Sunday, December 15, 2013

Floors are in- getting closer


I am getting so excited about our kitchen and it is starting to look amazing.

The cabinets are all in and this weekend we laid the new floors.



We decided on floating floors and so far they are looking amazing. They are a little slippery but nothing a rug can't fix.




The new counters should be installed on Wednesday and then we should have a fully functioning kitchen again (with a sink and stove). Yeah.

Thanks for reading.
Sarah

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Counters are picked

I picked out our new counters this weekend and I am very executed about them. I think it will come nicely together and I am hoping that by next weekend I have a functioning kitchen again since I don't want to eat out anymore.

We have made some good progress even if not as much as expected this weekend because Brian was not around. In any event the cabinets are going in tomorrow, then the floors will be installed and our counter template will be measured on Friday.

If you recall this is what we had started with.



And today it looks like this



It may not be much but we are getting there and fairly quickly as well.

Thanks for reading.

Sarah

Monday, December 2, 2013

Kitchen Progress

I have to say that I am very excited how quickly our kitchen is coming together. Its been two weeks and I feel like I have not yet lost my sanity. I can't wait for the taping and sanding to be done in order to paint, install and organize (not just the kitchen but the whole house).

This is from yesterday before the walls were installed.

And this is what it looks like tonight.

Thanks for reading.

Sarah



Sunday, November 24, 2013

What used to be our kitchen....

I came home the other night to find my kitchen looking like this…



I have to say that I am very excited even though I am sad I missed the demolition part since I love ripping down walls. You can see that the new window is already in and I can't wait to get the room back together. Definitely a lot to do before we can move to the beach full time but we are slowly making process.

If you recall this is what the kitchen used to look like.


While we will only have one window in the new layout I think overall it will be much better and we will gain a ton of counterspace, plus we will have high hat lighting everywhere. I am excited to see how it will come together even if currently it is really cold.

Thanks for reading.

Sarah




Sunday, November 17, 2013

Master Bedroom- repainted again


Ok, its been way to long but summer is a really hard time to keep blogging since there are so many other things to do. So after I've been thinking about repainting the Master bedroom for a while I finally did it. The new color is Benjamin Moore Winterwood and I am loving it. It is more in line with the color scheme that I like (greenish undertones) since the BM Moonshine was too blue for my liking or maybe it is just the lighting in this house. Again I do really want to get new lighting but that's a whole another project.

I will show you a full shot of the room soon but now I have a new area that is teasing me. Our little reading nook doesn't work as is and really is just an area for Brian's clothing to end up (if I am lucky on the chair). In any event I am trying to determine what to do with the side table/ lamp color. Any suggestions?


I am also thinking that I would really like some new lamps for the nightstands but I haven't gotten lucky so far. Maybe if we are moving here full time (which we are thinking about) I can use the ones we already have. So many possibilities….


Liebe GrĂ¼sse
Sarah

Monday, June 17, 2013

Master Bedroom

I decided that now that I am a good blogger again I need to tell you about our Master bedroom transformation. This whole process started 2 years ago and was already completed last year but it is still fun to share. Plus, you never know what will happen since I have been itching to repaint our room but I can't decide on a color.

I wish I had a full before picture. When we inherited the house we had green shack carpet from the 1970s, which smelled the same way and a matching bedspread/ curtain combo. Grandma was very handy and I have to give her credit but unfortunately, it really was not our style.

You get the idea and this is after the curtains were removed.

So over time we remove the carpet and refinished the beautiful oak flooring that was hidden under the carpet, painted the whole room (Moonshine by Benjamin Moore), including all trim and doors (white). The room is pretty spacious and we  I had 4 closet doors and 2 main doors to paint. We also replaced the door knobs with levers and OBR'ed all closet handles. Brian was so kind to install a ceiling fan and replace all light switches, outlets and outlet covers.

Since it is only a vacation home we decided to keep the bed but bring it more in line with our style. Thanks to Ana White we  Brian built a bed frame based on her design and I am loving it. We do get a lot of compliments on the bed.





I was originally thinking of refinishing our furniture but it has been growing on me since I switched the hardware and I will keep it as is for now. Who knows down the line I might change my mind.


Here is the final for now and  I really like how it turned out even though I am now thinking that I want to add a bench to the foot of the bed, maybe repaint and even install some curtains. I am still hesitant about the curtains since it is a beach house and then I have more to wash while spring cleaning. Who knows where we will end up, but for now the room works for me even though I am thinking that it is missing something.

After

And the before one more time for comparison

Long term I can't wait to redo the bathroom and turn our pink flowery bathroom into a nice calm beach retreat.

Thanks for reading.

Sarah


Monday, June 10, 2013

So much to do- Fence


Ok, I feel like I have been MIA for a long time and not because I have a lack of projects but because I think have the projects are not very interesting.

