You know Mr.vB and I are notorious for multi tasking when it comes to Home Improvements.  We barely have one project finished before we jump into another.  Currently we are:

• Working on the Kitchen Renovation
• Trying to order and install the rest of the Replacement Windows before Winter hits (9 Down, 7 To Go)
• Trying to prep the back of the house for vinyl siding
• Staining the Deck

And the newest project to add to the list is adding wood paneling to the wall behind our bed.  Originally Mr.vB thought about the idea of paneling the whole room, but I think it would look too busy.  Plus I have been bugging him for some time now about getting a headboard for our bed- this would be the perfect solution!

Here is what it looked like before:

It doesn’t show the whole wall but you get the jist.  Originally when Mr.vB moved in, the chimney stack was centered on this wall, meaning there wasn’t one solid wall in the room to put the bed against. Being the smarty that he is,  he built a new wall right beside the stack to make it appear wider than it really was.  And wadda ya know, it is the exact width of a king size bed.   He also added a little built in shelf unit that you see right above the pillows on the right side of the bed.  It’s the perfect spot for an alarm clock or glass of water.

So I spent some time last night searching the web for wood paneling ideas.  I surprisingly didn’t come across too many in a bedroom scenario- more in living rooms and dining rooms.  This image of a bathroom did spark my interest though..

I like how the paneling only goes half way up the wall and I can totally in-vision a bed against it.

It was all I needed to get started!  I got out my trusty blue painter’s tape and started taping up some ideas.

I knew I would need to keep in mind the open shelf, but I think it can be easily incorporated.  I am also not too sure yet of the scale/proportion.  I was totally just guessing at the height of it all.

Once we get the proportions figured out, I will then leave it to my trusty husband to determine exactly how to build it.  We will also have to decide it we want to paint it the same color as the walls, maybe a darker shade to pop, or even wilder- incorproate some wall paper into each niche.  Hmm.. wonder if I could talk Mr.vB into installing some cool wall sconces too!

Who’s There?

My Awesome New Front Door, that’s who!!

Many thanks for the inspiration from Little Green Notebook!  It was such a simple project and makes an AMAZING difference to the room.

Here is the Boring and Blah Before.

And the Amazing and Awesome After. (Am I getting too excited about a door? Don’t answer that.)

One photo is with the flash off (above) and the other is the flash on (below).    I had to show you both because without the flash you couldn’t see the frame around the door, but with the flash you get such a glare off the semi gloss finish.

The finishing touch will be to get the remainder of the hardware for the door. We already swapped out the lock-set to the antique bronze finish, but we have been saving up for the door pull.  It’s surprisingly how expensive those suckers are!

to paint the inside of my front door.

I was surfing one of my favorite blogs this morning and came across this at Little Green Notebook.

{photos courtesy of Little Green Notebook}

It seems easy and the inside of my front door could totally use some TLC.  I even think the black would look great. Hmm…..

With my new kitchen. {and my awesome husband for making it all happen)

We spent a day or two this long weekend finishing up some loose ends and WOW it has all come together beautifully if I do say so myself!

We still have to finish:

-Painting the walls and cabinet frames

-Purchasing and installing the remainder of the cabinet doors and hardware

-New counter tops??

-Ripping up the old tile floor and laying the new Hardwood floor (definitely a project for next year’s budget)

Doesn’t sound like a lot, but added together it costs A LOT of moolah…and after my visit today with my Tax guy (don’t forget estimated taxes are due on the 15th…) we may just have to do a little at a time.  But that is okay, it is already worlds better than it use to be!

Mr. vB and I took advantage of some Labor Day Sales yesterday and bought 2 new goodies for our kitchen.

We got AMAZING deals at the local Scratch and Dent Store that we just couldn’t day no to.  We even saved on delivery as we just borrowed his brother’s truck and strength (thanks Justin!) to get our new goodies home!

Just a little more work to do on the kitchen before I reveal the finished product, but I think you guys will be impressed. We already love it and it’s not even finished!!

Got another teaser for you guys…

Anyone want to guess what Mr. vB and I were up to today?

To my loyal readers.. a drum roll please.. we finally have photos of the New Bathroom!  I hope it lives up to all the hype!  I’m not sure where to start so I am just going to jump in.  (For a refresher of what it used to look like click here.)

Enjoy!

