Before & After {exterior makeover}

Our house got a new paint job in May...so I thought I'd finally blog some before & afters!

It was a stressful process for me! Picking out colors for interior walls isn't that big of a deal for me. I like earth tones, and I tend to like darker, cozier colors. AND it's just a wall...if you don't like it, you can easily re-paint it. Well, that's NOT the case when painting a 2-story house! I was super nervous to finalize a color, and have my painter buy all the 5 gallon buckets of it! Yikes!

I knew I wanted either a dark gray, brown/gray/taupe, or messenger green

I used the Sherwin Williams ColorVisualizer to help pick a color. I found a few I liked on my paint deck, and then uploaded a picture of our house and tried them all to see what they looked like. Once I narrowed it down to Foothills (SW7514, if you're interested), I had my painter get me a sample jug of paint. BEST decision ever!!! We only used about 1/4 of the little jug, and were able to paint a really good size patch on the back of the house. (Justin had to tell me that I didn't need to paint the whole house!) Anyway, it was soooo helpful! I was able to look at the color during different times of day, and against my white trim, and knew immediately I loved it!

I knew I wanted black shutters, so this was to help me visualize the house color, white trip and black "shutters"

After that, we ordered the paint, and the painters went to work!! They power washed the whole house, covered/taped all the windows, doors and trim, painted everything, touched up trim in 2-1/2 days! Oh my, I was so excited!! It was totally worth it to pay someone else to do the job. With a 2-story house, we would have been painting for 3years to get it all done! They had a lift and sprayers, making it so quick!

Here's the BEFORE & AFTER of the front...

(the before was taken the first time we ever came to look at the house, before we made an offer)

In December 2011, we had to have all the white trim painted in order to get our home loan, so it was already nice and fresh when the siding was painted in May 2012. 

We also had our garage doors painted! This was another stressful decision for me! My little brother told me as he has before when it comes to painting "Leave it white! You paint everything...leave it alone, Martha"! Well, I think I proved him wrong again :) I like them much better painted! It was like getting brand new garage doors. They were in pretty good shape, but it just made them all fresh and new. We also had some plastic sunbeam inserts in the windows that I removed.

Some more of the process...

Finally, we had my black shutters installed! AND my vision was complete. 

That's all for now!! I really wanted to do a mustard gold door, but for now it's still red. I like it red too :)

Our last step will be to take down all the existing light fixtures and give them a fresh coat of black paint. They're not really our style, but for now a little fresh paint will make due.  

Then the front walk needs some major landscaping help! 

Before & After {the mudroom}

We have almost been in the house for one month. That doesn't even seem possible!

AND we have had just a few days/nights "off" from home projects. We are having a blast, 

but we are ready for the day we can just enjoy...that is a long ways away!

One of the first projects to complete was the mudroom closet.

I saw this idea on Pinterest several months back, and loved it! 

I knew then if we got this house, the mudroom closet would be the perfect place to do this! 

Here is the BEFORE....

{I am bummed I didn't get a really good "before," with the bi-fold doors on, and the old linoleum floors}

We took off the bi-fold doors, which made a huge difference in opening up the small room. 

They were always getting in the way. The door to the kitchen (on left), the door to the garage (on right) and the bi-folds were constantly crashing into each other. 

We painted the inside of the closet with the same color as the kitchen (Baguette-Sherwin Williams).

Then added the bench with baskets and small storage tower (from Target!). 

I wanted this to be a clean space for a little extra storage.

I found the three plastic bins up top at Walmart in the clearance isle. 

The little pillow is Walmart too! Everything else we had.

Now, we always know where our keys are when we're ready to walk out the door!!

The long basket is a great spot to toss the mail when we get home. 

A little bowl of chapstick, hand sanitizer, etc. for before you head out.

My friend Danielle gave us the "McPherson" piece. I need to have it framed. 

Barrett knows that his hats and gloves are in the middle basket =)

We LOVE it!!

Project 365| January 6th, 7th & 8th

DAY SIX| JANUARY 6TH

Friday was GAME DAY for our Wildcats! Barrett and I wore our purple, made lots of yummy game-time food, and cheered loud. Unfortunately it didn't lead to a win ;( But it was still a lot of fun. Barrett looked for Aunt Audra, Aunt Christie and Aunt Amber in the crowd, but we didn't ever catch a glimpse of them. It was exciting to know they were there in that BIG 'ol Cowboy's stadium! 

 DAY SEVEN| JANUARY 7TH

We were so busy working around the house on Saturday, I kinda forgot about my photo challenge. But I found this photo on my phone I snapped of the gorgeous sunset out my kitchen window! I love my view!

