Home Sweet Home: Master Shower

In our previous house, we renovated our master bathroom & turned a garden tub space into a walk in shower with a gigantic window & I LOVED it! In this house, we knew we wanted a similar bathroom feel. This time, instead, we decided to have the shower be a bit larger and have a half wall instead of two full walls. 

In keeping with my inability to really realize the true measurement of something, I designed the bath to have a picture window and didn't understand exactly how big it would be. 

When the windows were installed, I finally realized how large the space would be. The farthest window on the left is the master bath window!

We knew we'd be frosting the window ourselves, and I think it took two cans of frosted glass spraypaint (found at Walmart) to cover the whole thing.  

Aaron wanted to do the shower structure himself to save on labor and to have the experience. So he did lots of research & used the Schluter- Kerdie shower kit. (That's all the orange stuff shown in the pictures.)

It took us a while to settle on a tile but we knew we wanted something bigger than subway tile this time around. We kept our shower floor the same as what we chose before in the other house though-- a tarmac textured hexagon tile. We eventually chose this slick gray tile in a mottled gray finish for the walls of the shower.  

Just a few weeks ago, Aaron designed & cut a sturdy piece of plexi-glass to go about halfway across the half-wall to keep shower spray from getting onto the floor on the other side of the half-wall. 

I love how it turned out! It's so nice having natural light in the bathroom. It was a labor of love but totally worth it!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Home Sweet Home: Cabinets & Countertops

Oh, cabinets. You are spectacular but also spent many weeks as the bane of my existence and tempted me to become a House Hunters International client who does not use cabinetry.

I love the way our cabinets turned out, but holy smokes it.was.a.journey! Since we designed our own home, we had a custom shaped kitchen meaning that the cabinets that can be ordered from the big box stores would not fit our space (although I highly debated just buying some and making them fit the space during the cabinet ordeal). Aaron just kept patiently reminding me that building a home is a process and boy was it! I’m still not as patient as he is (and good gracious, I don’t pray for patience! I know better). I’m just super really happy to be on this side of the building process and can look back on the weeks of despair and recognize how happy I am allowed to be.

So many decisions have to go into making and building a home, which I knew in theory but actually had to (and am still having to!) practice when in the process. For the cabinetry alone, the decisions included: style of cabinets, height of cabinets, structure of countertop space, drawer and cabinet pulls (just got those ordered today!), and color of cabinet stain. Let’s break these down.

Style of cabinets: This one was pretty easy. I knew I wanted shaker style cabinets so that the lines stayed simple and linear in order to bypass any trends and keep the classic lines. However, my drawers did not end up being shaker style, and although sometimes I think about being frustrated, I’m just glad that I have drawers.

Height of cabinets: This is where I kind of falter. I don’t measure things. My husband is great about measuring and understanding written measurements on blueprints, Amazon, etc., but I’m not. We wanted a linen cabinet in our bathroom, but it ended up being gigantic (like a wardrobe) which I actually think is simultaneously funny and entirely useful. I love it, but it was a surprise that it was so huge. In the kitchen, I knew I wanted tall upper cabinets but they are really tall and I can’t reach the top shelves without a step stool. This is not a complaint—just an explanation. More height means more storage space, which is always helpful.

Structure of countertop space: This one was where we felt our lack of expertise. We designed our kitchen with a certain number of cabinets and countertop space, but when it came time for framing and fitting in our humongous fridge (that I’ve had for seven years and don’t want to part with), we lost a section of cabinets next to the fridge space. This meant that the “L” portion of our countertop was shortened, leaving us with a change in cabinet design to accommodate the empty space in the corner of the “L.” This meant that I lost my large pull-out lazy-susan cabinet door on the bottom, but got to retain my 45* cabinet up top. Additionally, I lost my section of three drawers on the bottom and had to go with a standard one drawer and one cabinet. So, these decisions part way through the building process meant that I had to create time to be upset that my original plan wasn’t going to happen.

Drawer and cabinet pulls: I literally just sent Aaron some cabinet knob and drawer pull choices today, and we’ve been living in the house for four and a half months. I’ll post an update when we get these pulls in and installed.

Color of cabinet stain: When I met with the cabinetmaker in July (yes!), I told him we wanted stain-grade maple and not “paint grade” so I knew I’d be picking a stain eventually. The actual picking of the stain colored happened on a whim one evening when the cabinetmaker was ready for us to choose a stain color and bam, we had to pick one out by looking at Google images. Having worked with professional photo printing websites before, I know that the color on a screen is not necessarily the color in real life, so I was cautiously optimistic about my selections and trying to remember that it might not look exactly as it would on the phone screen. I chose a dark stain, like mocha or walnut or something similar. Our wall color is a neutral gray color, so I knew the dark color would work well. Our cabinetmaker later confided to Aaron that he wasn’t sure how it would turn out but once he saw the cabinets in the space, he thought we did very well in our stain selection. It took 4 coats of stain to get them the color they are, and I absolutely love the way they turned out.

Our cabinetmaker waits until the cabinets are installed before he orders the cabinet doors (no, we didn’t know that ahead of time), so we actually lived in the house for a few weeks without cabinet doors. Also, the countertops couldn’t be measured until the cabinets were installed, so that took a couple weeks after we moved in for them to arrive.

