The Den

I've wanted to paint our nasty old wood paneled den since before we even bought this house. It was pock marked and made the room feel dark and gross. To give some history, it had water damage on either side of the chimney that had to be fixed, the crown molding sagged in several spots and it looked like they let a wood pecker loose in there because there were at lease a bazillion tiny nail holes everywhere.

It looked something like this (This was the previous owner's set-up):

So after living here for a year and a half we finally got around to it. We did one coat of Kilz Stain blocking Primer and then one coat of our paint + primer that was the antique white we'd picked out for the room. 

It's not a perfect paint job; there was extensive stain damage to that wood (the previous tenants chained smoked) but it's WAY better than before. It feels so much brighter and bigger in there. 

I also wanted to turn the minuscule closet beside the door leading to the garage into a reading/play nook for Clive and Rooney so Dad came over and helped us do that. 

This closet has played several different roles for us. First it was a makeshift pantry, then it basically was just a place for our animal food bowls (those have been relocated). And now it's this:

Here are some "during" photos:

The den looks so great now. One more room down! Kitchen and bathroom to go....eventually.

Before and after:

Bedroom Photo Update

New Roof!

Hello. It's been a long time since I've updated, I'm ashamed. Good news! Our roof had major hail damage on it! What the what?? It's only good because our insurance company paid for a new one. That's all you can really say about this update. We shelled out a bit for new gutters since they were already working on it; not really something you dream of spending money on but it was necessary. Oh adulthood...you suck.

Here are some before shots:

And after:

Huzzah!

Bedroom Update

Our room is constantly changing in appearance. That would usually be a reference to the amount of laundry/general filth lying about due the the presence of two little ones but this time I mean decor. We recently made a trip down to Ikea in Atlanta and bought a new bed which we're very excited about.

So..the most recent before photos:

And progress we've made:

We also finished the vanity in our bathroom. My dad built some awesome custom shelves!

Our Sweet Rooney

 When I think about my childhood home, so many great memories come to mind. And I hope that our children feel the same way about this house. One thing that will always stick with me and Grant is what happened last Friday night when our daughter was born here.

That day, I worked from home as usual. By late afternoon I wasn't feeling great and when Grant got home I complained to him about what I thought was just some severe gas. We ate dinner and went for a walk but these pains were starting to form a pattern; about two minutes apart and lasting 25-30 seconds. I called my midwife, Bobbi, and she said to call back in an hour with more details. I worked through contractions and called back. She said she was coming over to check me out. That call was placed at 7:30pm. She arrived around 8:15pm and informed me that I was dilated 5cm. Progress! I was relieved.  My contractions picked up BIG time and 30 minutes after her initial check I was at a 9. I think I was in denial that things were progressing so quickly. It really started to sink in when Bobbi placed a call to her partner telling her to come on over but that she wasn't going to make it in time for the birth. We were about to start pushing! Rooney came out in 8 minutes. My whole labor lasted three hours. I guess she was just ready to see the world.

We're so thankful to have such a wonderful little family. I'm excited to watch Clive and Rooney grow and play. So this house may be old, but it still has a lot of life to live in it. 

The Half Bath: Part 1

So this happened today:

Dad called this morning and very generously offered his services and brute old-man strength to tear out our old vanity cabinet and replace it with the one we just purchased. Clive really enjoyed the demolition and general chaos that ensued. 

Part 2 will be building shelves on either side for storage. I'm just happy that our sink doesn't look like it belongs in a backwoods North Carolina truck stop anymore. 

We marveled at our progress and then ran out to do a few errands. I sat down and opened up my blog to update with this post but then heard something that sounded like a bath running. When I went in our room to investigate I discovered that one of the supply lines had come loose and hot water was pouring out all over the floor. 

So the bathroom had one more surprise for us tonight but hey, what's a house project without a minor catastrophe? No fun at all. At least the floor is nice and clean now....