Kitchen Remodel, did you? Psh, OF COURSE not!! I was simply sidetracked by being on the emotional roller coaster of watching my biggest baby graduate from high school. That's all. Back to the remodel. T minus 7 days and we will be tearing into this project! We've got the appliances ordered, a bazillion ideas swimming in our heads, and a crazy plan of flying by the seat of our pants with "relocating" during the project. I mean, do we REALLY need a plan? Can't we just be all "Oh, okay, we don't have stairs and there's a big gaping hole between our living area and our bedrooms...let's just sleep downstairs."? That's my kind of plan. I've discovered that the best laid plans are only subject to changing...so why have a plan? SPONTANEITY AT ITS FINEST. I am the queen of "flying by the seat of your pants". I should've majored in "crunch time decisions" in college.  ...

Well, we've finally decided to do it. We've lived in our house for nearly 10 years, wanting to do a major remodel of the upper level for the last 1/2 of our dwelling time here...and the time has come!! I'm equal parts excited and nervous...kinda like anticipating labor and delivery, I suppose, you know, not eager for the pain and hard work, but SO excited to see the finished product! Anyone who's read around here for awhile knows that I'm kind of, well...how do you say...FREAKISH?!!...when it comes to major purchases. I mean, for cryin' out loud, I spent WEEKS agonizing over whether or not I should buy an iPhone, or stick with my trusty flip phone! Sheesh. (Um, can someone tell me WHY it took me so long to make that decision?!)...and then there was last summer when our washing machine died and OH EM GEE I researched and read and shopped around and visited stores and poured over reviews...all for a dang machine that will clean my clothes. So, you can about ...