Let's start with our exciting fence, which we had replaced last year and got installed as well. I should have taken a before picture just to show you how bad it was but I guess after 30+ years that was to be expected.

The main purpose of this fence is to keep the sand from the beach on the beach and not on our walkway.  Unfortunately, during the install this was not taken into consideration and the company left a 2 to 5 inch wide gap on the bottom to make it even.


Its a little hard to explain since our yard is sloped. Its a lot of fence.....



In any event, this did not work for us so while we lived with it over the winter (when we get the storms that blow the sand onto our property), we finally decided that it was time to lower it ourselves. We still don't like the high gate that they had installed but that will still need to be addressed.

Clearly not a very exciting project but it needed to be done and I am glad it is complete. Now it also looks much better. Not only did we lower it but we also put boards on the bottom to hold the dirt back from the fence and the new grass grew in really nicely.



Sadly now I see all the imperfections of the walkway and this side of the house. Maybe next year we can take it out and lay new slate tiles.

Sorry perspective is off a little
This whole side of the house needs some love and attention, including:
  • walkway
  • paint side door
  • replace storm door or completely remove (I like to but the hubby thinks we need it)
  • get new lighting
  • walkway lighting
  • raise flower beds


Thanks for reading.

Sarah


Sunday, June 9, 2013

Where I have my morning coffee....

Ok, this is our little sitting area where we have coffee or just enjoy the view of the water. It's a great spot to sit and relax, read the paper (or a book) and have a coffee or a drink.

Sitting area

I still can't believe that somebody wanted to throw out these lovely Adirondack chairs. I got 4 of them and 2 tables for $150 on Craigslist. Granted they needed a lot of love including sanding and painting but it was so worth it in the end. See the transformation?





This view is pretty relaxing if I may say so myself.




Now my questions is the beautification of this area. There used to be a little flower bed behind, which I took down but I still need to dig out the fence posts. I am thinking to just put 2 grasses there.

Any other ideas?

Thanks for reading.

Sarah

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Finally Gardening again


Since I didn't do any gardening last year I decided to make up for it this year. The beach house entry needed some major attention and while I am still working on the light, house number, mail box situation I can share the beautification of the front (and back) yard.

This is what we started with. Some shrubs and not much love or color. As you can see it really needed attention.


So I decided to put some grasses on the side, add some groundcover plants and some Lily's (my favorite flower). All in all, it hopefully will bring some color and year long blooming to the front yard. I always order my plants from www.bluestoneperennials.com since they have a fantastic product and customer service. All other plant needs are usually filled by my favorite local nursery here in NJ.

There is still other parts of the front yard that will also need to be addressed but since this is the area that you see when you walk to our front door it is the most important to me right now.

After removing the shrubs (and putting them on Craigslist for free) I could finally plant the new stuff and mulch around it. Now I just have to wait a few weeks/months. I hope that by the end of the summer I will be able to share an awesome update.



The side flower bed only had weeds in it and is now filled with grasses and some phlox for some color. Now I just need to find some ceramic animals and decorations for the outside. Maybe I need to spray paint some flower pots?


 I can't wait to share with out what it will look like eventually.

I don't have a before picture of the backyard but originally we only had shrubs and bushes here as well, which weren't really summery and which I had ripped out two summers ago. Last summer I planted  some grasses and some butterfly bushes. This year I added some ice plant to creep along the bottom as well as some Aster to get some color in the fall as well as a hydrangea.

This side still needs some attention and mulch.

Last question. I need to get/ repaint some pots. Since the house is yellow with some stone. Do I want green or blue pots?



Liebe Gruesse.
Sarah


Monday, April 22, 2013

Hallway Lamps


Ok, so I started writing this post twice and never finished it. Go figure. I am finally having a new appreciation for the bloggers that write daily.

Ever since I started the hallway renovation I was on the hunt for new lamps. On all fronts...ceiling and entry table. I am still dreaming about high hat lighting but that will have to wait since its going to be a lot of work to rewire this lovely house.

The lamps that we had just weren't doing it for me. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the ceiling light but let me tell you it was ugly. The one on the entry tables (yes we have two) just didn't fit the new improved style since they were just too big and beachy in an old kind of way. Yes, I understand the irony of a beachy lamp in a beach house but you get the idea.

So this lamp was originally on the entry table. Not sure where it will get repurposed and maybe it will not be so bad with a new shade.











This was the other lamp that we also had in the hallway. Like most items in this house they are wood, dark and a little too cunky for my liking.




So we replaced the ceiling light (sorry for the missing before) with this lovely option from Lowes. I think it look georgous and it does really bring a lot of light into the hallway, especially since we have no windows.








