Phillips Home Remodel ~ Project #10

Project #10 - Lighting Upgrades!

In our old kitchen, we had horrible lighting!  I was determined to change that in our new kitchen.  During the day, it is rare you will see lights turned on in our home.  I am more of a natural light gal.  But when light is needed....especially task lighting in the kitchen...I want lights where they should be!

We started the lighting project back when the ceiling was getting worked on.  We had all the old lighting fixture holes covered up!  The new lighting project started with under cabinet lighting and accent lighting in the glass cabinets. LOVE!

Next up was recessed!  I chose not to have an actual fixture in the kitchen and only recessed lights. The 6 we installed is the perfect amount to light all our critical task areas- pantry, fridge, range, work space on the counter and sink!

 And our new appliances installed really just put the icing on our kitchen cake!

The last light fixture upgrade was in the dining space.  I love drum lights!  A drum light has been on my wish list for a while now and I finally got to check it off.  I am not 100% confident that this one will be staying here.  I love the look, but the scale might be too small for the space.  The amount of light it gives off though is perfect, so we will see.

We would love to upgrade the ceiling fan in the living room...but all good things come to those who wait : /

Family Fun Night

When I found out I was pregnant with Zoe and all through her pregnancy, I had serious issues with buying holiday items on sale after the holiday took place.   We didn't find out who Zoe was, so there was no buying cute clothes and accessories for our 1st bundle of joy.  Instead, I bought random holiday items that would be so fun to have now that we would have children.  One of these items was Halloween cookie cutters. 4 years later...we finally used them : )

We made up the batter for our yummy pumpkin, cat, bat and ghost shaped cookies and then it had to stay about 1 hour in the fridge to harden up.  During this time, we watched The Little Mermaid.  Zoe was ecstatic!  She has been begging to watch it and I thought a family fun night would be the perfect time to have her first viewing.  It did not disappoint her and we have watched it every day since.

 Once the batter was ready, we paused the movie and cut out our cookies!

 Into the oven they went and we finished up our movie!

Mommy and Daddy did most of the decorating but everyone enjoyed a cookie before bed....and I might have had a couple more after they went to sleep.  They were so good!

A successful Family Fun Night....Halloween Style!

Phillips Home Remodel ~ Small Things

I cannot believe how many LITTLE THINGS there are in a remodel....so many!  I feel like they will go on forever.  It is also a domino effect.  When you change and upgrade one thing...it makes other things look old or in desperate need of an upgrade as well.

After the granite was installed, all the BIG things in the kitchen were complete to function!  YAY!  We started the small things with the trim around the window...wow the existing trim took a beating and I am pretty sure was installed in 1985 with the building of the home.

I also decided that the bead board needed to be extended around the entire peninsula to really finish off the look.  Easy fix!

 But not everything is hard work!  I got to do some shopping which is always fun!

Backsplash!  We chose to go the bead board route because I just love the simplicity of it.  It really achieved the look I wanted!

 Another detail was the hardware and we went with a satin nickel finish.

I love a good deal, especially when it is exactly what you want!  One of those upgrades that was not forseen was the kitchen table.  Changing the layout of the dining space by adding a breakfast bar made our kitchen table just awkward.  It is an older table and really just wasn't going to work with its size and the way the chairs fit with the table.  Functionally though it was fine and I was willing to live with it for the time being.  Then our neighbors were having a moving sale and I headed up to say hi and see what they had....and there it was.  OUR TABLE!  It was simple and just what I wanted.  It has the same rush seating as the stools I ordered for the bar seating and is solid wood so we would be able to refinish it if we ever wanted to change its natural look.

And then the little things continue with the toekick, baseboards, shoe mold, trim, caulking, painting and figuring out the organization of our pots and pans, plates and bowls, tupperware, accessories, etc.  And that is no easy task because a kitchen has to function well!

Phillips Home Remodel ~ Project #9

Project #9 - The Granite is Coming!

After we got done installing the cabinets, we had to patiently wait a little over a week for the granite to be installed.  It was like Christmas morning when we saw that truck pull into the driveway!  But while we waited, we had to nail the beadboard up and paint.

 And then it was time...and I was literally giddy...and so was Zach!

With the installation of the granite also came our new sink!  We chose a farm sink style and I am so, so happy we did.  Having the extra depth is a game changer and I also love having one big sink rather than a divided.

I wasted no time moving our dirty dishes into our new sink to clean.  I had had enough cleaning our dishes in the bathtub!

Another change I could not wait for was a new faucet.  The one we choose has two spray options and can detach to move around the sink.  Holy Cow...life just got so much easier!  I also love to way you turn the faucet on and off...so easy to work with dirty hands from cooking!

New Granite, New Sink and New Faucet...Mama is HAPPY!

Phillips Home Remodel ~ Project #8

Project 8...Paint, Paint, Paint!

Not a whole lot to say about painting other than choosing a color can be DIFFICULT!  When you are looking to paint an entire living space...it is crucial to choose a good neutral in my opinion that way you can change colors or accents without having to repaint all the time.  I definitely did not take this decision lightly.  I finally decided on Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter and I am in LOVE with how it has turned out in our home.  I really is the prefect neutral!  I think what I love the most about this color is that it makes the trim and white cabinets look so bright and clean!  Total POP effect!  The paint really lightened up the space, too!  I love how something as easy as paint can really make all the difference in a space!

A Sprinkle for Henry!

It is almost time to welcome Henry into the world and what better way to celebrate this sweet life and help me and Zach prepare than to have a little sprinkle!  And to make it better....I got to spend the evening with some of my absolute favorite women and eat at my favorite restaurant, Dominick's!

My friend Jenny was so sweet to offer a while back to be hostess!  She is so creative and such a party planner and I am always up for a social gathering!

Since we have all the essentials, we had a gift card sprinkle to be able to go get anything I might be lacking for Henry.  Jenny also suggested for everyone to bring a book for Henry in place of a card.  I love reading to my little ones so having a whole new collection of books is awesome!  The party was a total success and I just loved spending time with everyone.  So many thanks to all my girls...they really know how to make a Mama feel loved!

  

The next morning, Evan loved looking at all the books Henry received!

And later that afternoon, I headed to Target to shop for the little guy.  I was greeted by Candy Corn and felt it would be a necessity to get through the shopping trip.

I got diapers, wipes, a new bottle set, freezer bags for milk, a couple outfits, 2 nursing bras and a nursing cami and swaddlers!  It is so funny shopping as a experienced Mama...so many things are cute but unnecessary in those baby isles.  Either way...shopping was exhausting so a pedicure rounded out our sprinkle experience!