Did You Say Shopping Fast???

Yep! It's a shopping fast for me! Six weeks off from buying anything home decor related! At first, when I got the idea to do this, I started to get a little anxious about it. I mean, 6 weeks is a long time for me! But I'm feeling good about it now, and actually, a bit excited! Pretty sure my husband heard Heavenly Angels singing "Hallelujah" when he found out what I was doing and was thinking, "Thank goodness, no more boxes showing up at the door every other day!"

A while ago, when my husband and I were driving home from vacation, we were listening to Dave Ramsy. (If you haven't heard of him, check him out here). He was giving financial advice and it got us motivated again to really crack down on our debt, specifically school loans! And let me tell you, we have a lot!!! For those of you who don't know, my husband Jonas is a physician. You wouldn't believe how expensive medical school is! We are hoping to get all of our school loans paid off early which will not be an easy task. It will require discipline, proper money management, and drive. So I thought I should probably get started and a shopping fast will help me refocus on our goal.

I love social media. I should say "some" social media. I hate Facebook, too much drama, but Instagram is awesome! The whole home decor community is just amazing! The girls I have met on there are so supportive, kind, and genuine. I love having a place to share my passion with people who understand why my books are turned backwards on the shelf! Haha! That being said, it can be difficult to not get caught up in comparing, the latest trends, and the newest decor. I mean, who doesn't want a dough bowl or a barn door? But honestly, do I really need them? Are they going to make me a better person? Will they increase my personal value? Some might disagree with me but probably most of us would say no. We live in a world of consumerism. Obviously, that can be a good thing but it can also be taken overboard. The old cliche' "Keeping up with the Jones' " is a real thing. I've seen so many people "have" to have the best of everything even though they are up to their eyeballs in debt! We get in this mode of having to have what we want and have it now! I needed to take a breather to keep my hobby just that, a hobby and not an addiction. To reevaluate what life is all about, God, family, and people, not stuff. 

So I wanted to take a while to sit back, chill, and enjoy my life just how it is. The latest throw pillow can wait. God is calling me to be content with what I have at this moment in my life! To dwell in His presence and have the peace that only He gives.

After starting this fast, I have come across a sermon that is right on. You can listen here if you're interested. 

Now who wants to join me???

Dining Room Chair

Waiting is seriously one of the hardest things to do in this age of instant gratification, but delayed gratification can be oh so sweet and strengthen our character. Chairs may seem like a silly thing to be patient for, but, for one who likes to have everything in place and finished, 18 months was a LONG time!

Some of you know that I found the perfect chair! The ZUO Modern Richmond chair. I loved the nailhead trim, the distressed legs, the color, and especially the shape! Oh so yummy (if you can describe a chair in that term)!

Zuo Richmond Chair

What I didn't love was the price! For months, I searched high and low, watched sales like a hawk, and waited for the price to go down. But sheesh, those suckers never went on a good sale! At $250 a pop, we would be spending over $2000 on dining room chairs. That wasn't going to happen in this family. My frugal husband wants to get those medical school loans paid off, and deep down, I do too!

So, even though I wanted them, I had come to the conclusion that I needed to be smart about this and find something else. I was randomly scrolling through chairs one day on google, and up popped a twin to the Zuo Modern chair that I loved so much, the Avenue Six Kingman Dining Chair in Linen. It was so much cheaper I couldn't believe it, like $100 less per chair! I continued to search and was able to find them for around $100 per chair at Office Sight! (Link here). Nearly a third of the price! So I quickly ordered 8 of them around Christmas time. A few days later I was notified that they were on back order, and every website had them on back order. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed this new knock off of the Zuo Modern chair. So, my chairs were supposed to come at the end of March. That date came and went and I was notified again that they would be coming at the beginning of May instead. More character building right there!

When they finally came, I put them together in a few hours with the "help" of Anders (4) and Boden (1). They each took about 15 minutes to put together, a little more time at the beginning and with the kids. I'm extremely happy with them. What do you think?

Side by side comparison - the color differences may just be the lighting but I haven't seen the other in person so I can't tell you. It does look like mine are a bit lighter though which doesn't bother me. Mine are a light oatmeal color and the Zuo Modern ones look a bit more gray.

Pro's of Avenue 6 Kingman Dining Chair

• Inexpensive ($102)
• Easy to Assemble
• Comfortable - the cushion is firm but comfortable
• Pretty
• Seems durable, made of solid wood
• Well packaged
• Not too heavy - 15 pounds
• 1 year warranty
• Did I mention pretty already?

