Chalk House Updates: Dining Room Upgrade

Happy Monday! After a weekend of wedding celebrations for our dear friends, Kayla and Tyler, I am not ready for the work week to begin {at all}. I can't wait to share a few pictures from their special day later this week.

Our most recent project at home has been updating our dining room and foyer, this has been on our to-do list for almost a year but we kept pushing it off because we knew it was going to take a lot of time and patience. If you missed my last post, you can read more about it here. Now that we are almost finished, I thought I'd share a quick update.

When we first started our home renovations, I knew that I wanted to mix and match the antique furniture that has been passed down to us with new pieces that will blend our personalities together beautifully. This is exactly what we were able to achieve in our dining room and I couldn't be happier with the way it has turned out so far. It isn't 100% finished but it will be by the end of May before I host my sweet sister's baby {girl} shower! Side note: Yes, you read that correct...I found out yesterday that I'll be an Aunt to an adorable baby GIRL in a few short months.

My Inspiration Board:

Our Remodel List: Completed Items:

- Paint Walls 

- Paint Crown Molding 

- Paint Chair Rail 

- Add Shoe Molding 

- Paint Shoe Molding 

- Add Beadboard Paneling {under shoe molding} 

- Paint Beadboard Paneling 

- Remove Carpet 

- Install Sub-Flooring 

- Install Wood Tile: Sonoma Palm Ceramic Tile

- New Chandelier: Kichler Larkin Chandelier

- New Rug: Shubhra Damask Rug

- Add Accents of Rich & Warm Greens and Golds:   

Palm Beach Pillows and Boxwood Topiary 

- Rearrange China Cabinet, Buffet and Bar Cart 

Our Remodel List: Not Completed Yet:

- New Window Treatments

- New Dining Room Table & Chairs

- New Lamps for Buffet 

Do you have any favorite home decor websites or shops? If so, I'd love for you to share them with me! I am determined to find a farmhouse dining room table with french-style chairs {similar to the ones that I found for my inspiration} but that isn't an easy task. 

Hosting & Toasting + Chalk House Updates

As I sit on the couch trying to find the energy to begin cleaning up our construction zone, I realize how thankful I am for the past two weekends that have filled my heart with joy and happiness. Even though the weekends seem short and Mondays always sneak up on me, I am grateful for the days filled with friends and family.

A quick glimpse into the past couple weekends -
Last Saturday, I was honored to host a Bridal Shower for a dear friend of mine. Meeting Kayla during our last few years of college was one of the greatest gifts. For the past 7 years and counting, she has been by my side through all of life's twists and turns. We have cried together, laughed until are stomachs hurt, traveled around the country discovering new places, and sat for hours upon hours talking about life while sipping a glass of wine. She is a constant reminder of true and forever friendship.

As her family and friends started to arrive, I took a moment to listen to the laughs and the memories that were being shared about our sweet friend, daughter, co-worker, and sister-in-law. All I could do was smile and remind myself that I am thankful to have the opportunity to share these special moments with the people that make me a better woman.

Bridal Shower Vendors:

Bridal Shower Invitations: Minted

Personalized Signs: Alex & Co. Pretty Prints 

Monogrammed Cocktail Napkins: Picture Perfect Papier

Catering: Ladyfingers Caterers

Cake: Nona's Sweets

Glassware and Linens: American Party Rentals 

Fast forward and this past weekend was the perfect mix of continuing our #chalkhouseupdates and spending quality time with girlfriends. Friday was spent doing the not-so-glamorous tasks of remodeling...pulling up carpet, removing the endless amounts of tack strips, trying to contain the dust from spreading throughout our entire house and replacing parts of our sub-flooring that had termite damage from many years ago. All of the prep work allowed us to lay the new floor in our dining room and foyer on Saturday and Sunday. We may not be finished yet but we are SO close!

This picture proves that our family farmhouse has been a true labor of love. Inside these walls, there are 126 years of memories that have made this house a home. We find ourselves listening to stories from our family, neighbors, and even strangers that will bring you to tears because you quickly realize how special our home is to so many people.

I was able to sneak away from the chaos on Saturday for a girl's afternoon. Danielle, one of my best friends from high school, flew in from Philadelphia for the weekend so a day of wine tasting and catching up was on the agenda! We had a blast discovering the beautiful wineries in North Carolina. The Vineyards in Yadkin Valley, approximately 30 miles outside of Winston Salem, are a hidden gem and a perfect destination for a day trip or even an entire weekend.  

Vineyard Recommendations:

Shelton Vineyards

Stony Knoll Vineyards

Herrera Vineyards 

Now, I am off to begin cleaning and organizing our new space so I can share a more detailed post with you before the end of the week! I hope you have a fabulous week, friends!

Chalk House Updates: Kitchen Remodel

We did it! As I write those three words, I am able to take a {really big} deep breath because WE DID IT and we did it in 8 days. I can honestly say that when we first started this project and we were only hours into it, I started to ask myself "why did we start this right now?!" It made me tired just thinking about everything we wanted to do to create a kitchen that was refreshing, bright, and chic yet classic.

Our Remodel List:

- Empty and Clean Cabinets

- Prime and Paint Cabinets

- Add New Hardware to Cabinets

- Paint Walls

- Remove Laminate Countertops and Backsplash

- Remove Stainless Steel Sink

- Install Marble Countertops

- Install Cast Iron Sink

- Install Subway Tile Backsplash  

- Remove Black Appliances

- Install White Appliances

To see the pictures that we used for inspiration {read more here} come to life in our home has been really exciting for us. Now that we are finished, I am ready to celebrate and pop a bottle of bubbly!  Who wants to join me!?

Saying Goodbye to the Brown...

The before {top} and progress {bottom} pictures make me realize that my handyman husband is a rockstar! Without him, I would still be covered in paint and sawdust while trying to watch YouTube videos on kitchen renovations in hopes that the step-by-step tutorials would magically create a dream-worthy space.

I hope this remodel will provide you with inspiration for whatever project has been on your mind for the past few weeks {or months}. I promise you that every second of the construction zone and chaos will be worth it!

 Kitchen Sources:

- Cabinet Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Repose Gray

- Wall Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Eider White

- Cabinet Hardware: Sterling Nickel Knobs and Center Cup Cabinet Pulls

- Countertops: Bianco Carrara Hexagon Marble Tile

- Backsplash: White Subway Tile

- Sink: Kohler White Cast Iron Sink

- Appliances: GE Artistry Series

Chalk House Updates: Kitchen Remodel Inspiration

Happy Friday, dear friends! I am thrilled that there's only 9 hours between me and the weekend. TC and I have had a lot of {festive} fun the past 2 weeks but after last week's birthday celebrations and this week's Christmas parties, we are ready for a lazy Friday night at home. By 5:30pm, you will find me kicking up my feet, catching up on all your blogs and emails while enjoying a glass of wine on the couch. 

With the New Year quickly approaching, I am starting to feel the remodel itch coming on in full force. The first room that is on our list is the kitchen. We spend a lot of time here since we enjoy cooking and entertaining but it is also connected to our family room so if you can imagine these two rooms get a lot of use. I have been bookmarking countless websites, folding corners in numerous magazines and visiting kitchen stores endlessly on the weekends so I hope we can bring my vision to life soon. 

My Inspiration in Pictures:

• Kitchen Cabinets: Painted either Green-Grey or Light Grey with Brass Hardware
  

Via Heidi Piron Design

Via Glitter Guide 

• Sink: Farmhouse sink with a Champagne Bronze Faucet

Via Home Bunch

Via Country Living

•  Backsplash & Countertops: White Subway Tile with Marble Countertops

Via Home Bunch 

• Lighting: Wide Glass Pendant Lights & Recessed Lighting under the Cabinets

Via Heidi Piron Design

• Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Simple White
  
  
  
  I would love your feedback, what do you think?! If you have any suggestions, please share them. Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Chalk House Updates: Master Bedroom

We have taken a little hiatus from our home updates to enjoy the summer months but I am finding myself eager to begin our next project. When I think about which room I want to tackle first, I have gone back and forth between our Master Bedroom or Kitchen for the longest time. After talking to TC a few nights ago, I realized that I wanted to focus on our Master Bedroom. Our kitchen is going to take a lot of work {not to mention patience} so I think we are going to ease ourselves back into our #chalkhouseupdates.  

Prior to getting married, I've always focused on making sure my bedroom was exactly what I wanted and had a cozy feel to it. When TC and I moved into our first home about a year ago, we decided to upgrade the rest of our home to make sure it was welcoming to us and our guests. This summer, I have realized that I want our Master Bedroom to become a place that we can decompress and all the stress of the day goes away once we walk through the door. 

