Home renovations

It's been awhile since we have made many changes to our house.  With three wild boys you just assume that everything will be broken so investing in our home isn't our top priority.  I am obsessed with watching Fixer Upper, reading all the Gaines family books, and flipping through the Magnolia magazine so change it was a coming!  I had a list started before Christmas break of what I was hoping to do and when I say, "I was going to do" I really mean...mostly Bob.  Our first project was staining the fireplace mantel and white washing the brick.  So like any project you begin, once you are knee deep within it you realize there are more things that need/could be done to make it great.  I had to sand down a whole lot of lacquer off the wood on this mantel and I was having second thoughts.  After a pep talk from my dear friend Laura Lokers, help from my mom, and a cold beverage from Bob we got the wood ready for the stain.
Next, after watching an episode on YouTube and reading a blog post from someone else I knew I was an expert brick white washer (wink, wink).  That process was quite easier than I thought and we really liked what the end product was.  Then, the gold brass on the fireplace had to go.  I mentioned this to another friend, Alissa Truax, who quickly sent me a pin from Pinterest where you can use high temperature spray paint and paint over the brass.
Finally I realized that it was time to change the color of the walls because it would help the fireplace "POP".  Thank goodness for the talent of Angie Boone because not only did she paint the walls, but I helped her paint the trim white.


Before picture

Project Complete...now time to change the window treatments and wall decor.

Downstairs the basement walls looked like a calico cat.  The previous owners had used the remaining paint in the cans from every room on each wall.  We let this go for almost four years and it was time to update that.  During the summer, Angie and Bob painted the basement but it just needed something to set it off!  Bob did an amazing job by creating this reclaimed wood wall.  However, he made out okay after all that hard work he had to get a new TV to enhance the wall (that was a battle not worth fighting, let's be real).  He also added doors to the cubbies and stained the wood bench under the table but the photo was taken before that was complete.

You may think that only the adults put in their blood, sweat, and tears to get the job done but we used a little bit of child labor too!  The boys were dying to help out anyway that they could.

We love all the renovations and we have more that we would like to do but we acknowledge that with these three boys the new-ness will quickly wear off these new changes.  Keep your fingers crossed they last at least a month for my sanity please! Thanks to all who helped make it all happen!