DAY EIGHT| JANUARY 8TH

Our goal for the weekend was to finish the powder room! So, here are Barrett and Daddy working on the new sink plumbing at about 10pm last night! As soon as Barrett saw Daddy was under there working, he ran to get his little tool set, and came back to help. I have no doubt he is going to be extra handy, just like his daddy. He is very interested in things like that. Last night I overheard a conversation between the two of them...Barrett ask what this "long yellow thing was," and Justin was telling him about what a level does and how it works.  

(I had to zoom in a little, since Barrett prefers to run around with no pants on!! My crazy child!)

New "studio"

I've always said I didn't want a studio...

I wanted to do everything on-location, and outdoors only!

BUT, after moving into the new house, I am liking the idea more :)

One of my favorite things about this house is all the natural light! So many big beautiful windows.

The first thing I do every morning is open them all wide and let in the sun! 

Our dining room has big french doors, hardwood floors, and right now it's an empty room.

That makes it the perfect natural light "studio."

So until we get dining room furniture, I will use it as my new studio!

My dad made me this new backdrop stand...

I wanted to use it for a one-year old session yesterday, so Barrett helped me test it out!

He's a cute little test subject, huh?!?

After that, I had my first "official" client session at the new house!

It was beautiful out yesterday (65 in January), so we went outside for a few pictures by the pine trees.

Then we used the "studio" for some backdrop shots and a cake smash.

It was perfect!

I am in love with the new house even more after that! I got to work, and I never left my house!

Now....next up, I need to get my office painted and organized!

Big boy room

We started off the new year, with a new room for Barrett!
Well, that was after Barrett and I got over our spell of the Flu! Not fun!

I knew it was time to make this transition, but I'd kinda been putting it off.

Not because I didn't think Barrett was ready. 

But because I wasn't sure if I was ready.

So, on January 1st, he had his last night in his crib.

After Barrett got up on January 2nd, we started taking down the crib.

I deep cleaned the whole room, and re-arranged to get ready for the new bed.

I had planned to buy this dinosaur bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. But just before I went to order it, some adorable bedding (and decor for the WHOLE room) fell into our laps! My friend Heidi's mom was re-doing a room, and wanted to get rid of her bear bedding set.  It worked out perfectly! She'd had twin bunk beds where it was used, so we ended up with TWO bed spreads and two sheet sets. Plus throw pillows, shams, wall hanging, clock, lamp and stuffed bear pillows!! AND, it went with the current wall colors, so we didn't have to paint!

After we got the new bed in, I couldn't wait to get everything all put together.
Justin hung some of the stuff on the wall, moved the moose, and I changed out the pictures in this frame.

That afternoon, Barrett slept in his bed for the first time!

Then, that night, we tucked him in for his first night's sleep in his new bed!

Then I stood in the hall and tried not to cry.
Justin made fun of me =) I told him I couldn't help it!
I just kept thinking...we put that crib up the November before he was even born, and now it's gone.
It's official...he is a big boy (almost three), and the years are flying by.

I was hesitant to make this switch for a few reasons...

He's was such an amazing sleeper in his crib, I was afraid the new bed might change that.
And I didn't want the feel of his cozy little room to change.

Well, neither of those things changed. He has done AMAZING in his new bed. I don't know why I ever worried.  He goes right to sleep every night, and for naps. He even waits for me to come in in the mornings before he gets out!! He'll call out, "Mommy, me ready to get up out of my bed now." It's just adorable! I am so proud of him! He still sleeps the same 12 hours at night, and naps are still 3+ hours.  At night, I tuck him in and read stories with him, then Daddy comes in to read with him. I love being able to snuggle up in bed while we read (although I do miss the rocker too). It's been a great transition.

The room is just as cozy as it was before.
Still my favorite room in the house, and I will miss it one of these days!
{See the room before....Barrett's room::March 2010}

 

We love your new room, and your big boy bed, Barrett!!

{Curb Appeal}

It's been several weeks since we spruced up our home's curb appeal. I've always loved our little home...

It was built in 1952 by locally famous architect, William Caton. Most of his homes have an adorable stone cottage look. Ours definitely does...when I'm giving clients directions to my house, I always say "it's the tan and stone cottage." I will miss that one day. One of the characteristics of a Caton home that I'm not a big fan of: the tiny kitchens. Ours definitely has that too! We've lived here for eight years.