So after I've been checking all my favorite stores (Target, Lowes and Home Goods) I could not find suitable replacements for the entry table though. I was already beginning to think that the old lamps might have to stay for a while, especially with the summer coming and the rental season hopefully starting soon, but then Home Goods came through with these lovely objects. The problem was that I needed two lamps and while they had a few nice ones before they always only had one.



Isn't it pretty? I am just working on the shade to bring some fun color into the hallway before the final big reveal. Thanks to another bloggers idea I picked up a shower curtain from Target's Threshold Line to use the fabric around the lamps. I can't wait to see how this will turn out.

Hopefully soon I can come back with the big reveal soon (I just need to finish a few items- rehanging the laundry door, finish painting the back of the front door and redo the hardware, lampshades).

Until then I will leave you with our sunset tonight.

Thanks for reading.

Sarah










Saturday, April 20, 2013

Our House


After we have been talking about the Beach House so much (which you can rent through www.vrbo.com or email me) I figured a rundown of our regular House is long overdue.

We have a cute little Cape Cod style home, which needed/needs a lot of love. While we still have a lot of small and bigger items to do we know that we won't stay here forever and so we are working on the important items first.




I should probably take an updated picture when the flowers are out and pretty.

We have pretty much gutted (and put back together) the whole first floor at this point but there is still lots of items on the to do list.
















That is during our destruction phase. Ideally we would have liked to take the wall down for a large open living and dining space but since we know that we will sell this house down the line it made no sense for us to do that (since bedrooms are more valuable in selling homes).

Living Room before (what can I say it was a boy house and it needed me :-) )
















I need to retake a picture from the same point of view but currently the living room looks like this. Hard to believe its the same room. Oh and those pretty wooden floors were hidden under carpet- yuck....



You get the idea...As you can imagine everything changed.

The big to do for the fall will be our kitchen some of our neighbors have blow out the kitchen to make it bigger but that will not be in our budget and so we will need to redesign the room to make it functional even in a small space but this will also be a total gut job.

We are currently living with this dark, blue and no counterspace at all kitchen. This is what it looked like when Brian moved into the house. Blue wall,s blue vinyl floors and blue countertops.

















I painted the kitchen yellow at some point but now it is just time to go and for this kitchen the time was yesterday.

My Wish List for the new kitchen:
  • High hat lights
  • Pendant light of the window
  • new functional layout, including counterspace and cabinet space
  • white classic looking cabinetry
  • glass back splash (I am still working on options)
  • depending on size a small breakfast 

I can't wait to start this project even though I know that I will get very upset durning the process when everything is messy and we can only eat sandwiches but it will all be worth it in the end.

Thanks for reading.

Sarah

Friday, March 22, 2013

Bathroom Renovation


I am a little behind and I know that I haven't show you our regular house but last summer we redid our main bathroom.  This was truly necessary since B had put his feet through the wall while laying in the bathtub at one point. The beauty of being 6'4" and having rotten walls. Plus, we were expecting a lot of company during our wedding all of which would be staying with us.

We started with this....dark, brown and blue and just overall in dire need to be gutted. The previous owners had replaced the sink and redid the floors at one point, which were cracked though when B moved in.

Original Bathroom:






This was a complete gut job, including moving the window and toilet, redoing the insulation and electric.




Moving the window in order to make it more functional. While we had originally thought to hire somebody to replace the window, we ended up doing it ourselves, since we were told by various companies that the job is too small and not worth their time.



The gutted room ready to be put back together.






Finally... window is in, insulation done, electric replaced, new lights installed and the walls are coming back.



We decided to go with classic subway tiles along with some accent tiles. Both products are from Home Depot.





For the floor we used slate tile, that we had purchased at the local Re Store. We purchased enough for redoing this bathroom along with the 2 main bathrooms at the beach house (various sizes all for $400). We are very excited and so far I am still loving the slate floors, even if they are little harder to clean.



I then also decided to try stripes in the bathroom in a grey/ greenish color combo. I will need to look up the colors and let you know.





Keeping it real. This is what the entry looked like during the renovation.




Finally the finished product. I am very happy on how it turned out.






We didn't want to go overboard and were working with a $2500 budget. Given that we did all the work ourselves we came in right around there.

Product List:

  • The vanity is from the Restoration Hardware Outlet 
  • Lights and towel bar are from Restoration Hardware
  • Mirror is reused but we built a frame
  • map is a Custom Map of my HomeTown in Germany from JennaSue Design
  • Giraffe soap dish was from Lowes and got spraypainted
  • Subway and Accent Tile Home Depot
  • Paint Lowes
  • Slate Floor Tile is Re Store
And since I love Before and Afters from other people....Sorry the POV is a little off but its close enough.

Before                                                                                                 After




Thanks for reading.

Sarah