Category Archives: home renovation

I’m Back!

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Darlings, I know it has been some time since I have written on here-and a lot has happened. Starting off slow and brief today…..5 things:

1) I am officially in my 30’s! and pretty excited about it. As I am the oldest madam in our group of friends- I will admit-I don’t feel any different than when I turned the young age of 25. I’ve always believed age is relative when it comes to one’s self, and if you believe you are old, than you’ll notice your bones creaking and your skin sagging. Some in society today say age = limitations, but I like to think more positively and strongly believe we set our own countdown. So check it at the door, you negative Nancy’s!IMG_2099

2 ) Seriously, this has been the year of le bebe’s. First our own Mrs. Irvin, then our good friend Steph, a close cousin of mine, and then excitedly I will announce that I am a new auntie 2 x’s over. My sister and law gave life to a sweet little gal, and my little sister created an adorable little dude. Both babes are happy and healthy and the lovely mothers are also doing well.

3) New job-still in the design industry but completely different category. I now design ophthalmic and sunglasses for women, men, youth, and children AND I LOVE IT! The people I work with are freaking awesome and I’m challenged everyday (a good thing). Like I always say, “better to be extremely busy learning than stagnant and bored”!

4) I finally made it to Vegas AND its not my scene . I was there on business, and while the food is very tasty, and the gambling ever so addictive- I believe I will only ever go back specifically for business. Sidenote: While there, my team and I took a cab to Old Vegas- one evening after a day of meetings and it was exactly what I had imagined it to be. Lights, people of all oddities, dollar roulette, cheap diners- and I loved it WAY more than all the glitz and “created” glamour of the main strip.IMG_1960

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5) Lastly, I will mention a state of mind I have been experiencing lately, and it is thankfulness. God has placed me where I’m at in my life for a reason, and I can only be grateful for all He has provided. Some days I wonder why specific prayers have gone unanswered for years, but I have to be mindful there is perfect timing in His plan and only He sees the full picture, while I see only the present.IMG_2082

 

Until next time…

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Nesting in Progress: Media Cabinet Remodel

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So, mine and my husband’s goal to have everything ready for baby by Feb. 4 (a month before our due date) is so close to being met. In addition to painting the nursery after finding out the gender, another goal … Continue reading →

UPDATE! the painting progression…

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This gallery contains 3 photos.

So its only been four months since we moved into our new home, even though it feels like a year. Working ourselves a little too hard every weekend… we had/have a goal to get every room painted (we’ll see), crown molding and … Continue reading →

Painting the Nursery: DIY Striped Wall Before & After

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Not much to explain with this post, but I thought I’d show you what I’ve been up to since my last “nesting update” … we relocated the guest room furniture and decor in the now nursery to another room. Then, … Continue reading →

A Facelift…

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Q: Easiest & Affordable way to change the look of your home?

A: Paint

Here are a few amazing room transformations and furniture makeovers with paint.  FYI, these are not images of my home, as it will be a work in progress for the next couple years.

slide_292065_2339285_freebefore-after-green-paintGreenChinaCabinetDining Room BeforeBoard & Batten Dining Room Makeover 3cgbeforeandafter_thumb

Sherwin Williams has a sale about 2 or 3 times a year with their paint being 40% off, and about 3 weeks before we were to move into our new home, I went ahead and bought about 27 cans during their awesome sale! Something people don’t know, is that you can buy their “paint in the can” without having color added. Then, at a later date when you have decided on your colors…. bring the paint back & they will add color (free of course, since its already been paid for at an earlier date.) Also, if you estimated more paint than necessary, you can return it (with receipt), unless of course you have added the color to it. (I believe there is a 60 day return policy, so just figure it out sooner than later.)

Another paint estimated tidbit: Apparently, when you have popcorn removed from ceilings, its likely to need double the amount of ceiling paint you actually think is necessary, because the ceiling will just drink it up.

About a week ago, I mentioned reader, that there would be pictures of my updated laundry room…but guess what? I’m not finished. Between working full time, and driving about 2 and a half hours a day for this job…I am usually exhausted when I finally get home at 6:30 in the evening. My husband and I have been trying to push through our “paint reno”  after work everyday, but the process has been slow going.

Today I just have some progress pictures…but next week I promise, I will have images of our finished “completed for now” master closet & laundry room.

Master Closet. I use the blue painters tape as opposed to the generic masking tape. It actually has made a difference, even if it is $2-$3 more in cost.
Boring white laundry room

Goal for this week: Finish painting ALL closets & complete laundry room

Ongoing Project: Painting Living Area, Question Room, Kitchen, & all bedrooms

2 different paints. With different percentages tried at 100%, 75%, 60% & 50%. If you love a color but its just to dark, try a lower concentrated version by switching the total amount.
Paint Samples! All six of them!

Duran Home Makeover :: part 1

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Among a million other things going on in our lives the past few months buying house is one of the big ones! We LOVE our house and thought it was the cutest thing we’ve ever seen. We love the front porch, back porch, the layout, the neighborhood, the big yard and the potential to really make it our own. But by no means is it perfect… it does not have my dream Pinterest kitchen or my dream bathroom or even the right shade of gray on the walls but we will make it ours in time.

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Sorry about the rainy pic. It’s been raining like crazy in Little Rock lately. Yay for green grass!

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I’ve been working hard at these flower beds!

We’ve got several home improvement projects lined up for the next couple of months. First up, take off the popcorn ceilings and replacing the carpet. It might not sound like that big of a project but check out Matt below in our stairwell trying to get to the popcorn ceiling… yikes!

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I love how just last week Susanna wrote about how she got her popcorn ceilings removed BEFORE they moved in. I couldn’t agree more! If you can get it done before you move in, do it. We just didn’t have that kind of time because we were moving from a different state and needed somewhere to live (with all our stuff) when we got here.

This weekend we got a LOT of head way on our to-do list. Check out the photos below!

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If you’d like to see Matt scrape off the popcorn ceilings live check out my Instagram post. Don’t worry we didn’t try anything fancy, we tried to stay focused! However, at the beginning of the day I was not excited about the work ahead but by the end of the day I felt very accomplished.

While we are proud of our progress from this weekend we’ve still got a ways to go! Living in a renovation space is not my favorite thing (EVERYTHING gets dusty) but seeing the progress is encouraging! I will keep y’all updated on the status every few weeks.

Stay tuned!