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,...

We had Dr. J and her awesome family over this weekend, and as we were getting ready for them, I decided to decorate my mantle for fall. Dubya hauled up my Rubbermaid tote full of fall decor for me and we began to set things out, feeling content and happy as I sprinkled my house with hues of orange, red, and yellow. Prior to our remodel project, our fireplace was something I tolerated. Put up with. The Mr. and I had spoken, now and then, about refacing it with stone or some other kind of brick but it was my dad that spoke these wise words, "Just wait until you're done with your project...you might change your mind about it.". Never. I NEVER thought I'd change my mind about our fireplace being something other than an object that I just put up with. I never thought that I could actually APPRECIATE our fireplace...but then? Something magical happened. As things came together with the remodel project, I began to realize that our fireplace was starting to shine. I w...

My Gram wanted to see updated pictures of our house, so she turned to my blog and GUESS WHAT???? No recent pictures...see, I'm struggling. We've reached the point where I could show you pictures of the almost  finished project...BUT, the little things that are left are things that make me want to wait until it is ALL done. You know, "Look! Here's my beautiful kitchen without trim and backsplash and doors!"...and then, when those things are done, while they'll definitely make it "finished" there won't be a whole lot of "WOW!!" factor involved, it'd be more like "Here's our project BEFORE trim and LOOK! Here it is after." and y'all'd be like, "Huh?" cuz I'm not sure it'll make THAT MUCH of a difference in pictures.  Yikes. I'm totally rambling. All this to say...hang tight. "After" photos are coming!! We're finishing up my pantry shelving (yay!!!!!) and then we'll be ...

Let's talk for a second. You and me. I found something a few days ago that made me weak in the knees. Made my heart pound with excitement and my cheeks flush with the idea of the gloriousness that I just discovered. Guys? I found the most AMAZING website. :) I dunno, maybe I'm just late to the game...maybe everyone else on the entire planet has already discovered these guys...maybe...but I still hafta share. (Ain't no paid advertisement...) Rustica Hardware. OH. EM. GEE. Ohmigosh. I can't even. (That was for you, Julie.) As I've mentioned before, we're planning on doing a "barn door" for the door to our mudroom. Enter in my idea of door opening widths, bullheadedness, and lack of proper research, however...and now we're looking at a custom door. UGH. See...I INSISTED on having a 36" opening for the mudroom/diningroom entrance. IN. SISTED. Only thing is, standard doors don't come any larger than 36" and having a door that...

So...the kitchen? It's usable!!! I'd say we're 75% done with the kitchen...BUT the most exciting thing is that I CAN COOK AGAIN!! AND I HAVE RUNNING WATER!!! AND A FUNCTIONING DISHWASHER!! Do you get a sense of my excitement? I'm giddy. Excited to cook. And not wash dishes by hand (although, I'll be totally honest...we contributed our fair share to the landfill in the form of paper plates. Sorry Mother Earth!) in a sink that was perched on the edge of our deck and where a person was likely to get eaten alive by mosquitos as they tried to wash the dishes. Classy class. I am in love and in awe with our kitchen. It makes me so happy! And proud! And content! We do still have a fair amount of work to do, however, until we can lay this beast to rest! Staining doors and trim, installing aforementioned doors and trim, finishing dining room, installing heat mats and flooring in mudroom, finishing up painting, tiling backsplash and (and here's wher...