tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47114626043396911032024-03-06T02:12:36.191-05:00Main Street HouseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-78791589210517393082017-06-19T21:34:00.002-04:002017-06-19T21:34:41.314-04:00A Smaller ProjectSometimes when I leave town with all the kids, great things happen! It was Spring Break so the kids and I left town for warmer weather and, while we were gone, Matt punched a huge hole in our bedroom wall.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORhbculEdZk7UzIZ2thqNwTuF8srkb0g0A9oSgSKqcojNXsvqW3eNEpJeX_YbyjgwF98Jgexmz5dnRLoW0I5FcOcDyf4zPisfwYwAZT-BnnPJeyrMgoC-Are1v6NcJ8dW8-5heolrxEk/s1600/Closet2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORhbculEdZk7UzIZ2thqNwTuF8srkb0g0A9oSgSKqcojNXsvqW3eNEpJeX_YbyjgwF98Jgexmz5dnRLoW0I5FcOcDyf4zPisfwYwAZT-BnnPJeyrMgoC-Are1v6NcJ8dW8-5heolrxEk/s640/Closet2.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Now, please don't be distracted by the freshly showered, ready for bedtime, just had to be in the picture ADORABLE four year old! If you take a look behind him, you will see the shell of what will soon be my very own closet! Up until this point, Matt and I were sharing a 2 x 4 space and it was not working out for us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ObBon0kOLkeTaEIYToznRLPGumFJu8XiUU3mFdKfw2U6d4GnUqgyCA2iVveoEGOKg85QKxozFNHVIuzL16KTLzKXc95RI5ZBdmDnxraNmleeoK54zfqkr_Je__aac71BabU607rByns/s1600/Closet1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ObBon0kOLkeTaEIYToznRLPGumFJu8XiUU3mFdKfw2U6d4GnUqgyCA2iVveoEGOKg85QKxozFNHVIuzL16KTLzKXc95RI5ZBdmDnxraNmleeoK54zfqkr_Je__aac71BabU607rByns/s640/Closet1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
One thing we have learned by renovating this house is that Matt never short cuts anything. I mean, look at this closet! It is a bomb shelter! Nothing is getting through that thing.<br />
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Once finished, I could not have asked for anything better. I am all moved in and really enjoying the extra space. I think Matt is enjoying having the small closet all to himself too!<br />
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Here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSipTR6cCNT04WgMuSDhhRQoKRbBmKJvLs2aFTwpc8C11kXvBuOpaaeIgH3PfzHomzZlWW8CsF9miFDqPj844P-Wsjqq5dDdbSOctpp_8ZjcyDfe9IV9hlzKiygu2HPtghvq-iQUBz730/s1600/Closet+Before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSipTR6cCNT04WgMuSDhhRQoKRbBmKJvLs2aFTwpc8C11kXvBuOpaaeIgH3PfzHomzZlWW8CsF9miFDqPj844P-Wsjqq5dDdbSOctpp_8ZjcyDfe9IV9hlzKiygu2HPtghvq-iQUBz730/s640/Closet+Before.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Hallway is super wide so we decided to break through the wall that has a trunk on it and bump it out into the hall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuF7ZFRSB3mFJmjqwE81OsZGrIg9ju93RkkzW-X-h-hdjMLK6IKizpqZe2OHjOl65AgQsJ7k9HuLGVo_iiQcBXwQDG5Pv18K3DkX1GPzKHbqLvqMe4qluD14GaTzw0hnYNQMFbYtv_9MM/s1600/Closet5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuF7ZFRSB3mFJmjqwE81OsZGrIg9ju93RkkzW-X-h-hdjMLK6IKizpqZe2OHjOl65AgQsJ7k9HuLGVo_iiQcBXwQDG5Pv18K3DkX1GPzKHbqLvqMe4qluD14GaTzw0hnYNQMFbYtv_9MM/s640/Closet5.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here is it all finished and looking beautiful!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCrrQsQuyr0zKYVvBia19bI03zCIb_XBNFudEU7dneR1Q1jT2M6WFZFg9O4lBZuGVU3jP5xprE_Z00Y8mwExhPs2Up1e7lmbVCOzrqXv5uGEv1GJKdIhCG8ds1sieM0TWVAp455_OZY8/s1600/HallBefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCrrQsQuyr0zKYVvBia19bI03zCIb_XBNFudEU7dneR1Q1jT2M6WFZFg9O4lBZuGVU3jP5xprE_Z00Y8mwExhPs2Up1e7lmbVCOzrqXv5uGEv1GJKdIhCG8ds1sieM0TWVAp455_OZY8/s640/HallBefore.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, look at all that square footage! I love that blue dresser (We got it at Salvation Army for $25) but, sadly we no longer had room for it in the hall so it now resides in my basement.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcAZYCbrpx7fhnuiu5exgTAamtMSDPzHX6nxamTNuJ6C2Q2Ju8c3ZxKnIZBYi7PUm85PNVQsoj7IsPBUblUZsTkRkn8OwbPw1fZoTNExwG6RpqYj4Nk2DD0LAjwJPmfzp8Y0hlBHUNkM/s1600/Closet4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqcAZYCbrpx7fhnuiu5exgTAamtMSDPzHX6nxamTNuJ6C2Q2Ju8c3ZxKnIZBYi7PUm85PNVQsoj7IsPBUblUZsTkRkn8OwbPw1fZoTNExwG6RpqYj4Nk2DD0LAjwJPmfzp8Y0hlBHUNkM/s640/Closet4.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The closet in this picture still needs a bit of love but it is a great shot to show you how we utilized that hall space.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwIdiuYb7P1hbbkbLgSxXtDkC_atn3T7O8mLSvB1SSqSyJso8ED0qJ80XqxHa2U6jVayxtkc2t5VSn_fAxC4EE8c9O6AQb6IC5O3vebGtQ8vch5CxBx3I81v_ZB15F-Ay6FemfdAA4qTw/s1600/Closet6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwIdiuYb7P1hbbkbLgSxXtDkC_atn3T7O8mLSvB1SSqSyJso8ED0qJ80XqxHa2U6jVayxtkc2t5VSn_fAxC4EE8c9O6AQb6IC5O3vebGtQ8vch5CxBx3I81v_ZB15F-Ay6FemfdAA4qTw/s640/Closet6.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here is the finished product! Matt worked so hard to save the molding when he took down the original wall and I am so happy he did. I think having that molding to reuse really helps to make it look like the closet is supposed to be there.</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-65128280248334545422017-06-18T12:05:00.000-04:002017-06-18T12:05:59.173-04:00All Moved InThings have been busy here are the Main Street House and this blog has definitely suffered as a result. These darn kids take up a lot of time! And, drumroll please.....I have gone back to work!! Nothing too extreme, teaching preschool part time, but it has kept me busy.
