I’ve been keeping a secret from you guys. {no I’m not pregnant}

The secret is my awesome walk in closet.  OK- walk in may be an over statement.  But it’s bigger than the closet I had at good old Rosewood Ave..

Welcome …

Even though it’s just a closet, I wanted to make it feel like a fun place that I could “shop” for clothes and accessories when getting ready every morning.

I used different colored hangers to differentiate the various types of clothing (shirts, pants, jackets, dresses). What can I say? That’s the A+ personality in me coming out!

And then used the shelves for my shoes…

and my jewels and smaller handbags.

I also utilized the tall blank wall behind the door to hang necklaces and some of my favorite art.

Amongst it all, I mixed some of my favorite quotes in with family photos that make me smile every-time I see them. I can’t think of a better way to start and my day than looking at the ones I love.

There’s talk around these parts about renovating our master bath, which means my closet would most likely become a shower, but we’ve got time to figure all that out.  For now I will continue to enjoy my closet as it is!

p.S.  are you following me on Instagram yet? {@tottyvb} I showed photos this weekend of the new fabric I got for the lumbar pillow on my bed and the kitchen chairs! Make sure you check it out!

Hello Blogging World!

I’m not going to make excuses for where I’ve been, no one wants to hear it.

Instead I’m going to show you what I’ve been busy doing…

yup- finally painted “most” of the interior front door.

It was too cold to keep the door open while the paint dried, so I just painted the interior panels.

can’t tell from the street, can you??

Now on to the Nursery…

I’ve been going back and forth about painting stripes, so I finally pulled the trigger and just painted one of the walls.

Still debating on if I should paint stripes on an adjacent wall.  Gonna keep you guys guessing a little longer on this one before I do a full preview.

Moving on…

The Headboard Arrived!

Totally loving it, but still trying to decide the pillow layout.  The 2 smaller ones in the front were scores I found at Homegoods for $15 each.  I thought they were a steal for a down pillow insert.  I plan on recovering them with this trellis fabric.

And then maybe get some white shams with a cool monogram???

{source unknown}

More on that progress later as well.

Now on to my most favorite project…

Words cannot express how much I love this little dude.

Lastly, I’ll  leave you with a photo of my fun new flats that I picked up from Steinmart.

Now we are offically caught up with my life.  How are things with you?

ps. Stay in touch with my on a daily basis on instagram- tottyvb

Thanks to all my peeps out there that sent us Christmas cards…

I loved going to the mailbox everyday to find stacks of envelopes that weren’t bills or junk mail!!

I’ve seen tons of cute ways to display them on pinterest, but call me old fashion.  I just like to stick them in my card holder that’s hanging on the wall in my kitchen.

see any familiar faces?!

{hey there- lylah, sutton, luke, quin, battley cate, hayden, liam, henry, margaret, trav, gus, maddy, philip, lily, davis, graham, abbie, wade, holland, leah, edie, griffin, alice, sadie, judd, cooper, bobby, evie, peliah and heis}

Did everyone get our card in the mail?

Sorry- inside joke, as these vB’s didn’t get around to xmas cards this year.  Not sure why.  Maybe it’s the sky-rocketting cost of cards these days, or not finding the right photo?  Perhaps you’ll all find Valentine’s Day cards from us in your mailbox come February.  But don’t anyone hold their breath.. ha-ha.

I did want to share some cute family photos that we had taken a few weeks ago… Several were in the running for the “xmas card that never happened”.

And my favorite of them all…

Happy {and Safe} New Years Everyone!

xoxo the vB’s

Happy Holidays Ya’ll!

Per normal, I feel like they sneak up on me and then I am rushing to keep up.

So let’s see, since we last spoke my “baby” celebrated his 2nd birthday!

We also hung with the family down in Newport News for Turkey Day…

and vanny got to share some special time with his great grandmother- Mamie.

Now we are a week away from xmas and Momma “might have” bought herself an early xmas gift today.

I’ve been saving my hard earned pennies for an Upholstered Headboard for our master bed and today I pulled the trigger!  I used a 15% off coupon and then scored free shipping because it’s National Free Shipping Day {who knew}!  So my normally $540 headboard was only $400!!!

Here’s what my new beauty will look like…

Notched Headboard with Nailhead Trim…Home Decorators Collection

I’m also dreaming up some new pillow shams, bedside tables, and artwork.

And for fun, here’s the progression of the master bedroom to date..

Look what was hiding under that wall to wall carpet…

Bye-Bye blue trim…

Hello Ceiling Fan…

I’m actually kind of embarrassed to show how un-put together the master bedroom is.  The addition of the carpet helped a lot and I think the headboard will break up that large wall behind the bed.  Then with some small dressers on each side of the bed as bedside tables it hopefully will look an adult lives here and not a college student.

Will let you guys know once the headboard arrives. Now I’ve got to get busy preparing for the family that is arriving on Friday.  Mr. vB and I are hosting both his and my families for our first Christmas in the new house!

So it has taken approximately 3.5 months, 6 tester paint pots, and 500 million paint swatches, but people, we have a new front door color!