There is even a Caton Legacy Architectural Driving tour available. I just found a link for this, and I remember seeing something about it when I worked at the Art Center. I'm not sure I even know all of the Caton homes in the area. I might have to take the tour myself. Here is another one of his homes, that happens to be on the market right now.

{our first home}
Here is what our home looked like in 2002 when we bought it:

The picture of us on the bottom right was taken by my friend, Audra. It was the morning after our wedding, when her and her hubby, Kane, picked us up to take us to the airport! So sweet of them! I've included it to show what the flower beds along the drive way looked like in 2002. (I don't really remember them, but looks like nothin' but dirt, and you can even see the black weed paper peeking through). p.s. don't we look so young??

In 2004 we got rid of the white and brown vertical siding (we were starting to have a lot of moisture problems with the very old siding), and replaced it with Hardi-plank siding, all new windows, guttering, roof and shutters.

The pictures below were taken the Spring we found out we were pregnant with Barrett.

2007. I can't believe how much some of the shrubs have grown since then.

In April, we got rid of all our mulch and filled our flowerbeds with river rock. We've been replacing mulch every year since we moved in. It would look great for a week, then would start to fade, wash away onto the driveway and sidewalks, and fill with weeds. After this Winter, they were nothing but "dirt" beds, with a few pieces of mulch. We are VERY happy with the way the river rock turned out. We had always wanted to do it, but figured it would be really expensive. Really, it was very inexpensive for the area we filled...and the money we'll save not buying 10+ bags of mulch every Spring! So worth it for me!! And, thanks to the sweet lady at the local landscaping place (I just love small town businesses), we saved a lot of money! She recommended using the smaller (and much cheaper) pea gravel to fill in the base of all the beds, then sprinkling the larger river rock over that. It worked PERFECTLY!! We ended up getting two tons of the pea gravel, and then 1/2 ton of the river rock. We even have some of the river rock left, in case we need to fill-in spots later.

After the rock was complete, we trimmed up all our shrubs, and got some new Hostas for the front bed (thanks to Justin's sister for those).

Here are the {after} shots

That middle shrub is dying a slow death.
Any green thumbs out there that can help me save it?!? It might have to be replaced soon.

 

{Above} Little metal stand I got from Mamo several years ago. It was a dark green, but I used some hammertone spray paint on it. Sorry, no before pictures! I will get better at that!!

{Above} The area behind our carport where my Vica plants grow wild!! We had enough rock to fill it in, even though we weren't planning to. In the background, you can sorta see the leftover river rock pile. We just made a little barrier wall with some large stones we had (against the side of the shed), and filled it with the river rock.

BEFORE of driveway flower beds: 2007

AFTER: 2010
I didn't realize how much the shrubs had all grown!
I would say "yay, me"...but I don't think I had much to do with it.

{Above} My little wagon desperately needs a paint job. It used to be a barn red color (as seen in 2007 picture above) Any volunteers to fix that?!? And, behind the wagon...another shrub dying a slow death. I obviously DO NOT have a green thumb!

{Above: Left} We painted the front door to match the shutters in 2004 when we did the siding, and also added the storm door. The storm door is always filled with sweet little fingerprints! I like it that way :) We also added the new ceiling light, black mailbox (goodbye gold), and address numbers at that time. I got the Address plaque from Lillian Vernon online. The numbers were really light when it came, so I had to paint over them with a brighter white. I love my little metal milk jug. It came from one of my dad's storage units. (The renters didn't pay for many months,  then left town, and never came back for their stuff. I don't remember what color it was, but I used a vintage leather faux paint kit on it. That was several years ago, and it needs some freshening up.

{Above: Right} The front flower bed. Used to have a giant weed strange plant right under the center of the window. We took that and some mums out, and replaced them with Kim's Hostas. It's a nice shady spot for them, and they seem to be doing great! Notice the lovely moisture growing in the window!! Great news: They came and replaced it TODAY! It's nice and shiny and beautiful again!

This large from window used to just be a little three-foot wide window! When we did the siding, we extended it to the right, making it double the size (or more) ...and it's been so nice to have all that extra natural light!

:: Pause during outdoor {after} photos to squat and take a poppy in the middle of the yard ::

Yep, he's my son!!

I took his picture (he will be horribly embarrassed in 12 years),
then I yelled across the front yard "are you pooping, Barrett?" He quickly replied "NO!"

Sunday night, we enjoyed my Mother's Day gift for the first time!
It was the perfect evening for it...

I can't wait to roast hot dogs and marshmallows on it...

and enjoy a cold beer, while we visit with friends and family.

I'm loving my new curb appeal and outdoor spaces!