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We have also been very busy renovating and restoring the Main Street House. Before I get to updating you on all that we have done (ahem - a major Kitchen Renovation) I wanted to do one final post on the Girls' Room. I have had these pictures on my camera for a while, so long that this is actually no longer the Girls' Room. Our oldest daughter no goes to a different school so she gets up an hour before the other two. So she moved into the <a href="http://mainstreethouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-month-from-today.html" target="_blank">little room</a> and this room is now shared by our middle daughter and our five year old son. Something that definitely isn't going to last forever but it works for now....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNBymjmRFiYbXAWzq6f-0cMZgvTWqZ_TPnLfRn7Cpw2OpddfBft7Xz2uQ3sv3lHA0WRJ6Ck13MQARy1ApDMvMoXE-I6ABYJp57sM_8H9ErmsnBLzeFCjTntZV8ZgGLrMJq6eTWupmrCE/s1600/IMG_2091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNBymjmRFiYbXAWzq6f-0cMZgvTWqZ_TPnLfRn7Cpw2OpddfBft7Xz2uQ3sv3lHA0WRJ6Ck13MQARy1ApDMvMoXE-I6ABYJp57sM_8H9ErmsnBLzeFCjTntZV8ZgGLrMJq6eTWupmrCE/s640/IMG_2091.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Husband can now add to his resume Carpenter. He built this beautiful built in desk and window seat that connects to the new closet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9898UX476A1wmSzUnAgEK63Q85LREfUL53kScpQbpC68G3vOHH7O7o2H_v4Lc9ucn0aZW0H1x265UQo7q40Z-ZGkxG4vucbZnc4ozUaCcQSBHRWejHupnNK08MoXhnZjRp5M0-bN6Mg/s1600/IMG_2090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9898UX476A1wmSzUnAgEK63Q85LREfUL53kScpQbpC68G3vOHH7O7o2H_v4Lc9ucn0aZW0H1x265UQo7q40Z-ZGkxG4vucbZnc4ozUaCcQSBHRWejHupnNK08MoXhnZjRp5M0-bN6Mg/s640/IMG_2090.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bigger closet was a definite must, ad look at those beautiful ceilings!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnYUFW05kMmbX9zfqGRBUjDgR_r1wBk1RNWthYQRgQP5zmEbgrf3phCTUihmy2FA1w1j2W9qfodN2_QXu7k4XbgpF2_Y4ldQ14OY4wfATxTbJoS1DktrsY4PRyybEQ-BI3uDZdP6WI9E/s1600/IMG_2088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnYUFW05kMmbX9zfqGRBUjDgR_r1wBk1RNWthYQRgQP5zmEbgrf3phCTUihmy2FA1w1j2W9qfodN2_QXu7k4XbgpF2_Y4ldQ14OY4wfATxTbJoS1DktrsY4PRyybEQ-BI3uDZdP6WI9E/s640/IMG_2088.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish I had a picture of the furniture delivery guys faces when I showed them the room where the biggest bed in the world was going. Lets just say that changing the sheets on a bunk bed in a room with 8 foot ceilings can be an interesting experience.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-25057478053974968852014-08-11T16:40:00.001-04:002014-08-11T16:48:56.499-04:00He is Finished<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So, it definitely took
longer than anyone anticipated but I have to tell you all that The Husband worked really hard and is finally finished with the renovation of the girls' room. It is my opinion that he has a love/hate relationship with this room but I have to brag that it is beautiful! I am so impressed with the care and craftsmanship that went into this room!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGjOzNLdfflSHsg2N9DePHsRnGsfwc019W7dBprfIWLNBkr_aEGmzL432KVzRZS0gSuK0AH-coDrrO6vaSOh65pzt7Zuy-AIdW_xLKuwm50ZkOo61nLXIrTPPAQyDmb-x3IxhoLBzxsI/s1600/finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGjOzNLdfflSHsg2N9DePHsRnGsfwc019W7dBprfIWLNBkr_aEGmzL432KVzRZS0gSuK0AH-coDrrO6vaSOh65pzt7Zuy-AIdW_xLKuwm50ZkOo61nLXIrTPPAQyDmb-x3IxhoLBzxsI/s1600/finished.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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And because, who doesn't love a good before and after!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltkOKbzKt5iW8FamAG80zC2tEcxJlSJMSBtQzR0GhHPTOGX7n4yTNJJ4ZEYglRQ5JJeGSB1C0XMiFEbBnY6Mxa6TDzU1mSEAXxwYq11NR9gKxb7FdzxFYLWUt0EzcRTJWZQLgMYAcVU8/s1600/girlsroomfromdoorold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltkOKbzKt5iW8FamAG80zC2tEcxJlSJMSBtQzR0GhHPTOGX7n4yTNJJ4ZEYglRQ5JJeGSB1C0XMiFEbBnY6Mxa6TDzU1mSEAXxwYq11NR9gKxb7FdzxFYLWUt0EzcRTJWZQLgMYAcVU8/s1600/girlsroomfromdoorold.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what the room looked like when we bought the place!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca1i85Ek5fMBuNkT6rUcMrl0r7EXodcInIIWwlpxdQqSnPVglfgG42biDcXOE-qFl4k2jIGgYHPpYqKAKe5ZOakUgKUzJXz2_noTh7qwUVMZB9fvJ7nUnJLib0sqEe8hCmQb_3__e-ZQ/s1600/plastic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca1i85Ek5fMBuNkT6rUcMrl0r7EXodcInIIWwlpxdQqSnPVglfgG42biDcXOE-qFl4k2jIGgYHPpYqKAKe5ZOakUgKUzJXz2_noTh7qwUVMZB9fvJ7nUnJLib0sqEe8hCmQb_3__e-ZQ/s1600/plastic.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-xIOY0Asxz3ulY22lweWiWMB1eqqJZgPKrkSaULyzwc5ja9vF8XWUkT8h9xQ7JJJ89LWuIpzq4I2JaEJi-cdgN-WdkhcZzps2nndp9hYhPGwEKr4wR4sxYuGfvjyXwq2IGR0Gp4T54M/s1600/drywall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx-xIOY0Asxz3ulY22lweWiWMB1eqqJZgPKrkSaULyzwc5ja9vF8XWUkT8h9xQ7JJJ89LWuIpzq4I2JaEJi-cdgN-WdkhcZzps2nndp9hYhPGwEKr4wR4sxYuGfvjyXwq2IGR0Gp4T54M/s1600/drywall.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtz285gLGPG2RN-lEyto0op9i11NgQ0xPJyVLwczHlzesYozFnyVLlFEpVeuB80ZH9aBGee3EU5_wYd_lGwRGaUF3cHKwyhaeTa591ESMjPPe53bV00wFTIm2bphtxMHn2A44MAa8xBU/s1600/finished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtz285gLGPG2RN-lEyto0op9i11NgQ0xPJyVLwczHlzesYozFnyVLlFEpVeuB80ZH9aBGee3EU5_wYd_lGwRGaUF3cHKwyhaeTa591ESMjPPe53bV00wFTIm2bphtxMHn2A44MAa8xBU/s1600/finished.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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And how about a couple side-by-sides just for fun too?!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxSZxpWCy2gLQT-qYM3F7GjNAo1st8oVBeZIKLBmnRieLl4JvWev675kYJrV-2SAX2jO3xVzllP_WBbfKNOccQxcfRnkvzUeaxvFMxuAVzCvD3nq-8m4i1cVsIQ5xiP-erk_RDkRm4YA/s1600/side1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxSZxpWCy2gLQT-qYM3F7GjNAo1st8oVBeZIKLBmnRieLl4JvWev675kYJrV-2SAX2jO3xVzllP_WBbfKNOccQxcfRnkvzUeaxvFMxuAVzCvD3nq-8m4i1cVsIQ5xiP-erk_RDkRm4YA/s1600/side1.jpg" height="323" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now comes the decorating.....I can't wait!!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-9935206196688026822014-07-31T20:12:00.000-04:002014-07-31T20:12:00.700-04:00Where Do We Go From HereAs we are coming into
the final stages of the room renovation, you may be wondering what it is all going to end up looking like. Well, I am wondering that too.<br />
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The Girls and I spent a fair amount of time looking at rooms on Pinterest and this is the room they decided to use for inspiration. And when I say "inspiration" I mean that in the loosest of forms.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCBOr2HhuPUxdTwNLIMS2q_uNzthjTp58Fk16lkz9VD_abqjhB6s5eRhkc0bPNnolyyiDYfd9j_1fVTeCshLng8MZS1Di0r1UKPWFKwwpbefWy8KOlDg-JG6IGfpzuxXvbQg6mAlccmw/s1600/girls+inspiration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZCBOr2HhuPUxdTwNLIMS2q_uNzthjTp58Fk16lkz9VD_abqjhB6s5eRhkc0bPNnolyyiDYfd9j_1fVTeCshLng8MZS1Di0r1UKPWFKwwpbefWy8KOlDg-JG6IGfpzuxXvbQg6mAlccmw/s1600/girls+inspiration.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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We found a lofted bed at Value City Furniture that we think is going to look great. You can take a look at it<a href="http://www.valuecityfurniture.com/kids-furniture/kids-furniture/loft-beds/colorworks-white-ii-loft-bed-with-full-bed/1583358.aspx" target="_blank"> here</a>. What I love about it is the built in storage. I swear, these girls have so much stuff!!<br />
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Below is the bedding we have chosen from <a href="http://www.target.com/" target="_blank">Targ</a>et and the walls are going to be painted the same color, maybe one shade lighter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTY_SmFynkEf0Ye7kjKVlj0dJkyjZzjj4iozLtUWGC-LtS4uNr0R4eNDJqyETQVREpcTdr2xNr_K4v48hNLaCcrl6PnY7l-JQhyyaPKkM_1IRCqlG93rnxx3ZUjq__Ktq3cezK8Z63y4/s1600/bedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTY_SmFynkEf0Ye7kjKVlj0dJkyjZzjj4iozLtUWGC-LtS4uNr0R4eNDJqyETQVREpcTdr2xNr_K4v48hNLaCcrl6PnY7l-JQhyyaPKkM_1IRCqlG93rnxx3ZUjq__Ktq3cezK8Z63y4/s1600/bedding.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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And then bring in some pops of hot pink with items such as this great pillow (also from <a href="http://www.target.com/" target="_blank">Target</a>)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRQjvoIrb-7cxFEGUNnYaV9ffzwdfx9cjrWKtnfb6EgmegTfhWPcoXpNdfk0CsXmLOT7nkRZfewYIzgvme7VRl0HpmjprnZdrD2LGbo9ATmspR5rxi8wSQDsBfLqYsgbB2LBgIJkeag0/s1600/pillow+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRQjvoIrb-7cxFEGUNnYaV9ffzwdfx9cjrWKtnfb6EgmegTfhWPcoXpNdfk0CsXmLOT7nkRZfewYIzgvme7VRl0HpmjprnZdrD2LGbo9ATmspR5rxi8wSQDsBfLqYsgbB2LBgIJkeag0/s1600/pillow+2.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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Or theses fans from<a href="http://www.orientaltrading.com/" target="_blank"> Oriental Trading</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAKYlFgEuHlgRuOiGDb8YP47OuDLpmYqqFCEwRBftSmiEu54KEM1nsUX7nFM1HzxXuAOozrab6640cKr56xZzSExtbMvBf7fdUzZacCA8eA-2r6bh9QB5xJovmZWZJPiPWANJxH_aIQs/s1600/pink+fans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggAKYlFgEuHlgRuOiGDb8YP47OuDLpmYqqFCEwRBftSmiEu54KEM1nsUX7nFM1HzxXuAOozrab6640cKr56xZzSExtbMvBf7fdUzZacCA8eA-2r6bh9QB5xJovmZWZJPiPWANJxH_aIQs/s1600/pink+fans.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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I am not really sure how it is all going to come together - but I still think that it is going to be great!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-85555821275121891542014-07-30T20:00:00.001-04:002014-07-30T20:14:09.663-04:00Over on Time and Over on Budget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You know how when you watch those reality home improvement shows and everyone seems to go over on their timeline and on their budget. Well, guess what?</div>
