chhhhhanges

I'm sure it is obvious from the lack of posts that the renovation/move process has finally caught up with us! All good stuff of course, but the last two weeks have flown by and we are now rushing around to pick out final details, arrange for the move, and of course, pack!

Thanks primarily to Andrew's hard work packing, move-in day is Wednesday. While the basement will likely have at least a week to go, the top two floors should be (almost) completely done.

Stairwell carpet before:                                                 Stairwell carpet after:

Kitchen with back splash, farmhouse sink and painted cabinets:

Painted kitchen island:

Basement with drywall:

the final countdown...

It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks, we will be moving into Old Yellow! While the basement will still have a couple of weeks of work left, we are told the other two floors should be done prior to November 17th.

The contractors are almost done laying the new wood floors, and even before painting (it's now just primed)  the den already looks like a completely different room:

before:

to date:

And back to the kitchen, obviously my favorite space, here's our rough concept for the backs splash and coordinating room paint chips. Stay tuned!

sparkling white

We have counter tops! Our beautiful quartz pieces were installed yesterday and I couldn't be more pleased. 

and can't forget that farmhouse sink (cabinets will be painted white to match)

pearls of wisdom

I have really enjoyed exchanging stories and ideas with contacts from around the country. A long time colleague and friend, Lisa from Denver, has been a wonderful source of knowledge and support. She recently shared five bullet points of fantastic advice, included below. Hopefully, I'll also be able to provide the same kinds of thoughtful insight after this process is complete:

·         Expect surprises and have a big contingency in your budget for them

·         Know enough about renovation/construction to be on top of your contractor and be sure he/she is doing what is promised, ethical and of high quality. Sometimes this means you need to be there every day inspecting the work

·         Set achievable deadlines with your contractor and hold him/her to it—and don’t forget the squeaky wheel gets fixed first, but also remember that it is better to kill them with kindness rather than threatening them and being difficult—you can save that until you don’t have any other options

·         Know where and when to cut corners and when you should invest in higher-quality things that will last longer and are more authentic

·         Respect the “bones” of the property

exciting developments

I returned from a quick work trip last night to find some great continued progress. The kitchen cabinets were installed, including a big island (unfinished to be painted turquoise) and the wall unit (glass inserts to be installed in the doors.)

and the master shower is done! 

picking THE palette

Unfortunately my crazy travel schedule caught up with me, and I'm home, sick, again...We were really bummed to have to cancel our trip to Knoxville this weekend, but at least now have some time to catch up on life a bit (and for me, really just sleep.) Andrew started packing boxes (he's a rock star!) and I have finally found enough energy to write a blog post.

During my short stint back in Charlotte on Wednesday, I ventured over to the Sherwin Williams store to make some final decisions about paint colors. After struggling to make paint choices solely from the deck the contractor provided, I'm very glad I took the time to go directly to the store. The displays themselves were incredibly helpful, and SW and HGTV have actually partnered up to create several pre-packaged color palette schemes. I, of course, was stubborn and initially resisted, but after 2.5 hours of staring at different shades of gray, trying to determine undertones, etc., I caved. Turns out, the Coastal Cool palette was exactly what I had been looking for all along!

The Coastal Cool package includes 20 colors which create fool-proof combinations for the entire house. Since I'm obsessed with turquoise/teal/sea foam in general, and love gray and white for home interiors, I (somewhat) easily identified the right combination. 

The four colors to the left and a corresponding white will be used through the majority of the house. I'm eager/slightly nervous to see it all in real life!

In the meantime, other progress on the house continues, although primarily related to electric, HVAC and other elements not totally obvious to us. The cabinets and counters should come in this week so stay tuned!

saturday morning inspiration

It turns out that home & garden tours are really a lot of fun.

On Saturday morning we ventured out to the Elizabeth Home & Garden Tour. Elizabeth is a beautiful Charlotte neighborhood just south of Uptown, comprised of tree-lined streets and adorable craftsman style homes. Honestly, I wasn't sure the tour would be worth the $15 ticket fee, but it was a beautiful morning and David and Myka were also in for the adventure. I think that we were all pleasantly surprised, and really enjoyed visiting most of the 7-8 houses    on the route.

