I'm Strippin'!

So I decided to strip the fireplace. I'm still going to paint it, but I think it will be easier to strip it than to try and cover the brown and black. (for my previous post on this mantle, scroll down.)What have I gotten myself into? Its going to be a big, but worthwhile, venture. I started today. Here's my progress:

The first coat of stripper came off really easy. There's ceramic tile under there!!!:

I got so excited, I started on the hearth. See the concrete under there?

We are looking better already! More strippin tomorrow!

It looks like there are 3 coats of paint on the mantle. One dark brown, one mustardy brownish yellow, and one white. The paint actually comes off pretty easy, but I don't think its going to come out of the grout so easy. Stay tuned!!!

A Fabulous Party!!!

A little break from remodeling to spend a day with family!

Cousin Michele and Cousin Ryan came to the US for a visit. (yay! They've been away too long!) So all of the family gathered to celebrate Ryan's 4th birthday and Michele's 40th birthday and, (surprise!) the anniversary of my 29th Birthday!! :) The party was awesome! Here is the birthday boy in his mouse ears:There were fun games:

Birthday Cupcakes (homemade!):

Juice for the kids with really cool Kool-aid Ice stars!! (courtesy of Cousin Michele! And the adults had Pimm's & Lemonade!)

Face Painting: (Madisen the Kitty-Kat)

Cousin Katy has talent! :

Sack races:

Dinner with some cousins we haven't seen in awhile: (little smokies and mac n cheese!)

A short kid's fashion show: (Yep- that's cousin Nicole in a 5T!)

Swimming: (Jack Henry workin' the goggles!)



And - SURPRISE! - A cake for my b-day! Homemade by Michele! and it was Yumm-mee! Thanks cousin! (check out Ryan in his cool bathing suit!) PS- my eyes are closed because I am making a wish!

What a great day!

The Outside of our House (by request)

As requested, here are a few pictures of the outside of our house! We won't be doing much to the outside for now, except for a new roof in the back.

I'm not sure what to plant in those brick planters. I'd like to do some colorful flowers.

Our front porch:

I'll save the backyard for another post. It's going to change a little with the addition. I think Jeremy is all done with the plans, so we hope to have permits soon! Have a great day!

DEMO! Woo Hoo!

More demo today! We took apart an old closet where the air handler used to be. The previous owners threw some shelves in, but it still had the old sheet metal and the door didn't go all the way to the floor: and it had a sweet fold-down ironing board! :)

Here's what it looks like after a little Demo:

Now it needs the walls patched, a door and some shelves. I'm not sure what we'll use this closet for, but I have a few ideas! Cousin Brian was nice enough to help us today! He pulled up the tile in the spare bathroom. Thanks cousin!

We also started the demo of the kitchen wall! Very exciting!

Brian was ready to knock out the 2x4's, but Rob needs to move some electrical stuff first. :)

We met with our designer Jeremy this morning and the plans for our addition are almost complete and ready to submit for permits! If any of you plan to remodel your house Jeremy is really great! www.granger-phoenix.com

So long for now!

Open to suggestions!

Our house has a really cool two-way fireplace. I like the tile that is on one side, but the other side looks like this:

The mantle is made of concrete and it has some lovely details:

I don't like the brown. I would like to paint this mantle a different color. I was thinking of going to a light color- ivory maybe? But what should I do with the inner section that is painted black? Do I paint it, too? Same color? Different color? (fyi- we will be painting the area above the mantle, also.)

Can you help? I would love some suggestions!!! Thanks!

Just Getting Started

Hello all! This blog is a great way to share what's happening in our lives. I've decided to blog our journey as we remodel our house, so you can all share in our ups and downs! It's already a great house! It just needs a little tweaking! We are waiting on the plans for our master bathroom addition, but we've been doing some 'demo'. I love demo! Its fun! Anyway- this weekend Nick and Elaine were nice enough to give us a hand. Rob and Nick started with the garage:

Before paint:

After Paint:

Now I know that you are probably thinking "The garage? They painted the garage?" But the garage is Rob's mancave, and he likes a clean mancave. We also painted the pantry, which is getting new shelves and we demo'd the bathroom closet, which at one time had bright turquoise and /or lilac paint! Yikes!

Here's what it looks like now:

My 'consultant' (aka Nick) assures me we can make a fabulous new linen closet! :) I'm very excited! I'll post more soon! Please feel free to leave your comments and ideas!