What, this is seriously happening??

Everything has happened so quickly with this whole house business, I don't think reality really started sinking in for me until this weekend. Our current landlord has listed our condo and starting the cleaning and packing process so it can be shown has made it all a bit more real. I absolutely adore our condo and so the thought of moving on is totally bittersweet. The house is already starting to feel a little like home though, and I'm excited for the future.

With our move-in date bumped up to Jan 31st things are moving right along at the new pad. I can FINALLY see the light at the end of the tunnel with this whole kitchen cabinet project. WOW, what an undertaking. . .I can already tell though that it's soooo worth it. I put my last coat of paint on today, and Ryan got the hardware on all the doors and drawers. We had some issues with finding hinges that would work right, so we ended up deciding to just spray paint the old hinges and use those. As soon as those are dry the doors will get hung and my first massive project will be complete :)

Me making the last brush stroke on the cabinets. . .HALLELUJAH!!!! 

THEY'RE DONE, THEY'RE DONE, THEY'RE DONE :) 

I heart the hardware. 

Besides completing the painting portion of the cabinets, the other biggest excitement this weekend was discovering that our basement is miraculously mold-free. . .well behind the walls at least. The boards that were in the din portion of the basement were warped from moisture and so we were convinced that there was likely mold behind them. The fear and question was, just how much mold?? Before moving in we wanted to make sure that situation was under control so this weekend the walls got torn into. Here's the first peak, and I have to say that we were SHOCKED to not see this full of mold. 

What a relief! The rest of the exterior wall was torn out (well the bottom half) and amazing enough, it was all clear. This is HUGE news that will save us some serious cash and heartache!

Couldn't be better!!!!

Ryan also made his first attempt (which was successful) at patching dry wall, and our counter tops arrived! It's all coming together! 

They're hard to see...but the counter tops look great! 

Ryan taking out the old door bell and patching the drywall so I can get to painting. 

Painting, painting, and oh yea. . .more painting.

Things are moving right along in the new crib. My husband is out of town. . .aka, I'm bored. . .so I've gotten a ton accomplished the last few days. I'm coming to realize there is an insane amount of small, tedious tasks that come along with renovating a home. It's sad how excited I get though when I finish them up. It's amazing how much of a difference the little things can make!

The last week has really been all about. . . .

PAINTING 

PAINTING

AND MORE PAINTING! 

As of right now all of the kitchen cabinet doors, shelves, and drawers are primed and have their 1st coat of paint. Today I started on my 2nd coat and am elated that I may be able to get away with just 2 coats. I don't mind painting, but I'm kinda over these cabinets!

The unusually warm weather this weekend (IT WAS 80 FREAKIN DEGREES) also allowed for a little outdoor work to get done. There were a ton of leaves piled up in the brush in the front of the house. It basically just looked like giant leaf piles, that I assumed were hiding some bushes/plants. This weekend those got raked out, and now we know what we're working with shrubbery wise. I have to admit that when it comes to landscaping, I KNOW NOTHING. I can walk into any room and immediately get a vision of what I would do with it. I spent a crazy amount of time this weekend though just staring at the front and back yards and I came up with nothing. Thank goodness I have several Mama's with green thumbs! They will come in handy this spring!

My other major undertaking this weekend was revealing more of our wood floors. When I walk in that house, it just feels dusty and dirty. The old carpet padding was still stapled to a majority of the hardwood so this morning I started ripping it up. I can't imagine how much dirt and dust those things were holding. I was also anxious to see what kind of condition the floors were in. So, with fingers crossed, I got to work. Good news. . .the floors are gorgeous! Bad news. . .my fingers got ripped to shreds getting nearly 200 staples out of the hardwood.

This is my first glimpse and I was pretty excited. 

Even with using a handy tool, removing the insane amount of staples was quite the challenge. This the first project that involved blood-shed. The hubby sure better be thankful for this one when he gets home ;) 

Yay for A LOT less dust and dirt! Lookin pretty good.


Last, but not least, I've also started picking up some new decor here and there. The other day while Christmas shopping, I found this at Kohl's. It was originally $80, but thanks to their crazy sales and a SHOPULAR coupon I got it for $7.25. Score! I'm thinking it's going in our kitchen, but we'll see.

I also picked up these vintage horse shoes at a local antique store to include in the large collage of items I want to create in our front entry. Our new home stands on what was at one point Gaulding Riding Academy, and so the horseshoes are reminiscent of that history. . .and of course 3 is for luck. I want the collage to tell the story of our love and little family. I'm excited about all the items I'm coming across to include. 

So, overall it's been a very productive week. I am soooooo more than ready to have my partner in crime home though to pitch in, and keep me entertained along the way :)

First up, the kitchen!

I am honestly amazed at how much progress we have made in just a couple of weeks. Our first major project is to completely remodel the kitchen. Once this room is complete (and our current landlord finds a tenant for our condo) we'll be able to move in. . .so all systems are go on this project! In a few years our plan is to knock out the wall between the formal dining room and kitchen and create a large eat-in kitchen. When we do that though, we want to do it right (stainless steal appliances, ceramic tile, granite counter tops, etc.) and so that's going to take time. So for now we're going with an affordable re-do that will just make the space look updated and more modern. The plan is to paint the cabinets white, install new flooring and counter tops, and bring some color to the walls. Oh yea, and of course get rid of the wood trim. . .which will happen all throughout the house. Here's the kitchen 2 weeks ago.

The biggest challenge so far on this project has been getting all those cabinet doors and shelves sanded and scrubbed clean. They looked clean to begin with, but you have to think that there are 40 years of life built up on them, and so once I got to scrubbing I realized just how filthy they were. That fun 3 step process was quite the experience. 

This is how I feel about this step!

Um yea, gross!

This pile of dirty rags was just from 3-4 doors. I'm happy it's all done though, and it was actually interesting to think about the story behind that 40 years of life that was built up on them. Many of the cabinet doors had actual fingerprint grooves from that many years of use.I love the fact that we're taking things that are old, and making them new again. . .giving them a new story. 

After the cabinets got taken down, the next step was removing the 3 layers of laminate flooring, one of which was a lovely layer of fake brick, heehee. After that it's on to painting, which means a WHOLE LOT of priming. As of tonight everything in the kitchen is now primed. Special thanks to my Dad for coming up this weekend to help knock out that massive undertaking! 

Naked floors

The pro doing his thing. Thanks Dad!

There are primed doors and shelves in every room! 

Kitchen status as of tonight. 

Here is the color scheme I have chosen. I knew I wanted some shade of blue as the base, but wasn't quite sure the exact direction I wanted to do. My original thought was very bold blues and greens, however once I laid eyes on this back-splash at Lowe's I knew it was exactly what I wanted. All other choices from the kitchen have actually been based on this back-splash. My color of choice for the walls is Benjamin Moore Jamestown Blue. 

This is a sample of our flooring, counter top, and backsplash

Here's a sample of the color on the wall. It's hard to really get it in this picture, but it's pretty :)

Our counter tops will be in a week, and so in the meantime I'll be spending this week painting all those doors and shelves I scrubbed clean. I'm so excited to see it all coming together! 

Welcome to our crazy new adventure! Ryan and I began serious discussion about buying a home at some point in 2014 (probably later than sooner) just a month or two ago. The plan was to save throughout the next year and hopefully by late summer/early fall we could start seriously seeking out our future home. God seemed to have another plan in mind though, and by a seriously (would I would say) miraculous turn of events the Heaths have a house! We both are pretty picky . . . me about the design aesthetic, and Ryan about everything else .  . .so who would have ever thought that the VERY FIRST HOME we looked at would be "the one"!?!?! The house was built in 1966, and needs some serious TLC. For being an older home though, the majority of the work is just cosmetic. We honestly had not imagined a fixer-upper, but now it all just makes sense! Ryan and I are both not the type to lay around, and so the thought of having a major project is exciting for us both. We know there's a lot to be done, but are excited about spending the weekends together, making this house our home. We love the fact that we have a say in every single aspect of the final product.

The purpose of this blog is so that we can chronicle this crazy journey for family and friends who are spread all over the country. I also can't imagine doing all this work, and not being able to look back and see the transformations that will happen. I figured having a blog would be better too, than blowing up Facebook every time we pick out a new outlet cover. I'll start with showing all the "BEFORE" pics of the house, and next post I'll tell the story of how this craziness all came about. For now though, I present you with Casa de Heath . . .

We love that we're on a corner lot with LOTS of yard.

The house has 5 entrances. . .crazy! 

Front Entryway 

The Living Room is immediately to the left. . .I love the hardwood floors throughout and this large window!

Formal Dining Room (will eventually expand the kitchen into this room)

Kitchen. . .this is our first major project. Blog entry about this to come very soon! 

Hallway

Hallway Bath. . .this is getting gutted! 

Hall Closet. . .there is a TON of closet space in this house for being an older home :) 

Bedroom 1 which will be our Guest Room/Office

Bedroom 2 which will be a Nursery, should we need one anytime in the future ;) 

Master Bedroom

Master Walk-in Closet which will eventually be a part of the bathroom expansion. 

1/2 bath in the Master which will be expanded. 

2nd closet in the Master which will also be enlarged

And now for Ryan's baby. . .THE FULL BASEMENT. This will stay a den, but obviously get some serious upgrading!

Future Photography Studio perhaps??

Massive Laundry Room/whatever else we dream up 

Ryan's future workshop

And last, but certainly not least. . .THE POND :) We are so excited about the thought of our future children growing up in a quite and safe neighborhood where they can run through the woods, and fish with their grandpa!


Sooooooo, obviously there is much to be done and we have some big plans for the future. I have no doubt it will be overwhelming at times, and I will grow to HATE Lowe's and Home Depot with a passion beyond description. For now though I am overwhelmingly grateful, and excited to begin the process of making this silly old house our HOME.