Renovation Progress: Framing + Electric

We have now officially been the owners of The Urban Acres II for one whole month! 30 days ago, we had great anticipation and expectation that we could wrap this remodel up in about 3.5 - 4 weeks and then we'd be enjoying the fruit of our labor and a glass of homemade lemonade on our beautiful back porch while watching the sunset. 

Not so, people. Not so. 

When I told people how quickly we planned to renovate, a few laughed at me. Literally, out loud laughed! And I thought "Well I'll show you! I'll be organized, I'll work hard, and we'll get it done!" I now know why everyone was laughing. One word -- Contractors. 

Contractors are a lot like cable companies except cable companies give you an 8 hour window of when they'll show up, and contractors give you an 8 week window. They say they're going to show, and they don't. They are impossible to get a hold of. When you ask when they are going to show they say "Tomorrow, or next week, depends on another job." It's maddening I tell you! Maddening! 

I realize that it's not all the contractors fault. They work for builders, and side projects like ours don't take top priority, but at least call us back (looking at you plumbing guy!)

We've been ready to move onto the next phase of work for nearly 2 weeks now, but have been waiting on the electrician to show. Bless God, he finally came yesterday and now the real fun stuff can start happening! 

Here's the progress so far!

The entry way has been completely gutted! We knocked out those two closets and widened the walkway into the den. Now when you walk in, you aren't immediately in a small hall. We also ripped out all the tile (easier said than done), ripped out the old concrete, and laid new subfloors that the hardwoods will go on top of. 

The kitchen opening is now totally open! You can see we moved the walkway to the center of the wall, and made it a 6ft opening instead of the previous 30in. This will really help these two rooms feel more connected. 

This blue bathroom has been the bane of Andrew's existence. See all that blue tile? ALL of it was attached with concrete! Even the walls. Andrew had to take a sledgehammer to this entire thing. He finally got the tile out, but there's still concrete in the shower floor to be removed. 

Other progress includes cabinet delivery, tile delivery, faucets and light fixtures. We also put can lighting in the front living room since it had no light whatsoever. Today the HVAC guy is going to move two vents, and then the plumber should be able to wrap up his part this week, too. 

Lord willing, all the contractors will finish their jobs so our floor guy can install next week! Once floors go in it's pretty much smooth sailing. Andrew will be able to hang drywall, get cabinets in place, and we can start painting. This place will really start taking shape in the next couple of weeks and I can hardly wait! 

Happy Homemaking! 

Sallie

Renovation Progress: The Powder Room

In case you are wondering, the renovation is still going strong! There really wasn't a ton of progress to show last week, but this week I have the plans and the progress of the first bathroom we're tackling -- The Powder Room.

Let's take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

This little two piece bathroom is right off the kitchen, and was not on our original remodel list. As we started discussing the plans for the floor, it made sense to go ahead and rip the floor in this room and connect it with the hardwoods in the kitchen. We then discovered the toilet was leaky, and promptly moved this bathroom to the top of the demo list.

Andrew put in some back breaking man hours and now, the bathroom looks like this!

We (he) have to remove the shelving, but other than that, this salmon pink bathroom is ready for a facelift.

While searching for some inspiration, I came across this charming bathroom from Architectural Digest.

And this one from The Lighter Side of Real Esate.

Both of these bathrooms have a form of paneling on the walls which ends up being great for us, because we can cover the old wallpaper without having to replace dry wall! That's a big time and  $$$ saver. 

We also LOVE the idea of DIY-ing a bathroom vanity by using an old table. I scored the one you see in the progress picture for just $20. 

We'll add a porcelain vessel sink with a wall mount, and as my niece Bea says "boom baby!" Altogether, this room will end up costing us about $700 -- not too shabby for a powder bathroom! Here are my sources and maybe some inspiration for your next project! 

1. Bead Board Sheets -- The Home Depot $20

2. Wall Mount Faucet -- Amazon.com $70

3. Porcelain Vessel Sink -- Overstock.com $125

4. Antique Table -- River City Trading Post $20

5. Sconce Lighting -- Overstock.com $63

What are your powder room ideas? I'd love to hear them!

Happy Homemaking!