While I don't think these chairs are the highest quality ever, for the price, they are well worth it. I am very pleased with them and so thankful they are finally sitting around my dining room table! And yes, I do have 3 little boys, but they won't be eating at this table much. We eat most of our dinners at the kitchen table together and this will be for special occasions and dinner parties. They will also be getting a good coating of Scotch Guard!

 Have a happy Wednesday everyone!

The Finished Kitchen

This post is for those of you who do not follow me on Instagram (@weekendrenovators). If you follow me on there, then you've already been spammed with photos of my kitchen! Haha. I just wanted to post some quick pictures of our finished kitchen. It's basically done, other than a couple touch ups here and there. Once again, to see where we started, I am posting a couple before pictures.

 

 

 

 

And a few after photos:



Before the trim was finished



Before the trim was finished
 

Before the trim was finished
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it! Hope you all have a fantastic day!

Our Dining Room

I have been waiting for months to show you all our dining room! Literally, months! We have had most everything done but I wanted to wait until I had some chairs for my table! I had found the perfect chairs but they were so expensive and they never seemed to go on sale. Anyway, I finally found some that were almost identical for a third of the price! Score!

Some of the first things we did to this room were scraping the popcorn ceilings, removing the drapes, ripping out the orange shag carpet, changing the light fixture, and painting. Just for fun, let's go back to a few before pictures. I don't have a great before picture but here are a couple anyway.

Jonas installed the flooring about a year and a half ago and did the plank wall just after I had Boden (you can read about that here). We also had my Uncle Jerry frame those posts on the right of the picture above. Jonas has also framed the window and added baseboards, however we still need to do the finish work on that.

Shanty-2-chic.com has some pretty cool plans and I'm going to put my hubby to work building this pretty little sideboard for me. I'm sure he's looking forward to having more to do in his very minimal spare time! Haha.

Here's a couple of the after photos minus the sideboard and a well decorated table. I love this light and it only took a year for me to get it dusted! Haha!

I'm finally ready for some dinner parties! Bring it on!


Source list:
Light - West Elm
Rug - Joss and Main
Table - Joss and Main
Chairs - Office Sight, Kingman Dining Chair in Linen
Paint Color - Valspar matched to SW Dorian Gray

The Big Boys Room

I have been putting off blogging about the big boys bedroom because it's not completely finished. However, I'm not sure when we'll be done so I figured I'll go ahead with the post. We only have to finish caulking and painting the trim and doors, which doesn't sound like a lot but it can be a bit tedious. You can't see that too much in the pictures anyway.

So this room started out with pink walls and avocado green shag carpet as you can see. There was no overhead light and the ceiling, like all other rooms in the house, was a popcorn ceiling. Doesn't Jonas look super excited to start scraping that ceiling?!

We started scraping these ceilings before we even moved in. We knew it would be a mess and didn't want to deal with it while we were living here. This room was the first ceiling we scraped and it was super discouraging because the popcorn had been painted over, making it really hard to scrape off! Little by little we got it done though. We decided to hire someone to do the texturing throughout the house, as well as an electrician to put in overheard lights in all of the bedrooms. We had several types of texture in the house so we had him do the skip trowel on the ceiling which matched the main living areas pretty well.

As much as I tried to convince them (kidding), my boys did not want pink walls! Bjorn wanted a blue and green room and he was actually quite upset when I did navy and gray and didn't put any greens on his walls. I was partially redeemed by getting him green toy bins, however he was upset with me for at least a week! I didn't realize that 6 year old boys were so opinionated when it came to design. Haha!

Anders really wanted to help, so I let him "help" me with taping the stripes. Of course this is how he chose to help! Silly boy!

I don't know if any of you have tried painting stripes before on a textured wall, but it can be a challenge. I've learned a few tricks to get a perfect line and may do a tutorial on that a little later on.

Jonas and I had started building the boys bunk beds and we had them in my father in laws shop. However, it rained really hard one night and water leaked under the door and damaged the wood. Oh sad day! At that point, we said "Forget about it", and bought them bunk beds online.

Shortly after the carpet was laid, we had our flood in the kids bathroom (you can read about that here). So we had to pull the carpet back and had several, industrial fans on for about a week. So far, after getting the carpet re-laid, we haven't had any more big issues and I hope it stays like that! I am very please with the carpet we chose. It is a tan/gray and is super soft, but best of all, I love the pattern!

I am happy with the room for now. It will be very nice to have the trim done so I really should bite the bullet and do it. Oh procrastination! Such a love-hate relationship we have! In the meantime, I'm calling it done!

