We welcomed people into our home through this grand entrance for 3 years.

We new nobody would ever try and break in, we looked like the neighborhood crack house… can I say that?  Here’s a great shot of what the garage looked like before the addition.

Here where I could relax and enjoy a glass of wine.  While filling woodpecker holes.

Some of these don’t even do the full transformation justice.

I still stare at our house sometimes in the awe of the transformation.  So here goes but first one last shot of when we purchased the home and more seen here.

So I’ve never been afraid of color…

We took the weird space below Brad’s office and turned it into a shed, it also helped with the heating issues we had.

Here’s a view from the backside.

To finish up some pictures from Highmark Builders in Burnsville, MN who did the construction.

We had underestimated a few things when we purchased the house back in 2007 but the windows were high on our to do list.  Problem being we kinda needed to roll them into the whole siding, roof, garage addition project.  So we enjoyed the view through the thickest fogged windows for a few years longer than we had planned.

We didn’t change to much with the new windows, just did a little build out so the trim was larger and replaced the 5 windows in the living room with 2 side windows and a larger picture window.

Don’t mind my awesome photography skills, taking pictures of windows is pretty difficult if I don’t say so myself.  Here’s the new and greatly approved.

One last after from my office.

These pictures of green grass have me itching for spring even more now.  I can’t wait to get my hands dirty in the yard.

What’s on your big outdoor list this summer?

So its been just over a year since I last posted last, it’s amazing how time flies by.  Lots of things have changed on the home front and as I have already alluded the biggest and best change is we are now a family of 4.  Dempsey was born Jan 29, 2013 and life has been a whirl wind but after watching every episode of Rehab Adict I can’t contain myself and need to get back at this.  If you haven’t seen Rehab Adict you can catch it on the DIY and HDTV networks.  Nicole transforms homes in Minneapolis and St. Paul so I feel connected so to speak and I can’t stop thinking of our 1906 Rental Property in St. Paul every time I watch.

I left off considering to paint our ceilings white, it hasn’t happen yet but maybe someday.  I’m so far behind I don’t even know where to start but I’ll dive in with the biggest change we ever made to our home.

The top came off, new roof, garage addition, windows and siding.  I was grateful I hadn’t tackled much landscaping yet because what I had was trampled.

The new roof became quite a bit more intense than we had planned for.  The decking was ruined because it had been covered from top to bottom in water membrane, which didn’t allow for the decking to breathe.  Since the decking had to be replaced I decided to take advantage and have new insulation installed.  I remember laying awake that night wondering if it would rain.  Luckily we woke up to a dry house.

We also were able to hip 2 garage stalls forward 12 feet which added an amazing amount of space in the garage.

So I know it’s been awhile but the next few posts will be pretty exciting as our house gets a total transformation.  Stay tuned.

The minute I walked into our house for the first time the first sentence that came out of my mouth was, “I can’t wait to paint these ceilings white.”  Well they are not white yet and I need your votes, it’s me verse the husband.  It’s the only thing in this house he has much of a opinion about.  He’d love them when they are done, I am sure of it but I think that the thought of that permanent change scares him a bit.  So I am throwing it out there, what’s your opinion… Yes or No.

Make your vote here, I’ll leave this up for 2 Weeks and post the results on March 27, 2012.

I’m getting ready to turn this pink room into something a little more suitable for my little boy. So I’m going to give away the reclaimed headboard and two side tables/dressers to any of my local friends that can come and pick these up.

Leave a comment on this post proclaiming “I NEED!”  Because…

Queen size bed shown above, King size fits as seen here.

I’m a pretty lucky gal; I can paint any room, any color, any time.  I even squeezed my way into the one room of the house that he can claim as his own.  My mans office, step careful folks stuff ahead.

Here’s the run down of items to tackle:

1.  New paint for the walls and the trim

2.  New window blinds

3.  Additional lighting

4.  Modify his existing desks or find something more streamlined

5.  Address the shelving and storage issues

So now that we have all those before pictures covered let’s dive into his new and improved office.

1.  New paint.  I went with a great color called Hasta from Martha’s Stewart line at Home Depot.

2.  The blinds were a in-stock blind from home depot, I had each custom cut to fit the windows.

3.  Additional storage with the Expedit shelving from Ikea.

4.  Buying a new desk was not in the original plan but as the room evolved and I took into consideration the storage he would need and the new room arrangement these desks were a better fit.  So we sold the original desks for the same amount we paid from them on Craigslist and ordered up a new set to replace them.

I still have lighting to place above his work space.

Also need to find a solution to cover up these shelves, since there is a countdown on this cleanliness, scheduled to expire in one short day.