We ordered our countertops from a tile company—the same one we used for the countertop in our old house when we renovated the mater bathroom. They did such an awesome job there that we wanted them to do our countertops throughout the house this time. We were going to choose something different in the kitchen than the bathrooms, but ended up choosing just one countertop for kitchen and bathroom and we couldn’t love it more! The countertop crew installs the sinks as well, so we couldn’t have sinks or faucets until the countertops were installed. That meant that we lived in the house for about two weeks while using the tub faucet as our only “sink” and place to wash dishes etc. Eventually, I took to washing dishes outside in a plastic tub using the hose. All this to say, nothing was going to keep us from living in our home! We are so so grateful, though, to have actual cabinets, countertops, faucets, and sinks.

And without further ado, here is the picture progression.

Kitchen:

Master bathroom: (see what I mean by how tall the linen closet is?!)

Looking from kitchen into living room space. 

Hall bath:

Aaron & his dad installed our wall oven. 

Hall bath: 

Countertops! 

Once the countertops were installed, our gas stove could be installed. 

Hall bath countertop: 

Master bath countertop: 

Sink faucet (I chose a "camper size" faucet and love it!)

My tiny coffee counter! I love this area!

Hall bath sink & towel holder: 

Master bathroom mirror: (a floor mirror with wooden trim from Walmart!) 

Kitchen with range hood and fridge in place. 

Master bathroom with rugs in place. 

Full view of hall bath countertop:

Whew! That's it! I'll continue updating over the next couple weeks with posts of living room/ dining room space, master bedroom, master shower, and cabinet pulls/knobs. 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Two Books

I read two fiction books over the last week while my work responsibilities have settled down and my evenings have been free. 

The first book is one I've been wanting to read for a long while now. Annabel Monaghan's "Nora Goes Off Script" was so much fun! It was a wonderful read. It's just different enough from typical chick-lit books to be unpredictable. It was full and well rounded without being overly explanatory or full of language. I recommend! I'll definitely be reading this one again. 

The second book was Sally Hepworth's "The Family Next Door." This one was a suspense book that had me guessing til the end. I've been intrigued by Sally Hepworth's books but hadn't had a chance to read any of her titles yet. I reserved this one from the library and read it over a couple days. It was suspenseful enough to make me want to keep coming back and reading at any chance I got, which was a nice break from electronics. I recommend this one as well! 

Here's to more great books this summer! 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba

Home Sweet Home: Kid Rooms

We were really excited to have each kid get their own room in this house! We wanted every kiddo to have two windows and enough room to have their bed, a dresser, and room to play. Noah and Avery play on the floor a lot, so we knew that they were going to use twin size beds to maximize their floor space. Michael has never really been one to play on the floor very much, but he does play on his bed and couches etc. He’s also super tall for his age, so we wanted him to be able to have a queen-sized bed in his room.  

While we were designing the floor plan, we let each kiddo pick out the room they wanted the most.  

 

Noah chose the room at the front of the house with two windows facing the front and covered by the front porch.  He has the bunk beds and is enjoying deciding which bed he'd rather sleep on!

 

Michael chose the middle room with both windows looking out the side of the house. 

We've since bought Michael a bedframe & bedskirt, and he's hung some pictures up on the walls. 

 

 

Avery chose the room at the back of the house with one window facing the side and one window facing the backyard and covered by the back porch.  

 

Each kid has decorated the room to their liking. I’m not sure I have the very most updated pictures since all of them have done some adjusting to their décor since January. What hasn’t changed though, is how much they each absolutely love having their own space! Eventually, we will probably let each kid pick a paint color to further customize their space. For right now, every interior wall is Sherwin William’s Drift of Mist.  

 

It’s been super fun to see their personalities come out in their rooms! Noah and Avery function well in their chaotic room settings with toys every which way. Michael has turned out to be our neat room child and enjoys making his bed and setting up a comfy spot for reading on his pillows. He’s very into the streamlined look while Noah and Avery are explosions of color and creativity (bits and bobbles) everywhere.  

 

Until Next Time,  

Much Love, Reba 

Home Sweet Home: Outdoor Space

We finished our home officially in early April, and I'll chronicle the space throughout the blog this summer. We'll begin with the view from outside and the yard.

I've always loved the combination of navy & crisp white, so we went bold and painted the house Sherwin Williams Salty Dog with ultra white trim. I love it! It's the perfect backdrop for Auburn decor & patriotic decor! We also chose to do cedar columns on the front & back porches. 

We designed the house with two big porches. The first several pictures here are of the front of the house, and the last picture directly above is of the back porch. The front porch goes to the garage, so it's not a full length of the house but the back one is across the whole length of the house. I wanted the front door & back door to be exactly across the house from each other, and I chose identical double doors for these spaces. The clear pane windows allow for lots of natural light & large viewing areas. We included two skinny windows to flank the front door & one skinny window with one picture window to frame the back door. Each kiddo has two skinny windows with capability to open and get a good breeze & fresh air. The master window is a large picture window and our master bathroom window is a frosted picture window. I'll include pictures below of the building process so you can see some of the windows. 

We've come a long way! 

Our views are incredible & truly the vision we had in mind when imagining property that we might own one day. God surely showed His plan & we are overwhelmed in gratitude. 

This is the view from the front porch. 

(our little well house before we made a door for it and planted grass seed.)

This is some of the view from the back. 

We haven't explored every piece of the property yet and are grateful to do so over time. 

I'll include room by room updates as we venture through the summer!

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba