Master Suite Project

Let me preface this by saying we had no idea we would be moving so fast when we started this project. Otherwise, I don't think we would have gone to so much work! :) So, while we only got to enjoy it for a few weeks, I'm glad that we got to do a whole renovation project from start to finish. It really opened our eyes as to what really goes into a massive project like this.

So without further ado, here's the before's of what we had to work with:

The bathroom was pretty much completely open to the bedroom area, which was just weird.  We debated about how much to close up and due to effort and expense concerns, we decided to just put up walls around the shower and toilet area -- that's where you need the most privacy anyway -- and leave the tub and vanity open, but around the corner. We pretty much demolished everything with this reno, except for the vanity box because we decided to just reface the doors.

Demo! Ugh...what a mess!

After 2 1/2 months of work, we finally ended up with the after's:

We learned so much doing this project and believe it or not, I think we'd do it again...Or maybe I would. Luke may have a whole 'nother story to tell. :)

Apology

I know I promised to be "right back" to post the full low-down on the master suite project, but life (read: moving) has gotten in the way. We arrived in Colorado safe and sound and we're trying to adjust to our temporary apartment living as best we can. Our camera cord, however, has not arrived in Colorado, so no pictures yet! I know, no pictures = lame post, but we're hoping to have some soon.
We're loving it here so far!

What we've been up to...and some news

It's been months since I've posted, but that's mostly because things have been a little crazy around here. A few months ago, we decided to tackle our biggest house project to date: our master suite. It was like a blast from the past walking in there -- total 80's land -- so we decided it was time to give it some love. This was a MAJOR project that included gutting the bathroom and re-doing everything. I'll do a post soon that documents the whole process, but here's the preview:

The Before:


After Sneak-Peek:


And...our biggest news is that WE'RE MOVING! Yep, we're getting out of Illinois and moving to Colorado!

We are super excited. Luke got a really great job offer a few weeks ago and we're scrambling to be ready to leave in only a couple of weeks. There's tons to do, but I'll be back soon to chronicle our remodeling job and show more pictures. We LOVE it and we're super sad to leave after just getting it done, but it seems like that's just the way it happens. Hopefully the new occupants will love it as much as we do.

'Til next time...

Pre-Christmas Visit

The week before Christmas, my little sister and brother came to visit us. They flew in the day after they finished their finals at BYU, with minds relieved and bodies tired. After the airport pickup, we decided to spend the day in Chicago. We went to the German market at Daley Plaza, saw "the bean", walked along the lake, did a little shopping, saw the Macy's tree, and of course stopped by for some deep dish pizza Chicago-style.



One evening, we decided to have an IRON CHEF CHALLENGE. We watched an episode of Iron Chef America and then headed to the store. Bethany and I were on a team and Neal and Luke were our competitors. We were in charge of the Entree and the boys were in charge of Appetizers and Dessert. Both teams picked out a "secret ingredient" for the other team to use in their dish(es). We chose cream cheese for the boys and they got us a bag of Cheetos. Lovely.





We took turns in the kitchen creating our concoctions and the boys went first with their appetizers.
Neal got stuck cutting the onions. It made him cry. ;)




They made us a Cream Cheese and Asparagus Fritter that was surprisingly insanely tasty.




Seth was pretty entertained during the cooking madness:



Bethany and I went next, and we decided to incorporate the Cheetos into each element of our dish -- the protein, the starch and the sauce.
So, we made: Cheeto Crusted Chicken with Cheeto Cheesy Potatoes, and a Spicy Chili Cheeto sauce.

Don't adjust the color on your screen, that is really the color of our dish. -- But c'mon, our secret ingredient was CHEETOS! What do you expect?
Let's just say, it tasted a lot better than it looked. Especially the sauce. That was a kick'n sauce -- if I may say so myself.



The boys rounded out the meal with a Creamy Strawberry and Ice Cream parfait.