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Actually, it isn't that bad and I have to tell you that I am so super impressed with how the room is coming together. It is going to be spectacular when it is all finished. The Husband has been working super hard and after the mess he created during demo, well, lets just say that construction is just as dirty. Dusting has become one of my daily chores.</div>
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Here are some pictures of how far the room has come. Check out the wonderful drywall work done by the rookie Husband. I have to say his patience and attention to detail really paid off on this one. If it was me who did it, it would not be nearly this nice. </div>
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However, I did finally get to help out a little with the room. I was charged with filling all the nail holes in the ceiling and today, I got to prime it! So check out the last picture if you want a taste of my hand-work.</div>
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Oh, and we (okay, Matt) rebuilt the closet. It is huge! Can you say storage?!?!?!?!?! Also, on the same wall as the closet we are going to, someday, build a built-in window seat (with storage) and a small desk with bookshelves above it. It is going to be very cool!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKrvnwmkjEoMbz3qujpOTWYHQ9qin72i_fxsE0o9tDr3wcN8pPmhQNqmXslF7Z-ahhOxo4PcX5mLXBmBVm-qDShk4MYWQ0OV-b9bK8evv9H1ZvtLHRFPNIe8Zgk0w312ZcYWv2uYlqVI/s1600/136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKrvnwmkjEoMbz3qujpOTWYHQ9qin72i_fxsE0o9tDr3wcN8pPmhQNqmXslF7Z-ahhOxo4PcX5mLXBmBVm-qDShk4MYWQ0OV-b9bK8evv9H1ZvtLHRFPNIe8Zgk0w312ZcYWv2uYlqVI/s1600/136.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1gLtt6msbGElomgj7xPxhT16PFlBVdn5d5oXzTeqoN8KKJXBlOa_D1ks4v9oSFsqDqhExLp-VhmMH-Jc8-jHVBYILFJ1BeunUZqfLywuJ9aQaSzuPcKHU9ghAXht7T3i6pBwNYmmMhc/s1600/140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp1gLtt6msbGElomgj7xPxhT16PFlBVdn5d5oXzTeqoN8KKJXBlOa_D1ks4v9oSFsqDqhExLp-VhmMH-Jc8-jHVBYILFJ1BeunUZqfLywuJ9aQaSzuPcKHU9ghAXht7T3i6pBwNYmmMhc/s1600/140.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had to throw this picture in the bunch too because it is just too cute. Here The Husband is giving The Boy a lesson on how to properly apply the drywall mud. They look like a couple of pros don't they?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWo_FEStShOd5Fyw4_paVH6aESrTET-rzzFynmjU9WBx2No3plCp8FOxnbcYODDqs4z2zCJrFygMJEvCF7geNSP9MmB-7morRPPLQ4uQv0ZM9jqud9fW4m1uJigTeBb5qOek8LtmAr8o8/s1600/135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWo_FEStShOd5Fyw4_paVH6aESrTET-rzzFynmjU9WBx2No3plCp8FOxnbcYODDqs4z2zCJrFygMJEvCF7geNSP9MmB-7morRPPLQ4uQv0ZM9jqud9fW4m1uJigTeBb5qOek8LtmAr8o8/s1600/135.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-83812451922241562382014-07-12T20:45:00.002-04:002014-07-12T20:45:34.567-04:00Living in Chaos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I think that one of the hardest parts of renovating the girls' room was deciding how we were going to move the girls out of their room. As I mentioned in my previous post, they are hoarders my nature (as almost all kids are) and they have a lot of stuff. Not to mention that we do not live in a very large home so it was not like we could move them into a guest room or anything. </div>
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If you promise not to judge, I will take you on a very quick tour of how we will be living during this renovation.</div>
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Here is a look into our hallway. At the end, blocking access to our computer, you will see a large clothing rack with all of their hanging clothes. Underneath, you will see two laundry baskets filled with their shoes. Just in front of that you will see a cubby shelf full of all of their books and their American Girl Dolls. The blue dresser is always there and acts as our linen closet so you can just ignore that. But that white thing in the foreground with, what look to be, wheels on it. That is their dresser.</div>
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Originally, we thought that we may just be able to move each girl's bed into the hall and make it into a little mock bedroom for them. But, as you can see, that plan did not happen.</div>
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Plan two was to let the girls sleep in our bedroom while Matt and I slept on our couches. Makes me kind of wish that we sprung for that sleeper sofa when we bought<a href="http://mainstreethouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/we-bought-new-couches.html" target="_blank"> new couches</a> back in January. That plan wasn't going to work either, mainly just because I like my bed too much.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qAoyKECeJrULX0U1XAaFH_4VW_Dxvb_qoUa8fNZ_6HJGmmXdAuQTv0RI7kx3aTtyuDJBg_pf44Geya-Cxe4KU-ZYamDmtxrZkC10gxzc0lgS9o2q6G11D2wnb8dGqwLERNUVLzM1EGE/s1600/IMG_0241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qAoyKECeJrULX0U1XAaFH_4VW_Dxvb_qoUa8fNZ_6HJGmmXdAuQTv0RI7kx3aTtyuDJBg_pf44Geya-Cxe4KU-ZYamDmtxrZkC10gxzc0lgS9o2q6G11D2wnb8dGqwLERNUVLzM1EGE/s1600/IMG_0241.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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So, we made some room in our bedroom to put Peyton's mattress in our room (notice there is even more stuff from the girls' bedroom loaded up in the Master).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCVgMgd9KMFx3RJWv1cqLrpYm5CDvg8UF4Y9lBaiJ0LoR9whvKsxnc5EDUBLGyVnvviCDQz8xQUxeztkcO8hXgSaREsmfpM859JlQ-lHDOfPShL9hkvIg1zP67umPI0JJ5dreMTfhzjs/s1600/IMG_0242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCVgMgd9KMFx3RJWv1cqLrpYm5CDvg8UF4Y9lBaiJ0LoR9whvKsxnc5EDUBLGyVnvviCDQz8xQUxeztkcO8hXgSaREsmfpM859JlQ-lHDOfPShL9hkvIg1zP67umPI0JJ5dreMTfhzjs/s1600/IMG_0242.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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And we put Elaina on the floor in Drew's room. I would like to take a moment here to emphasize that this room is only 6 feet by 9 feet. They are living in very tight quarters right now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqI_owldAzBRHJD3hGdSozN_7e9odRSsp7RYXm98lG8snaejTnzxx1facvJe1KQro4t3CHg9TS2LNmbN1U2I_qOcWB1aWNtXJS5pyN4XlccqKA7jqo8NWk9bV8FSFp3WwpqlTiSSuKr4/s1600/IMG_0245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqI_owldAzBRHJD3hGdSozN_7e9odRSsp7RYXm98lG8snaejTnzxx1facvJe1KQro4t3CHg9TS2LNmbN1U2I_qOcWB1aWNtXJS5pyN4XlccqKA7jqo8NWk9bV8FSFp3WwpqlTiSSuKr4/s1600/IMG_0245.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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I really thought this would be difficult for all three kids. Peyton and Elaina have shared a room since Peyton was 2 years old so I was not sure how they would handle being split up. I also was not sure how Drew would react to having a roommate. It the end, the novelty of it all won over and all three kids are having a blast. The girls have spent more time laying in their beds reading during the day than I think they ever have before. I also think this may make transitioning Drew to a big boy bed easier because he loves laying on Elaina' bed. And, last night after tucking the kids in, I over heard Elaina and Drew talking before going to sleep. I don't think there is anything cuter than a conversation between a two year old and a nine year old.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-4208322711958424822014-07-11T14:19:00.002-04:002014-07-12T20:24:42.712-04:00Our First Big Renovation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I have to start this post with a public apology to Matt (aka The Husband) because I think I may have tricked him into doing this renovation. I have never been a fan of the girls' room and I think it is for three reasons. Reason #1: The wood paneling on the walls. For those of you who never got to see it in person, here is a<a href="http://mainstreethouse.blogspot.com/2010/11/day-one-o-nine-pink.html" target="_blank"> picture</a> of what the room looked like when we moved in. Reason #2: The ugly color I picked to paint the girls room. They wanted a pink room and I think I was so thrown off by the panels that I picked the ugliest pink there was to offer. Reason #3: The girls share a room and are both hoarders by nature so the room always seemed overcrowded to me. My secret hope is now that we have cleared everything out of the room, the girls may not notice if not everything makes it back in.</div>
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Okay, back to my apology. So, I have never liked this room and we had started talking about getting the girls new bedroom furniture which led to discussion on whether we could take down the paneling.......and maybe build them a new closet......and maybe put in a bead board ceiling.......and maybe just gut the whole room?</div>
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As any of you fellow renovators may know - there is never a good time to do a renovation and this one may take the cake as being the most inconvenient renovation ever. We got back from vacation this past Tuesday and by Wednesday around noon, I had The Husband knocking down walls. Of course, I couldn't help him because I had to watch the kids:)</div>