Shew.. It feels good to get that out there!  Now the pressure starts with catching you guys up on what we’ve been up to in the Kitchen.  As we speak Mr. vB is busy drawing up some new ideas.  I feel a trip to Ikea in our very near future!

Mr. vB and I have already delved into another house project and we are still leaving you guys high and dry on the photos of the new bathroom.  We are not doing it on purpose- I promise.  I am just waiting for a piece of artwork to be framed before we start the photo shoot.  It should be done this week…and then ready to hang!

So while we are waiting, Mr. vB and I thought we would get started with another “little” project- our kitchen!

Months and months ago, Mr. vB started to hand make new cabinet fronts for all 32 cabinets in our kitchen.  Only 6 have actually made it onto their hinges.  I have also been pushing to get a new stainless steel hood to go over the stove.  I’m not sure what was in Mr. vB’s coffee this morning, but when I showed him a few sketches I had done of what I envisioned our “new” kitchen to look like, he was off and running.  I took some great photos of the demo that we did.  There are a ton, so I am going to upload all the still shots and make them into a little movie.  Watch for that later this week.

But for now I will leave you with this..

Our Kitchen this morning at 11am

And at quitting time…

Any guesses on what we are going to do??

PS.  I have the bestest husband in the entire world.  He worked his butt off today and I appreciated every minute of it.  It’s not every day you wake up and say, “let’s renovate our kitchen today.”  He is a very talented man and he continues to surprise me with how HANDY he really can be!

So remember how I was saying I was looking to freshen up the living room a bit?  Well I hit Mr.vB with some of my ideas this past weekend and he was in!.. What a nice surprise!  (disclaimer- both Mr.vB and I have design backgrounds and sometimes we can butt heads about the look we want for the house)

I had been eyeballing this rug at Target the past couple of months, but was never ready to take the plunge.  Well this weekend we took a joint visit trip and when I showed it to Mr. vB he said he liked it too.   We thought the colors in the rug would complement the walls in the living room perfectly.  But instead of buying it right away we came home and took some measurements.  Our row-home is long and narrow, and with the way we have our living room set up we weren’t sure what size rug we were going to need.  The largest size available in the store was a 7 x 10, anything larger we had to buy online.  We decided the 7 X 10 would fit the best, luckily.  I mean doesn’t everyone like immediate gratification?  Who wants to wait for it to arrive via snail mail?

So here is a reminder of what the living room looked like before..

And here it is with the new addition..

I really like how the rug seems to warm up the room and tie everything together.  Our wood floors are so worn and rough, the rug helps mask them abit until we can get to refinishing them.  The bad thing about the new rug, is that I now want to get new window treatments, new accent pillows (as previously stated) and maybe even a new coffee table/ottoman.  The design wheels are a turning..Mr. vB better watch out!

Can you hear me shouting from the rooftops?? I am so happy to announce that the bathroom is FINISHED!  The bad news is that Mr.vB has the camera with him, so until he returns from his road trip I can’t take any photos to brag show you the finished product.  Instead I am going to show you all the photos I took during the 3 month renovation- start to finish. There are a ton, so hope you don’t get bored.   It’s an amazing transformation.  I hope you will feel the same by the time of the big reveal.  Here we go!

Pre-Renovation (seeing these photos again makes me realize how bad it really looked- I was in denial!)

Week One

All clean and ready for demo

Remember how we mentioned that we were worried that the original contractor had not properly sealed the floor of the shower?  This is what our new contractor found when they ripped up the existing floor.  Absolutely nothing.  The original dude had tiled right on top of the old hard wood floor.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

Week Two

This time we are making sure we have the proper moisture barrier!  The guys took down all the existing wall board and then hung this vinyl wrap between the new wall board and the studs.  Then they were going to install a proper shower pan and liner.  Plus a proper curb!

Week Three

Now let the tiling begin!

So while they tiled, we primed and finally framed in that window.  We also contemplated some wall paper.

Week Four

Still tiling…

Week Five-Twelve

During this 2 month period Mr. vB and I painted, and painted and then painted some more!  Those darn stripes were going to be the death of me.  Every time I thought I had enough coverage so you couldn’t see them, they would seep through again.  We also got the wall paper hung, the counter-top refinished, crown molding and shoe molding installed, new electrical outlets and face-plates, and all those other little accessories you’ve seen the teaser photos of.

As you can see A LOT of hard work has gone into this renovation/transformation.  I must say I am quite proud of how it has all come together.  And I’m really excited to show you guys the grand unveiling so stay tuned!