Who knew it would be so hard to pick a freaking color!  {Not me, that’s for sure.} You all know I was ready to pull the trigger on that gorgeous turquoise color, then Mr. vB had to come along and shut that down..

Then I was all gung-ho about this cool navy color I picked…

But upon further inspection, it seemed to blend with the roof too much and I wanted a serious pop of color!

I got so frustrated that I was throwing anything at the door to see what would stick..seriously!

What a HOT mess..

Thankfully at this point the storm door was no longer attached to the front of the house, so no one could see the madness that was going on.

But I’m pleased to report that Mr. vB and I {finally} came to an agreement on a color and  I’m putting the final coats on the storm door as we speak.  Then I hope to get started painting the main door later this week.

Here’s a sneak peek!

Have y’all been to Sears lately?

Neither had I until I popped in today to return a Lands’ End Tote bag that I had ordered online.  Did you know that they have a full fledged Lands’ End Store in Sears.  No Lie!

Also, who knew Lands’ End had such stylish clothes this days?!

I walked away with this super cute Coat

Women’s Luxe Scoopneck Coat…. normally $249, but on sale in store for about $155!!

It comes in 5 super cute colors, but when push came to shove I picked “Juniper” Green.

I also snagged this simple Down Vest

Women’s Down Vest… normally $50, but again on sale in store for about $25.

When I went to check out, the saleswoman told me that if I spent $16 more dollars I would get an additional $60 dollars off.

Well thank you Miss Saleswoman- I accept your challenge.

And vannyB thanks you for his new hat!

Boys Northwest Passage Peruvian Hat.. yup on sale too…$16!

So my grand total for all 3 items was less that the sale price of the Green Coat by itself!

Awesome and Amazing!

Go check it out for yourself!  Now, go… what are you waiting for?

Boo Y’all!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween.

This year was van’s first time actually getting out and walking the streets for candy and he LOVED it!

Momma and Daddy loved it too!

Both our mom’s were big into making our costumes when we were younger, so Mr.vB and I couldn’t resist doing the same for vannyB.

We took a brown polar fleece sweat-suit, some grosgrain ribbon, felt, scissors, iron on tape and a stapler and viola-

A Lion Costume.

2 people called him a Tiger and 1 person called him a Flower {gasp} but everyone else got the concept.

The little Boo! t-shirt was for him to wear to school until it was costume time!

Here he is so proud of his costume!

This is one of my favorite photos of the night.

Mr. vB and I are proud of our costume making ability…

Too bad we didn’t take that much effort with our own.

Oh well- there’s always next year!

When we got home that evening, this was all that was left of his Boo! shirt..

Too Funny!

So apparently I took a self imposed blog break.

Didn’t mean to, but time goes by so quickly these days.  Every night after we got the dude to bed I would think, I should blog about {insert project here}.  But then I would open my laptop and stare blankly at the screen.

Maybe I was overwhelmed at all the info I thought I needed to be sharing on house projects, or the reality that it is hard work being a full time mother, wife, employee, DIY’er and blogger.  And when trying to make it all happen simultaneously, sometimes something has to give.

But enough of that.. I’m back and ready to chat.  We’ve got a lot to catch up on…

Since we last talked some doors have been painted, our fence has been finished,  landscaping in the front yard  has commenced, a new mantle piece is on its way, there have been several trips to the pumpkin patch and plans for a new 2 car garage and kitchen have been drawn.  A pretty slow couple of months if you ask me! {ha-ha}

I’m going to recap it all the best I can..get ready!

Back in September I started testing out some high gloss paint colors on our front door.

Here is the boring before…

And during the testing process..

I think I freaked out the neighbors a bit because at least one asked if we were going to use the same color on our shutters.

I was going for a bright blue..obviously, but it just didn’t work.

So back to Lowes I went and this time came home with a more turquoise color..

Can you see the difference between the turquoise at the top and the blue at the bottom?  They kinda blend together in this photo.

I loved the new color so much I instantly went to the back door and  painted it without asking Mr. vB’s opinion. {why you might ask did I not paint the front door?  Well we will soon be getting a new front storm door and I didn’t want to waste my precious time painting something that was headed to the Restore.}

Viola..Totally the pop of color I was going for!

Unfortunately Mr. vB greatly, extremely, passionately dislikes the color.

My compromise was that we would paint the Front Door a more purpely-denim color and leave the back door this color.  Jury is still out.

On to the Fence!

Never thought I could be in love with a fence- but I am.

This is the gate on the right side of the house.

Rusty at Creative Custom Structures took such pride in making it absolutely perfect.  I would HIGHLY recommend him to anyone in or around Richmond looking to build a fence.

Here is the view from the driveway into the backyard.

Mr. vB had to create a temporary fence to keep B&B contained until the garage addition is built.  Once it is complete, Rusty will come back and finish the 4th side of the fence that will butt-up to the back side  of the garage.  Again we totally confused the neighbors with a 3 sided fence.  Lots of head scratching going on in this neighborhood.

NEXT… Landscaping!

One might say that our yard has very mature landscaping.  Not in the sense of our curb appeal screaming mature adults live here, but more in the sense of “hello, I’ve gotten to the end of my life cycle, please do something.”

