Oh the remodel. One of my favorite designers, Ashley Gilbreath shared a relatable sentiment in her recent Southern Living interview and I thought it summed up my feelings exactly.
“Renovating is like childbirth in the sense that as soon as it begins, you ask why you ever thought it was a good idea.”
Ashley Gilbreath
Now the good news is that once the baby arrives you realize it was all worth it! Hopefully, it only takes nine months for us to get to that point!
Patience, patience, patience. I thought by the time I wrote this update we’d be a bit further along in the renovation but this is kind of how construction goes isn’t it?! We had hoped to move in July 1, planning for flooring, bathroom remodel, trimwork, drywall work, paint, and electrical to be done. Basically all of the “dirty” stuff that was on our priority list. The permit took longer to get than we’d expected and the contractor didn’t wrap up these items until after we brought Millie home… which was stressful to say the least! We moved out of our rental at the end of June thinking we’d be moving in to the new house any day but ended up staying with Pearce’s parents until a couple of days before Millie was born. And then we decided to go ahead and move into the house even though it wasn’t complete. I’m glad we had a couple of days to unpack and organize before Millie made her debut! We still have lighting on backorder, baseboards that need painting and a garage full of #allthethings that need to be sorted/donated/unpacked but we’re getting there. Obviously taking a break from major projects while we adjust to life with a newborn!
So here’s what we have done so far….
(Almost) Finished the bathroom remodel. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet but our house only has 1.5 bathrooms so we’re all sharing the shower/bath in the main bathroom until we eventually add on a true master suite. One day this will turn into the girl’s bathroom but for now, we wanted to make it as “luxurious” as possible so we can all enjoy it! We still need to finish trim/paint, install closet door and wait for the second mirror to come in, then I’ll share the details!
before & after
Our tile guys were amazing! If you’re local and need tile work done I’d be happy to send you the contact!
before & during
We (and by we I mean Pearce!) finished installing the wood flooring throughout. I’m so proud of him figuring this one out and working (really really hard!) to get it done. In my opinion the flooring has made the biggest difference so far! It looks and feels so much better.
before & after
Pearce also built faux builtins for a big empty wall in the living room. We’ll have to share a full tutorial on how he did it! Still waiting on two pretty sconces for the top and then it’s time for wallpaper! 🙂 These will be so much fun to style and restyle!
Cabinets are painted! The kitchen still has a long way to go but I love how the color (BM Blue Porcelain) turned out. Will share all of those DIY details soon! Next up in the kitchen we’ll be replacing countertops, tearing out the upper cabinets and tiling the walls + installing open shelving, ripping out the microwave and replacing with a pretty hood, and then installing bright white tongue and groove on the ceiling!
before & after-ish
All of the walls in the house have been repainted! The main areas are BM Chantilly Lace, the master bedroom is BM Quiet Moments at 50%, and Alba Grace’s room is BM Sugarcane on the bottom and this wallpaper on the top!
Trim is almost done throughout. Still need to case out a few doorways and install crown in the bathroom but we’re getting close!
Both of the girl’s rooms are almost complete! We need to install lighting, order bedding for AG’s room, swap out door hardware and finish the drapes and then we can cross both rooms off our list completely! The plan is to move Millie into AG’s room when she’s ready for a big girl bed and turn the nursery into a playroom. We’re really missing the dedicated play space we had in our last house! The “big girl room” was a labor of love! Pearce installed the board and batten himself and we painted the whole room. We tried to install the wallpaper on our own but realized after a couple of cuts that it was a job for a pro so we had to call in backup!
before & after
It’s been really difficult to take on such a big project while also bringing a baby into the world buuuut looking at the before & after pics makes us feel so much better about all that’s been done so far and a bit more hopeful about finishing everything else up. Praying for a lot more patience as we move onto the next phase!
Super grateful for my amazing husband who has done so much of the work around the house himself! And for our families who have chipped in to help wherever they could! It takes a village.
I think our next major project will be the exterior and then finishing up the kitchen. Seeing some progress on the exterior will feel amazing! We can’t wait to start enjoying the space we have outside when the weather is a bit nicer. Plus, it’s always nice to drive up to a house you love looking at! 🙂
You can read our first reno update with all of the before pics, here!
