Downstairs :: Progress

The main thing that has been accomplished downstairs is demo. They started framing new walls today.. so hopefully I will have some better photos soon. You can see the before photos here. Oh, the joys of renovating!

Walking in the back door into the playroom (you can see through the wall into the den):

 Looking at the backdoor that leads out to the garage and the stairs that lead up to the kitchen:

Entering the kitchen from playroom:

Kitchen looking into existing dining (opening up the kitchen and this will be the new breakfast room): 

Foyer looking into formal living room (this will be a small formal dining on one side and Michael's office on the other--- once we put up a wall dividing it in half): 

Foyer looking into existing dining/kitchen. We will be closing up this opening and making a 5 foot wide cased opening where the 'mural' wall currently is: 

Hall/Powder Bath:

 Den (you can see into playroom through the studs):

Den (small opening to hall/foyer that we plan to enlarge):

Master Bedroom (existing entrance will be closed up and you can see the beginning stages of where the new doorway will be):

And that's where we are as of today... Thanks for following along!

House Tour: Upstairs (before & during)

I'm back... I'm back. Sorry for my lack of blogging! There was lots to do our last week in Birmingham and this past week as we settled in.

You may remember this post where I showed photos of the downstairs before the work started. Here are a few of the upstairs... before shots as well as some progress.

Everything upstairs has been painted (BM's White Dove- all walls, ceilings, & trim) and when the carpet was pulled up... original hardwoods were revealed. The refinishing of those will start tomorrorw and a new stair rail will go in and then the upstairs will be 99% complete. We plan to live upstairs once this work is done.

Before:

And as we make progress (still waiting on floors to be refinished, new stair rail, and new light fixtures):

The bedroom below had a bookshelf over the middle window which we removed. Now I am just waiting for them to remove the panel that was mounted to the exterior side: 

We weren't planning on gutting this bathroom (just yet) but we ran into some issues with the plumbing interfering with the kitchen ceiling so we went ahead and cleaned this room out!

And a shot from the upstairs balcony: 

Come back tomorrow for some progress photos of the downstairs!

a dose of pretty

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Organization

The move is less than a week away and my house is in complete disarray. I know, I know... it's supposed to be. We are packing up 5 years of living here and moving to another state. But this mess has me craving some organization. Here are some high hopes for the new house:

*via my Organization Board on Pinterest

two weeks (and a winner)

In the words of Darby....life has simply interrupted my blog!

First... the winner of the Shabby Apple little girl's dress giveaway is Melissa! And speaking of Melissa... she recently used Darby's quote above on a post of her own.

Last weekend Michael and I spent the weekend in Jackson, MS celebrating the wedding of one of his best friends from college. One our way back to Birmingham we stopped in Meridian to pick up the little one and have a little birthday celebration for him. Here we are after the party:

Over the next week and a half I will be busy packing up our five years in Birmingham. Very bittersweet. Our last weekend here will be spent with friends as we celebrate Michael's official completion of his orthopedic surgery residency at UAB.

Lots going on around our house (both here and at the house in Meridian)... so I just wanted to give you an update and let you know that my posting will be few and far between over the next couple of weeks.

I went to check on the house on Sunday and forgot to take photos of the demo that has been done. I hope to do that soon and will update you on that (it's a whole post in itself).

I hope y'all have a great week and I'll check in soon. Sure wish I was as relaxed as Collins was at the pool this past weekend....

Changing subjects... have you seen this giveaway? Oh.my.gosh... what I would do if I won.

ONE

This little mister is one today. Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet Collins!

even though it's HOT

as can be and I've been wanting to spend lots of time inside.... I can't stop daydreaming about outdoor spaces. Here are some of my favorites that I have saved on my Exterior & Gardening Pinterest Boards.