Craziest Week of my Life!

Do you remember TLC's show While You Were Out? It was on in the early 2000s along with Trading Spaces. I loved it. The premise behind the series was a friend or family member would orchestrate a surprise renovation of an entire room while the unsuspecting individual was out of town for around 32 hours. Then the TV show would record the individual's reaction to the renovation. Most of the time the response was positive but ever so often you would see a surprise go terribly wrong and result in upset tears and/or bleeped words.

For me, While You Were Out not only provided an hour of entertainment each week, it also changed the way I approached most home improvement projects. You see, when Rory and I were first married he had an opinion about how we should decorate our house. He weighed in on every piece of furniture and decorative knick knack I brought home. Most of the time we agreed, but he wasn't afraid to nix a proposed project idea if he didn't like it or if he didn't think it would "add value to the house." It was during the first season of While You Were Out that a lightbulb went off- "Instead of asking Rory I should just "surprise" Rory!" Genius! He gets a fun surprise and I get to make all the design decisions! Win Win!!! So over the last 15 or so years, Rory has come home from many a business trip or guy getaway to painted rooms, distressed cabinets, repurposed furniture, chalkboard walls, and the like.  This strategy has worked brilliantly. Thru the surprises, Rory has learned that #1 most of the time my projects really do work out, therefore, he rarely doubts my ideas anymore and #2 he really enjoys the surprise because it means he gets out of DOING the project. For me, this approach to home decor has taught me that I LOVE a good reveal.  And, for the record, thus far, none of my "While You Were Out" projects have resulted in upset tears or bleeped words....yet.

So with years of practice under my belt, I decided to tackle the biggest "While You Were Out" project of my life last year while Rory went on a mission Trip to Belize. The target was our Master Bathroom. Our bathroom had been in need of some work since the day we moved in. Rory had wanted to paint the bathroom from the beginning but I always put it off because I was afraid if we invested the money just to band-aid the job with paint we might never feel the need to fully renovate later- after all, who sees the master bath except us?!? So she sat with lime green walls, single sink vanity, fiberglass shower, gunked up jetted tub and builder grade lighting, tile, and faucets for 7 years. 

Despite her ugliness, I knew there was no way Rory would willingly agree to do a full bathroom renovation after living thru our kitchen remodel, especially since the ugly bathroom truly functioned fine (except for the pocket door that refused to stay on its track). Therefore, I realized the only way our master bath was ever going to live up to its full potential was if I took matters into my own hands and Rory stayed far far away from the chaos of the renovation. So, when Rory announced he was going on the 2016 construction mission trip with our church I knew this was my opportunity to make it happen. The idea for this While You Were Out project actually came to me while Rory was on his first construction mission trip in 2014, therefore I had been $aving up for the past 2 years. Luckily he gave me a 5-month heads-up before he left because I used the first month to gather up my courage to actually commit to the project and the next four months to coordinate the materials and construction plan. I snuck subcontractors into our home to discuss their role and precise timing in the plan in the weeks leading up to the renovation when I felt confident Rory wouldn't be coming home, but I had a ready excuse why each man might be in our home just in case Rory did come home unannounced- it was all so scandalous. I had my tub shipped to my brother's house and had to make sure my cabinetry was built and ready to go prior to the trip because my cabinet maker was also going on the mission trip.  All the other material I was able to hide in plain sight because we were in the middle of our Irby flip at the time and I knew Rory would just think all the stuff was for that project.

In the days leading up to Rory's departure, I started getting cold feet. All my subs thought I was crazy to attempt a complete bathroom renovation in 1 week and weren't afraid to let me know it; and despite the fact I had saved up for the last 2 years, I started worrying about how Rory might react to me making such a huge financial decision without him. So I decided to see if I could gauge Rory's reaction by asking him to tell me what he would most like to see changed in our house. Um Wow! I was not prepared for his answer. Apparently, there was ALOT he was not happy with at our house because he spouted off a list with no hesitation. Luckily, the green walls in the bathroom did make the list but a lot of things I had never even thought of also made his list like:

- he hated that all of the electrical switches and plugs did not match

- he despised the gold door knobs throughout the house

- he would love down lights on the exterior eaves and wished our flood lights worked by the garage and back porch

- it would be nice if our family portrait that had been sitting in our hall closet for the past year could get framed and hung- and how come we don't have any other family photos around the house?

- Our mudroom tile was stained and nasty and would be awesome to replace.

By the time we finished our house tour of disappointments I was in a total panic that I was about to spend all this money on things that were not even on his list of important things. Sooooo instead of calling off the renovation, I decided the only way I could ensure a happy reveal was if I tried to knock off a few things he mentioned on HIS list in ADDITION to the master bath reveal.  And thus the projected project grew. 