Sallie

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DIY Backyard Botanical Print

When I was little we lived in a house that had an amazing backyard! We had a pool, a basketball court, and all of it was covered with huge shade trees. I played in that backyard for hours and hours in the summer and I always envisioned having a similar yard for my kids to play in.

When we found our new house, Andrew and I immediately fell in love with the backyard. It is almost 100% shaded and has great climbing trees (or so Andrew tells me). The owner before us was quite the gardener, and she put really beautiful plants and landscaping around the entire perimeter. 

It definitely feels like our own little paradise and I can't wait to get in and start enjoying it! 

When I was showing my friend Anisa our backyard she started pointing out all the varieties of plants that we have. Then later, I was in my mom's house and noticed a very old picture someone had made of various plant leaves with little notes as to what they were and what type of environment they grow best in. 

It didn't take long for me to connect the dots for how I could do something similar with the plant foliage from my new backyard!

What I love about this DIY is that it's specific to YOUR home. No two prints will be the same, and it will always remind you of fun memories from you backyard. It's also incredibly easy and requires no special skills. You just need to pick up leaves, write, and cut! 

Materials

• Glass Float Frame(s) 

• Leaves

• Thick cardstock or watercolor paper

• Pen

• Scissors

Directions

1.     Gather your foliage. I picked mostly leaves that would press well in my frame.

2.     Use your pen and thick paper to draw "banners." If you don't feel very artsy here's a template 

        you can use! Or you could cut simple rectangles from your paper and draw a border. 

3.     Write the names of the foliage. I had to use google here to figure out what I was dealing. If you 

        have a friend who is a Botanist, now is a good time to give them a call!

4.     With your leaves and labels face down, layout your design. I started with my larger leaves and 

        filled in with my smaller ones. 

5.     Assemble your frame, clean the glass of any fingerprints, hang on the wall and enjoy!

How did yours turn out? I'd love to know what leaves you used for your print!

Happy Homemaking!

Sallie

Renovation Progress: Before & After

I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing July 4th weekend. For Andrew and I, this weekend was anything BUT relaxing. We took the hammer to our house and started what has turned out to be a very long, hard demo process.

If you missed it, go back and see the Home Tour of our new house so you can get a good idea of everything we did. Let's start with the kitchen.

Kitchen Before

Home Tour: The Urban Acres II Part 2

Hello again! It was so nice to show everyone the new place yesterday, and I enjoyed reading everyone's kind words about our new home. We are so excited and very grateful to be starting this new adventure!

If you missed it, look here to see the living and kitchen areas of our house. Today I'm showing you the bedrooms and the bathrooms.

The photos in this post are courtesy of The Sarah Image -- thank you Sarah!

The bathrooms in this house are very patriotic, well almost -- pink, blue, and white.
This little pink bathroom is right off the kitchen. We were planning on leaving it the way it is until a further date, but we found out yesterday that the beautiful pink toilet leaks, so we are going to go ahead and rip it out.

Home Tour: The Urban Acres II Part 1

Happy Tuesday friends! I had every intention of getting this new home tour posted over the weekend, but our move ended up being a lot more work than I had anticipated.

I spent all day Friday packing up the last few odds and ends and got everything into a box thanks to my Mother-in-law, Kelley, who was so helpful!

Friday night Andrew and I loaded the Pod. Loading a Pod is like trying to put together a puzzle without the finished picture. We managed to squeeze in almost all of the boxes, and most of the furniture.

Then Saturday, we got up early to try to beat the heat and moved the rest of the furniture and our very heavy piano into the new house. Thank you to the friends who helped us with that!

Sunday, Andrew and I worked all day moved the rest of our stuff out of the old house and into the  new house. My friends came over and helped deep clean, and then we said our goodbyes and went to have celebratory ice cream.

All together, I think Andrew and I worked about 30 hours this weekend, so needless to say we were exhausted.

It's been bittersweet to say goodbye to our first home, but overall we are very excited to start putting together all the plans for this new house.

Let's check it out!