Me, with our not-so-impartial judge. He just couldn't decide who won, but secretly I'm declaring the girls as triumphant for embracing the secret ingredient whole-heartedly. :)

Overall, it was such a fun thing to do and I highly recommend it. (It would also be a fun double-date idea...)

The rest of the week went way too fast, but that's only because we were having so much fun.

Highlights of the week: Our attempt at a gingerbread house masterpiece (I say attempt because it was about a mile off of being a "masterpiece"); staying up late talking and laughing harder than I've laughed in a long time; seeing Neal laugh harder than I've ever seen him; bowling and considering breaking 100 as a HUGE accomplishment -- we are all a little rusty --; Tripoly with the candy we were supposed to use for the gingerbread masterpiece; and more...

It was a great week -- thanks for coming you guys!

House Tour Day #4

Our family room is where we spend 90% of our time. It was absolutely one of the reasons we bought this home. We actually did the least amount of reno in this room, we only had to paint and touch up some of the stain. When we bought the home it was painted a bright -- and I mean BRIGHT -- peach/pink. It was almost florescent.



We toned down the peach and decided to go with a neutral creme. I felt this allowed the fireplace and ceiling to be the star instead of trying to compete. The only other challenge in this room was the space planning. It is a large, wide open room, so we had to figure out how to make the best use of the space. Since we decided to make the former dining room into our living room, we put our dining table here as well as our sectional from our old home. In the back corner we created an office area for Luke, and adjacent to that we created a little reading niche with two chairs.











This concludes our house tour for now. We are almost finished with our kitchen -- just a couple of projects to finish up -- so we'll share that as soon as we get it done.

Veteran's Day

I hope everyone has had a great Veteran's Day. I think it is so fitting that Veteran's Day is in November -- the month of Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for all of the men and women that have served our country and fought for the freedoms and opportunities that we enjoy every day. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of how lucky we are to live in this great country. I love America and I am deeply grateful to all of our Veterans.

P.S. My "house tour" got interrupted by the fact that my power cord died this week. A new one is on the way, so hopefully I'll have my computer up and running soon. (I had no idea how dependent I am on my laptop!)

House Tour Day #3

I don't have any "before" pics for this project, but just imagine it, because it was called the "duck bathroom". It had duck wallpaper, a brown laminate countertop, yellowish sink, 80's medicine cabinet, 80's track lighting and a light brown toilet. It was pretty drab and VERY dated.

Again, we kept what we could, so the floor was in good shape and so was the vanity after I touched up the stain on the doors. Everything else had to go though.

Here's the result (sorry for the quality of pics -- this tiny bathroom was hard to photograph):

House Tour Day #2

The first room(s) we tackled in our house were the entryway and living room. When we bought the house, the previous owners used this room as a formal dining room, but we thought that was a little strange walking right into the dining room, so we decided it made more sense as a living room.
It was all decked out with popcorn ceilings, gaudy chandeliers, skinny mirrors and all the walls were covered in peach and teal floral wallpaper. HELLO 80's!


(This picture doesn't even do it justice. It was pretty bad...)

These next pictures are during the process. Our first job was to redo the ceilings to get rid of the popcorn ceilings. We also decided to paint out the trim in this room because we wanted the room to be bright and inviting.

We had to tape off all the windows, doors, floors and fixtures for the ceiling process. This project took SO long because we had a steep learning curve and it was all trial and error. So our front room and entryway looked like this for about a month:

This is the adjoining hallway -- with MORE wallpaper. JOY!

More "befores"

This was the entryway during this process -- doesn't this look inviting? :)

Our next job was to remove all that wallpaper. Wow, that is so not a fun job. But, we eventually got it down to the bare bones and we were able to start painting, installing the crown molding and baseboards. Once we got all that finished, it was the fun part -- bringing in the pretty.

Entryway progress now:

Living Room:

Before and After again:

I think our favorite thing about this room is that it is bright, sunny and cheerful. We spend a lot of time in here reading, playing guitar (Luke) and watching cars go by (Seth).