Wedding Party Week

I feel it is time to feature our wedding reception...since it happened months ago.   I am naming this week-WEDDING PARTY WEEK.  Many posts coming.

Side note- I know most celebrity match ups are doomed from the beginning.  They break more often than they last.  I know Scott and I will be married much longer than most celebrities.  However-I didn't think we would beat our first celebrity couple after being married a mere 83 days.  Kim K just announced her divorce from Kris H after 72 days.  She got married a mere 11 days after me-and she could not make it work.    This is a total coincidence..at the beginning of wedding week-but I wanted to point it out. 

Scott and I-still going strong!!!

The Supervisor, Senor Bailey

Bailey has a new task in the house-one that he really excels at.  He has deemed himself the supervisor of our home remodel.  He mostly focuses on Scott's work.

Scott installing the dishwasher.  Bailey giving me the "don't distract the man from his work" look.

Mom-seriously.  Men at work here.

And sometimes Molly comes up as well.  But she really doesn't like the noise of the drills, or the crackling of packing materials or really any noise-including Scott's text message noise(this one we don't get).

Kitchen Tiling Project

A couple of months ago Scott and I stumbled upon some closeout tiles that we thought would be perfect for our kitchen back splash.  A couple of weeks ago we installed it.  I mostly watched until it came to grout-Scott was in charge of cutting and installation.  He got it all up and started grouting, only to realize that grouting is not a talent he possesses.  I stepped in and was able to use my cake decorating skills for our home improvement good.  Since he handed the chore over to me I figured grouting, like painting, is on his very short list of home improvement projects he won't touch;)

Scott set up a wet saw cutting station outside.  I was in charge of wiping the tiles off once they were cut. 

The first few tiles installed.

All the tiles, sans grout-and of course the stove.

The tile after grout.  Our first official kitchen AFTER photo.  Note our new granite-more pics to come.

Dresser, Before & After

As we prepare to move upstairs we have been doing inventory on our existing furniture.  We quickly realized we don't have quite what we need for the larger spaces in the new house.  We went to our favorite antique event in search of a few key pieces including a double dresser for the master, a larger kitchen table, some bookcases, side tables and something we can work with as a buffet in our dining room.  We came home with a double dresser for the master, two lawn jockeys, beer paraphernalia, and some small organizing items.  We have the dresser at least:)

The best before I have.  You can see the piece wasn't that bad.  The finish had some issues.

Close up of some of the drawers.

AFTER- I gave it a coat of glossy white and some fun handles.  We are short one-and are actively stalking Home Depot for that last handle.

Steve Jobs

I am going to the Apple HQ for work, next Tuesday.  After Steve Jobs death I have some trepidation about it.  I can't imagine losing the leader of my company at such a young age.  I can't imagine if the leader of my company changed the world.  Imagine what he could have done with another 20 years?

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the

round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently —

they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them,

glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them

because they change things… they push the human race forward, and

while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the

ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are

 the ones who do.” – Think Different. Steve Jobs

Moving on and outward

The nature of the beast of home renovation is multi-tasking.  Finish the current projects while planning the new projects is how it has to work to keep the ball rolling.

We are nearing the end of "Phase 1" of the renovation which included the entire upstairs of the house.  We are getting ready to put a new roof on the house-which normally wouldn't precipitate big decor decisions, but in our case it does.  We plan to paint the outside of the house-in "Phase 2" of our renovation, after the new roof.  To pick the right roof color I need an idea of what the outside color of the house will be-which makes sense. 

As a reminder the current house is light khaki with a dated teal color accent.  Not our taste.  Since I am all about taking risks with color I lean toward a grey outside color scheme (I know-CRAZY TOWN-but my comfort zone is khaki and taupe.)  I used the Sherwin Williams site to mock up some ideas.  This is crude-but you can get the idea.  Also keep in mind-our lot is heavily wooded..and we are not planning to change the stone.  We will do a full overhaul of the outside landscape next spring, "Phase 4."  I will be adding lots of color to the front of the house with reds, purples and white bushes and flowers.  Don't let the current UG-Landscaping influece your ideas.

Please let me know what you think.



Option 1.  Green, Grey and a Teal-ish accent.



Option 2- Grey/Blue, Taupe and Orange



Option 3- Khaki, Dark Khaki and Red




Option 4-Light grey (almost cream), dark grey and blue.




Option 5- More khakis and a green accent



Option 6- Dark slate grey/blue, light grey and a bold yellow.  Note I like the tone of this door but yellow will be no where in the landscape if I have my way. 

Option 7- grey blue and an orangey/yellow accent.



First a wall...now a charming built in

Scott and I decided to take down a wall that was right in front of our front door to open our entryway.  I waffled...but he pushed and I am so glad he did.  Taking down the wall made a big difference but the built in that we created had me at "hello."  Here is a reminder of the wall removal project:
The wall that was

Here are some process shots of how it looks now.  I am in the process of unpacking kitchen boxes and should have some solid afters within a week or two.

The view from the front door.  This is also a sneak peak of the grey we chose for our main neutral.

The view down the hallway with the new built in on the right side.

A close up of the beauty that is added storage!!!