Wallpaper Round Up

Everybody shout because tomorrow Andrew and I close on our new house! Wooohooo! This has been the longest month and a half of my life, but we made it and tomorrow we will be the proud owners of a brand new (to us) home. We won't close on our house until Monday, so technically we're the proud owners of TWO houses. Wow. Look at us.

Tomorrow is also Andrew's birthday, so this is doubling as a birthday present for him. You're welcome, hun!

I've been picking out finishing touches for the new house (paint colors, hardware, etc.) and there's one idea I'm really crazy about. Are you ready for it? Wallpaper. That's right, wallpaper.

I know what you are thinking. You had tacky floral wallpaper in your house growing up and you are totally turned off from the idea, but guys wallpaper is back and it's better than ever!

I have been fortunate enough to get 3 rolls of reusable adhesive wallpaper (say what!) to try in the new house courtesy of WallPops! This completely diminishes my fear of hanging paper and potentially ruining the walls. Here's the pattern I chose, I'm thinking this would be fun in the laundry room or even the hall bathroom. I'll be doing another post on hanging this reusable wallpaper once we get into the new house, but I can already tell it's going to be awesome!

AND my friends at Brewster Home Fashions are generously contributing some wallpaper for my entry way.

Brewster has a HUGE wallpaper selection and they also carry WallPops, so if glue isn't your thing you can go the reusable adhesive route. I've spent a lot of time scouring their site for the perfect paper and have narrowed it down to six.

These are my top picks for the entry way.

Plans for the Kitchen Remodel

I'm back after a short hiatus! The weeks since we bought the new house have been a little bit of a blur. Andrew and I frantically worked to get our house ready for listing, and we we're thrilled to have an offer after just a few short days on the market (happy dance!).

Everything is on schedule and we should close on both houses the end of June. The goal is to start a few of the renovation projects on the new house right away -- the first of those projects being the kitchen.

When we moved into our current home all kitchen decisions had been made, and we really didn't have much say. Luckily for us, the kitchen was done beautifully and I doubt I would have done anything differently. This time though, I have a blank slate! I have been pinning, and pinning, and repinning, and pinning some more and finally have a solid idea of exactly what I want to do in our kitchen remodel.

Here are two of my inspiration pics from Blair Harris Design and Country Living.

I LOVE these kitchens. I'm a big fan of mixing old and new. I also love how light and airy these spaces feel. I am leaning towards black cabinets with open shelving and butcher block countertops, but I wouldn't be opposed to white either. I am most excited about getting new hardwood floors in my kitchen! NO MORE TILE, Bye Felicia! 

We don't own our new house yet so I can't show you pictures, but here is the current layout of the kitchen. 

The Urban Acres is moving!

The last few months have included some BIG changes for Andrew and I. Just to recap, I stepped down from my part-time job to work as a full time blogger AND I won the Mrs. Meyer's Home Maker Hunt -- two things that I am wildly excited about.

Andrew and I are still settling into our new roles (and budgets), but we decided to make things even more fun by buying a new house!

A little recap for those of you who may be new readers. Andrew and I moved into our 1950s home almost 4 years ago. It was a complete renovation. This house was definitely the eyesore of the street and possibly the entire neighborhood.

Here's a little bit of photo evidence.

This house had fallen into foreclosure when my brother-in-law bought it to remodel. We happened to be looking for a house right around the same time, so we bought it immediately after they had finished the work.

Andrew and I moved into a completely redone home without having to do any of the work ourselves. We have loved this little house while we've been here and have really made it our home.

Fast forward, we've been talking casually about moving for the past few months but haven't had any solid plans. We love our area, our neighbors, and our house but we have found that we need a little bit more room.

I've been searching Zillow for available homes in our price range and three weeks ago, a house popped up that was exactly what we were looking for! It was love at first sight and an obvious decision that this was the house for us.

We haven't closed on the new house so I have to wait to show you pictures, but trust me, you will love it! It's a fixer upper, but it's got major potential. We are taking more of a DIY approach with this house, so hopefully I'll have some great tips to share with you over the upcoming months!

This does mean that my dreams for the backyard of this house are cancelled, but it's ok because the new house has a covered patio with a pergola and 2 mature trees in the backyard! Plus it has a HUGE sunroom in the back of the house.