We'll definitely keep an eye out for future home tours in the Charlotte-area. Myka and David, we are signing you up for Midwood Maynia this spring!

And, possibly the best outcome of the whole adventure is that Andrew is now fully on board with a gray and white color scheme. Some home-inspiring photos from a few of the stops:

glad I stopped by

As I was driving to work this morning, I made the spontaneous decision to stop by the house. Here's what I (happily) found:

floor of the master bath (outline of tub):

master bath shower:

den primed and ready for painting:

                                          

and my farmhouse sink has arrived:

time for tile

With the renovations ahead of schedule, I made a quick trip over to Lowe's and Home Depot today to make some speedy decisions about bathroom tile. Luckily my good friend Marisa was able to join and was incredibly helpful in narrowing down the options! Thank you!

Home Depot had a great deal on this black/white mosaic look similar to the pinwheel design I have had my eye on. Although it might seem a bit loud, it will be surrounded by all white (tub, vanity, etc.) and should look quite nice.

The shower will share the same black/white tile on floors and the walls will white subway tiles with the below detail as an accent row.

it all started with seersucker

Hard to believe, but the construction is actually ahead of schedule! Unfortunately, this means, the pressure is now on to make some concrete design decisions. Up until now, I have had a pretty easy time making calls about things I know relatively little about. Picking handles for cabinets or deciding on the placement of a door, were actually quite simple. Ignorance is bliss?

With some daunting decisions to make (i.e. paint colors), I'm preparing (or really just procrastinating) by daydreaming about decor. Throughout my various pinterest boards, one trend emerges: stripes! I guess a seersucker wedding was just the beginning...

wall stripes:

ticking striped shower curtain:

seersucker inspired chair:

fantastic fabrics:

one big blogging family

Fred Kraus formal inspection

After a enjoyable and productive five days with my parents here in Charlotte, we were sad to say goodbye. However, we wouldn't want to hold up the retired roadtrippers from their next adventure!

Between my dad's technical expertise and my mom's voice of reason, I think Andrew and I both felt much better after they had a chance to thoroughly explore the house, current progress, and our plans moving forward. For a full recap of their Charlotte trip, check out their blog post.

And, I'm thrilled to report that the renovation is right on schedule! We are in week four which includes the continuation of framing, electrical rough in, and the continuation of mechanical and plumbing rough in.

Next step, picking out tile for the kitchen and master bathroom. Some sources of inspiration from good old pinterest.

great design for kitchen back splash, in a neutral color though:

love the classic black/white pinwheel tile for the bathroom:

so far so good

Construction work continues to move along smoothly with no major roadblocks (yet). If pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll assume you'd rather see some highlights rather than read my roughly written inadequate descriptions. Here we go:

Thanks to some wisdom and encouragement from my parents, we decided to open up the kitchen into the adjacent den even more than we intended (mainly for costs, but we now think it's well worth it.) Originally, we were going to double the width of the doorway (shown in pink), but will now open up all the way across the sink (shown in red).

The basement has now been waterproofed and the walls were framed.

Hard to believe this little section made up the most significant costs of this whole project. Installed sump pump and plumbing for a full bathroom in the basement

Found this little gem on Amazon for the master bathroom, and thought it was too good to be true ($1,200 and includes marble counter top, sinks and faucets.) Pleasantly surprised to find it all in one piece, decent quality and a great fit!

daddy do list

If you know my father, you know that he loves projects! Growing up, I just assumed that all men were naturally handy around the house and antsy to help out. After marrying, Andrew, I quickly realized that is not the case (sorry hun; I love you).

My parents are coming down for a visit next week, and although likely premature, I am compiling all sorts of projects which I hope he'll enjoy and which Andrew and I will definitely appreciate.  Here are some highlights, mostly thanks to Pinterest (click here to follow me: http://pinterest.com/jenniferrosen/)

Brilliant for storing all those awkwardly shaped platters and serving dishes:

With limited pantry space, these roll out drawers are a must. The chalkboard would be fun too!:

This just makes sense:

And, finally, one for mom. Or maybe she can teach me?:

some more "before" shots

Biding the time this week (while I'm home sick and demolition continues), by watching the house virtual tour (pre-renovation) over and over again...the music is actually sort of catchy. Enjoy! http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?sk=13&t=2517824

it finally feels real

Andrew and I went over to the house yesterday to check out the first week's worth of work, and take the pups for a leisurely walk around their new neighborhood.