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I was nice enough to empty out the room for him. So this is what it looked like when he started.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6q-xjTFFyvoMdrcvM17h7PXbCkt2ruiOvxUHtOLTdF8Fuzv2lXTH090cDyy5blhpRW_gaUvJnUOaJumI-GeMF6vmGqni3b9YjJj50Ls2BNB9FHxx3xhBGtSWXVWQCIGwGYKG6FUjQa4/s1600/IMG_0233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip6q-xjTFFyvoMdrcvM17h7PXbCkt2ruiOvxUHtOLTdF8Fuzv2lXTH090cDyy5blhpRW_gaUvJnUOaJumI-GeMF6vmGqni3b9YjJj50Ls2BNB9FHxx3xhBGtSWXVWQCIGwGYKG6FUjQa4/s1600/IMG_0233.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-z1yjEsKNq_IEY7j87IZxnb0iHc0oRPgedvoAX9i5bpb8C088CqWVyMTZ1CIjlZe9-hbE0zOhB6nmZcoVoqvhuTflI-2li_bmfalU5qj-1J0R9Ma815E89MTbxv5jm8DT2YDoI_A0CU/s1600/IMG_0235.JPG" height="426" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> And this is what it looked like at the end of Day 1</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMuZaac4aG5t8EowrhzS1-2QunAVEy5O5xq8ucnK3yyeuMswsl9k6pXPOh7r4FDjaZQR5Xdo2JEz7kdGglp1DAyuiYpfgUxf9C52N73Q6a5VZbYbirn3GPsdmQfbPjZav-WKj5kwlgoo/s1600/IMG_0238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMMuZaac4aG5t8EowrhzS1-2QunAVEy5O5xq8ucnK3yyeuMswsl9k6pXPOh7r4FDjaZQR5Xdo2JEz7kdGglp1DAyuiYpfgUxf9C52N73Q6a5VZbYbirn3GPsdmQfbPjZav-WKj5kwlgoo/s1600/IMG_0238.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Man does know how to use a sledge hammer doesn't he? I don't think the demo was his least favorite part, but I do think removing all of the demo was what did him in. He took, I don't even know how many, trips down the stairs carrying loads of wood paneling, dry wall, and plaster. I know If I was him, there was no way I would even be able to walk after going up and down those stairs.<br />
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Now that I showed him a little sympathy, I am going to whine a little bit. The dust is TERRIBLE!!! I mean, I knew it was going to be bad but living in it with three kids was beyond. So bad that yesterday when Matt was carrying loads of plaster out to our dumpster, I just had to take the kids to the pool because I could not stand to be in the house anymore. I know, poor me.<br />
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But, I did come home from the pool, to find this!<br />
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A room empty of debris and ready for some drywall!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8VIyzQCCSBbYmYJR5ECpIV58s0k_6MFEkTwAZfuZXZF4qHbRGnFI2bpuSZLOzIvT1Zt5pqp5AqmVJ_YEXhyLXLgNt0iTIDJabGy6DTQHyrrvwGve8A0w8jqmGed5xgm6Y-3LBoiHWsg/s1600/IMG_0251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8VIyzQCCSBbYmYJR5ECpIV58s0k_6MFEkTwAZfuZXZF4qHbRGnFI2bpuSZLOzIvT1Zt5pqp5AqmVJ_YEXhyLXLgNt0iTIDJabGy6DTQHyrrvwGve8A0w8jqmGed5xgm6Y-3LBoiHWsg/s1600/IMG_0251.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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Just incase you need a visual to show sympathy for all the trips Matt took up and down our stairs.<br />
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Here is round 1 with all of the paneling. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_TqSbXRx_9jqrhWNiRsO_qeCgBGAdkpbnb9_YJ4zLIxycke1FRS_Pkgu3oUv7xcrUel-0smEKbcl7rpkYQvPfOjoQVK9x1SKSzRT8-f-qFz9kQzYavahY7RRwfJGZlwCzE67jIA3BwU/s1600/IMG_0254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1_TqSbXRx_9jqrhWNiRsO_qeCgBGAdkpbnb9_YJ4zLIxycke1FRS_Pkgu3oUv7xcrUel-0smEKbcl7rpkYQvPfOjoQVK9x1SKSzRT8-f-qFz9kQzYavahY7RRwfJGZlwCzE67jIA3BwU/s1600/IMG_0254.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here is round 2 of all the plaster.<br />
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For those of you who do not know.....plaster is REALLY heavy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJzRR62b1NxYE5MOfmXhy0nDocwaDAvG_WymBPjIMVsCdCiHxIyTkegR2ONUiRYN60A9gVtjipmNgDd6jhhrl2qdSpGRqVq5mnhiuw-Hezk8ZaEZs-eKR610AKvBd1JPe_6BNMeiYHVkU/s1600/IMG_0253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJzRR62b1NxYE5MOfmXhy0nDocwaDAvG_WymBPjIMVsCdCiHxIyTkegR2ONUiRYN60A9gVtjipmNgDd6jhhrl2qdSpGRqVq5mnhiuw-Hezk8ZaEZs-eKR610AKvBd1JPe_6BNMeiYHVkU/s1600/IMG_0253.JPG" height="368" width="640" /></a><br />
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He's the best isn't he?
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It is starting to feel like we are back on the home-improvement wagon and I am liking it! I think that the house was in such bad shape when we bought it that putting up a few coats of paint felt like it was a huge improvement. Well, now we are back to work and are going through the house room by room in, what I am going to call Phase 2, of our home improvement projects (I am thinking that there are 4 Phases in all).<br />
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So, here we have tackled that 1/2 bath. To give you an idea of what the bathroom used to look like, I have included this picture:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBO07DR0FBNMsLslh_IOqelwZzBwN-TxWHnSWW0skTKQYJ-f-XDUrRCxxC7uugnA1hGEH8dKHlRM765GkleVniISgyNNZfwSL4p5MaW_xLNwK9aRrosUQjR2EVGua_MNqZLGbxOVfomc/s1600/bathroombefore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBO07DR0FBNMsLslh_IOqelwZzBwN-TxWHnSWW0skTKQYJ-f-XDUrRCxxC7uugnA1hGEH8dKHlRM765GkleVniISgyNNZfwSL4p5MaW_xLNwK9aRrosUQjR2EVGua_MNqZLGbxOVfomc/s1600/bathroombefore.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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In all honesty, when we moved in, all we did was paint this bathroom and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4711462604339691103#editor/target=post;postID=2564952624172131679;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname" target="_blank">replace the incandescent light bulbs with some prettier globe bulbs</a>. Not a huge improvement over all. This is the bathroom that our kids use to brush their teeth and stuff but it is also the bathroom that any of our guests would use. Something that I always got a little embarrassed about.<br />
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Well, not any more! Check it out!!!!!!!<br />
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I am so thankful to The Husband for rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty with this one. I did not help with this project at all, unless you count keeping this kids out of his way. As this kids get older, they also start to accumulate more activities which means that our weekends are not as available as they used to be. So, this past weekend - I took the kids to The Oldest's lacrosse practice and when we came home our bathroom was a totally different space!<br />
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Here are two more pictures for you, just incase you wanted to see what the rest of the bathroom looks like.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-32637958021887197522014-01-30T14:11:00.001-05:002014-05-22T14:31:02.878-04:00We Bought New Couches!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After three years of living with a couch that belonged in a home with much bigger rooms (see my <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4711462604339691103#editor/target=post;postID=3263795802188719752" target="_blank">previous post</a>) we decided it was about time to go out and get some new couches. And here they are in all their glory"</div>
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Of course, one cannot just go out and buy new couches. One must also by new tables, new lamps, new curtains, and new rugs.<br />
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We are not totally finished yet. I am not a huge fan of the pillows that came with the couches so I would like to get different ones. We also need to take some time out to find some more decor items and plants. But, for now, we are very happy with it.<br />
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If you like before and after pictures (I do) here are some for you.<br />
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Some day, I hope to develop my photography skills a little bit more so that you all can ohh and ahh over the beautiful pictures of my home but - for now, I am going to give you "non staged" pictures that I shot with my beat-up little Nikon CoolPix!<br />
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Oh, and if any of you were looking at the pictures thinking to yourselves "their TV looks smaller". The reason is, because it is. The TV we are watching now is actually the TV from our bedroom. A word to the wise - never buy your kid a bow and arrow and then let her shoot it in the house.<br />
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Couches - Elder Beerman<br />
Sofa, Coffee and Media Tables - Value City Furniture<br />
Table Lamp - Home Depot<br />
Floor Lamp - JC Penny<br />
Rug - Lowe's<br />
Stacked Suitcases - Pottery Barn<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-4341745756810701202014-01-19T09:22:00.001-05:002014-01-19T09:22:18.663-05:00An Empty RoomFor
those who know us personally, you also know that we own the biggest and the brownest (is that a word?) couch known to man. It our old home, we had a great room that spanned from the front of the house to the back of the house and this couch was perfect. It was also perfect for Super Bowl parties where everyone was guaranteed to have a comfortable spot to watch the game.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTpdeBMpnFK1RjnTn-F_bTwfWjVHZ7Sx4ZyUPIwaJzISJLZ93wOQmgaVkG5kIzx79v0IOWl4kZkHes04HjXMMAUonZztAG6KWviAeymyLD0ARMB3lrw-u9RwtvLqH4K9pwVp7sKcwkn0/s1600/DSCN7094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTpdeBMpnFK1RjnTn-F_bTwfWjVHZ7Sx4ZyUPIwaJzISJLZ93wOQmgaVkG5kIzx79v0IOWl4kZkHes04HjXMMAUonZztAG6KWviAeymyLD0ARMB3lrw-u9RwtvLqH4K9pwVp7sKcwkn0/s1600/DSCN7094.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a picture of big brown in all it's glory</td></tr>
