Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone! 

Luke and I are doing well as we enter the final two weeks of life as we know it (just kidding), but seriously our last two weeks with just the two of us. So crazy to think how time has flown by. We are so blessed and look forward to meeting little miss Lane.

I know some of you (Lowrey) have been nervous about Lane's nursery since our whole house was/is in the process of getting a face lift, but I am happy to report we are 98% finished with her room. I have to paint a mirror above the dresser and we'll be calling it quits in that room.

We have made other major progress with the rest of the house as well. So today I'll finally show some pictures, but NO JUDGING because we still have work to do as you'll notice (we have no vent covers, etc).
We wish you and your family the best Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Remember this front room? 

Who could forget this lovely 1983 kitchen?

I hope you forget the 1983 beauty when you see our NEW KITCHEN! I am so happy with the way it turned out. I hope you LOVE it too!

WooHoo! We removed the wall dividing the two rooms shown above and raised the ceiling up (from a drop ceiling) to normal height by adding a soffit (a place for the duct work ladies).
We added an induction cooktop to the island with a vent hood over that. The countertop is quartz and we used simple white subway tile for the backsplash. The faucet is probably one of my favorite things to use, and I'm not sure I could go back to the faucets of old. I think the only survivor of the old kitchen is the dishwasher that you can't see because of the computer in this picture. The computer won't be staying, but is currently living on my island for the time being.

We had a little window looking out into the living room before the reno, and here you can see we opened that space up for easy walking access between rooms. We also installed a microwave/oven wall unit from Jenn Air that I must admit is smarter than I am. 

My pantry is the cabinet units shown on the left of the fridge. 

The island was a dream come true! We have deep drawers for storage on the cooktop side and upper cabinets on the barstool side to store things not used often. In this view you can see we created two 5 foot openings to allow the space to feel open and easy flowing. I love all of the natural light coming in from the windows that were blocked off originally in that sad front room. 

One last look! Most people that have seen the before and after in person can't even believe this is the same space. It still amazes me how much room was really available. I LOVE COOKING in this Kitchen!

Now onto the living room! 

Our Christmas Tree!

A view looking back toward the kitchen! You may notice the blue seen in earlier blogs is no more. I decided a less intense color would be better now that we live here full time. We still have vent covers and art to hang, but we're almost there! In this room we de-popcorning the ceilings, adding crown molding (Luke put up crown throughout the entire house), added bead board, and had to paint every piece of trim and door to white from the yellowish color they were originally.

We gutted the wet bar due to mold and matched the kitchen finishes. We recess mounted the TV above the fire place, but have the option to pull out and swivel for viewing on the back deck. Please also note that Lane already has a Christmas stocking thanks to Luke's Grandmother! It was such a sweet surprise to get in the mail!

 

View from the hallway into the living room. Luke installed track lighting and can lights 

 Nursery Time!!

 I think Little Miss Lane Olivia will like this!

View looking into her room from the hallway! I decided on a blue and pink nursery theme! The fabric is blue seersucker(which you can't make out well in these pictures). In making this nursery happen I must give thanks where thanks is due. First off Amanda Dorman (my mother in law) made the bed skirt and is working to make these super cute flowers that we'll sew onto the breathable bumper. Amanda also made the beautiful pink pillows in the background. I think I'll add another post of all of the little details that are hard to see well in these photos. The fabric she used to make the pillows is the same fabric she is making the cute flowers from. You can't make out they even have cute patterns from this photo though. The cute monogrammed pillow is from a friend Lisa G. The window cushion was a big challenge that my sister Katie and I tackled making over Thanksgiving weekend. Ben Dorman spray painted my old dresser, sister Katie and sis in Law Stacie helped wrap yarn around the wooden letters that now hang on the old window. So...as you can see this nursery was a family affair and I am beyond thankful for all of the help. I must give thanks to Luke too for helping put everything together.

The last item left is painting this mirror white to match the dresser!

Mrs. Sock-ta-pus

The wreath Lisa G. made for one of my baby showers now hangs on her door.

Well that was a super HUGE post, but I had to make up for my time away. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!