Family Renovations

Oh my gosh... I'm here! I'm here!  Say hello to the queen slacker of blogging.

Since school started back up, Bennett and I are establishing our new routine and the ol' blog just took a backseat for a few weeks.

Not too much going on around the house, however my parents and my brother both had huge house renovations this summer.  I thought that since not much has changed around my casa that I would share theirs.

Project 1- Mantis and Queenie's Basement
My parents did a huge basement renovation from late spring into early summer.  It looks amazing!

Before

After

Kitchen

This is how the kitchen looks now.  An oven is the next purchase for this area.

Before

 After

Family room/ play room

Before

 After

Piano room/ hallway leading to bathroom

Before

After

Eventually bedroom/ sitting room

Before

After

Forgot to take an after pic so dad sent this one, but I love this bathroom... the shower is a Roman (I think) style- so no door, just walk in... it is huge and perfect to bath adults, kids, or dogs.

Before

After

Main bedroom

I took these pictures back in June... Mom (and dad) have moved furniture back to basement since then so it is furnished/ decorated as you can tell by the one kitchen pic and bathroom pic.

Looking forward to the whole family being able to crash at our "lake" house.


Project 2- Nolan's Kitchen
Nolan has an older brick ranch.  His neighborhood is in a hot market right now with houses selling left and right.   Since he bought the house, he has added a bathroom, painted every room, and is working on his landscaping (Riggs likes to destroy the landscaping about as quickly as he does it... more on Riggs and destruction in a minute.)

Anyway, Nol's kitchen was OUTDATED!

Before 

After-

So pretty- awesome sink.  Floors were stained to match existing hardwood and were pretty much a perfect match

Coolest microwave ever- slides out like a shelf

Adore this brick wall... they literally cut down pieces of brick into 1/2" slices.  The huge glass door is going to replace that window and run down past the back door. 

 I love everything about this re-do.  Next month, he is also having a HUGE glass door (like 6-8 feet long) put in that will lead to screen porch.  Good job Nolie.

 Project 3- GrandmaDean' den

 GrandmaDean did this last spring but I thought it turned out perfectly.  She painted the everything herself as well as designing/ painting the "family tree."  No before pics but here are the after.

Furniture was all reupholstered, new rug, fresh paint on walls.

This is the statement piece in the room. 

She continued the tree theme running down the steps with her 9 great grankids each represented.

 She is already talking about which room to do next- living room or kitchen?  Obviously, this re-do gene is a strong one.


Project 4- In the works 

This is one project that I am holding my breath on.  As mentioned above about Riggs, my dog nephew- he is semi-destructive.  He is 6 years old but acts like is 6 months. haha.  We get to keep Riggs about once a month when Nolan is out of town.  This past weekend we had him and he stayed a few extra days as the floors in his house were being stained.  Monday afternoon I hear, "no Riggs, no Riggs, Oh no.... MOM!!!!"

Before I tell you what happened, let me tell you a story about me when I was a girl.  I have always loved dogs, but most people dont know that I also equally loved pigs.  While we lived in Germany, as a 5 year old, I saved up my money and bought a Steiff stuffed pig.  Back in '87, she was $50 I think.  So, not cheap.  I LOVE this pig.  Anytime I would get sent to my room crying, I would cry into this pig, any break up I went through, I would cry and hug this pig.  Any fight with my parents, brothers, this pig was the sounding board.  This pig, whom I named my first dog after, was/ is very dear to me.  Molly Schwine and I are tight.

So, back to Riggs.  Molly Schwine was left on the floor by boy #3 and boy #4 as they were trying to annoy boy #1 who likes to keep Molly Schwine on his bed.  Riggs took that as an invitation to assault my pig.  You guys, I broke down when Hunter brought Molly Schwine to me... like tears running down my face.  If you know me, you know, I am not a crier.  My boys have never seen me cry that hard--- they like disappeared.  You can tell they were so uncomfortable with the whole situation.

During this whole thing, I am chastising myself for crying over a stuffed animal.  Seriously... I am 34 years old, but I was soooo sad for the rest of the day.  At the boys soccer practice that night, one of the coaches asked if I was all right and then I proceeded to tell him about the whole fiasco--- for the record, he also seemed uncomfortable.  haha- I think men are just in general, uncomfortable when women get emotional (I did not cry in front of the coach though.)

I refuse to throw her away.  She will be fixed in some capacity.

Molly Schwine is currently at GrandmaDean's hospital for stuffed animals.  During our weekly lunch date with G-Dean's we went by Mary Joe's and tried to find something that would help mend Molly Schwine.  GrandmaDean is going to work her magic. I have full confidence that though she will not look the same, GrandmaDean will be able to save her.

To sum it up, well done family on all the renovations!  I love them all.  And, I will give an updated post on Molly Schwine once I know something.  Until, then, I know you will be waiting on pins and needles.