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Fast forward a couple of years and we end up moving to a historical home where there are no great rooms and everything is kind of broken up and chunky. A feature that we actually love but did not work out well for our big brown couch.<br />
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We actually ended up living with the big couch for a while mainly because we have little kids and we didn't want to buy new furniture just to have them end up ruining it. However, we could not live with it any more and decided that we needed to go ahead and do some redecorating.<br />
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After the holidays, The Husband and I went on quite a "living room furniture" shopping spree and are so excited about our purchases. We ended up buying two couches to replace the large sectional as well as some accent furniture. We were told that the couches would not be in for two weeks but there was the possibility they would come in earlier.<br />
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In a panic that we would be stuck with our new couches and big-brown, I took the leap and listed big-brown on Craig's list. Fast forward three days and this is what our living room looks like...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mMVjCPCSvkTwPDG_3jhQK9gxiW-Wnw4M7S7dhyZgpsyk_Iz4qkCaNjmUTRV0I5fAi8ik6NLg_p7pdpSD6x88ZOZ-U7PFHcZ6ZblqkRr5LT_IAK7AsUUpfhyBGhUiPXGLVyU3jZ9uB_M/s1600/empty+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9mMVjCPCSvkTwPDG_3jhQK9gxiW-Wnw4M7S7dhyZgpsyk_Iz4qkCaNjmUTRV0I5fAi8ik6NLg_p7pdpSD6x88ZOZ-U7PFHcZ6ZblqkRr5LT_IAK7AsUUpfhyBGhUiPXGLVyU3jZ9uB_M/s1600/empty+room.jpg" height="640" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anybody want to come over and watch some play-off games?</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-823492259872963472013-11-12T13:05:00.001-05:002013-11-12T13:05:18.385-05:00The Bats are Gone!I know it seems like we have been trying to get rid of these bats forever but, really, I just haven't posted about them in a while and we got rid of them about a month ago. I have to say that I feel much better now knowing that they are gone.<br />
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There are two things that I learned in this process.<br />
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1) After hearing stories from our Animal Control experts about some of the jobs they have done, I do not feel so grossed out by our 30-40 bats. One house they worked in had over 300 bats in the attic and the bat droppings were knee deep.<br />
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2) Bats are crafty little critters and are not so easy to get rid of. We had to have the Animal Control experts out three different times because the bats found new ways to get in and out of our attic.<br />
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Speaking of Animal Control experts - while I am glad we decided not to DIY this project, I feel like our "experts" may have oversold the services they provide. Don't get me wrong, we are very happy with the service but are just not sure that their website should advertise using the <em>most advance technology available</em>.<br />
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You see, to seal up our home they used a bit of caulk. White caulk at that and if any of you have seem the outside of our home, you know that all of our trim work is brown. They also used a piece of chicken wire and some tape to create the exit for the bats. And when it came time to clean up the toxic bat dropping from our attic.......they used a broom and a dust pan. Not to be overshadowed by the reusable spray bottle filled with a bleach solution to kill the fungus spores. Yes, my friends, THAT is the most advance technology available in bat removal. <br />
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But, then again, I should not complain because I did not have to do it:)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-68682642370986239152013-10-05T08:31:00.000-04:002014-05-22T14:31:59.570-04:00It's Been a Long TimeIt's been a long time since Matt and I put the kids to bed and spent the evening working on the house, but that is exactly what we did this past week.<br />
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As I told you earlier, most professionals did not seem willing to help us with our flooring issues and while the plan is to totally replace our floors our budget doesn't exactly allow for that. So, for now we are going to just put a band aid on in in the form of a little bit of stain and a little bit of poly.<br />
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Our dining room area is the worst of them all but it is also the pathway of our entire house (hence it has taken the hardest beating). Our Entry door goes into the dining room, the entrance to your basement is in our dining room. To get from into the living room from the upstairs, one must first pass through the dining room and you have to walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen.<br />
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Since we don't plan to move out of our house for a week to get this accomplished we have broken the project into three sections. This past week we decided to do the area under our dining room table.<br />
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Step One: Clean the Floor<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsFordRcKUjbYZLi3mrx93XvCPXHlO0oK_c3R65KEzx15inW8gczuwWD65bI-ea1nse04jTbJYYuAcAndzJ3P_1kZYxGuUNHAg3F97ZBfchDfHL68jOJ00E8KrCKo9t05potK5Z6tm6c/s1600/DSCN6883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsFordRcKUjbYZLi3mrx93XvCPXHlO0oK_c3R65KEzx15inW8gczuwWD65bI-ea1nse04jTbJYYuAcAndzJ3P_1kZYxGuUNHAg3F97ZBfchDfHL68jOJ00E8KrCKo9t05potK5Z6tm6c/s320/DSCN6883.JPG" height="259" width="320" /></a></div>
Step Two: Take a chisel and scrape all of the paint that has dripped/splattered (from the previous owners NOT us) onto the floor. This proved to be quite a tedious task and also created a bit of a mess so we soon decided that since this area would be under the rug that our dining room table sits on, maybe we didn't need to get ALL of the paint drips off the floor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBeVvj0iTuw2kzXOAYVDoSuoQrA4xhp3m0FMssQeLbHmjtT6JXZV4YlklW8qkHMnIOPmk1LA5NCqdzfl3lISmVn_aYXKQOeGnR6twEK2oyRQSQrL7Z9ct2ZMUcpFuZQGcT2LevyNoMgk/s1600/DSCN6884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBeVvj0iTuw2kzXOAYVDoSuoQrA4xhp3m0FMssQeLbHmjtT6JXZV4YlklW8qkHMnIOPmk1LA5NCqdzfl3lISmVn_aYXKQOeGnR6twEK2oyRQSQrL7Z9ct2ZMUcpFuZQGcT2LevyNoMgk/s640/DSCN6884.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
Step Three: Fill in all the scuff and scrape marks with the stain. This also proved to be a tedious job. Because the stain was not going to soak into the already finished floor, I took on the task of using a foam brush to dab stain on all the the scratched parts where the finish had come up to expose bare wood. After letting the stain soak in, I had to use an old T-shirt to wipe up ALL of the excess stain or it would just have become a sticky mess on our floor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnegBkGdfFZYstkJs-XCTB1j6x3yE2dfjoH8RzdGGmaMsRdrl1_ZLGyn50QSFTrUvWhvqg1HinO1W80P5_ApCnUwLm3VhQI6elSTS0RpTHFnVFjEAjqMKRfypbGfDOliMHYS3CloP89U/s1600/DSCN6887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnegBkGdfFZYstkJs-XCTB1j6x3yE2dfjoH8RzdGGmaMsRdrl1_ZLGyn50QSFTrUvWhvqg1HinO1W80P5_ApCnUwLm3VhQI6elSTS0RpTHFnVFjEAjqMKRfypbGfDOliMHYS3CloP89U/s640/DSCN6887.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
Step Four: Protect all of our hard work. Right before bed, Matt brushed on a coat of poly in hopes of preventing any future scrapes, scratches and bumps. Being the good sport he is, he also got up at 5am the next morning to put on a second coat.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTbZgza6-66y0WX95WFNeFRCLq1U88oSslvcGAXF6bVMaa5Xh0AQDu8DtBj2vJYFVZkIL9oEMa5zSr1_2_ooE3xAYjyfhPkz9onAqzEgz2Wt3e8MQoW88cVRVQKliKpXaU5wW0oVXg1o/s1600/DSCN6889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTbZgza6-66y0WX95WFNeFRCLq1U88oSslvcGAXF6bVMaa5Xh0AQDu8DtBj2vJYFVZkIL9oEMa5zSr1_2_ooE3xAYjyfhPkz9onAqzEgz2Wt3e8MQoW88cVRVQKliKpXaU5wW0oVXg1o/s640/DSCN6889.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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We are pretty happy with the end result but we still have to do this two more times. The key is to space it out so that we will always have access to the areas that we need to get to. The other key is to make sure that we get it accomplished in time that our dog and our toddler can walk on it and not complete damage all of our hard work. In a house as busy as ours, it is very difficult to keep everyone from walking on the floors.</div>
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On a side note - Siberian Husky during prime shedding season and a coat of wet poly on a wood floor, not always a good match:)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-91689120092506168942013-09-27T19:28:00.001-04:002013-09-27T19:28:23.621-04:00Not All Wishes Come TrueOkay, so there is a pretty good chance that Peyton's birthday wished did not include getting our floors refinished but mine did. Sadly, that wish is not going to come true. After having four different people out to for estimates, they all said that there was no way they were going to refinish our floors. Now, we knew they were in bad shape and, believe me, we knew they were not going to look perfect in the end but - here are the facts.<br />
