{ The Ranch }

Today my house crash is of my own sister's house! I've been excited to show you her before and after's because it looks really really great.

My sister and her hubby affectionately call their home the ranch -hence the title. It's not really a ranch per say...I mean kind of... if you consider lots of acres and chickens and turkeys and apple trees and corn fields a ranch, ok I guess it is kind of a ranch! This home was originally built and owned by my brother-in-law's aunt and uncle, did you follow that? It's a cute house with beautiful land surrounding it. I mean beautiful. If you follow my sister's blog she started writing about their makeover here.

 When they bought the house a couple years ago it was move in ready and they've slowly changed up a few things according to their style, like re-doing a bedroom for their twins, getting new carpet, painting walls and now they have made a pretty dramatic change with new siding, a new porch, new entry doors and a deck removed with big plans in the works for their backyard! The photo above and below are before pictures.

The logs on the house were a lot of upkeep and this year they would have had to strip them and paint them and fill in the chink (the stuff between the logs) for general maintenance -so instead they decided to give their home a whole new updated look which suits their tastes a lot more than the logs.

Although the log home style was gorgeous- I mean who doesn't love a log home, with all the charm and farm feel but the updated version is just as beautiful and will require no maintenance other than general cleaning which is great for them because they spend the majority of their time chasing around their almost two year old twins! Who's got time for log maintenance-right?!

Here's a pic of my darling niece and nephew from their first birthday party. Doesn't get much cuter than that folks! I just love them to pieces and those two crazy cats keep my sister and her hubs on their toes!



Back to the makeover... Here's a snap of the front before.

All those logs had to be ripped off the house. Jared and lots of helpers did that work so they could save some mula in the long run which was a great choice. Why not do as much as you can to save some dough right, at least that's our moto!

They chose vertical vinyl siding for parts of the house, shake siding and regular vinyl siding for other parts. The photo below is of the front of the house (obviously) but this was before the new porch steps and railings were built. You can see they picked a nice dark shade for the vertical siding on the front. 

and here it is with the new steps and porch rails and posts! Beautiful no?! They have plans to stain the new rails, posts and steps but that will be tackled next year.

The stairs got a little wider as did the new posts. They also had a new door installed and side lights as well.

The new door got some pretty paint. I am in LURVE with that color. You may see it pop up in my own house very soon...hint hint...

Here's a side view. This side has all three types of siding. This one is before the new rails and posts.

Here is after. GORGEOUS!

The deck was removed off the back of the house. They have plans to do a large patio. For now they have a few simple steps they are using to enter. They added some new entry lights back here too. They are goose neck style.

It's absolutely beautiful. I know they are really happy with the final results and I am happy that they now have a very manageable, practically no-maintenance home! Not only do they have busy almost two year old twins, but my sister has been struggling for quite some time now with her seizures which she writes about on her blog so they needed to have this update to simply make their lives a little less crazy and it is perfect, what a difference some new siding will make huh?!

Thanks for reading today guys and letting me share my sister's beautiful home with you all!

Happy Hump Day!

{ Living Room Update }

I realized that it's been a while since I showed you the living room. I still owe you an update on the laundry room but that will have to wait for now. 

Last time I wrote about the living room was right after I painted.  Here's a quick photo reminder of how it looked back in May.

I love the color on the walls. It took me a while to feel that way but now I am so glad I went with this color - Benjamin Moore-Sea Haze. It's a really cozy color. Sometimes it feels more green to me but everyone who comes in says it looks gray to them with a little blue tint. Funny how different people see different colors but I've always had positive comments on the walls in there. 

That hole above the fireplace mantel was that way until only a couple weeks ago. When we first bought the house it had cheap wood paneling put up to cover up the hole, here's a reminder of that below

My dad came a couple weeks ago and put up drywall to cover up that big hole. What a difference!

We are still working on the fireplace re-model. The vents got a coat of white paint, the old cement mantel got removed and some wood has been put up. Mark still needs to build a mantel, the whole thing will get painted, the black tile will get removed and replacements will go in, and the brick will be white washed. There's still a lot to do but I am really loving the hole being covered!

It was hard to decorate a mantel that only has about a 4 inch ledge right now but I wanted to get some fall things out. I plan on doing a lot more once the mantel is in place, which is exciting for me because I've never had a mantel to be able to decorate before!

Covering up that hole wasn't too difficult to do, (like I did the work haha!) I mean it didn't seem too difficult to do, so I don't know why it wasn't done that way before but I am SO glad we did that. I originally was thinking I would do some sort of plank wall on that end but the curved corners and curves up to the ceiling made that plan difficult. 

I was going to paint the bookshelf and TV table with chalk paint and still have yet to do that. I haven't gotten anything up on the walls at all, I need to get rid of the chaise chair and get an accent chair, and I am still searching for the right rug to put in here but for now, it is cozy enough for me. 

I recently picked up a few new pillows and those curtains (which need hemming) but overall I am really happy with how this room has turned out!

