Renovations

{hello gorgeous farmhouse kitchen!}

Dave and I are already starting to make plans for a massive kitchen/dining room renovation we hope to start and finish this summer {with the help of my dad and many others I’m sure}!

I’ll be sharing lots more photos, ideas, and details in the months leading up to our renovation… but right now, we’re still in the “dreaming” stage — trying to decide what we want to incorporate into our new kitchen.

And since this is the house we’re planning to live in for a long time, I’m really trying hard to think not only about what we want right now, but what we’ll want/need in a few years once we have more children, older children, etc.

Of course, I can’t predict all our needs, but at least I’m trying!

Now, before I show you pictures of my dream kitchen, I want to show you a couple pictures of our current kitchen and dining room.

Besides moving in our table and chairs, we haven’t done anything to these rooms. And while it definitely isn’t the worst kitchen/dining room in the world, we’ve been itching to renovate it since the moment we bought the house. OK, so maybe I’m a little more excited about this than Dave is… but it will be a relief when it’s finished

Our kitchen has tons of potential… so I can’t wait to see what we finally come up with. In the mean time, here are just a few of the photos I’ve been drooling over these past few months. Due to space, time, and financial restrictions, we probably won’t be able to incorporate all of these ideas into our kitchen… but I just love thinking and dreaming about what my kitchen will look like.

Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to tweak some of the ideas below and make them work in our new kitchen.

More WHITE:

I absolutely LOVE white. And I know you might think I’m crazy… but I don’t care My kitchen will be white — white cabinets, white backsplash, white farmhouse sink, white, white, white.

Our white kitchen will go with with our white couch, our white shower, my white dishes, our white linens, and all the other white in our home!

{hello gorgeous white kitchen! Unfortunately, our kitchen isn’t quite as big as this one!}

{I love the white subway tile backsplash of this kitchen}

More LIGHT:

I want lots of natural light coming through the windows. Currently, we have 4 big windows in our kitchen/dining room and I’m definitely not planning to get rid of any of them.

I also want lots of lighting in the room — like under cabinet lighting, recessed lighting, task lighting, decorative lighting, etc. I hate a dark kitchen!

{look at all the light streaming through these windows!}

{seriously, a kitchen with THIS many windows just makes me jealous!}

More SPACE:

“More space” might sound like a no-brainer — but one of my goals is to drastically increase the amount of space we have in our kitchen/dining room.

We are planning to knock out a wall to incorporate lots more cabinets and shelving. And we will also make room for larger appliances {since our current fridge is quite small and our oven doesn’t even fit normal cookie sheets!}

{I love the look of these open shelves… and checkout that farmhouse sink!}

{look at all that cabinet space!}

Obviously, I have TONS more ideas and details I could share with you… but I think I’ll hold off until we have more of a definite plan. It’s going to be A LOT of work and we’ll be living in a mess for several months… but I know it will be worth it in the end!

Oh, and make sure you check out the rest of my kitchen inspiration on Pinterest!

What would your dream kitchen look like?

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It’s been a very long road of home renovations these past several months…and we are FINALLY finished with everything we wanted to accomplish before the baby comes!!

I already shared our office transformation, and over the next month, I’ll be sharing lots of before and after transformations of our Farmhouse!!!

Today, I’m sharing our Master Bathroom…

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… and oh what a fantastic transformation it is!

Here is the AFTER picture — it’s what you see when you turn the corner to enter the bathroom.

This is view from the entryway. You can see the toilet, shelves, and shower entrance on the right, and then the vanity area on the left. It’s definitely not huge — but it’s quite a bit bigger than it was before.

THIS is what it looked like before!! 

We literally gutted the entire bathroom {walls, ceiling, floors, shower, cabinet, vanity, window, doors, bulkheads, etc.} EVERYTHING was ripped out so we could start over from scratch! 

Here are more pictures of the demolition process 

OK, back to the new bathroom…

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Here is the toilet area with shelves for decorative storage purposes.

These shelves are actually old stair treads that I found from a junk yard. I simply LOVE how they look!

Next to the toilet, we built in a bank of open shelves that I’m using to store extra toiletries and towels.

Then I installed a small set of Shaker Peg towel hooks right next to the shower entrance.  The old picture is actually one of my Grandma’s elementary school pictures!

This is a “before shot” of that same wall! The toilet is now where that green cabinet was.

Here is the entrance to our new walk-in shower – probably one of my favorite features of the bathroom! We actually had to knock out one of the closets in our nursery to make room for the shower — and it is totally worth it!

The window is facing the West and is at the “back” of our bathroom. I have to praise my dad for installing this gorgeous trim throughout our entire renovated area… LOVE IT!

Oh, and here’s how I made these super cute curtains in about 30 minutes.

Here’s our new vanity area!

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This picture is a bit blurry — for some reason, I couldn’t get everything to be in focus at the same time. I think you can still get the idea though…

Here’s what our vanity looked like before — now do you see why we just gutted everything!!

As you can see, we completely changed the entire layout of the bathroom to accommodate a double sink.

Here’s a MUCH better picture of the vanity that my uncle made to look like this one from Pottery Barn.

The middle section is a bank of drawers; the left and right sections are simply cabinet doors that LOOK like drawers!

The counters look just like solid marble, but they are actually Corian — which is a little cheaper, much more durable, and easier to clean and care for {win, win, win!}

I wanted to keep the counters really clear so I could fully enjoy their beauty… I just have a few decorative items that also serve a useful purpose.

I knew I wanted rectangular under-mounted sinks – and I managed to find these in the clearance section at Lowes… for only $24 {normally $167 each} SCORE!!!

And these are a few of my favorite things — little extras that I think REALLY make the space!

1. I simply adore these vintage looking hand-soap dispensers that I found at Target. The soap saver is a real antique — and even though I don’t use it, I still love having it next to my sink!

2. I knew I wanted fixtures that said “hot” and “cold”. It took me forever to find them, but they really put the finishing touch on our vanity area.

3. Old Aspirin and other pill tins from my Grandma

4. I {heart} old blue Mason jars!

5. Gorgeous antique mirrored tray that I keep all my cool bottles of perfume, lotions, etc.

6. Super cute tin star nightlight

Here’s one more before and after shot!

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What do you think? 

I’m simply thrilled with the results — and even though we ended up having to put ALL new plumbing and electrical in {which pushed us a bit over budget} I saved a ton on the sinks, vanity, and decorations so it all evened out in the end!

We love our new bathroom and I still feel happy every morning when I’m getting ready. I often think about how it used to look and then simply smile as I look around at the amazing transformation.

And seriously, I’m SOOOO glad we’re finished! I won’t be tackling another bathroom for at least… another few months

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Dave, my dad, and I have been working hard to finish “round one” of our renovation projects before Dave starts school and before our two international students arrive {in about 3 weeks!}

And one of the main projects we HAD to finish was our new hardwood floors — but they aren’t just any hardwood floors; they are reclaimed barn wood – which basically means the wood we used for our floors was taken out of old barns and milled down into 3/4″ tounge-and-groove hardwood floor planks.

This is what it looked like when they delivered it to our house a few months ago!

We purchased our reclaimed barn wood from Creation Woodwork, which is mill right here in Michigan. The mill is owned by a husband and wife team and they have all their mills, buildings, and equiptment right on their own property. So when I went to pick out my wood, I got to see all the gorgeous reclaimed barn wood in their house too! {You can read more about my trip to their saw mill here.}

We used yellow pine from a barn over 100 years old {so it fits the period of our 120 year old house} and we got it in varied widths — 4″, 5″, and 7″ wide planks — which gives the floors a really cool look.

This is what the floors looked like before any stain or polyurethane.

After LOTS of debate, we chose Minwax stain in “Special Walnut” 224 — and I am absolutely THRILLED with the color results.

