Before & After: Doors

Our front door was very old, had a 70s style sidelite that had to go (sorry Laura) and it also was held up by tape since it was used to break in many years ago (before Chris and I lived here...and I swear we don't live in the ghetto, just bad luck).  We painted the inside white a while ago, and it looked ok - but needed to be improved.

We actually get a lot of compliments on the new door, and I love it too, but surprises me that others seem to like it...we looked online for weeks and every door seemed sort of stale...boring, etc. I kept coming back to this one - after it was all said & done (ordered online pre-hung, installed by the contractor and stained by the painters) the cost was very fair. We had a larger budget for the door, so to come under was pretty exciting...and very, very rare during this experience.

Doesn't it just say "Welcome to our home"?




Bonus: You can play the "where's Annika" game in the last photo.

Before & After: Annika's Room

Annika's room went away with the demo - the side of the house where her bedroom was turned into a longer hall leading to the extra bathroom and two bedrooms.  It's still a trip when I head out that way as I think "how far does this thing go??" I don't have pictures of the old hall, but please trust that it was much shorter.  This is what it looks like now:

To the far left you see a door to the new bathroom and if you go all the way and turn right, you run into an orange paradise. I have heard horror stories of parents letting their 3 year old select the color for their bedroom, and let me tell you....I understand them. Annika's first choice had been a bright green. And I'm making it sound nice. Then she shifted to purple - which I am not a fan of - then finally orange. Yellow is her favorite color, so I think she wanted a change. A reminder of what her room used to look like (when it was a nursery):



And this is the result of much...orange:





In this last shot, you can look up and see her loft. The loft was a big deal for me - how fun would that be as a kid?? We still have to get the ladder and rail installed, but I think it'll be a while until she ventures up there...it's high.

Before & After: Guest Bathroom

As promised, some photos of the remodel. A quick summary of what we did:

- Every room was touched in some way (new double-pane windows, new baseboards, fresh paint in every room, new carpet and flooring throughout).

- Some more than others (completely remodeled kitchen and family room, new master bathroom, extra bedroom and extra bathroom).

- Exterior lightly touched (new paint, landscaping in progress).

So, without further ado, here's what our previous guest bathroom looked like...you'll note the maroon-ish paint, older looking built-in cabinets and white tile (you can't see):

The older guest bathroom was just a little out of date - I liked the color a lot, but the cabinets were...old.  So, to keep costs (relatively) down and to still get a new look, we bought a pre-made cabinet from Restoration Hardware (we got a great deal, though they have the worst customer service in the world and I will never recommend them to anyone) and matching mirror and medicine cabinet and we designed the bathroom around that. Using the floor tile from the other bathroom and the laundry room, and a different paint, we changed the look:

The result makes it more modern all the way around. Unfortunately, we didn't have the budget to update the shower (simple white tile and weathered glass doors) but we did get a new toilet...I'm sure our guests will enjoy that piece of knowledge.

More to come!

Radio silence

Each year, as summer turns into fall, I get into a little funk. The timing this year was especially bad as we were still working on getting back into our house, work was busy and I haven't been sleeping so well. So mix all that into a little bowl and out pops lack of blog posts.

Now dear (4) readers, I want to assure you that I haven't abandoned you, just went on a little hiatus. We do have some exciting life updates to share and there is lots to report on Annika.

Because I hate to post something without pictures, I'll keep this brief, but here's a start:

- We moved back into the house! Nothing short of a miracle (and a lot of money and time), but we're home. We were soooo lucky to rely on the generosity of my in-laws, but it was time for them to get rid of us and time for us to have more space for Annika's 7,000 toys. Annika loves the house, loves her room and loves all the furniture she can climb on and stain. We love the space, the look of it - all our choices - and the space. This definitely deserves pictures, and I promise an awesome before & after pictorial in the near future.

- Annika is a little girl - NOT A BABY. Annika delights us every day with something witty or just plain ridiculous. She is insistent on getting in and out of the car herself (it's a tall car), eating what she wants (causes me much consternation) and knows the difference between wrong and right (but doesn't always practice that knowledge). She has a tremendous sense of humor, and knows how to deliver a one-liner. One evening not so long ago, Chris was eating some ice cream for dessert. Having recently discovered Jell-O, Annika had already had dessert, and was denied when she asked to "share Daddy's ice cream." I stood my ground (trying to readjust her awful eating habits) and she just stomped around decrying that it "wasn't fair!" I said, that's irrelevant. I finally relented (DON'T JUDGE ME!) and allowed one bite. She said "Just one bite??? Just one??? NO!" I said, one or none. She said "That's impossible." Finally, she ate it, walked around in circles for a bit, ran up to me and with her hands on her hips said, "MOMMA. I DO WHAT I WANT!" Um, excuse me 3-year old? She got a time-out for that one and later apologized for "being rude" but Chris and I couldn't stop laughing. Where does she get this stuff???

More to come...