Renovations and Transformations Volume 1: The Living Room

Since I was little, I had dreams of owning my own home. It seemed like such a far off thing. So abstract at the time. I couldn't wait to organize it the way that I wanted and have my friends over for dinner parties. Now, at the ripe age of 27, I am a homeowner and learning exactly what that means. There are so many little things, and bigger things, that go into owning a maintaining a home than I ever realized.

A good chunk of the posts on this blog will probably end up being about my personal adventures in owning a home and all that it has entailed so far. We have only owned our home for about a year and a half, and the word transformation does not even begin to describe what has occurred in this house. We'll be taking it room by room, beginning with the purchase of our fixer upper and the living room, and all of the little things, and the big things, that have gone into making this house our home.

From the beginning, we knew that we were going to purchase a fixer upper. We just didn't know that the one we bought would need quite so much fixing. When we finally settled on our home, we had already decided that it need a brand new kitchen (that will be a lengthy post), and improvements everywhere else. On October 29, 2015, just 3 short months after we got married, we bought our first home, and the renovations began.

Our home is just under 1800 square feet with 4 bedrooms, but we're converting one into an office, 2 full bathrooms, a living room, kitchen/dining room, family room, and laundry room. It might sound small at 1800 square feet, but when it's just the two of you and your dog, it's a mansion, and I wanted every part of it to be perfectly done and decorated before we bought it. That's not the case with your first home unless you can afford it, or want to settle for something else.

We decided to take the leap, and dive head first into a renovation that is still currently ongoing. There were definitely times where it seemed like we bit off more than we could chew, but we learned about ourselves and each other, and definitely learned the value of teamwork. Working on this house together and making it into our home has definitely strengthened our marriage, and I am finally seeing that dream I had as a little girl turning into a reality.

The living room was not our first project, but it is one that I really enjoyed doing. When we first moved into this house, there was a pass through to the kitchen on one wall, tri-colored carpet on the floor, a 1960s railing by the front door, and the walls were painted a dreary brown color. I wanted to change everything and I wanted it done instantly. Well, instant is not a word that you can use when it comes to renovating a house. These things take time, and often money.

 The weekend that we moved in, we noticed a weird smell throughout the house that we hadn't noticed before. We found out later that the previous owner may have had an animal that did some work on those carpets that were all over the house. Our mission became: remove the carpet as quickly as possible. So we did, and underneath all that carpet, we found all of the original hardwood. We were so unbelievably excited about hardwood floors until we found a bunch of stains from said animals. That wasn't going to slow us down though. Next, through our work in the kitchen, we covered the pass through with dry wall to separate the kitchen from the living room and give us a solid wall on both sides.

 Then we started talking about what to do with that railing that was right next to the entrance area. At first we thought it was structural, so we were going to cover it with a half-wall and post to the ceiling. Then as we began looking at the area and attempting to prep it for framing and dry wall, we realized it wasn't structural, we yanked it right out. I was so excited that we didn't have to have a weird half wall or that ugly railing!

After removing the carpet, covering up the pass through, and removing the railing, we had the wood floors refinished. We had the living room, stairs, hallway, and the spare bedroom upstairs done. It cost a pretty penny, but it was totally worth it. Then we painted the walls, a Valspar Signature paint named Flax Seed. We used that color for the living room, kitchen, and hallway through the upstairs for continuity. The last part of the refinishing process was the baseboards and trim. We used pine woodwork purchased from Menard's and my husband was a rock star and stained and cut each of the pieces himself. We currently have all the baseboards in the living room done, the door trim, and the window trim around the big picture window. 

After all of that work, it was time for me to actually go to work and add the finishing touches. We still had the couch from my first apartment. A maroon/purple sofa that fed off the warm tones in the paint color. We added an area rug from a clearance sale. Let me be the first to tell you that I never thought I would own an area rug. We currently have the coffee table and end table from his Grandma's old house. They fit in with a dark wood theme for the furniture. The most recent add in the furniture department was a black/brown sofa table from Ikea.  

Of course, once all of the furnishings are in place, it's time to add the decorative touches which is my favorite part. On the end table, I added some touches from our wedding and honeymoon. Our unity candle makes a lovely decoration along with a photo from Disneyland in California. The Home sign leaning up against the wall is a piece made by a friend of mine for my birthday. We plan on adding that to the blank wall and then creating a gallery wall of pictures of our family. The wedding photo is a 24 x 36 canvas ordered from pictureitoncanvas.com. They always have phenomenal sales!

The bottles on the coffee table are a craft of mine. I bought a six pack of Angry Orchard because it's one of the few beers that I can stand, thin twine, and some fake flowers. I change the flowers for the season. I originally intended them to be fall decorations, but realized I could just change the flowers to make them year round decorations. I used hot glue to hold the twine to the beer bottles. Obviously, I had to drink the beer first!

Now before I continue, I should admit that I am a shameless Pinterest addict. I use the app at least once a day, if not more, and I am constantly pinning new things that I want to try or use in my own home. The entranceway to my home is completely Pinterest inspired. I saw this picture of a sign with the verse "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," and I knew that I wanted to include that in my home. We are a Christian family and hold to Christian values and it is the perfect sign to enter my home to. I found the perfect one at a craft show for $20 already carved and painted. It was the perfect color as well. The hooks below my sign are from Target, and I believe they were also around $20. Such an easy an inexpensive idea. I thought about making the hook rack myself, but it was already done for me.

The three canvases were purchased from Canvas On Demand as part of a deal. The first two were a 2 for $50 deal, and the third was part of a 3 for $80 deal that we split with my husband's parents. We chose to do one picture from when we were dating, then engaged, and the third was after we were married. The glass frame above the center picture was a gift from my best friend the Christmas before I got married.