While we know the renovation will take a lot of time (at least 3 months), the demolition seems to be on schedule and their were no unexpected obstacles during the first week. We are cautiously (and naively) optimistic this uneventful trend will continue.

Since the only required real demolition is in the master bedroom and basement, the two areas were certainly the focal point of the first week. Upstairs, in our future master suite, the wall between the original small bathroom and closet has been removed. The room will now be prepped to serve as a much larger, master bathroom, complete with a water closet, stand up tile shower, garden tub and double vanities.


The basement, which is where the most significant work (and, of course, expenses) will occur, is also starting to come around. The area beyond the beams will serve as a guest suite with a private full bathroom and bedroom. The central area will be Andrew's man cave and we are already brainstorming about a scarlet and gray color scheme.

And for those of you who have not seen the house in person, the majority of the basement is above ground (as you can see from the window in this picture) and leads out to the heart of the home -the backyard. I don't think we can quite call it a waterfront property, but the view is certainly beautiful, and the sound of the fountain doesn't hurt either.

first "big" decisions

Thank you for all of the positive feedback and encouragement! We are so glad that our friends and family are enjoying (or at least doing a great job at pretending) our home renovation adventures.

Construction did indeed begin on Monday, and seems to be off to a strong start.Yesterday I took a midday field trip to the cabinet showroom to pick out cabinets and counter tops for the bathroom and kitchen. Many people have warned that house renovations decisions upon decisions upon decisions. As anticipated, I was of course forced to make decisions about things I have never once thought about, including how I want the granite rounded, what color I want the finish inside the cabinet to be, how many panes I want the glass cabinet doors to have, etc. (by the way, if  anyone has any guidance on these perplexing questions, please do let me know, seriously!)

Eventually though, I did get to make some fun decisions, which are all contingent on the final price quote we get from the cabinet guy.Teetering back and forth between my dream world, and our budget realities, I did come to the following conclusions.

For the kitchen, we are going to do white cabinets to match the existing cabinets already in place. As for the surfaces, I'm actually leaning towards a high end version of corian, which is a man-made solid surface alternative to granite. While the price ranges are similar, corian, comes in many colors, including some beautiful white slabs with silver specs, which are a perfect fit for the clean/all white kitchen I'm aiming for. This picture shows the Iced White I'm leaning towards along with a comparable granite piece I also like (River White.)

As for the island, we are going to order unfinished cabinets and bead board and our general contractor will paint them a shade of seafoam/turquoise similar to this chip. We'll save some money on the unstained wood, and will also get the pop of crisp color I'm looking for.

Finally, for the bathroom, I think we will go with cream cabinetry and a matching speckled marble for the counters. I'm also keeping an eye out for good deals on traditional all-in one bathroom vanities which are a bit more unique and actually comparable in price.

tomorrow's the big day!

Construction officially commences tomorrow. The first two weeks will be dedicated primarily to demolition, which I totally intend to participate in. I'm envisioning one of those standard demo clips from a HG TV renovation show where the couple get to take out their frustration and stress on the walls of their home. Actually, on second thought, given my track record, I should probably sit this one out. Knowing me, I'll find some way- some how- to hurt myself.

However, I do plan to fully participate on an afternoon trip to the cabinet showroom tomorrow. To keep things on schedule (or at least attempt to) I want to get our cabinets for the bathroom and kitchen ordered this week. I can only imagine that my first showroom trip will be a tad overwhelming, but also a lot of fun. 

The current cabinets (left image) are white, and we intend to preserve the current ones, and add in an extra full wall along the back (with glass faces). We are also going to install an island in the middle of the kitchen, which will include more cabinet/counter space and also a desk to serve as my control center.

I'm going for a traditional white/clean look, with a couple pops of color (perhaps turquoise for the base of the island?)