Then on February 20th, at 3:30 in the morning, the craziest week of my life began....

Colby, our resident videographer, filmed the process so we could show Rory when he got home. This reno took place before I started blogging/Facebooking about our rehomes/storybook homes; therefore I wasn't planning on anyone but Rory watching. If I had known, I would have tried to look a little more cute or at least a little less scary. But I'm going to swallow my pride and let you peek because Colby worked so hard filming and editing the 50 min video down to 12 minutes, Cohen was adorable, and Rory's reaction.... well,  you'll just have to see for yourself. The lighting is pretty bad in parts so I'll include pictures of the "after" projects after the video.  

You know it's a good surprise when your husband forgets to ask you how much you spent until the next day.  

Here are some close-ups of most of the projects we tackled that week:

Electrical:

Downlights from the eaves:

New Exterior Door Lights

Went from a single dated chandelier to double pendants in Dining Room:

Swing-arm sconces over the coffee bar:

Also switched out all the light switches and plug-ins.  And upgraded several builder grade hall lights and the flood lights by garage and back patio.  

Re-tiled the Mudroom Floor:

Replaced all the gold doorknobs throughout the house to satin nickel.

Framed the boys' picture over the fireplace:

Dad made and I finished the picture shelf for the upstairs hall and for the first time in 7 years we had family pics on display:

Finished decorating Living Room with GIANT Romans 12 project:

And I painted an old round kitchen table Dad cut down to coffee table size: 

In the boys' bathroom, Dad came down and built the tub room window seat and shelf:

And I concreted the vanity tops:

Along with new lighting, faucets, and paint.

And then finally the room that started it all..... The Master Bathroom:

Organizational Bins!!!

Oh man! What a week!  It was not healthy folks. I know I didn't sleep, I couldn't tell you if I ate, and my kids pretty much raised themselves that week. You know it is utter chaos when your school age boys are excited about going to school just to get away from your house. I have no right to complain, I subjected myself to this insanity, but who I really need to thank are the men that I roped into this craziness who did whatever it took not to be the reason this 1-week renovation failed:

Darin the Plumber- he was on site the second the old tub and shower were ripped out to stub in for the new and was back at the end of the week to make sure we were fully functional

Marcos my tile guy- did all the big demo and re-tiled not only the floors but built and tiled the new shower.

Mark Ladd and his cabinet shop- built the vanities and cabinet

James Barr's crew hung the new sheetrock

Nicolas and his crew painted everything we touched 

Hall Electric did all the electric work

Rex helped me with some carpentry projects.

Dad built the window seat and shelf in the boys' bathroom, the picture ledges in the hall, cut down the coffee table and helped me with the wood walls in the master bathroom.

Mom kept my boys fed, on time to school, and alive in the 3 days they were down.

Cohen replaced all the doorknobs

Colby was diligent to take video every morning and night

So there you have it! That was the last of our BIG renovations on Sister.  It has been so fun reliving these renovations with you during the past couple of weeks as we have been preparing to put Sister on the market. There have been a lot of great memories in this house and it's a little (ok a lot) sad to think about saying goodbye.  But the fate of Caldwell and Storybook homes rests on us selling Sister so as soon as I hit "publish" on this post I will be placing a sign in the yard and working on our Zillow listing. I would sooooo appreciate a like and share from our FB friends when you see the listing go live.  And thank you in advance!

After this week I promise to return the blog back to the Caldwell story.  I've got a lot to catch you up on over there!

Front Porch

Next up on our tour of Sister is the exterior renovation.

When our family first met Sister there was no denying her Traditional Colonial heritage. Her design DNA was evident throughout but was most pronounced on the exterior with her textbook Colonial 5 over 4 symmetrical window placement and her pediment and column flanked door at the center of her red brick boxed facade. 

Her grand, stoic appearance did not fit our family's personality but we loved her regardless and adopted her as our own in July 2009.  

I found these pictures on the Internet from the old real estate listing:

You can see Sister was raised in a formal environment that perfectly matched her traditional facade. I can only imagine what she must have been thinking as we moved our slip-covered hand-me-down furniture, upcycled garage sale decor, and 2 rowdy boys under her pristine roof. 

Yet despite her past, it only took a new coat of paint and a few weekend DIY projects for Sister to start loosening up. By the time we tackled our first major renovation in 2012 (major being defined as one where we called in the professionals) we had completed enough projects that Sister was clearly starting to identify as a cottage farmhouse.  

Remember the formal dining room of her past. Well, by 2012 she was holding her china in an old chicken coop.