Our bedroom suite is Broyhill Seabrooke in white, which I absolutely love but I am looking to incorporate a few soft colors to our room. I am excited to share my inspiration and I can't wait to see the transformation take place over the next few weeks! :) 

Art: Ann Schwartz

Dresser: Seabrooke Drawer Dresser {Broyhill Furniture}

Rug: Elodie Rug {Lulu & Georgia}

Lamp: Mora Brass Sphere Floor Lamp {Lulu & Georgia} 

Pillow: Annette Spring Euro Sham {Furbish}

Tray: Grey Bone Inlay Tray {Furbish}

Coffee Table Books: The Big Book of Chic/ Kate Moss by Mario Testino/ In Vogue/ The Impossible Collection of Fashion/ The Trench Book

Side Table: Gold Grace Side Table {One Kings Lane} 

One Room Challenge: Reveal

6 weeks ago when I asked TC to begin the One Room Challenge to help me renovate our Guest Room upstairs, I had no idea that this room would end up becoming one of my favorite rooms in our house!

This room was the last one to be renovated because we knew it would be a lot of work. It was well worth every minute that we spent sanding, cleaning, painting, sweeping and decorating! 

I remember taking this picture and thinking to myself that "there is no way that we will finish this in 6 weeks but it's worth a shot!" I am pretty sure many people thought we were crazy when we said that we were going to tackle this room but I am so glad that we did. 

But we did it! We are ready for anyone, near or far, to come spend a weekend with us. {TC will most likely find me sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying a good book here in the near future.}

I have to admit that I still have a little more decorating to do - adding curtains, ordering a dresser and purchasing a few paintings - but it will have to wait right now. I am off to celebrate my big sister getting married this weekend! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Sources:

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Pelican Gray

Trim Paint Color: Benjamin Moore White Dove

Floor Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Sea Foam 

Bed: Pier One

Bedding: Pottery Barn

Blanket: Home Goods

Be sure to take a look at all the other amazing One Room Challenges by visiting Linda's blog, Calling It Home.

Five on Friday!

It is Friday and I couldn't be more excited! We have a weekend full of fun activities and events so I am ready to get the weekend started.

I am linking up with April, Christina, Natasha, and Darci for Five on Friday and Amanda for Friday Favorites!

 

ONE:
We saw Eric Church last night at PNC Arena in Raleigh and let me tell you...he did not disappoint!  We went to New York City in October to see him perform at Madison Square Garden and we were so excited to see him again! It was such a fun afternoon of tailgating, soaking up the beautiful weather and catching up with friends before heading in to see one of our favorite country music artists.

 

TWO:
Our One Room Challenge was full of painting this week! We painted the floor, walls, fireplace, trim and doors. We will spend the final two weeks of our challenge painting and decorating! It has been so refreshing to walk upstairs to see the door open, the sunlight pouring in and a clean guest room that will soon be ready for our guests.

THREE:
Headbands of Hope celebrates their 3 year anniversary tomorrow! Beginning tomorrow through May 1st, you will receive free shipping by using the promo code "happybirthday" at checkout. If you missed the post from Wednesday, you can read more about this amazing organization here.

I have loved wearing my Couture Gold Sheer headband the past few days, I will definitely be purchasing a few more this weekend!  

Tenley was not too excited about having her picture taken with me. :)

FOUR:
Recently, I have been dreaming of bathing suits, the beach and enjoying the summer sunsets from the boat. I have my eye on this Mara Hoffman bathing suit and this maxi too! 

 

FIVE:
How delicious does this Champagne Mojito look by FoodieCrush?! This would be the perfect cocktail to kick-off the weekend while sitting on the porch this evening. 

Cheers to the weekend!

One Room Challenge: Our Guest Bedroom

Shew, the past 5 days have been crazy so I apologize for the lack of posts since Wednesday! My sister's bachelorette bash was this weekend in Charleston, {as you can imagine} I was running around like a crazy woman last week trying to pick up all the last minute items before I left bright and early on Friday. We had an absolute blast, I will be sharing the details later this week!

I had this post ready to go for Thursday's One Room Challenge update but completely forgot to hit publish. Go figure, right?! I still want to share the progress that we made last week before another big update this Thursday.

Our To-Do List for last week was lengthy but we were determined to get it all done. 