The sofa table has become my Pinterest inspired decoration table, and changes with the season. For the spring and summer it is adorned with these wine bottles. I chose to use green yarn to accent the color in the throw pillows on the couch, and then I used a thicker twine to match the thickness of the yarn. They were inspired by the bottles below mine. I chose to add a matching photo frame with a picture of my family to symbolize what home is to me. Right now, home is my husband and my puppy Calhoun.

 The final touch that we put on our living room were the curtains and photos from our wedding around the picture window. I found the perfect green curtains that match all of the other accents that I chose to use in green from kohls.com , and they were buy one get on half off! The sheers are from Sears, they were on clearance for $8! The curtain rods are a brushed nickel finish that we also got from Kohls. They were on sale as well. I hope you're sensing a pattern here :). The photo frame decor around the window was a wedding gift from Bed, Bath, and Beyond that was on our registry.

It wasn't an easy process or a quick one, but it was definitely worth all of the time and effort that I put in to creating this space. When the time comes to change the decorations for fall and Christmas, I can post on each of those. Many of those are Pinterest inspired crafts and ideas as well. Next up...The Spartan Room

Until next time...

Birthday Crafting

As I have gotten older, I have realized that there are different phases that you go through, and I seemed to go through them while they were happening to me. After college, in my early twenties, it was entering into an adult relationship. A relationship where I knew the eventual outcome would lead down one of two paths: a breakup or we're in it for the long haul and going to get married. Then came the season of engagement where it seemed like every time I opened my Facebook or Instagram, I saw a picture of a hand with a diamond ring. Then it was my turn, and I got to post that picture. Then came the weddings. It seemed like every weekend for the next two years was another wedding, and in July of 2015, it was finally my turn. Now it seems, I have entered into baby season. Every time I open my Facebook or scroll through my feed on Instagram, someone else is pregnant or having a baby.

My best friend announced that she was having twins Labor Day weekend of 2015, and on Thanksgiving I found out she was having one boy and one girl. Before these babies were even born, they were some of the most loved children I had ever seen. In April of 2016, two of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen entered the world, and I knew that I would do anything for them. At just over 24 hours old, I got to hold them for the first time. They are, to this day, the youngest babies I have ever held (I don't have any of my own yet). At just six months old, they took their first trip to Disney World, and even though I wasn't there, it was one of the most memorable times of my life. I was asked to be a wonderful little girl's Godmother, and how could I say no? So when it came to plan their first birthday, I wanted to be involved in any way possible.

I have gotten to be a pretty creative crafter over the last few years, and my best friend has often taken full advantage. This birthday party was no exception. She told me that they were planning an Uno birthday party, which I thought was quite clever, and asked if I would make a photo board to use at the party. How could I say no? She sent me two examples of what she was thinking, and gave me the creative license to do what I pleased to make it.

Looking at these two, I knew that I didn't need to pay $45 dollars to make it, but I loved the idea of using Uno cards as decorations for the borders of the board. From the first board, I loved the idea of the large letters spelling the word Uno, and knew immediately that I was going to use my Cricut Explore Air to find an image of an Uno card or download the font used on Uno cards. I had begun to formulate a plan, then it was time to gather the supplies:

• Cricut Explore Air - I got this from my hubby for Christmas. I had a Cricut Expression 2, but he decided to upgrade it because the newer ones allow you to create and cut your own images along with being able to use the cartridges. You will also need a laptop computer to run the program,
• 1 Large black foam board for the actual photo board - purchased from Hobby Lobby for $5.99.
• 1 Large white foam board used for embellishment - purchased from Hobby Lobby for $2.99
• Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green cardstock, glitter and plain - purchased from Joann Fabrics 12 sheets for $2 on sale, normally $0.79/$0.59 per sheet
• One Uno Card Game - purchased at Meijer for $5.99, I purchased the game where you could create your own Wild cards
• Xacto knife - purchased from Hobby Lobby $2.99
• Scissors - I already had these at home, most people do

I decided that I wanted the board to look like a giant Uno card with an image cut out in Uno font at the top, the opening where the card design usually was, and then decorations for their birthday as they fit on the card. My husband was a super big help in creating this photo board, and the first thing we did was find a quality image of the Uno card to cut out the word for the top of the board. Creating the layers was a bit tedious, but totally worth it. We cut out the shading layer first, and traced that on the white foam board to create a 3D effect for the shading. The top layer was cut on yellow glitter paper. The shading layer was then traced on the white foam board and cut out using the Xacto knife.


Next was creating the large playing card look. The Uno was centered at the top of the black foam board, and using the design from the newer card games, I drew a large oval to mimic the design. This part would eventually be cut out using the Xacto knife. Then, with the help of my hubby, we cut out some practice letters for happy birthday. We started with 1 inch, that was too small. Then 3 inches, that was too big. We split the difference, cut out 2 inches, and it was perfect. After our practice attempts, we used the glitter cardstock to cut out Happy Birthday! in the correct patter of colors from the front of the Uno card. My final touch was to add the newly decorated Wild Cards, the Uno cards that had 1 on them, cut out the photo opening, and put it all together.

The board was a huge hit at the party, and I will share pictures of it being used as soon as the happy mama posts them! It was such a wonderful and personalized touch that I was happy to add to these two little ones special day.


This is the first of many birthday party plans that I hope to be a part of for these babies. Next up is my four year old nephew, and his Maui (Moana) birthday party coming up in June. I can't wait to see what we come up for him.

Each time I do something for the special people in my life, it makes it harder to wait for when it's my turn to do it for my own babies.

Until next time...