Ever noticed the 2 HUMUNGOUS English Box-woods in the border by the front door?  Couldn’t miss ‘em if you tried.

And the holly bushes that were packed in like sardines..

Due to budget constraints we could only tackle the front yard to start, but what an immediate difference!

We hired a high school buddy of mine that owns a Landscaping Design Company called Natural Progression Landscaping to do the dirty work.

Hasta-la-vista bushes.. Here’s what the front yard looks like now.

Our Curb Appeal screams.. Cool Hip People (with a crazy half blue, half green front door) live here now.

Mantle Time!

We have an awesome fireplace in our living room but it does not have a mantle.

I mentioned to Mr. vB one day  that I really wanted to investigate getting a refurbished mantle from the local salvage store.

And then I left to go to the grocery store.  When I returned this had been built.

We are still working on adding trim pieces and the actual mantle part, but it should be done in time to hang Christmas stockings!

The Pumpkin Patch

vannyB loves him some pumpkin patch.  We talk about it often and have been several times.

Lastly, we have been brainstorming ideas for our new 2 car garage and kitchen renovation!!

I’m not going to give away too many details on these yet.  But hopefully the garage will break ground by the first of the year and then the kitchen in late 2013/early 2014.

Congrats- You are now fully up to date!

{And I am exhausted.}

Bye!

So what’d ya think of the new place?  Pretty cool even with its crazy colors right?

Well the painters are officially done and the place looks and feels great.  I still haven’t had a chance to take “after” photos of every room, but here are a few for you!

WOW- right? Remember it use to look like this…

And here is my other favorite transformation.

{close your eyes if you are not a fan of painting over wood paneling}

Before…

During…

Finished!

We used the same paint, BM- Tapestry Beige, throughout most of the house. {thanks anne w for the recommendation!} I love the light feel that the color has, and it will really allow me to play up bolder colors in artwork, fabrics, etc.

The second big project that we have begun to tackle is having a fence built.  My four legged babies haven’t had a lot, okay any, unsupervised outside time since we moved in a month ago.  There was the one time that I tied each one to a separate tree and came back 10 minutes later to find both in tangled messes.  Bad idea mom.

I did my due diligence and interviewed more fence guys that I would like to admit.  We ended up going with Rusty at Creative Custom Structures and I am SUPER STOKED!

Our fence is going to look very similar to this one that he built for another client.

Insane detail right?

We will probably just leave ours unstained, but will make the final decision once he is finished building it.

Rusty got started yesterday morning bright and early.  First task was to clear the 15 years of unmanicured weeds foliage.

By the end of the day he had it all cleared and laid out the string line to show where the fence would go.

Today he started the holes for the posts. And hopefully by quiting time we might have some in place!

This weekend we are sticking close to home and are attempting to finish unpacking those last few boxes.  I still find myself getting very overwhelmed with the thought of decorating every room, but I just tell myself to get a grip.  It doesn’t have to happen overnight.  As with all good projects, it takes time.

Top things on my list are:

1. A New Storm Door for the Front Door, 2. an Upholstered Headboard for our bed, 3. a New Rug for our Bedroom, 4. Floor to Ceiling Shelving for the Pantry and Guest Closet

Minor Things on my list are:

1. New Bedding for the Master Bed, 2. New Bedding for the New Guest Bed, 3. Open shelving unit for the dining room, 4. Artwork

Anyone still there?  I feel like I just dumped a whole lot of 411 on you.  Guess it makes up for the 3 weeks of not posting anything.  Everyone have a great long weekend!

Before I start showing you guys the fun stuff we have been up to over here, we have to start at the beginning.

Here is what our new bundle of joy looked like on Day 1.

vannyB says Welcome to Dovershire!!

The “foy-yea”

The Powder Room

The Living Room

The view from the Living Room back into the Foyer

The Dining Room

The view into the Kitchen from the Dining Room

The Kitchen

The view from the Kitchen back into the Foyer

The Family Room off of the Kitchen and Foyer {view from the kitchen door side}

View from the Foyer door towards the back of the house

Going up!

The doorway to the left of the top of the stairs leads to the Master Bedroom. To the right is the Guest Bath and other Bedrooms.

vannyB’s Bathroom

The Master Bedroom view from the hallway

View from my closet looking at Mr. vB’s closet

View towards the back of the house looking at my closet and en suite bathroom!

The Smallest Master Bath ever created….

Hallway to van’s room and the 2 guest rooms

van’s Nursery

The Hall Linen Closet

Guest Room #2 {will be van’s big boy room one day}

Guest Room #1

I think the only spaces I left out were the back hall that leads to the garage and the back yard area.  Otherwise, there you have it in all its 60′s paint color glory.

I’m imaging that if we waited a few more years our paint colors would be back in style.  But I’m not patient enough to find out.

So our First project has been to paint THE ENTIRE HOUSE.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Every wall in this house has been painted as well as the trim.

Here’s a sneak peek…

Mr. vB and I agree that it looks like a totally different house now.

Now just to finish unpacking and the real fun can begin!