As with any move, it's also really hard to say goodbye to this house. It's Andrew and I's first house together, and we have so many great memories here -- it's almost like saying goodbye to a member of the family. I have been praying for whoever buys our home, that they will love and care for it as much as Andrew and I have.

Here's to many more homemaking adventures! 

Sallie

8 Rugs Under $500!

Hello homemakers! Today I'm bring you a round up of my favorite rugs for under $500. Before we get into that, I just have one question. Have you voted today? No?!? Go vote for me now! If you have no clue what I'm talking about, read this!

Now, to our regularly scheduled programming.

I love rugs! Over the last 3 years, I've added a rug to every room in our house except the kitchen and bathrooms. Rugs are a great alternative to carpet, because you can add pattern and color in a way that you can't with regular carpet. They also serve as a fashionable protectant to hardwood floors.

They're a great way to spruce up a space. See the difference the rug made in my bedroom?

However, with all their great qualities they do have one downfall -- they can be very expensive. A good area rug can run you anywhere from $500 - $1,500. If you are like me, you want a quality rug but don't want to pay through the nose lest you change your mind. How do you navigate a super tough decision like committing to a rug? Don't panic, I am here to help! Below, you'll find my 3 tips for buying a rug and 8 area rugs that I found for under $500! Hopefully all this will be helpful to you in your next rug buying adventure.

Sallie's Rug Rules
• Does it have enough pattern to hide stains? For high traffic areas, or if you have pets and kids,
  you want a rug with enough pattern that it will hide a stain. Someone is bound to spill something
  eventually, and you don't want it to ruin the rug or stick out like a sore thumb. I avoid rugs that are
  one solid color for this very reason -- one stain and they're done!

• Does it shed? If purchasing online, read the reviews! Thick wool rugs, while comfy for the feet,
  shed a lot. If that doesn't bother you, it may not be a big issue. Right now our dining room rug
  sheds like crazy and puts dust bunnies all over the house. Not ideal.

• Does it fit my space? I mean this in two ways. First, does it fit size wise? For a living room go with
  a large 8' x 10' or 9' x 12' rug. Most people skimp and go small because it's cheaper, but DON'T DO
  IT! Spend the extra money and get a rug that fits your space. Emily Henderson has a great write up
  on "too small" rugs. Read it! Secondly, does it fit the style of your space? I've been swooned by a
  super cool rug I loved, but it did not go with anything else in my room, therefore it looked and
  felt awful. If you are unsure, take pictures and look at everything side by side. Does it fit your style?
  When in doubt, I always go a little neutral so I can bring color in elsewhere.

1. nuLoom Traditional Raised Adileh, Overstock.com $384
2. Ortega Rug, Lulu & Georgia $426
3. Transitional Chenille Rug, Overstock.com $314
4. Transitional Oriental Chenille Rug, Overstock.com $480
5. Bell Ana Rug, Lulu & Georgia $370
6. Homespun Moroccan Trellis Rug, Rugs USA $499
7. Emperor Rug, Lulu & Georgia $444
8. Zeno Rug, Lulu & Georgia $346

Do you agree with my rules? Which rugs are your favorite? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

xoxo Sallie

Home Tour: A Bedroom Makeover...In Progress

We've been in our house for over 3 years, and I have never LOVED our bedroom. It's been ok, but not my favorite. The hardest part about decorating our bedroom has been finding the right layout. We have 2 windows and 3 doors in this small space, so it really limits what we're able to do. Over the past year, we've arranged and rearranged furniture in every way possible. Poor Andrew has disassembled and assembled our bed on 3 different occasions. Now finally, after 3 years of trying new things, I think we finally have something we can be proud of! Here's a snapshot of the bedroom adventure we've been on for the past 3 years.

Let's start at the very beginning.

This is our bedroom when we first moved in. As you can see, we have all the furniture in here including: a bed (well boxsprings, actually), an armoire, a dresser, and a vanity. It was very cramped.

In year 2 of marriage, we bought a rug and a bed, and swapped the dresser for a smaller blue one. We also rearranged the furniture to be on the opposite wall. This picture is taken from the same angle as the one above. It's close, but no cigar.