It’s dark, but not too dark, and there really aren’t any strong “black” or “red” tones either.

You can see the amazing color transformation in our hallway after just one coat of stain!

Even though my doctor said it would be fine for me to do the staining, Dave actually had some extra time — and after he started, we realized how intense the smell really was!

He had a really heavy-duty mask on the whole time and made me stay upstairs or out of the house!

Here’s a close-up shot of the floors after Dave finished the stain — just waiting for a few coats of polyurethane now.

For the polyurethane, we used Varathane brand Floor Finish in “satin” because we didn’t want super shinny floors, just a nice sheen. We also used water based because the smell of of the oil based Varathane was out of control — and it took way longer to dry between coats.

The photo below is after FIVE coats of polyurethane! {thanks Dave!} You can see the subtle “sheen” of the floors — and they are actually pretty slippery!  You can also see the detail of the thresholds my dad put between each room. I just LOVE the look of a threshold. I feel like it creates a grand entrance to a room and it makes it easier to lay the floors because you can stop and start with each different room.

I think the dark floors nicely compliment the rest of my very neutrally colored house! They are definitely a focal point.

Here’s a peek into our master bedroom — which isn’t totally finished yet, but at least you can see how the floor looks with some of our furniture.  Very “Farmhouse” I think!

It was a pretty long process and lots of hard work, but we are so happy with the results — and it looks much better than any hardwood floor we could have purchased from a big-box store.

Our floors are filled with 100 years of character, imperfections, and flaws… they honestly look like they could have been the original floors of our 120  year old farm house.

And that’s exactly the look we were going for!

What do you think? Have you ever worked with reclaimed wood before? Do you have any tips for keeping hardwood clean?

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I’ve received a bunch of emails lately from people who are so excited about our farmhouse renovations. A few of them even said they were now motivated to do some of their own home improvement projects!

We are definitely making progress on our house — slowly but surely — and we’re aiming to be finished with “round 1″ by the end of July. Yikes, I just said it out loud and then realized that’s only 5 1/2 weeks away!

Anyway, if you’re planning to tackle any DIY projects this summer, here are my two cents:

1. Have patience — it WILL take longer than you think

2. Be willing to live in a mess — it WILL be messy

3. Expect the unexpected –things WILL go wrong

4. Add 10% to your budget — it WILL cost more than you think

And NO, I’m not complaining — really. Just being honest!

I’m so excited with the amount of progress we’ve made so far and now that we’re just about ready to lay the wood floors, I simply can’t wait to see the final transformations take shape.

Now for a few pictures to prove we ARE making progress!

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{sorry for the poor quality — it’s been really dark and rainy these past few days and we don’t have all our lights installed yet!}

Here’s a sneak-peak into my future office — just waiting for a fresh coat of Cottage White paint. Don’t you just love all the light those French doors let in? I’m sure I’ll be super productive in there!

And here’s a look at our bathroom vanity. My uncle built it to look like this one from Pottery Barn.  I’m just waiting until the floors are installed to stain it.

Our nursery has come a long way since we announced our big news. All we need now is some crown molding, a floor, baseboard … and a baby. {hopefully in that order!}

One of my favorite features about our renovations is the gorgeous trim around all the windows and doors. I’ve always wanted window sills — and now I have them! {This window is in our master bedroom, overlooking our front porch}. And speaking of our master bedroom, you can see the start of our new closet here!

These past few months have been a TON of work, and we still have a ways to go yet. But if you are the type of person who isn’t afraid to get a little dirty… then the transformation is totally worth it {even if it does take longer, is a lot messier, and is more expensive than you thought}.

I promise!

What projects {big or small} are you planning to tackle over the summer?

Or for the seasoned DIY’ers — what are your “two cents” for those of us who might be starting another project?

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It’s no secret that Dave and I are in the middle of a pretty big home renovation project right now.

More than a third of our house is completely gutted and we’re just FINALLY starting to round the corner from the demolition phase into the “putting it back together and making it look nice” phase.