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1) They are made of super-soft Pine and will get scratched too easily<br />
2) They have already been refinished a couple of times and since we do not have a subfloor under the floors sanding them down again could cause some structural problems (falling through to the basement while trying to walk into the kitchen anyone?)<br />
3) The floors have warped/cupped so to sand them all the way to get all the finish off would make the boards too thin (see #2).<br />
4) The house is 175 years old.<br />
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So, now we need to decide what the plan of action is going to be. One of the guys who came out said that he would just lay down new hardwood on top of the existing and another guy said it all had to come up and a new subfloor needs to go down.<br />
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For now, we are going to go out and buy some really dark stain to fill in all the scratches we have and put some poly over it - just to make things a little more presentable. But, when the time comes it sounds like we truly will be taking each room down to the studs. Goodbye walls, goodbye ceilings and now goodbye floors.<br />
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Although it is going to take a bit more time and cost a bit more money, I think this is a good thing. It will allow us to use the new subfloor to get the downstairs floor a little more even plus, we can now use the same flooring downstairs as well as upstairs (an area where we already knew we were going to have to replace the floors) as well as the floors in our potential/some day addition and we can have hardwood in our kitchen which is some weird combination of vinyl on top of plywood on top of original flooring on top of God knows what else. I like the idea that we will have the same flooring throughout the house.<br />
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Now it is just onto finding the flooring we want. Of course, I want wide planked Hickory and it doesn't get any more expensive than wide planked Hickory but I like the idea of our floors looking like they could look original to the home. Maybe Maple? Definitely NOT Oak! I don't know, I guess only time (and our budget) will tell.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-77033689642501949152013-09-12T21:08:00.003-04:002013-09-12T21:08:56.206-04:00Birthday Wishes
Today we celebrated a birthday. Our little firecracker, Peyton, turned 6! For those of you who know Peyton there are some days when you look at that tiny little person and think to yourself "there is no way she can be six years old" and then there are other days when something so profound comes out of her mouth that you think to yourself "how can she only be six years old". Either way, I wouldn't change a thing about her.<br />
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Here she is making her birthday wish on an ice cream sundae at Applebee's (her choice).<br />
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What do you think she is wishing for?<br />
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<em>Please let Mommy and Daddy refinish the downstairs floors</em><br />
<em>Please let Mommy and Daddy refinish the downstairs floors</em><br />
<em>Please let Mommy and Daddy refinish the downstairs floors</em><br />
<em></em><br />
WISH GRANTED! (or will be next month)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-18037169113612685152013-09-06T08:01:00.002-04:002014-05-22T14:31:33.568-04:00Some Smaller ProjectsSo, now that
summer is coming to an end and our family has fallen back into a routine - Matt and I have decided to rotate weekends where each of us tackles something around the house that has been bugging us or that needs our attention (trust me, the list is long). Three weekends ago, Matt cleaned out the shed. Two weekends ago, I did some tending to our yard. Last weekend, Matt decided to do something about this:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd-EFkQ4pxNL-cm_3hsbqdN58VHn8nozQ3G78YIcJ_z-QVmDXoIO78FmbUjgH6fnYqzThX0Ir4LBaF5LfAU6ank1nTj5ujyz3IFQZG4kUzPyABd-0pKbVTJQi1AH7C3hta50hfvuh_i8M/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd-EFkQ4pxNL-cm_3hsbqdN58VHn8nozQ3G78YIcJ_z-QVmDXoIO78FmbUjgH6fnYqzThX0Ir4LBaF5LfAU6ank1nTj5ujyz3IFQZG4kUzPyABd-0pKbVTJQi1AH7C3hta50hfvuh_i8M/s640/001.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
Umm, what is that? Well, when we moved into this home one of the features listed was that it had a walk-out basement. I use both of those terms lightly because A) it is more a cellar than a basement and B) it is not your typical walk-out feature. This crumbling cover covers three steps that lead down to a very old door that leads to our basement. So yes, it is a "walk out" but we never use it. Either way, this this was an eye-sore so it needed a little bit of help.<br />
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First order of business - buy some wood!<br />
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Second order of business, demo! I love demo only because of the weird things you come across. Makes me excited for when we start the big stuff inside of the house - wonder what we will find in the walls there? During this demo we learned that at one point in time this structure was screened in and used to maybe dry some clothes or what-not because we found this really cool drying rack type thing mounted there. Needless to say, this will be cleaned up and used in my laundry area.<br />
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Oh "hi" little girls how are you today? Is is after noon and you are still in your pajamas?<br />
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What this really is is a shot to show you what the structure looked like once all the rotting wood was taken off. The hope was to find the framing in good condition so we (I mean Matt) could replace the siding no problem. Of course, that was not how it played out so Matt was off to the hardware store to buy some some 2 x 4s.<br />
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The back of our home faces West so once the sun came around from the front of the house it got a bit steamy out. Gotta love Ohio humidity. Matt had been working hard all day so I convinced him to wait and paint the structure until this coming weekend. So, for now, here is the <em>almost</em> finished product.<br />
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This kind of reminds me of my <a href="http://mainstreethouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-better.html" target="_blank">Getting Better</a> post from when we painted the shed and the outhouse. Where I feel like if you only see the <em>After </em>picture you probably would not be all that impressed (actually our entire house is kind of like that) but to see what we started with should give you a bit more appreciation for our effort.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-76538750980251882282013-08-31T09:11:00.000-04:002013-08-31T09:11:04.711-04:00Break from the BatsWe
are going to take a time-out from the bats today so that I can brag on my kiddos for a second. These two headed off for school last week and were both so excited to go. But, not only did school start last week - so did dance and gymnastics. Add to it the fact that soccer started two weeks ago and these girls are officially over scheduled. It was quite a shock to all of us to go from our relaxing summer to running from one place to another but my little ladies handled it like champs. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg6th4wk6HXDh7edlnspzSxwwNww8ZNBm5r0mVwop6fWl5uOmJAKXjg-kPCJ_SWIRoJDMKE7Exoi-d2kozfTmdNjWEMZ0xOhc4-_uTDSXeTon7ytA5TZdHo9K4hrGvZUczVBFMRd24klH/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg6th4wk6HXDh7edlnspzSxwwNww8ZNBm5r0mVwop6fWl5uOmJAKXjg-kPCJ_SWIRoJDMKE7Exoi-d2kozfTmdNjWEMZ0xOhc4-_uTDSXeTon7ytA5TZdHo9K4hrGvZUczVBFMRd24klH/s640/022.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can't believe this one is in 3rd grade already!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZft9k-D_6WWb7T7y_E0qL0Rx25wfSDzupXOXtMBywfdaAs3oXSxSk5flmyElOvCmUm9YDDBtzybJy6koNAKED9xWu06GF7K4mSnozqnR8GcTiKpJBSzFKRpwiDeCuWXRnBCr8hjZYvMGy/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZft9k-D_6WWb7T7y_E0qL0Rx25wfSDzupXOXtMBywfdaAs3oXSxSk5flmyElOvCmUm9YDDBtzybJy6koNAKED9xWu06GF7K4mSnozqnR8GcTiKpJBSzFKRpwiDeCuWXRnBCr8hjZYvMGy/s640/002.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She was SO ready to get on that bus and head to Kindergarten.</td></tr>
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I know this year is going to be great for both of them. I am sure I will be saying this for many years to come but, "I can't believe how big they are getting"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-48101843683869081702013-08-29T07:20:00.001-04:002013-08-29T07:20:19.791-04:00Issue a ComplaintWell, ACTION is taking a little longer than we would like so I cannot tell you all about Step 3: Clean-up (I know you are all on the edge of your seats) but I would like to take a moment to issue a complaint.<br />
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It has always been my understanding that bats eat mosquitoes. Am I correct in this assumption? I mean, the Internet gives you instructions on how to build bat boxes so you can keep bats close to eat the mosquitoes. So why is it that I have so many mosquito bites!? Since Matt and I have taken up the hobby of bat watching every night I have gotten more mosquito bites than I did all summer - and I have been wearing bug spray! If we are giving these bats a nice place to hang out, the least they could do is take care of some of these bugs!<br />