Week of April 12th:

1. Scrape carpet pad

2. Sweep and vacuum carpet pad sand

3. Sand hardwood floor

4. Remove carpet tack strips

5. Kilz the hardwood floor

6. Remove wallpaper

7. Repair the cracks in the wall

8. Kilz the walls

9. Repair the rotted window framing 

10. Caulk around the windows and fireplace  

I am confident that last week will go down as my least favorite week of the entire makeover. We spent multiple days on our hands and knees, scraping and sanding the floor. The carpet pad was glued to the hardwood floor and had deteriorated because it was about 50 years old. When carpet pad deteriorates, it turns into a dust/sand mixture. When I walked downstairs to take a break, I realized that there was a layer of this dust on everything in our house {and I mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g}.

Once the carpet pad was removed, we sanded the hardwood floor and removed the tack strips. Whoever installed the tack strips put a nail every inch or so along the entire wall, which means that we had the fun of removing 100's of nails.

Next up, two coats of Kilz to seal and protect the hardwood floors before we paint them. Eventually, we will restore the floors back to their natural oak color but we will have to save that for another rainy day.

Looking much better already, right?! At this point in the project, I had to give myself a major pep talk. We've made HUGE progress but I know that we still have so much more to do before May 7th.

We took a few days off before we started removing the wallpaper. Once the wallpaper was removed, TC was able to repair the rotted window framing and the cracks in the wall. We put two coats of Kilz on the walls and spent the rest of the evening caulking around the windows and fireplace.

And just like that another week is complete! I can't believe that we are half way through our six week challenge. Thank goodness for the constant inspiration and support from all of the other ORC participants.

If you didn't see our Guest Room before, you can check it out here. 

Weekend Highlights

Being a newlywed, there are so many things that I love about marriage but one that is on the top of my list is having someone that embraces and supports your ideas or aspirations {even if they are absolutely ridiculous} regardless of the situation. TC has done exactly that and this weekend was a perfect example of his selfless personality.

We had a lengthy to-do list to conquer in 48 hours {even prior to my additional ideas}. Warm weather means that we spend most of our weekends maintaining the land that has been in TC's family for many decades. In the midst of all of this, I mentioned that I would like to participate in the One Room Challenge by updating our Guest Bedroom in 30 days + I want to plant a garden again this year. No questions asked, he agreed and we got started.

After work on Friday, we met at Lowe's for our first of many trips that would end up taking place this weekend. We picked up everything that we needed to work on our Guest Room makeover since we wanted to start bright and early on Saturday. Then we opted for an impromptu date night at Doherty's Irish Pub in Apex. Their Pimento Cheese Fritters are my favorite, they melt in your mouth!

On Saturday, we woke up early to begin working on the Guest Room. Keep in mind that it has not been updated since approximately 1960. You will have to stop back by on Thursday to see the full update from this weekend but I will leave you with a few thoughts...

-From head to toe, I was covered in dust and dirt from a 55 year old carpet pad. 

-We went through many, many face masks in 24 hours.

-I went to work today with white speckles all over my arms and hands, Kilz doesn't come off easily.

-I would be perfectly content if I never saw carpet tack strips again.

Sanding the old carpet pad that was glued to the floor and had started to disintegrate.

I took a mental break and met a few girlfriends for much needed coffee talk at Benelux Coffee in Cameron Village. If you love coffee as much as I do then you will enjoy this coffee shop and their drink selections that have been inspired by their travels to Amsterdam and Brussels.

Later that evening, my mom came over to see our progress and cook dinner for us. It was a special treat that we enjoyed so much!

We were up bright and early to begin working on the rest of our to-do list but I was in desperate need of something sweet. My cinnamon roll craving hit me and it was all that I could think about. I solved that quickly and whipped up these to enjoy with my coffee.

After breakfast, we spent the morning trying to finishing the last few items for our One Room Challenge update. After lunch, we worked in our yard until about 7pm. By that point, we felt like we were struggling to walk or formulate sentences because we were so tired. It was well worth it since we'll have a garden with fresh herbs and veggies to enjoy this summer, our grass isn't as tall as my ankles, the weeds aren't taking over the driveway or our flower beds any longer and we made HUGE progress in our Guest Room.

Once I put the lawn mower in park and TC finished working on his projects, we sat on the porch to enjoy the Spring weather and remind ourselves that we are thankful to have this view to wake up to every day. It may be a lot of work but it is totally worth it.

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Linking up with these sweet ladies, Biana and Meghan.