Renovation Update

Hello...

It's me.

I'm in California dreaming,

about a life without drywall dust.

We are in full-blown renovation mode over here and I cannot wait to show you the finished project. The first six months of 2015 was consumed with spending every spare moment studying -- but it was worth it. I passed all four of my CPA exams which was the most difficult thing I've ever done. But to do that, I had to shut off the creative part of my brain so I could focus on filling my head with debits and credits without visions of color schemes interrupting my train of thought.

All our waiting, planning, and saving has paid off though. Mike and I are on our way to having a home we are proud of.

I don't have many pictures of what is going on right now because to be honest, this part of the construction phase is pretty boring... but here's what has been done in the last few months:

1. Replaced all the windows and the slider with Anderson windows.
2. Fixed the dry-rot on the side of the house which included replacing many of the framing beams that were also completely rotted out.
3. Old carpet is gone! In its place is wide-plank European oak (the stairs here are still just the exposed wood underneath).
4. Re-plastered all the the walls to smooth out bad seams and get rid of the 80's orange peel texture.
5. Scraped the popcorn texture off the master bedroom and spare room ceilings and refinished those.
6. Painted the entire house white with this dark grey accent wall that runs up the entire length of the stairs.
7. Installed LED can lights in the upstairs and downstairs halls, stairway, and spare bedroom. Installed a mini-track in the living room, and a chandelier in the master bedroom.
8. Converted the old wood-burning fireplace into gas.
9. Removed the closet at the top of the stairs and opened up the spare bedroom doorway to fit french doors.
10. Demo-ed the half-bath downstairs.

Now that I've typed it all out it seems like a lot. As with all construction projects, what started as just replacing the windows and floors snowballed into a complete renovation minus the kitchen and two full bathrooms upstairs which are on the list for 2016.

This past year was officially the year of the grind but sometimes you have to wear your life all the way down to build it back up again. If you want to see some inspiration of where our house is heading, I started another blog focused on design (whereas this is more the nitty-gritty of just our house) which you can find here. More on our renovation process to come!

Year One

This post is a few days late, but as of last weekend we have officially lived in our house a year. Although I feel like progress has been really slow, it's nice to look back on here to see what we have accomplished since then. I had big dreams that we'd at least have replaced the old, brown carpet upstairs with wood floors, but between a wedding, two full-time jobs, and the pup -- it's still on the to-do list. 

Speaking of lists, here are the top five things I'd like to accomplish in the next year:

1) Upgrade the exterior of our complex including getting rid of the dry rot that plagues all the trim

2) Replace our windows with new double-pane ones

3) Replace the carpet upstairs with hardwood 

4) Install overhead lighting in both bedrooms and living room

5) Completely redo the downstairs half-bath

In my head that sounds like a completely reasonable list but it will be interesting to look back next year at this time to see what has been done. I have been really good about reigning it in lately but the fact that our neighbors just listed their unit that is the same size our as ours for $115k above what we paid last year gives me confidence that any time and money we do put into this place will be worth it in the end.

//one//

Dreaming of a Statement Bed

First let me give you some background.... my darling husband is a lot of things - romantic, kind, funny, handsome (you get the idea) but one thing he is Not is decisive. Sometimes when we decide to go out to dinner we actually never make it out the door due to the indecisiveness that goes on in our household which is why I was completely blown away on Saturday when we were in and out of the mattress store within an hour with a brand-new king bed!

We'd been talking about getting a new bed for a while but with the wedding and everything we figured we would have to wait until Christmas but that timeline got accelerated when Mike started waking up at night with horrible back pain that wasn't there at all during the day. Combine that with one very fidgety 12-pound dog, and we have all been sleeping terribly.

Our new Tempurpedic got delivered on Sunday and wow, it is amazing even in all it's firmness (they take a few weeks to soften up). Just the real estate on a king sized bed is enough to make me giddy. I mean, Goose still insists on snuggling next to me but at least I can stretch my arms and legs out without throwing an elbow into Mike's side. Although we are all sleeping much better, having the mattress on the ground is a little too "college house" for me.

I was browsing for a new bed frame and when I was trying to define what I want, all I kept thinking was I wanted a "statement bed." I mean, there are statement necklaces / purses / shoes so why not a bed? I love looking at rooms that are verily neutral aside from one great piece of furniture and since our bedroom has beautiful lofted ceilings, I say why not? Mike might not be totally on board (yet) but he will come around.

So far, at the top of my list is this beauty from West Elm. I've always wanted a wingback headboard and those cute little legs put the finishing touch on it.

Next up is the Architecture Bed from Room and Board. A modern twist on the four-poster bed that would fit nicely with our tall ceilings. The only thing I am worried about with this one is its lack of a head board.

And finally, there is this tufted, wingback bed from All Modern. At $836 it is the best price and comes in a few different colors. Since Mike's main complaint with the West Elm one is that he doesn't like having a footboard, this could be a great option for us.

What do you guys think? Am I the only one that is seriously crushing on an upholstered sleigh bed with a mid-century modern twist?