light reading

i love to read about the decorating process, and another part of me is semi-obsessed with new york city real estate. a coworker showed me this article earlier this week, and it amazed me. books like this, which show how real people (adults, not just college students) make it work in tiny spaces. with families, too! how do they live with so little stuff? do they keep storage units? i'm guessing no. they just live with less.

this and this were so much fun to read, too. everyone loves a cinderella story.

hit the highlights

i'm gonna hit the highlights of what has been going on over the past two months.

*pocket doors are installed, as well as closet doors.
*all trim around windows and doors is installed. in some places, i still have to putty the nail holes and give it one more coat of paint, but it is pretty much there.
*the crown was installed above our kitchen cabinets.
*the living room is usable! putting in the carpet was huge. the only thing that is missing (construction-wise) is the mantel. it is coming tomorrow, and we are having it sprayed in a white lacquer. then installed, and done!

here are some mini before and afters.

front door (from the inside):

(from the upstairs hallway...all the glass made for an extreme lack of privacy. can you see the wallpaper?)

(the wallpaper and trim are down. but you can see that the previous owners loved spray foam insulation!)

(during, on painting day. we installed a new door and painted the walls.)

(after! new door, new paint, new trim, new hardware.)

stair railing:

(the railing before was a scratched and rusted wrought iron. missing doors in the background.)

(ben stained the newel. looks like he's preparing for a chess game with giant pieces.)

(after!)

trim:

(we lived with these ragged edges for quite a few weeks.)

(after! now our trim is installed. such a difference!)(a door to the basement. no more gaping hole.)

(crown above the cabinets.)

the half bath:

(fear not, houseguests: the bathroom now has a door.)

that was a lot of photo uploading. i'll save the fireplace and living room photos for later in the week.

back again!

i took an unintentional two-month break from blogging! to be honest, i kind of just forgot about it. i've been encouraged by the people who have urged me to update. it makes me happy that people are reading this.

friends have been asking us if we're done with the house yet. the short answer is both yes and no. we're done with a phase of it, but i realize we'll never be "done" entirely. it is a work in progress, and even when we have the home furnished and decorated, i'm sure i'll want to keep playing around with things. but that is the fun part of being a homeowner! for now, we are going to enjoy the holidays and pick back up with our master bedroom in february.

so in honor of being "done" with this first phase, ben and i went and spent a weekend at a hotel in minneapolis. our room was beautiful - on the top floor, corner room, with two walls of windows looking over the city! i got plenty of decorating inspiration, especially for our upcoming master bath remodel. it was an incredibly restful weekend, and a blessing to spend such quality time with my husband.





we went to the james j. hill house on saturday, which was super fun.


in other news, today was our church's women's Christmas brunch. kristen and i decorated and hosted a table. i'm glad she remembered to snap some photos, because i completely forgot.






my mom, sister, and i have gone to this brunch for many years...it is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. more family and friends come each year, and it was a joy to celebrate the birth of our Savior with these precious women.

i'll try to remember to be back tomorrow with a few snapshots from the house. until the future!

ben's birthday blitz

blitz is a football term, right? because i think it's probably the best way to describe what happened this past saturday. friends and family converged on our home to paint our walls! why the blitzing? because saturday was ben's 26th birthday! woohoo!

the best part was that he had no idea everyone was coming. he thought it would be the two of us + his sister, maggie, and brother-in-law, wes. i'm surprised he didn't catch on when i kept on buying more brushes and roller covers at sherwin williams on friday night!

for those special helpers who contributed and are reading this, thanks THanks THANKS! it was such a blessing to get everything done in ONE day, instead of the 3-4 it would have taken me and ben if we had done it alone. you are the best, and we are blessed by your selflessness and willingness to help. ben said it was the best birthday gift he could have received.

(kristen came over on friday night to help us prime the living room, after some red robin, of course.)

(hands down, best painting outfit - although maggie's was pretty awesome, too.)

(crissy in the blue room.)

(kaylee in the bathroom.)

(i'm not really sure what is going on in this picture.)

(birthday balloons and treats for benji!)

(sneaky!)

(wow, that's one MEGA GREIGE.)

(food, painting, and maggie's new premier jewelry in the corner.)

(the product placement in this photo was unintentional.)

(maggie doing the "mary smile.")

(bruce and the notorious miss b.e.f.)

(pirates! she knows how to dress for the occasion.)

(men at work: ben, wes, mikey, and DORIAN GRAY.)

(another one i'm not sure about...)

(butter sauce and steamed pudding ensued.)

(the birthday boy doing what he does best.)

(caught in the courtyard!)

(everyone loves a happy painter.)

(my arms were sore.)

(i love this picture!)

(cleaning up shop.)

(wrought iron off!)

(we were trying to do a serious pose. it didn't work.)

(the very grateful couple.)

for those of you who have endured to the end, here is a sneak peek of our exterior, sans new garage door. before pictures here.

show, not tell