I’m definitely anxious to see the finished product but we’re committed to taking our time, doing it “right” the first time, AND staying on budget — which is a lot easier said than done!!

I’ve received numerous emails asking about different logistics for such a large project, but the overall theme for many of these emails is “what are we doing to stay on budget?”

It’s a big question, but I can assure you…we ARE staying on budget.

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Tips for Staying on Budget:

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1. Be Patient.

Anyone who knows me is probably laughing right now because I’m one of the least patient people I know. If it were up to me, everything would be done 2 days ago. However, when you’re trying to stick to a budget, patience is key.

For example; I knew exactly what kind of sinks I wanted in our master bathroom…but I also knew they cost about $200 each. And the vanity I wanted cost about $2,500 — which I was not willing to pay.

So I waited, and waited, and won’t you believe it — I found the EXACT sinks I wanted for $24 each, and my uncle agreed to make the vanity for about $250.

{That’s a savings of $2,600!!!!}

2. Do Your Research.

Obviously, any large-scale renovation project is going to involve lots of research…at least it should!

I’ve always been the person who wants to “know everything”, so when it comes to renovating my dream house, you better believe I’m researching everything I possibly can!

My research has paid off too…

I found a small, local company that specializes in reclaimed wood flooring {something I had NO idea even existed} and we got a great deal on some of their products. Now our flooring won’t just “look” old and distressed, it will actually BE old and distressed.

I found exactly what I wanted, only because I researched all my options!

You can read more about our wood flooring here.

3. Be Willing to Compromise.

So ideally, we would install all solid wood trim. It’s more durable, it would probably hold up longer, and it’s just more traditional. But it’s also FOUR times more expensive than MDF boards.

Considering we have at least 400 linear feet of trim to install {for now}, and we’re planning to paint it all white anyway, the MDF board will be just fine! With this simply compromise, we’ll end up saving about $1,200 for a nearly identical look.

However, I’m not willing to compromise on more expensive, solid wood doors!

4. Use A Little Elbow Grease.

In case you didn’t know, labor is expensive — I mean REALLY expensive! And even though we are so fortunate to have family members who are willing to help us out {especially my dad}, Dave and I are more than willing to get dirty and do lots of the work ourselves.

Of course we’ll still pay professionals to do the plumbing and possibly some of the electrical and tile work {we’re not THAT good!}

5. Be Patient!

Seriously, patience is the main reason we have been able to stay on budget…so it warrants 2 spots on my list!

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What are your best tips for renovating on a budget?

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Linked to I’m Loving it over at Tidy Mom

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Remember last week, when I showed you how messy our house was?

Well, this week isn’t any better…

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Our wood flooring was delivered yesterday, and to my surprise, 700 sq. ft. of wide-plank wood flooring takes up a lot more space than I origionally envisioned!  YIKES!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited to have reclaimed barn wood for our new floors…I guess we just won’t be using our living room for the next month!

Anyway, I hope you feel a little better about your living room after seeing the mess we have going on over here!

Oh, and if you have a minute…I’d love your opinion on stain colors

What color stain should we choose?

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Right now, I’m still deciding between Dark Walnut or Jacobean {both on the bottom row}.

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This post is for those of you who are sitting at home, wishing your house was cleaner, more organized and/or less cluttered. If you think your house is messy, let me assure you…

Mine is messier!

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Yup, that’s a toilet in our master bedroom. And all those blurry, white circles in the picture are drywall dust.

This is our bathtub —  we actually just demolished the entire bathroom so it’s pretty crazy in there!

See, I told you!

So for those of you who feel embarrassed about the condition of your home, just remember that someone else’s home is always just a little bit worse!

Then look through of few of these links and start cleaning.

Free Pre-Spring Cleaning eBook

Simple Cleaning Tips

The Secret to a Clean Home

Speed Cleaning Tips

How to Make Your Own Rags

Happy cleaning!

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