And that red formal living room was converted into my office where I met with my nutrition clients. Complete with a barn door slider I could shut for privacy.

And nothing says Farmhouse quite like shiplap:

Although Sister seemed to be transitioning smoothly into a comfy cozy cottage, outwardly she was suffering an identity crises. Her inside no longer matched her outside. Despite the fact I hung a human size whimsical flower on her door she still left a formal traditional impression on those that drove by.  

So in 2013, I started my campaign to get Sister a facelift. I wanted Sister to be comfortable in her own skin but I pitched the exterior renovation from a different angle when approaching Rory with the idea (the boys in my family have never been fully on board with treating our house as a 3rd child). I told Rory that the secret to me being more laidback was a front porch.

Sidenote: I am a very high strung person. NOT high maintenance, mind you, but high strung- there is a difference. I have an inability to sit still, I tend to be very obsessive and my obsessions are spastic in nature; therefore, I can be exhausting to live with (although not near as exhaustive as if I were high maintenance, right?!?).  

Anyways, I told Rory, (and I truly believed this with all my heart) that if we put a front porch on Sister, I would sit on that porch every single day with a glass of lemonade and just be still and content with my life, thus bringing calm and serenity into our family life.  It would also make us better neighbors. If I had a front porch I would greet all my neighbors that walked by and invite them to come sit on our porch and drink lemonade with me. I might even learn to play the guitar so we could have Andy Griffith style neighborhood sing-alongs on our front porch. And think of the money we would save. Instead of date nights at expensive restaurants and hired babysitters we could just hold hands on our porch swing and have long deep meaningful conversations about all our hopes and dreams for the future, except those conversations wouldn't be too long because all my hopes and dreams would be fulfilled with my new front porch.  

And guess what?! On my 35th birthday, I came home from work to find all the landscape ripped out and the brick steps busted up to make way for our new front porch!  Isn't Rory the best?!?! 

The deck framing was complete within the first week of getting started and the stage was set for our new porch.  I mean literally, the front of our house looked like a giant stage.   

And then it sat....just like that... for the next 6 months. We hired the sweetest, most talented framer in the world to do the project but I'm thinking we were low on his priority list because it took FOREVER to get the thing built. But once the work was complete I couldn't have been more pleased.  

During the front porch addition, we dressed up the windows and hid the old keystones under the wood trim for a less formal feel.

We also replaced the old front door and transom with a new 8 foot 12 light door.  

If you look closely, you might recognize that old transom. 

Rory and I built the porch swing bed.

And my Dad built the table.

Interestingly, this was Dad's first build for me and was the launching point for our furniture business "The Painted Stache." 

Rory and I installed the Landscaping.  Not sure where my right side hostas are this year.  They usually sprout up a few weeks after the left side but so far there are no signs of them.  

Now Sister's exterior fits her interior personality and I still pinch myself when I drive up to the house. Although I absolutely love the porch I am sad to report that it did not change my life as much as I had hoped or promised.  I rarely (like never) sit outside and I don't even like lemonade.  I'm still a terrible neighbor and I'm pretty sure you need all your fingers to play the guitar BUT I still think Rory is the best for agreeing to this renovation and hope Sister's new family loves it as much as I do.  

And a little Caldwell update:

buyer we have had to make some tough decisions that affect the budget and end price point but we decided to go all in and close in the carport and replace all the old windows with new energy-efficient wood windows.  I also heard all you library lovers cries when I mentioned replacing the existing library with a fabulous master bathroom.  You will be happy to know I have figured out a way to give this house both a dreamy bathroom and a stately library!  Stay tuned!

Caldwell Reno Here We Come!!

I'm excited to report that the historic commission passed our plans for the Caldwell renovation two weeks ago. Yippie!! Not only were the members of the board very kind and not scary at all, I was blown away at the kindness of our Caldwell neighbors who took time out of their night to come voice their support of the project. "Awesome Neighbors" will definitely make it on my future Zillow listing.

"So what now?" you ask. Well, with the historic commission's stamp of approval, the only thing that stood between me and progress on the Manor was a buyer orrrrr Rory changing his mind on the ol' "wait to renovate until we find a buyer" plan. Wellllll guess what?!?!! My scheme idea to convince Rory that we should move forward with the Caldwell renovation with the back-up plan to move into it ourselves if it doesn't sell worked! That's right!!!! The ban on the Caldwell reno has been lifted!! We are moving forward and boy oh boy have we been moving... in just 2 short weeks we (as in the professionals) added 13 new footings to help this 100-year-old home stand strong and firm for at least another 100 years; demolished lots of old stuff (Rory and I) and framed up some new areas (Professionals), cleaned out a mountain of racoon poop from the attic (Rory and I), and unleashed the plumbers to start ripping out ALL the old pipes to make way for new plumbing.  It feels soooo good to be working! And I'm predicting you might see some exterior changes on your drive by within the next few weeks.

