the first DIY...

We attempted our first DIY project... revamp the garage entry to house- calling it the command center/landing spot.
This is the door we enter ever day to and from the house... it is a very tight space and needed some updating for my sanity.

You enter from the garage and you have 3 options:
Go straight to the kitchen
Go right to the basement or upstairs to the guest room
Left -hit a wall or the pantry

The pantry door collides with the garage door and the steps upstairs have already become the landing spot for all items when we walk in the door...

Here was the plan:
Create a Chalkboard wall- because that makes me feel like it is home
Create a sliding pantry door to avoid further collisions
Hang hooks and sorting area for mail and bags etc..

Here is the work:

This is the BEFORE (looking in from the garage door entry) the door you see goes into the Kitchen

 Here is looking toward the garage from the Kitchen entry.. the pantry door is on the left... 

Step 1- Remove Wallpaper! Here is my wallpaper removal helper... she used the scoring tool

 Here is chalkboard wall- Pantry door removed and brackets hung for the sliding door

 Here is the AFTER... (ignore the glaring light... fixture not replaced yet)

 View from the basement stairs

 view down the stairs from the pantry door

We used the original door from the pantry we just painted it and added new hardware.

one room at a time....

The household mantra... one room at a time...

easier said then done. I sit in a room- I have visions, I dream, I Pin... and then I move to the next one... I have started with small things, but really do need to go back to focusing on ONE ROOM AT A TIME.... because otherwise I am going to go crazy!!


Before we moved in I knew there were a few rooms that had to be painted for me to move in peacefully...
- The Breakfast Room
- The TV Room (what we call Den)
- The Nursery


The breakfast room is essentially connected to the Kitchen- so I decided what the heck- lets paint both!
*don't judge the photo quality... iPhone pics

Here is the before:

 The ceiling is a Bronze color, the walls are wallpaper texture up top and a dark brown on the bottom.

Inside that cute little door is an ironing board.... so not practical, but so cute!

Here is the matching Kitchen:

 More textured & gold wallpaper

More Bronze ceiling. There is a white ceramic tile back splash with Delft Blue prints...we kept that for the sake of time and nostalgia... TBD on if it stays forever...

Here are some during photos:

 This is with the wallpaper removed... ceilings are still bronze

 More barewall... no wallpaper- this is looking into the breakfast room

 Here is the breakfast room without wallpaper (in the background is the Dining Room... one room at a time remember)

Here is looking from breakfast room into Kitchen.

Here are the after pics:

 This wall.... still working on something to put here. More on that soon.

I love this window... that's all.

Before & After 

This space is not completely done, but much better for now.

Details of change:

- Paint Color: Benjamin Moore- Quiet Moments

- Lighting: Changed out the glass to Mercury Glass Globes from Lowes

welcome

Welcome to our new home. Before I started sharing all the inside details of our transformation I wanted to formally introduce you to the project and give you some stats on what we are dealing with.

Our new home is classified as a 1940s French Influenced Style home... however when I google that.. none of the homes look anything like this.

The home is 5 bedrooms and 4 1/2 bathrooms.


We have confirmed that there is original hardwood floor through out... mostly oak and pine, however most of which is covered with carpet. So please add that to your list of projects to watch out for!

The garage is a two car- however that is so far not proving to work out... so we currently fit 1 car (mine luckily)

Favorites:
- The Kitchen. not due to space, as it is small, but there is a large window looking out into our backyard that I Love and so much natural light comes in.
- The Sunporch.It is a 4 seasons room and we so look forward to spending evenings out there
- I have a laundry room! OH and a laundry shoot!! I hated the laundry closet in our last home.

All of these favorites are still a work in progress, but once they are done we they will be super favorites.

Here is a terrible photo of the front left of the house. This is taken from the driveway.

Now we just have to get to work.

Change

Some might say we are crazy... expecting a second baby... selling our house... moving into a 75 year old home with enough windows to clean to drive you crazy...

well- we are a little crazy, but we are not afraid of a little change!

We recently sold our home of six years. The one I blogged about- the place we lived in when we got married, had our first baby and experienced many of life ups and downs. Sold in 2 weeks flat!

At 7 months pregnant we packed up and moved into the home my husband grew up in. It is a 1942 home sitting on 2 acres of beautiful land in the center of our town. we love it! However... it is a lot of house and a lot of work!

With all that said- I am changing focus and bringing Salutations back to life for the next phase! Documenting the transformation of our new home and the growth of our family!

How are we surviving the move you wonder... well its week 2 and we are almost unpacked. Baby Berbee (#1) has sort of adjusted... she still asks to go home... which breaks my heart- but she loves her new big girl room and the choo-choo train that Daddy and Opa put in the basement 15 years ago.