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Okay, just so you don't all think I am an idiot, I understand that bats fly all around the area and that mosquitoes can also come over from other yards and that not everything is contained to just my yard but, COME ON can't something positive come out of this?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-63624771787630461152013-08-27T20:19:00.001-04:002013-08-29T07:14:46.270-04:00Part 2 - ACTIONOkay, so now that we have discovered that we have bats, it is time to take action. What is the first thing you do when you decide to get rid of bats - read about it on the Internet! Both Matt and I pride ourselves in being of the DIY variety so we thought this was something we would be able to tackle on our own. According to the Internet all we had to do was find where the bats were getting in and out and then place a piece of screen over that area. Three sides of the screen should be sealed up leaving an opening where the bats can get out but can't find their way out. Easy enough - we can handle that.<br />
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Once all bats are gone, there is a clean up process but WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Bat poop has some sort of fungus in it that when disturbed sends spores everywhere which, when inhaled, can cause histoplasmosis. Don't breath them in, wear a HEPA filter mask and spray them with a bleach solution. So, once the web started talking about HAZMAT suits, we decided it was time to call in the professionals.<br />
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I have a small confession for you, by this time the entire family had developed a cough which I was convinced was the histoplasmosis setting in and when Matt and I discussed the budget for this, we were willing to pay much more than what our bat experts are charging us. There is just something creepy about bats and then add in a lung condition and I wanted these suckers GONE!<br />
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So, we called the bat guys and they came out to our house. They found two areas in our home that could serve as access points for the bats. They sealed up one of the areas and then put this cool little screen thing on the other area.<br />
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So, you can see that the bats climb down the screen to get out but they cannot find the opening to climb back in. Well, we have crafty bats because they are still getting back in. </div>
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Every evening at dusk Matt and I go out to watch the bats and every evening at dark we are discouraged because the bats are still there. So, then we call the bat guys and they have to check the perimeter of our roof again and seal up any new holes they find. So, crafty bats + old house with lots of cracks and stuff leads to us still having bats.</div>
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The bat guys are working hard to get rid of them and have been very patient with us but I just want the bats gone and the attic cleaned up so we can move on to spending our "house budget" money on something more fun than this.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-43393682616455423962013-08-22T20:03:00.001-04:002013-08-22T20:03:27.200-04:00We have Bats!Yep, you read it right....we have bats. I have decided that I am going to tell you about our bats in three parts. Part 1: Discovery, Part 2: Action, Part 3: Clean up. We are currently in the thick of Part 2 and I have to say that it is not going as well as we all hoped. But, I have gotten ahead of myself. First, let me tell you about the Discovery.<br />
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I am going to take you all back a little over two and a half years ago when we moved into Main Street House. I don't think I have any good pictures of it, but the upstairs of our house had this terrible molding around the top of the walls that we immediately pulled down. When we took it down it you could hear a sound similar to pea gravel falling down the other side of our walls. We also had a few pieces of some sort of feces (okay, so I am just going to call it poop from here on out) fall out onto the floor. Being a bit inexperienced in house pests, we would only assume that we had mice living in our attic. Okay, we can deal with mice - not a problem. How did we deal with the mice? We very quickly opened that trap door into our attic and threw a few mouse traps up there. Mission accomplished:)<br />
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Skip to about a year and a half later and I noticed some more poop on the lid of our deck box that sits outside. I had no idea what it was from and just assumed that some sort of land animals nocturnal track took it across our deck box every evening. Until.......this summer. <br />
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I like to get up pretty early in the morning so that I can get my day started before the kids get up. So, just a few weeks ago I got up and went outside to water the plants. Since our days are starting to get shorter I was outside watering around dawn - when the bats decided it was time to come home. It was kind of funny because when Matt (aka The Husband) left for work I was standing over in our side yard trying to spray the hose onto plants in the back yard. I turned to look at him and all I could say was "we have bats". <br />
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I did manage to finish my watering while avoiding swooping bats - but wholly he-be-je-beez!<br />
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Even bigger he-be-je-beez was that evening at dusk when we decided it would be a good idea to go out back and watch them fly out for the evening. Swooping bats are no joke!<br />
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No worries though - they should be gone soon enough. Did you know that last week was the first week that you are allowed to start the process of ridding your home of bats? It has something to do with the fact that this is when the babies are finally weaned from their mothers and are flying out on their own. Fun Fact (because I definitely now know more about bats than I ever wanted to)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-6082964335408152122013-08-20T14:48:00.001-04:002013-08-20T14:49:22.327-04:00House Crashers<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Do any of you out there watch Home Improvement shows? Well, in our household, the TV on a Saturday is most likely turned to<a href="http://www.diynetwork.com/" target="_blank"> DIY Network</a> or<a href="http://www.hgtv.com/" target="_blank"> HGTV</a>. This is for two reasons, Reason #1 is that we (obviously) have plans to do some major home renovation so we like to get ideas as well as learn about new techniques. Reason #2 is that we have three kids in our house. You never really notice how bad most TV is until you turn to see your 8 year old looking over your shoulder - and this kid will watch ANYTHING! So if The Husband and I want to watch TV on the weekend it has to be a home make over show or a cooking show. These days, the home make-over shows are winning.</div>
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So, remember the 8 year old who I said would watch anything??? A few weeks ago DIY Network was running a marathon of their Crashers series and Elaina (that is the 8 year old's name) asked if she could write a letter to House Crashers.</div>
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Are you familiar with the <a href="http://www.diynetwork.com/crashers-central/package/index.html" target="_blank">Crashers series</a>? It is the one where the host approaches an unassuming couple at their local hardware store and offers to do a make-over on their house. It is very cool - so cool that I think there are a lot of people out there (us maybe?) who just go and hang out at Lowe's hoping one of the Crashers shows up.</div>
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Anyways, here is the letter. We are still waiting to hear back from DIY Network so that I can get an address to mail it to but.....isn't she so sweet? - love that kid.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-16574153232625854832013-08-16T15:51:00.001-04:002013-08-16T15:51:57.135-04:00It's been a while<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVW5uBGNOz78LNivcuIgEDWenjj8GGXStF8nUh0KKkn4JwQl0oroYTwcbSOVFnvwd2M6zSHplHHdT24CFc0XbO6oSJLf6QRqCfA5HfkG0H0cijW2iCcqsPr7J_39dX5IgGEzzZwcAE1zZ_/s1600/digger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVW5uBGNOz78LNivcuIgEDWenjj8GGXStF8nUh0KKkn4JwQl0oroYTwcbSOVFnvwd2M6zSHplHHdT24CFc0XbO6oSJLf6QRqCfA5HfkG0H0cijW2iCcqsPr7J_39dX5IgGEzzZwcAE1zZ_/s640/digger.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Ha, Ha, I'm just kidding. That is not our house. The picture above is actually our neighbors house but still, I had you going didn't I? We actually hope to have some machinery parked in our back yard like this - some day- but we are not there yet.<br />
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So, I know you have all missed me and I apologize for leaving you for so long but I was busy. Maybe not that busy but look at these three little monsters. Aren't they cute?!?! Hard to beleive that in my last post, they looked like <a href="http://www.mainstreethouse.blogspot.com/2012/03/little-brother.html" target="_blank">this</a>. Jeez, it has been a while.<br />