But let's back up and revisit the "backup plan" for a bit.  So when I presented my idea that we could live in the English Manor if someone else doesn't fall in love with her, my thought was we would list both Caldwell and our house at the same time and then live in whichever one didn't sell.  Sounds reasonable, right?  Well, not to Rory- It still made him nervous to think that we might have 2 mortgages to pay.  But rather than rejecting my plan all together he countered with "move forward with reno (sans buyer) AFTER we sell our house". Honestly, I would have been happy with any deal that meant the end of my production strike but I pressed my luck and argued we should at least start the exterior renovation to help attract potential buyers. AND, while we're at it, we should probably go ahead and complete the demo, framing, and rough-ins on the interior so the house won't continue to scare away those that do express interest in the Manor. However, I pinky promised that once the drywall was up we would once again halt construction until we either found a buyer OR sold our house. Rory begrudgingly agreed, we sealed the deal with a kiss and that my friends, is where the Caldwell Saga sits today.

Ironically it wasn't until I was knee deep in raccoon poop that I came off of cloud 9 to realize this new revised plan:

A) does not account for where we will live during the time our house sells and we continue with the Caldwell renovation.  Hmmmm? and....

B) Oh my goodness! I'm selling Sister!!!!!

Yes friends, for those of you that never made it to the intro of this blog, I call my house Sister. You can read all about it here but basically, Sister was conceived from my need to squelch the baby bug.

When I finally realized there was no convincing Mr. Thompson of going for baby #3, I made peace with my circumstance by telling myself a story: My house could be my baby and all the energy and money I would have spent on a little girl I would just spend on dressing up my house instead!

And just like that, I cured my baby bug and two-story sister was born. Now I bet Rory wishes we would have just had that third baby instead of going on to adopt so many houses.....

Unfortunately, when I chose to personify my house so many years ago I did not think forward to what this would mean if we ever decided to move. Luckily, I was able to use the same strategy that got me into this mess to help me see my way out and once again be at peace in my world- I told myself another story: 

You see, over the last 8 years, we have poured our all into raising our little girl. We have cared for, corrected, molded, and above all loved her into the home she is today. Today she has an inner beauty that matches her exterior. But now that she is fully matured she is ready to fly the nest... or... she is ready for us to fly away, whatever. She is ready to settle down with a new family. 

See what I'm doing here- I'm convincing myself that I'm not really abandoning my house, Sister is simply getting married! It will be an arranged marriage of course; so I will be choosing her new family for her- which is perfectly normal and acceptable in American house marriages. Work with me here folks, this is what I have to tell myself to be able to sleep at night. Just remember the fate of Caldwell rides on my ability to let go of Sister. 

We have a little sprucing and touching up to do before Sister will be ready to entertain suitors (aka potential buyers) but we hope to have her ready by the first week in June. In the meantime, I thought I would use these next few weeks to share with you a few of Sister's biggest transformations.  

Besides a little paint and refinishing of the floors, the first major renovation project we completed on Sister was the kitchen- aka the heart of the home. It took me 3 years of cooking for families to save up enough money to redo this kitchen but, in that time, I figured out exactly how I wanted my kitchen to look and function AND to this day, 5 years later, I wouldn't change a thing. I blogged about the kitchen renovation here but neglected to mention how the 2-month process sent me to the emergency room with a panic attack from the stress of living thru the chaos of a renovation. I guess I wasn't into sharing my crazy in 2012- but since the crazy has become the bread and butter of this blog- I thought I'd share it now.  Living in a construction zone is nutso and I don't recommend it to anyone. I live, eat, and breath home renovation and dreamed of nothing else in the 3 years leading up to this kitchen reno and it still almost did me in. So my advice to anyone who will listen is to move out during a major reno OR renovate before you move in. That being said, you will see in the coming weeks that I neglected to heed this advice many more times while living at Sister but Rory and I have both said we will never live at another construction site again.  

Because this blog already has a detailed description of the full reno here I'm just going to give you a few before and after photos to summarize.

The Befores:

And the Afters:

During the Kitchen remodel we also added built-ins to our office.  Can't seem to find any before pics  so just imagine a plain, cranberry red room.

And now: (will show you the rest of the office another time when I've had time to clean it.)

Well, there you go, the first of several blog post dedicated to Sister.  Tune in next week for more updates on Caldwell and for the scoop on Sister's exterior facelift.