My to do list for over the winter for this room includes...painting the bookshelf and TV stand, getting some art work up behind the couch, doing a gallery wall behind the TV, and hemming those curtains. The thing that I want most done is to paint those pieces of furniture so hopefully VERY soon that will get done. For some reason I seem to never get done what I've put on my list of things to do. Maybe it's the kids, or that I work part time, or life in general, throw a little lazy in there and that's enough reasons for me. But it will get done and in the mean time we are enjoying our home!

I did do a small little painting project over the weekend. I took this old stool that used to be my great Aunt Caroline's from her home in California and updated it a bit.

It was a quick update and so easy. I love the change!

All I did was painted the legs with a mix of chalk paint and acrylic paint and stapled new fabric right over the old. 

There is a small space for storage inside which Jenna uses for her little things!

So there's the quick update to my living room! What do you guys think?! Still not sure what to do behind the couch so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them, I love getting feedback from you guys!

Until next time!

Be Blessed 

{ "365 in 365" }

Hey! So I have a friend that shared something the other day that I thought was REALLY cool and it was cool enough that I HAD to share with you guys. There's this guy, Justin Stover, who is a pretty great singer/songwriter who has decided to write and sing "365 songs for 365 people" and put out a new song everyday in 2015 (hence the 365).

 

The really cool part is - he is writing YOUR STORY! Your memory or moment that you share with him will be recorded  in a one minute song. Imagine your funniest moment, or the moment you fell in love, or saw your baby for the first time, or whatever it is that you want written will be recorded into a song. This could be the coolest (and most unique) birthday or anniversary gift to someone or just something fun to have for yourself!

 

 

Justin is using KickStart to boost his music career and to raise funds to pay for his recording equipment. So for a mere $5 you can have your song written and then in 2015 it will be released! I totally jumped on it. I am really excited to hear what he comes up with for me in a one minute song!

 

You can see the project at  

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/927684260/365-songs-for-365-people

 

Click on that link above to get your spot because they are filling up and you don't want to miss out on this unique opportunity to be a part of his 365 in 365 project! 

 

So how do you narrow down to one story or one memory to have written?! It took me a minute to think about what I wanted to submit to him but what I want to know...even if you don't sign up for the 365 in 365 is, what would your one minute song be about? Share in the comments if you would like, I would love to hear your story... is it funny, sweet, romantic...

 

...and just maybe you'll come up with something that you cant resist having Justin write and sing about too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

{ Craft Show }

Guys, I got nothing for you in regards to the house updates. I wanted to show you an update on the basement but nope, it's just not ready yet and I was really hoping to reveal the fireplace makeover but I cant do that yet either. boo. I kinda feel like we've been so crazy busy lately but with nothing to show for it. This is life, am I right?! 

I've been working on some fun stuff these last couple weeks, during nap time and after kids go to bed (since that's really the only time a mom has to do anything productive!). I' made up these cute little finger puppets and headbands to sell at the local craft show this weekend! I really enjoy crafting. Like really enjoy it. I wish I had more talent, and more time, and money for that matter.

 I decided to do this when my talented friend Rachael told me that she was going to have a table at the craft fair for the adorable little things she makes and I thought - oh! let me do it with you!. I had no idea what I was going to make to sell. I decided to craft up some finger puppets since my kids love to play with the ones we've made at home before. Then last week I decided to make up some headbands. You know those headbands that you see every cool person wearing now...yeah, I make those! 

I'll show you a few examples of what I made and what my friend Rachael made so you can get all excited and rush down to the craft fair (if you live anywhere near the Kent City area) on Saturday from 9am-2pm and clear our table out! Shamelessly plugging!

So here are the finger puppets...cute, no?!

I swear, your kid and every kid you know needs one, so come scoop em' up!

and those super cute headbands that everyone with style (I kid, I kid - they are for EVERYONE) is wearing

These are available in adult and kid sizes and come in pretty much every color and are double sided! I will take special orders so if you have a certain color combination that you want, let me know. I haven't even technically started selling these yet and have already taken multiple special orders! Who knew headbands were so exciting! 

As I said before, my friend Rachael is extremely talented and she has lots of stuff that she's bringing to the craft show that you HAVE to check out! She painted some beautiful canvases. I don't have any photos of those yet but I will show you her other things

She handmade these adorably stuffed spunky monsters 

She also handmade these super fun sock puppets. I will probably be buying her out of these for my kids so you might have to fight me for them!

Lastly, if you are still in the baby stages with the binky as your sole life saver at this point you are going to want to pick up one of her paci clips because you cannot chance loosing those precious things- yes, I am speaking from experience! They work with ANY brand of pacifier - even those hospital ones! 

Like I said, come see us at our booth this Saturday at the park in Kent City from 9am-2pm. Keep in mind....I really don't want to say this because it depresses me...but, gift buying season is coming upon us because there are ONLY 105 days until Christmas. I know...that's like swearing but it's true and if you can start your shopping or for you over achievers that have already started this weekend by picking up a few of these cute things that would be perfect PLUS I would love to see you all there! 

Next week...check back for a house update because I really do have a lot to show you but they are all in the finishing stages so I'm looking forward to showing all these projects off!