Category Archives: Lifestyle

Magnolia House: From 1975 to 2019

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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I’ve been putting off this post for a while because I want to show the whole house before and after us moving in, but it’s not all done. While we are all moved in and construction is done, and we are growing comfy and more settled into our home by the day, there are still a lot of things we want to do. But from what I hear, no house is ever fully done so no time like the present?!

As soon as we bought the house and moved in, we started a kitchen remodel. The kitchen was original to 1975, except some of the appliances. It had to go. Be forewarned, I am terrible at taking before and after pictures. It’s just not something I think of until after the project is done, but I’m trying to get better!

From the front door through the kitchen and into the laundry room there were four different types of flooring. Black tile, linoleum, new vinyl flooring, and more (but a different color) linoleum. We replaced it all with wood look ceramic tile and I absolutely love it. We completely gutted the kitchen but maintained the general layout. It went from a closed off closet of a kitchen to an open eat in kitchen with plenty of room to maneuver. There was a door going into the laundry room that we removed and replaced with a pocket door. The laundry room also had a door leading to an outside deck that we closed off. It was such an awkward door! The solution was to remove the back window in the kitchen, install a slider door, and extend the deck to make getting in and out of the house and onto the deck much more efficient. It wasn’t always the easiest process, and it felt like it took forever, but we have already hosted many gatherings and spend so much time in the kitchen making memories and delicious food. It was definitely worth it!

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Here is the kitchen before we purchased the house and the laundry room after we moved in. Check out that flooring!!!

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After we moved in, we ripped out the flooring pretty quick haha. It’s dark but you get an idea of how small it was in there. That’s my husband for size reference LOL, and the other picture is from the opposite corner of the eat in area. Don’t you love the cabinets?? In the third picture you can see the door to laundry room, the door in the laundry room leading to the deck, and the back window that we turned into a slider door. Looking at these pictures brings me right back to living out of kitchen boxes for months and feeling like we were camping in our own house!

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During construction. Just taking out the upper peninsula cabinets made such a huge difference. But we weren’t stopping there! Look at that vintage wall paper. Now that I’m thinking of it, I should have tried to keep some of it and make some art with it. Maybe next time?!?

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While there are many things I love about the kitchen, one of my most favorite things is this hutch. It’s a 1940’s bakers hutch that I bought for $100 off of Facebook Marketplace and turned into my kitchen island. It was my first time redesigning a piece of furniture and I loved it from beginning to end. It went from this one piece into three different things. The bottom is my kitchen island. The top went into the laundry room above the washer and dryer for some cabinet storage (painted blue like the island), and the slide out counter top went downstairs into my office/craft room for me to use as a magnetic board. How about that for redesigning and repurposing!?

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I painted the hutch this blue color, added some wood detail (which is actually contact paper!!!), and it got raised up off its castors with these wood risers, and then a skirt was put around it. I didn’t want anything to be able to get under there making sweeping and cleaning difficult.

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Here’s the finished product. Kind of finished. Still have some decorating to do and as I’m writing this and inserting pictures, I’m realizing that there isn’t a good picture of the slider door and that there is stuff laying around on the counters and table. Stager of pictures I am not! I’m sure I’m leaving out all the details you actually want to know, feel free to leave questions and comments to get the deets. I’d love your feedback and decorating suggestions, we still have spots to fill!!! Oh, I should add that while I love DIY projects, this was not one of them. I designed the kitchen and we had a contractor come in and do the work.

I think my kitchen has turned out beautifully, especially when I see my whole family gathered around.

Elizabeth

 

Resolutions or Goals?