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So, other than the fact that I have been spending some time with my awesome kiddos - the truth is, we have not done a whole lot. For the first two years, the upgrades we made were low cost high impact. As you can tell from our Before and After pictures, a can of paint can make a big impression. But where are we now? Well, we have traveled into the big stuff. Which also means high cost and high impact. You know, little things like leveling the downstairs floors, replacing the upstairs floors, repairing the steps, all new windows, bathroom and kitchen updates and upgrading the electric. See what I mean by high cost?<br />
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The other thing holding me back is that I fear the domino effect. Do you ever watch the DIY shows and as soon as they take a sledge hammer to a wall a whole new set of circumstances reviels itself. Yep - I am not yet prepared for that. As soon as we knock in our first hole our little "Moneypit" is going to on a life of it's own and I still think I need a few more months to prepare for that. It is going to be a dusty, messy, and hectic couple of years but I think we are ready......maybe.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-61378291026413898052012-03-01T12:49:00.000-05:002012-03-01T12:49:46.160-05:00Little Brother<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjBam3dZbhvB2z3vvdhVosuKTZqvgyeeD6YY0KARbiQk1lN063dzO_n-9ve6PZwefcc5p6kJq1zDNGo4kagPkCOslzzUdOr9q3Oc-9tTZmR91tcyxYIx5y_5WwFvifmbaKhNCNcX2oN12/s1600/little+brother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjBam3dZbhvB2z3vvdhVosuKTZqvgyeeD6YY0KARbiQk1lN063dzO_n-9ve6PZwefcc5p6kJq1zDNGo4kagPkCOslzzUdOr9q3Oc-9tTZmR91tcyxYIx5y_5WwFvifmbaKhNCNcX2oN12/s640/little+brother.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Exactly one week ago today we welcomed the fifth member of our household - a LITTLE BROTHER!!!! I know this comes as no surprise to any of you as this baby has been the only thing I have been able to blog about over the past few weeks:) I am happy to say that all is well and he is a healthy little boy. The family is adjusting well and he is very loved by his parents and his big sisters!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbeq1Ty8oc_E9A3VX4oLPqxKV-V72amBS6w2hTYSOVVtt2pWQOdmNPgwFmsGj6ld-ya7vpynlySXN_bi2Smy4efcXDfc05xa8BP0DZQJMsjxese1gI194yfUZWmnFseocowhLf2nqyiGl8/s1600/lainey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbeq1Ty8oc_E9A3VX4oLPqxKV-V72amBS6w2hTYSOVVtt2pWQOdmNPgwFmsGj6ld-ya7vpynlySXN_bi2Smy4efcXDfc05xa8BP0DZQJMsjxese1gI194yfUZWmnFseocowhLf2nqyiGl8/s640/lainey.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one loves her little brother!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqy4PMQLmTeZdwego0O2_3rFIc_2mzxTzwu7-1Z-uocTVno4SM8b3Y7ebtNwYB_VtR4-cYXls7bMnLU8IwVesA02w0a_3ukSQxkoVHWo9FUiPUDqzXdZPi7yCx20tZyUg5qDSwWZjOICsU/s1600/peyton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqy4PMQLmTeZdwego0O2_3rFIc_2mzxTzwu7-1Z-uocTVno4SM8b3Y7ebtNwYB_VtR4-cYXls7bMnLU8IwVesA02w0a_3ukSQxkoVHWo9FUiPUDqzXdZPi7yCx20tZyUg5qDSwWZjOICsU/s640/peyton.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It took this one a few days to warm up to the idea:)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I plan on taking a few weeks off from blogland but am sure I will still be checking in from time-to-time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-27845671642562559582012-02-17T13:18:00.000-05:002012-02-17T13:18:35.439-05:00BathroomsI am sure that you have all heard me <strike>complain </strike>talk about our bathroom situation before. It is not necessarily ideal but we are making it work for now. Technically our house has one full and two half baths. One of the half baths is in the basement and, frankly, I am afraid to walk into it let alone to anything else. The second half bath is upstairs and as much as I love that guests get a full house tour every time they have to use the bathroom, a downstairs guest bath would be nice. The full bath is actually a master bath which is really nice and works well for us while the kids are young but could get a little inconvenient when the kids get a little older - not to mention that we do not have a bath tub anywhere in The House which has pushed us to get a little creative for when we will be bathing the baby:)<br />
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So I am going to ask you to cut me some slack here and let me dream a little bit....because we do plan to put an addition on The House.<br />
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Our addition will be off of the first floor of our house and I would like it to include a Master Bedroom, an additional bedroom which will be for The Boy, and a den which will also serve as a guest room when necessary. What this will also do is give The Girls' the full run of the upstairs. So what do bathrooms have to do with this? When the addition goes on I would love for The Boy's room to have its own bathroom, for there to be a beautiful Master Bathroom as well as a third full bathroom which will serve as our guest bathroom. Upstairs, I would love to knock down the wall between the bathrooms and create one big fabulous bathroom for The Girls. Yes you heard be correctly 4 FULL BATHROOMS!! And I want them to all have their own personalities so I have been collecting ideas as I come across them<br />
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Here are two of my favorites: <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.newlyweddiaries.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-829s-bath-idea.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3HjJPRhY1o3f2cEUIZfYormbgSxo7MoWOCewv6jwQyHwRpUAMOvFPEndWAKRxbDc3HLF_h6aqkABeXwcep4yHpmD1iwn6hNbvvPGTZdK1RMqvv-v6qkTisarkOjJ2Fb2fGBD8RlStgz_/s640/green-bath-vanity.jpg" width="480" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inspiration for out Guest Bath down stairs. I love everything about it, especially the horizontal boards on the wall and the wall-mounted faucet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.320sycamoreblog.com/2010/01/top-10-projects-of-2009.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7j-9165YFlJWZNRk9fsPIzdDPJvN7u6Eg2Q_RobVMJ-zP50bJUj81qFjDCBkre-lKotk4nVCw0MOvu4FDr2I7-DbMljVxagr-WQMaQK7Im8a4pDBfifxzHJCZ4KbVe0obfAq7pHwoiNbo/s640/april+2009+353.jpg" width="484" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inspiration for the Master Bathroom, I love that the shower and toilet are separate from the sinks. I would also love the the entrance to be two big ol' sliding barn doors - how much fun would that be?</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
For The Girls' bathroom I using IKEA as my inspiration - very sleek and clean lines but with lots of color.<br />
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For the Boy's bathroom I almost want it too feel like a public bathroom (is the weird?) with a very simple wall mounted sink and lots of subway tile.<br />
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In four years I will let you all know how it turns out:)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-62562142258290162132012-02-13T12:17:00.001-05:002012-02-13T12:17:00.325-05:00HGTV Dream HomeHave any of you out there entered to win this years <a href="http://www.hgtv.com/dream-home/index.html">HGTV Dream Home</a>? I have to admit that a couple of years ago I did submit and entry everyday to win the Dream Home in Asheville, NC. But, I didn't so instead I am working on creating my own Dream Home here on Main Street:)<br />
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Anyways, it is a beautiful home so if you have not had a chance to check it out, I would highly recommend you do. When you do - check out these Houndstooth chairs in the <a href="http://www.hgtv.com/dream-home/hgtv-dream-home-2012-great-room-tour/index.html">Great Room</a>. I am obsessed!!!!!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgur-slHcjOImcTDt5J9LOVpOH1QBVAKqBcq0jlh-EeEDC4gIfDc3dGScYprJ3-mI78w6i7Ms4-iR14IAcRlel4PngMwvqpcz5x1-BNJFEwVmZo7Fet238Byqj0ELTXauT22QYPPPZgEIkV/s1600/31-DH2012_Great-Room-Kitchen-View_s4x3_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgur-slHcjOImcTDt5J9LOVpOH1QBVAKqBcq0jlh-EeEDC4gIfDc3dGScYprJ3-mI78w6i7Ms4-iR14IAcRlel4PngMwvqpcz5x1-BNJFEwVmZo7Fet238Byqj0ELTXauT22QYPPPZgEIkV/s640/31-DH2012_Great-Room-Kitchen-View_s4x3_lg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4711462604339691103.post-16769756554216784612012-02-08T15:02:00.000-05:002012-02-08T15:02:57.124-05:00Updates-Before & After<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF3Kl02EsbsULtrNRz5PrYtsgRit9RWbjNfw2uRzfAxSKejy0XR6HFAeiTCJ1kXiXZ-KZd8XD-4yuz0ORdhMCps2OgyY3eB1MtjUu_WRKcthtZL0P6iAJ1MsI7witDR8scsVlE9RLw79Pg/s1600/before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF3Kl02EsbsULtrNRz5PrYtsgRit9RWbjNfw2uRzfAxSKejy0XR6HFAeiTCJ1kXiXZ-KZd8XD-4yuz0ORdhMCps2OgyY3eB1MtjUu_WRKcthtZL0P6iAJ1MsI7witDR8scsVlE9RLw79Pg/s640/before.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfx8MHZOXt1CCgQ-ZJGJ8EPooqLv4TunMMn0-WZUvwfE_1o987Ug8BDCb8ox7PB_mtN9bB-vAqcLVWeMPilNo1Ky5_tzrc7rVdD6SjAjCy9QWLiwNv7Hdl0o0KWPYX3rl1MuEneOeWuukD/s1600/after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfx8MHZOXt1CCgQ-ZJGJ8EPooqLv4TunMMn0-WZUvwfE_1o987Ug8BDCb8ox7PB_mtN9bB-vAqcLVWeMPilNo1Ky5_tzrc7rVdD6SjAjCy9QWLiwNv7Hdl0o0KWPYX3rl1MuEneOeWuukD/s640/after.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
I have been making some updates/additions to my <a href="http://mainstreethouse.blogspot.com/p/before-and-after.html">Before & After</a> page so please feel free to stop by!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1