Home renovation progress report

So many of you have been asking about the progress we've made on our home renovation update and I've not been so good an keeping you in the loop.  That's partly because progress has been real slow with the exception of a couple of productive spurts here and there.

If I said we were on schedule for completion, I'd be a liar. We should be done by now but it's all of a sudden looking like the beginning April.  Rule number one with home renovation projects - don't expect to finish on time!  This is not HGTV (unfortunately because I'd really like the $1,000 light fixtures they put in houses!) so we are unlikely to stick with timelines. Maybe if we had tv camera's rolling??

Anyhow... here is what our kitchen, guest bedroom and bathroom looked like before.  I keep in mind that our house has come a long way because it could still look like this...

or this...

Fortunately, we are here...

Second bathroom.

Guest bedroom.

Living Room.  (Yay for furniture!)

Here is our hold-up...

Kitchen.

We are waiting on our custom cabinets to be made. However, the base cabinets should be installed by Friday.  Once that is complete we can finish up flooring and trim.  Once the upper cabinet frames are in we should be able to call the painter to come and touch up the trim and paint.

Done

Created open concept floor plan

Re-structured kitchen floor

New insulation

New walls

New windows

Installed 3/4 bathroom

Paint

Some flooring

Carpet

Some plumbing

Living room furniture purchased

Some electrical work

Appliances purchased

To Do

Kitchen cabinets

Kitchen counter top

Finish plumbing

Finish flooring

Finish trim

Paint touch-up

Finish electrical

Decorate!!

High 5 for Friday!

Happy Joy Week!  I hope you have all found Joy in your week - if not, I hope that today something happens that makes your day joyful!

With that, here are my high 5 for Friday!

One | Joy Week. I celebrated Joy all week by reminding myself to choose joy when I found myself getting frustrated and doing what I could to bring joy to others (I hope the office like the donuts this morning!)

Two| I have awesome cousins. They sent Adam and I this really sweet card to congratulate us on expecting a baby! Each of their girls signed it to - love it!

Three| Progress. House progress has been slow lately but the tile floor goes in today!  The vanity and counter top were installed earlier this week to - so far I'm loving our new bathroom. 

Four| It truly is a good day to have a good day! This was posted on Facebook by our local Aveda salon. It made me smile.

Five| It Feels Good To Do Good.  I really mean that.  It so easy to get bogged down by all of the negative things that happen in our world but it's really amazing how awesome you feel when you choose to do good!

I hope you all have had a wonderful, beautiful week and wish a fantastic weekend!

Client Design - A Basement Bedroom

I'm still decorating rooms thru E-Designs and I'm still loving it!  Seriously, can this be my full time job someday and my full time job become my part time job?!  A girl can dream, right?!

I recently worked on this bedroom for Monica, whom I also helped to decorate the rest of her basement apartment.  Her basement apartment has been a Pinterest favorite!

Monica gave me a great idea of how she was looking to decorate her bedroom, she just wanted the help pulling it together to make it flow with the rest of her basement apartment.

I have to say, that her basement apartment has been one of my favorites to decorate!  I hope to be able to share some before and after pictures with you!

If you would like to work with me to decorate a room in your home, I'd love to help!  Check out my e-design page for more information or send me an email designyourdwellingblog (at) gmail.com.

Pimpin' Joy

Happy Joy Week everyone! 

Every morning (and afternoon) I listen to The Bobby Bones show on I Heart Radio - such a great morning show if you are in the market for a good one!  They have identified this week as "Joy Week" and have asked their listeners to choose joy and share joy with others aka "Pimpin' Joy!"  For the whole story behind Joy Week, go here.

I am 100% on board with the idea of Joy Week and spreading joy to others - something that is easy to forget to do.  It especially easy to forget to do when the weather is bad, work isn't going the way it's supposed to, a hardship has hit you, your friends or family, or you are just having a bad day!  Regardless the statement above is true, "Life's hard. Choose Joy Anyway."  Thanks House of Hendrix for the motto.

This week, as a way to choose joy and share joy among family and friends who may, or may not, need it I'm sending them Sprinkles of Joy!  Thanks Oh Joy! and Caroline G from Chasing Big Dreams for the idea! 

Everyone who is being sprinkled with joy with also gets some joy to share!  I've sent each recipient a an extra packet of sprinkles and card to pass along to someone who could use the extra joy - now or in the future.

Choosing Joy and sharing Joy can be as simple as smiling at a stranger, asking the clerk in the checkout line how their day was or just saying to yourself "no big deal" when something starts to bother you.  Remember, it's easy to get caught up in the negative things that happen in our world, it's a tough place.

Here are a few other ideas for choosing Joy or sharing Joy to pay it forward:

Send a card to someone that needs a pick me up.

Offer to tip the person who brings the groceries to your car.

Send a text message to someone you haven't talked to in awhile just to say hello.

Leave an un-used or extra discount coupon at the checkout counter for the next person that comes in the store.

If you are stopping for a coffee, pay for the person behind you.

Bake a cake to share with the people you work with.

Take a friend (or stranger) out to lunch.

Write down at least 2 good things that happen to you each day.

How do you choose Joy?!  Please share in the comments! :)

The first 5 people to leave a comment with your email address will receive 5 joy cards  (like the ones above) to send to those who need some extra Joy! (Free! Plus no shipping and handling!)