So hold tight on that solution, hoping to find something soon.  What rooms have you painted lately?  Have you ever used any of Martha Stewart’s paint colors?  Whats your thoughts on these ceilings being painted white?

One of the first rooms we replaced the carpet in was our sitting room, the first room you see as you walk into the house.  My parents basement had some water damage so I claimed a section of carpet that had not been ruined.  I thought it would fit perfectly into this sitting room.

If you recall the kitchen over haul, we also replace the wood flooring and removed the railing that led into the sitting room and updated railing around the stairway.  I had also applied some color to the walls, you can find the color details here.  That seems so long ago now, it’s been almost 5 years.

So back to the carpet, I just visually guessed the dimensions, assumed it would fit.  I tore out the old carpet, rolled out the new and walla, it was to small!  I couldn’t believe I could possibly be wrong.  So my free carpet became free to someone else and to the store I headed.

I love the new carpet better than the other of course, I just hadn’t planned on buying any.  Have you ever just guessed how big a space is?  Did it work out for you?

Here’s a shot of the stairway after the kitchen reno.

We remodeled our kitchen during the summer of 2008, one year after purchasing our home, while wedding planning…I tell ya folks, if you can make it through a kitchen remodel your golden.  Our kitchen worked for us, but it had a few issues.  Most of the appliances where on their last leg and some of the cabinet doors where missing.  I had lived in my previous home for seven years and wasn’t until I was close to moving that I remodeled the most used room in the house, the kitchen.   I vowed not to wait until it was time to move again and actually get to enjoy a new kitchen.  Our kitchen is the most used room in the house, not to mentioned one of the best investments and return for your money.

This could be one of the worlds longest posts but this seems so long ago so for the sake of catching up without further ado here we go.

I couldn’t image how to use such a big space in the best possible way, so I hired a incredibly experienced and creative kitchen & interior designer; Brenda Higgins from Kitchen Comfort. Brenda designed a double island kitchen with only lower cabinets.  If you are in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area and looking for a kitchen remodel you must get in contact with Brenda.

I love the open floor plan, separate dining area all of the natural light.  The island areas are great during parties, I don’t feel like I am stuck away in the kitchen and there are lots of great areas for people to gather around during conversation.

If I were a billionaire I would have custom shelving and cabinetry in every closest in the house, my OCD would flourish.  Until then I rely on old faithful, metal shelving.  Metal shelving is my go to for closet organization; I can install it myself easily and quickly, it’s super affordable and I can customize it for any size storage I need.

The linen closet in one of our basement baths drove me crazy every time I tried to put something in it, I had been dealing with it knowing some day I’d like to tear the whole thing out.  I couldn’t do it anymore and really wanted the extra storage space.

The glass doors the previous owners had installed were to big for the opening, which meant I could only open the doors on each side about 8 inches.  It was chaos inside and only housed two shelves, barely reaching from one side to the other.

I took the doors down making some Craigs-lister quite happy with their new find.  I fought with the existing shelving brackets for at least a half hour before giving up and working around them.  I was being lazy and didn’t feel like repairing drywall so I worked my new shelving around the existing brackets.

See the old brackets there, they look like they are supporting the new shelving.  I didn’t need that extra support in this particular closet but they get to stay there anyways.  I filled the closet back up with all our odds and ends towels Diesel’s shower towels and some random baby stuff in storage until needed again.

Hung up a extra set of random curtains and called it a day.  I’ve got room to spare and no more stuff on the floor.  Have you ever used wire shelving?  Do you like it?

I still kick myself every time I wish I had taken more “before” photo’s of our home.  I have a bazillion “progress” pictures, but if I would have just pulled the camera out a few times during the first 2 years in our home.  I’ll just have to change everything again…

We had this hole at the bottom of the original front doors, big enough for the mice to join us over the winter and keep themselves warm and their bellies full. I remember saving for the new front door, it was a big purchase for us. Diesel had jumped through the screen doors several months back when the neighbor lady showed up with treats in her pocket.  Diesel always knows she’s the holder of the good stuff.  Shortly there after I took down the screen doors and our entrance actually looked much more inviting, I just didn’t care for the extra critters.

If you look REALLY hard you can see our old front doors through the big bushes.

If someone really wanted in they would simply need to lean against these bad boys and in they would go.

A inside view.  Dark, fuzzy photo, I know.  You can see where I re-purposed the doors HERE.

So I was pretty pumped when these bad boys arrived.  They shut, locked, there was no longer a draft and my little mice friends could no longer sneak in.  What I didn’t expect was the daylight that streamed through these into our front entryway, nice surprise.

Any big changed in your house lately, any small critters sneaking in your front door?