Window love!

This is not my usual post. Our Sunday was spent grouting the tile in our kitchen. What a pain that is! My husband bought the pre-mixed grout this time and it is soooooo much harder the clean off of everything! Holy cow! I would recommend NOT using it! Haha! Anyway, after many more hours of scrubbing, I'll be sure to post a picture of the finished product!
While doing this remodel, I've noticed a trend. One that I really love! Those black window frames! So our kitchen windows are super old but currently in style!

Tile before grout

 It add just the perfect amount of modern! Check out some of these pictures! Here's a few exterior pics to drool over:

Traditional Exterior by Mechanicsburg Design-Build Firms Farinelli Construction Inc

Traditional Exterior by Minneapolis Design-Build Firms Awad + Koontz Architects Builders

Farmhouse Exterior by Grand Rapids Home Builders Hanson Homes, Inc.

Farmhouse Exterior by Austin General Contractors Redbud Custom Homes

Farmhouse Exterior by Atlanta Architects & Building Designers Kemp Hall Studio

And here are a few interior pictures:

Farmhouse Living Room by Houston Architects & Building Designers Dillon Kyle Architects (DKA)

Farmhouse Living Room by Granville Architects & Building Designers ENJOY Co.

Farmhouse Kitchen by Larkspur Building Designers and Drafters Paulina Oldenbrook Interior Architecture & Design

Farmhouse Kitchen by Seattle Architects & Building Designers MAKE Design Studio

Farmhouse Bedroom by San Francisco Architects & Building Designers a.d.d. concept + design

So what do you all think? We will probably still have to change our kitchen windows at some point because they are so old, (and because I'm slightly OCD and they don't match the rest of the house). For now, though, I'll enjoy them as they are and imagine I'm really trendy! Haha! I better get back to scrubbing that grout now! 

That plank wall...

After getting numerous questions about our wood plank wall in our dining room and entry way, I have decided to go ahead and write a post about it. Unfortunately, I don't have a good before picture of this wall because I wasn't planning on blogging about it at the time. Just imagine 1970s wallpaper covering the wall, with orange shag carpet, and a brass chandelier, and you'll get the picture. Here's a before shot that captures part of the dining room.

"Before" dining room/living room

This was probably the easiest project I did in our house because I was sitting on the couch the whole time! Haha! Jonas did this last year right after Boden was born. So as I was sitting holding this sweet little guy,

Boden 1 week

the big boys were working on our plank wall. We like to use the forced child labor method to get things done around here. No, just kidding, Bjorn was begging to help! So we put him to work painting some boards! As you can tell, he's concentrating hard!

Bjorn working hard!

Now, I don't really think you all need a full blown tutorial on how to do a plank wall. As my husband said, "If you can't figure out how to nail a board to the wall then you probably shouldn't try this". Haha! Probably a little politically incorrect but maybe still true. So, I'll just tell you a bit about what we did. We (Jonas) first painted over the wallpaper. The whole reason we decided to do the plank wall in the first place was because we didn't want to remove the wallpaper. Ha! We bought some cedar fencing planks from Home Depot, a variety of both 5 and 6 feet in length, and let them dry out in the house for a week. I would recommend letting them dry out even longer if you don't want gaps between the boards because even after a week, ours still shrunk up some. You can see the difference between the two pictures below. I don't mind though, I think it adds to the rustic-ness (I don't think that's a word) of it.

So after a week of sitting in the house, it was time to paint them. We used a variety of paint colors. Two of the colors were left over paint from our fireplace and the boys room. The dark gray/brown we used on the fireplace and is SW black fox, and the lightest gray is SW repose gray. The other three colors are metallic spray paint. I don't remember the brand but we used the colors champagne, silver, and copper I believe. Once those were all dry, my husband started nailing them on the wall with a Brad gun using a staggered pattern. He had a bit of cutting to do around the outlets etc. and ends of the wall which he used a combination of a miter saw, table saw, and jigsaw for depending on his need. Once he got started on actually putting the boards up, it probably took him a day or two to finish. I love it! It was totally worth all the work he did! Haha! I really do have a great husband! I have finally ordered dining room chairs but they are back ordered until the end of March. When I get them in, then I'll put up some pictures of the whole dining room. Yay!

Plank wall going in!

Plank wall finished!

Entry Way

This was picture was taken a while ago and therefore the reason for the fall decorations. I'm still working on how I really want to decorate it so I won't show you a current picture because it's rather bare! Haha! Anyway, hope you all are having a great week!