High 5 for Friday!

One. I stayed overnight in Des Moines for work this week. One of the perks of waking up in the city is a quick trip to Starbucks! :)

Two. Our renovation project is moving along pretty quickly.  Before the drywall was sealed up I wrote a quick note to the future owners of our home and put it in the wall.

Three. Since our kitchen has moved to the garage, Axe spends a lot of time with us.  She is an excellent helper when it comes to cooking supper. 

Four. The sheet rock went up in our house in one day (it's not a big house). Our vision is starting to take shape.  Stick around to see what our vision is. 

Five. We had our first baby this week - an 80+ lb heifer calf! 

P.S - Today is the last day to book an E-design for a discounted price of $80/room (usually $100)! Find out more information here. 

The stories of our old house

We are a week are 10 days into our main floor renovation and we are wasting no time at all!  Here is what has happened so far:

• Removed plaster and lath walls
• Took out the kitchen floor
• Replaced the kitchen floor
• Created a doorway into what will be our 3/4 bathroom
• Adjusted electrical, re-organized light switches, added lighting
• Moved and updated plumbing
• Spray foam insulated our entire main floor
• Roughed in the shower for our 3/4 bathroom
• Met with the cabinet maker
• Took out the rest of the chimney in our basement
• Dry wall will be up by the end of today

What's been more interesting is the story this old home is telling us.  (We were hoping to find an envelope full of money but that didn't happen.)  

Our home was built around 1920 and from what we understand raised a few, rather large,  families (8-12 people).  Some of the wood used to frame the interior walls was used even before this house was built. Check out the picture below...  The white lines and nail holes indicate that these board were used prior to framing up this wall.

There also used to be a door that faced the east.  Do you see how it is still framed in between the patio door and window?

A few other discoveries we've made...

• This bathroom used to be a bedroom.  We found out that because there was another window framed into one of the walls.  Thus the reason we have a humongous bathroom.
• Our master bedroom used to be two rooms.
• The only bathroom that existed in the original house was on the landing of the stairs.
• The kitchen was added on in the 60's or 70's. They were terrible carpenters - only a couple of nails held the floor boards up and the raters above that held on the ceiling  were not even screwed down.  (Seriously??!!)

Next week I'l continue to show you are game plans and a few design boards to give you a perspective of what our space will (hopefully) look like when it's all done!

High 5 For Friday!

One. It's had been awhile, but we still know how to clean up well.  And, even though we are married, I still think I landed a pretty good-looking guy!

Two. Renovation has begun.  Open floor plan here we come!

Three. Adam built and organized a new laundry room in our basement.  He even picked out a new washer and dryer.

Four. Since renovation was happening downstairs, I (temporarily) moved my office to the bedroom.  It's a comfy and sunny place to work.

Five. I finally finished a custom greeting card order for a friend in Indiana. I love doing this stuff!

I hope you all have had a great week!!

Renovation Game Plan - office turned guest bedroom

Holy smokes... renovation is 100% underway at our house and I tell you what - our contractors don't waste time.  Our whole main floor is gutted down to the studs.  Exciting but very dusty.  I'm sure I'll be vacuuming our upstairs daily for the next 6 weeks.

I'm sure you are all curious about our official renovation game plan so over the next couple of weeks, I'll take you through our main floor one space at a time.  The over all goal is to add a guest bedroom, 3/4 bathroom and create an open concept floor place without putting an addition on the house. Do-able? Yes.

To start - here is a look at what used to be Adam's office. This will become a guest bedroom.  (He now shares the basement office with me. Lucky Guy!!)

Here is (sort of) a before picture.

Here is a look at our "structural" game plan.

My husband, being the ambitious guy that he is, got excited and started breaking through walls. 

Structural plan

Remove Trim - replace with new

Tear out plaster and lath walls - replace with sheet rock

Tear out ceiling - replace with sheet rock

Tear out the flooring - replace with carpet

Center heat vent under the window

Move the heat duct to the inside of the wall

Close the doorway that used to lead to laundry room - this will become a full wall.

(laundry room will become a bathroom)

Cosmetic Plan

Repaint with a medium-dark gray

Accent with white, coral, and light gray

Add a light fixture

Standard bedroom furniture

My cosmetic plan will come to life through a design board so stick around to see it. Did you notice I was testing out a paint color already? It was just a little bit dark for this room.

T-24 Hours Until Home Renovation Begins

Saturday afternoon I was baking cookies and Adam was lounging on the couch when he got a phone call from our contractor saying "Hey, I want to start on your house Tuesday morning!"  Yayyyy!!! (I mean, Holy S*!% this can't be happening, we aren't ready!)

You see, we decided to renovate the main floor of our 1920 farmhouse to create an open floor plan and ultimately create the feel of more square footage. Adam called the contractor on December 30.  They said they would give him a week's notice so we could move everything out and so that Adam could tear down all of the walls, which are still plaster and lath (yep, old).

Our contractor called Saturday.  A week's notice versus just over 48 hours, what's the difference?! I mean seriously...no biggie.  It's not like we didn't have plans to go out with friends or anything.

In that 48 hours we had move everything out the main floor of our house (minus the food in the fridge and our canned goods), took out half of our kitchen cabinets, removed all of the trim and knocked out the walls that separated our kitchen from our dining room.  Ooofta! (Did I ever mention that I'm originally from Minnesota?)

Here is what our house looked like on Sunday morning...

Here is the same view on Sunday evening...

Progress? I'd say so thanks to, probably, the most handy, hard-working husband in the world.

Can you see our vision??  If not, the good news is that this little blog will take on a new topic - home renovation.  Be ready for progress updates.  

Next I'll share what our space currently looks like and identify the changes we'll be making.  Followed by my vision for the new space.  It'll be fun!  

Oh yeah... and if you're looking for a good cookie recipe.  Check out this one!

Client Design - A Basement Apartment

Right before Christmas I finished up a client design for Monica who owns a basement apartment.  She was looking for ideas to spruce it up and make it feel more modern.  I was pretty excited to be asked to work on a design for her - I sorta felt like Scott McGillivary, the host of Income Property on HGTV (minus the construction and layout) because this basement apartment is just that awesome so it was fun to work on a contemporary design to help make her space feel homey!

Here are a few quick snapshots of Monica's space.

Like I said, the actual design was fun to work on! Here is what we came up with for her living space, office nook, and dining area.

I can't wait to see after pictures!

If you're looking to liven up your living space I'd love to help you out! Find out more about my e-design service here. Plus I've got a sale on my design services through January. Find out more here!

Beef Roast In the Living Room

Yes, this happened.  I thawed a beef roast in our living room because our kitchen was so incredibly cold.  This is what happens when temperatures plummet to -35 to -40 below with the windchill - yikes!!  Not to mention our kitchen lacks some seriously needed insulation and sits on the northwest corner of house.

Before supper we had to warm up our plates in the oven... no joke!

My husband also found a new use for my hair dryer which he has now claimed as "half his." It works great to thaw out the frozen water pipes in the house and the cattle waters in the cattle shed.  We may need to invest in a second hair dryer, I'm not ready to give up mine yet.

While I found a lot of humor in these few things throughout the day, we are still concerned about our animals being cold and our water pipes bursting and freezing. Fortunately we are warm (as long as we stay out of the kitchen.)

Here's to warmer weather ahead!!

High Five For Friday!

One. Mailing orders from my etsy shop is so fun!
Two. This is my nail color of choice lately - Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Early Gray (320)
Three. I took a little bit of time to jot down a few "year in review" notes and was reminded of how spectacular 2013 to us. (With the exception of our dog that died...)
Four. My husband built all of this storage yesterday.  It took him just half of a day.  He is so darn handy - I completely appreciate that about him!
Five. I just can't beat the country view from the front of our house. Even though I often think these cows are on the loose! (Just for the record, there is a fence.)

I am offering a discount on my interior decorating services here.  Check it out!

Cheers to a new year!

New Year, New Home - A Resolution to Love Your Space!

Happy New Year!  How can it be 2014 already - eeekk!! I just wrapped up one of my favorite years of all time so with any luck that means life should just get better, right?!

On December 30 (no lie) we talked to a contractor about gutting the whole main floor of our 80+ year old Iowa farmhouse, changing the layout to an open floor plan.  A big undertaking but it will be so well worth it to have a better, more open floor plan.  We are both very excited to say the least.  In fact, Adam is building basement storage this very minute...

While we aren't getting an actual new home (I don't want to leave our farm site) it will feel like a new home and I can't wait to share plans along the way!

In honor of the new year and our resolution to love our space, I have a special offer for you - a sale on all Design Your Dwelling design services!!

E-Design Services are on sale for $80/room (originally $100)

Virtual Room Consultations are one sale for $15/room (originally $25)

This offer is available thru January 31.  Email me at designyourdwelling (at) gmail.com and mention the  New Year, New Home offer to get started!

One of my goals for 2014 is to really run with my interior design business.  I love it - it feels so good to help people design a space people are excited to live in!

For more on my design services go here. To see some of the client designs I've worked on, go here.

Cheers to 2014 friends!