Picture Updates

First, here is a picture of how the Strawberry Banana cake turned out for the women's supper last week.  It was so much fun, and all of the food was delicious!

Strawberry Cake, Cream Cheese frosting (my fav!) and strawberry & banana slices

HUGE thank you to my parents for coming up and helping make this remodel happen!  Friday night, Jake and I painted with the help of April & Jeremy who stopped by to hang out and help paint.  Jeremy also helped Jake move all of the furniture out and rip up the carpet earlier in the day.  Saturday my parents got up here in the morning, and after taking some time to figure out the plan of attack and making a couple trips to Home Depot, we got started and got a good bit done before dinner. 

((Side note:  We also picked up some lunch from Bat's BBQ on one of those trips to Home Depot.  The food was really good and pretty well priced!  I also didn't know that they are a Christian company.  They give all of their tips, and I think part of their profit, to a local religious organization.  I can't remember the name but I think it's a Catholic church or charity.  We got the Small Bat Pack which was a pound of pulled pork with 2 pint-sized sides, plus sauces, and we bought 4 rolls to make them sandwiches.  All for $22.00--not bad for 4 people!  If you don't like pork they also have chicken or sausage.))

Around dinner we took a break, my friend Iris met up with us and we all went over to the new Giordana Velodrome for the National Championships.  If you don't know what I'm talking about---at the new Rock Hill Riverwalk, there is a state-of-the-art Velodrome which is where Cyclists compete.  It was different but really cool!  I think it will be a great thing for Rock Hill to have.  It was free this weekend, I'm not sure if they will charge in the future or not.  After stopping by there for about 30-45 minutes we continued on to Baxter Village and had dinner at CloudNine, which is a tapas bar.  I bought a Groupon deal that they had recently.  Their food is AMAZING, and they have great drink specials.  I've eaten there three times now, and literally every single item on their menu is good.  Definitely try it if you have never been!  They also have outdoor seating, like most places in Baxter, and the weather was nice so we sat out there.  After about 30 minutes Beef O'Brady's had live music, which I think they do every Saturday. 

Then, back to work on the room on Sunday. The boys got things started while I was at church and then I helped finish the flooring and finishing touches once I got back.  It took until about 8pm Sunday night to have everything done.  Also, be on the lookout for an upcoming post to give you an idea of the budget for a remodel like this.  We all know that I'm into couponing and deals, and there were some great ones here!  I hate how shows like the remodeling ones on TLC and HGTV give people unrealistic ideas of budgets because they get things donated or discounted for TV.

Here are some pictures.  I didn't get to take any on my camera but these are some that Jake got Sunday night after it was all back in place...

This one shows the new color pretty well...a beautiful green chosen to match the stripe in the new draperies and floor rug.  I love that the name of it is "Sanctuary"...so calming :)  We still need to get artwork up on the walls.  The green walls you see here are actually the only 2 green walls in the room--we did these accent walls and left the rest of them tan.

The color of this one turned out really funky on Jake's phone, but it shows the new layout of our dressers.  Jake wanted to switch some things up so this was the compromise, but they actually fit together pretty well and I think I like it.  ((Yes, that is a water bowl on the floor.  Yes, I know they're spoiled.))

The new light above the peninsula in the kitchen.  I love it so much already!  It's so much brighter and better for when I'm prepping food or baking.

Kitchen Update

Ohhh, our kitchen remodel.  Our kitchen has been about 80% complete since last November when we redid the cabinetry, granite countertops, sink & faucet.  I LOVE how all of that turned out, and I am just the type of person that wants to do something well the first time instead of skimping and then a couple years down the road you have to find replacements, etc.  Well, here is the next installment:






Isn't she beautiful?  I needed a small(ish) down-light fixture for above our peninsula because right now there is terrible lighting in that part of the kitchen.  Since it originally wasn't kitchen before we remodeled, there's just a small ceiling light that does pretty much nothing for me when I'm trying to do my baking there.  It's also where we typically put out food when we are entertaining so this will be a nice focal point and provide a LOT more lighting.  I got this for a steal, and love the shape, but I'm not in love with the globes.  I might try to find some that are slightly more contemporary and an opaque white instead of the alabaster. 

I'll post pictures in a couple weeks once we have it hung.

House Projects

Wrote this one last night before my computer battery died and I didn't notice...

Well, as you know from visiting our house or reading past blog posts, we remodeled our kitchen this past Fall.  I absolutely love our new granite and cabinets, but the finishing touches have yet to be done.  We had a really busy winter and spring has been flying by, plus we are taking our big Vegas vacay this May.  I am hoping that as soon as our bank account recovers from the casinos (or maybe sooner if we win big!! Haha) that we can finish up the new light over the peninsula and the backsplash.  My previous job gave me so much knowledge and exposure to the kitchen design field, so it is hard for me to decide on what I love, and what won't break the bank.  We are definitely not making the six figure salaries of my old clients!  Although being a designer does have its perks and discounts which I am always grateful for :)

I really want a good work light over the peninsula because it is caught between the two areas where our lights currently are.  I browsed online and think I have found some winners.  I will post pics later.

For the backsplash, I definitely want natural stone because it looks the best when you have real stone countertops.  Since our granite has a lit of movement, it will be something more muted.  I want to accent it with glass tile.  At my old job I found a glass series that I fell in love with, so I will have to see what deals I can find for it.  There is also another line that we bought for one of my last clients before I left that I really like.  In pictures I wasn't sure about it but it was beautiful in person. 

I have also been thinking about refinishing our coffee table.  I think I would like to paint it, and the replace the glass in the middle with glass tile mosaic.  It will give some color and interest.

That's all for now, goodnight!