Stay Tuned for more... lots of befores and afters. Maybe even some heavy venting about the 28 years of clean up... I joke that I might actually be cleaning finger prints that my husband left as a child.

It is a change, but we are home!

shhhhhh..... it is a surprise

what is it?? you want to know the surprise??



We are excited to announce that we are expecting another berbee baby! early January 2016 we will become a family of four (yes confirmed there is only 1 baby in there)

signs of Spring

Thanks to a cute gift from a friend and colleague- we came up with a fun Sunday afternoon activity! Growing Grass in cups!


We used these on our Easter table as place settings and let guests take them home!

Easter

It's May 26 and I am going to share some of my Easter pictures.

Marra had such a fun Easter season! First Easter Egg Hunts, fear of the Easter bunny- so no picture this year! Multiple Easter baskets from family... she was a happy little chick!

 Church Easter Egg Hunt

Getting ready for her egg hunt at home!

 She even helped me set the Easter brunch table!

what's for dinner

We recently started ordering from a couple door step dinner companies! We started with Plated- because we got a 2 plate free deal! The recipes were a little outside our comfort zone, but made it fun! Below is our first attempt... I burnt the fish ...

It was a Miso Crusted Pollock with Chinese Broccoli... if I would have ever come home with Chinese Broccoli for dinner B would freak... but because these chefs say its good... he loved it!

The items come pre-measured. There is some prep work, but the presentation of everything from Plated was great! The recipe was easy to follow, even had pictures!

We then decided to try HelloFresh, because we had a coupon for that too! This was another great offering although in comparison not as "adventurous" and the presentation of items was not as nice as Plated.

I do not have pictures of these meals... but we ate them all and enjoyed them!
Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes
Chicken Parprikash (although... not the version I was used to)
Ginger Beef with Rice


I would recommend any of the door step meals! It was easy and not very time consuming. Then you have a great meal that is probably fancier then what you would make on a normal weeknight.

My only advise is to make sure you DO NOT select auto ship...unless you really want it. We ended up with extra meals because they auto shipped the next week.... we just were not prepared for that.

key west getaway!

Despite my awful spat with the flu and then being gone for a week for work... there was light at the end of the tunnel!
We got to take an adult only- couples trip to Key West! It was great!

Thanks to my SIL- we had someone to watch the little one! B flew down to Miami where I was working and then we drove to Key West. I recommend this drive to anyone who has the chance! It was beautiful and also an adventure!

Here is an over view of our trip!

We started on Thursday night with South Beach Miami. I will say that being in Miami I felt very.... Ohio. The style there is very different and I was pale... and well just from the Mid West. The scene at South Beach was not really our scene, but we made the most of it. We strolled the streets and stopped outside for a drink.... the most expensive drink we have ever purchased... a not so delicious $35 margarita! Big enough for two people- strong enough for none.

I can not share any recommendations for South Beach except that I guess it is good for people watching no matter where you end up.


Friday morning we hurried to get on the road! We dropped the top on our Mustang Convertible rental car and hit the road!
It was about a 4 hour drive in total, but worth it!

Tried to take panoramic of the bridge... I will admit that there were a few scary points where we were just a little too close to the edge!

 While driving you pass through all the Keys... we stopped along the way to eat and to enjoy the views. Every where you look-it is the end of the earth and all water! It's amazing.

 Look at the top...CBus makes a debut! We were only 1,215 miles away....

 After 4 hours of driving through paradise we arrived to our home for 2 nights- the Key Lime Inn! This quaint place was great. Below is just the main house where you check in and around it sits little bungalows and villas. We stayed in a one room villa and it was precious! Clean and modern, we were pleasantly surprised. Breakfast each morning by the pool! Couldn't ask for more!

 While in Key West we did all the recommended tourist things and also just relaxed- ate and drank!

We found a local place called Willie T's that played live music all day long- outside!! So we stopped there along our walks each day...and night ! We of course left our mark!

Southernmost Point... a must. We lucked out with no wait... later that day there was a line literally wrapped a block long to get a pic with this thing!

 The chickens and roosters... oh my! They were everywhere... common as a squirrel is to the midwest, Key West has chickens! We stopped for Bloody Marys at Blue Heaven and enjoyed fresh air and rooster watching!

 The best part of the trip was just our time together... while we thought of our girl every day and talked about how we should take her with us next time... we liked just having adult time. To talk with out interruption and to not talk and still not have interruption. Here is a pic I took- at the pool... while laying down! How often does a parent get to do that!!

The sunsets were amazing. In fact, at a place called Mallory Square they have Sunset Celebration every night! everyone gathers outside on the pier with live music, street performers , food and drinks just to watch the sunset!

 We only stayed 2 1/2 days, but we loved it. We were ready to go home, but thankful to have made the trip!
Until next time...