30 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in Home, Lifestyle

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Happy New Year!! I love this part of the holiday season for a couple of reasons. It just seems so fresh and alive (I know, that’s usually what people feel about Spring…but I feel it about the New Year). I see this time of year as a positive time to reflect on the past year as well as recharge myself and look forward to the opportunities of the new year coming. I’ve never been big on making resolutions mostly because I’ve always seen them as a setup for failure. However, in recent years I have started looking at the end of the year/beginning of the new year as more of a closing of one door and opening of another. A chance to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. I still try not to make resolutions, instead I make goals. To me goals are more attainable because you need baby steps to make goals happen. Starting with small steps towards a big goal is the way to go for me! Every single time I’ve been all gung-ho with a new year resolution and making all sorts of lifestyle changes, I’ve failed. I’ve failed and I’ve gone back to all the bad habits that leave me unproductive and not feeling the best about myself. So, small steps towards goals it is.

For over a year I’ve been writing in a journal that includes five things I am grateful for each day and ten dreams. I started this before the new year last year. In this time frame I’ve been able to cross off two of my big dream items and I’m actively working at crossing off a few more. This journal is the Start Today Journal by the Hollis Co. The Hollis Co. is run by Rachel Hollis (Girl, Wash Your Face) and Dave Hollis. If you haven’t heard of them, their company, or the Start Today Journal…LOOK THEM UP. I love them and their message. Especially if you are a woman, a small business owner, or want to start incorporating healthy lifestyle habits. (FYI, I am not being paid to mention this brand, I just truly enjoy what they have to offer!) I became familiar with Rachel Hollis after a friend suggested Girl, Wash Your Face, as a book recommendation. I LOVED IT. It spoke to me and I was pleasantly surprised that a few of the things she talked about doing to improve yourself and life, I had started doing not too long before reading the book in an attempt to better myself and really figure out what I want to do with myself. This book just gave me so much more inspiration and fire to go after all of those goals. I’m still working on Girl, Stop Apologizing, the follow up to Girl, Wash Your Face, but I can’t wait to finish! If you’re looking for a few tools on how to get your butt up and motivated to change and accomplish things, check them out.

With 2019 being filled with ups and downs, enough change for ten families over 5 years, and some serious self reevaluation, I am definitely looking for some positivity to start flowing again. Luke and I, (Luke is my husband for those of you who do not know us personally), exchanged a list of personal goals each one of us has for the upcoming year. Luke and I are good talkers. We can talk all day long about what we would like to accomplish, what we want for our kids, our home, our finances. But we SUCK at taking action. Even though I’ve been trying to change that habit for myself for over a year, and I have fallen off the band wagon a few times and gotten back up, we have never done it TOGETHER. The “together” part is the piece that has been missing. Of course, Luke knows my love of essential oils, nutrition, and most things earthy and natural. Of course, I know he wants to go back to school and get his masters degree. But there are other things that I dream about that I’ve never told Luke. Why? I don’t know…fear, embarrassment, lack of finances, lack of time? Whatever the excuse is, that’s why. But deep down I’ve known that in order to help make all of these dreams I have come true, I need to let him know they even exist. So. Yesterday we had a lunch date and I brought my list of goals. The list of goals that we talked about meeting about and discussing every Sunday to keep each other on track…WEEKS AGO. There’s that talk and no action thing we’ve got down so well. It was just supposed to be a little lunch to use up some gift cards and get out of the house together. But I decided to take the opportunity and get these weekly meetings in motion. My list included everything from business to education to wife goals. After we finished eating I nervously brought out my notebook and shared it with him. I have to say, it felt good to let him in on what I want for myself, us and our kids. It was like a weight off my shoulders. I’m still nervous about the thought of attacking these goals, but I do know that I can do it! I think that the most important thing for me, which I’m terrible at, is communicating those goals/dreams with people. It’s an insecurity. The crazy part about it is, once I do I always feel recharged and motivated…why do I do this to myself!?!

Moving on into the new year, what are your thoughts on resolutions or goals? What things are you planning on starting or finishing? What are some of the things that hold you back from reaching those accomplishments? Lastly, what would be something that could help you reach those goals that you’ve been dreaming about for so long??

I hope you have a beautiful start, middle and end to the New Year whether you are keeping resolutions or reaching goals!

Elizabeth