Demo Day!!

And just like that, the day I was starting to thin would never happen is FINALLY here! It's demo day on the new house and I'm totally picking up what this little meme is putting down.

We began talking about our big move back to Louisville during the month of August last year. And we closed on our new home in October. I've mentioned my low threshold of patience before, or lack there of for that matter. Soo, even though we've been working on plans and actually doing things behind the scenes - i haven't been able to see real progress, so my patience was growing thin to begin. And to me, it feels like we are really just starting, and the wait has seemed like FOREVER!

But alas, the day has come and exterior demo begins today. We will be in demo phases moving to completed framing stages through the first week of March. And they are telling us the entire renovation will take roughly 4 months to complete (although everyone we tell is like ... oh so that probably means 6-8 months ~ AHHHH stop! I NEED it to only be four!) Again, patience ain't my thing. Either way, here is a little looksie at the calendar we've been given up until framing is complete (our is much more detailed - but for sake of your time - here's the cliff notes):

• Week 1 ~ Jan 26 + 27
• Demo of Exterior Yard 
• Dumpster arrives on site
• Week 2 ~ Jan 30 - Feb 3
• Demo of Interior
• Jan 30 - Excavation of addition begins
• Feb 1 - Foundation is poured
• Week 3 ~ Feb 6 - Feb 10
• Framing of Interior and Exterior
• Insulation, gravel, etc for Foundation
• Week 4-6 ~ Feb 13 - March 3
• Framing of Interior and Exterior complete

I'm having some serious chats with the weather gods that they keep this month as mild as the last, so we don't have any big delays. But, my winter loving heart is a bit torn, because I also want some fun snow days for the kids. Oh, my first world problems are big today folks. 

Anywhoodles, I shared the photos of the new house the way we saw it and purchased it. And obviously, since then the previous owners have moved out, we've spent countless hours in the house both by ourselves, with family, with contractors, with friends, heck we were even crazy enough to celebrate Lainey's First Birthday at the house! And like I mentioned when I first shared the photos of the new house, I wanted to get some shots of the space completely empty so we could get some great before and after photos. 

So, it seems fitting that on demo day I share the house - empty and ready for it's new beginning. 

First Floor ~ Pre-Renovations

Kitchen/Pantry/Great Room addition (will be added off the back of that large window and current living room wall) ~ BEFORE

Kitchen/Dining/Hostess + Coffee Bar/Entry/Great Room addition ~ BEFORE

Laundry/Craft Room ~ BEFORE

Laundry/Mudroom ~ BEFORE

Home Office ~ BEFORE

Entry Foyer ~ BEFORE

Master Bedroom/Bath and Closet ~ BEFORE

Second Floor ~ Pre-Renovations

Upstairs + Bonus Room ~ BEFORE

 Lainey's Bedroom ~ BEFORE

Lainey's Bathroom + Closet ~ BEFORE

Guest Bedroom ~ BEFORE

Bennett's Bedroom + Bath ~ BEFORE

And there you have it folks! There is another bathroom (guest bath) that mirrors Bennett's that will also be updated that I apparently forgot to take a picture of - whoops! But, that's the house - the last time we'll ever (hopefully) be staring at pink and hunter green carpet and before we make it our own! So excited for this journey and can't wait to share some photos with ya'll once we're stripped to the studs!

My little sidekick and I have been working hard to get selections made, so when the contractors tell us they are ready we can be sure we are not the source of any delays. She loves coming to meetings with me because it means she gets extra suckers to keep her occupied.

But apparently she doesn't think it's nearly as much as I do ... because what I thought was a super exciting cabinet design appointment ... Lainey was actually so bored she fell asleep. Ha!

Gah, I love her even more than I love the fact that today is Demo Day (and that's A LOT!). Whew okay, Until then, I'll be the crazy lady taking photos of the dumpster because that sounds like a good time :)  Yayy for demo day! See yaaaaa real soon.

it's friday: LEAVE a rant.

hello long lost friends. first and foremost, my apologies for my lack of posting.  the past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, and with holiday deadlines for Black Friday and Christmas - the advertising world has been a bit hectic. ***annnnnnd that's all I'll say about that ...  because if i begin to rant about that topic too my sweet lil' BlueDaisy image may turn into a Black Rose with thorns :0) ***

so ANYWAYS, hubs and I moved into our house in march and it has been QUITE the journey.  I'm talking knocking down walls, tearing up floors, painting every room, stripping wallpaper, gutting the entire kitchen type of journey (yes, I want your sympathy).  the good news however is i can finally say, we are near completion!!! i will spare you the details of the fact that I wine daily because our dining room and master bath are still not complete (and have really yet to be started) - BUT we are almost there :)

orrrr so i thought.  WOMMMMMMMP. WOMMMMP

amazing how quickly home ownership in all it's glory has the ability to literally take its wart covered witchcraft hands  and reach up into that perfectly plush cloud you were daydreaming on, grab you by the shoulders, whip you around and slam you hard against that reality rock, isn't it?! (*wow* sorry for that ridiculous visual i just created, i warned you - it was a rant, and clearly Halloween is still clouding my thoughts)

if you notice - above, i only mentioned the INSIDE of the house (which is clearly all i have been concerned with for several months) but now that it's not sunny outside every day, the leaves are changing and in turn falling on the ground (duuur.)  buuuut, until the other day i apparently was naive enough to believe that leaves don't magically form into large piles that you jump into, the garbage bags don't stuff themselves, and leaves do not evaporate into the ground. 

APPARENTLY when i was a kid my parents were raking leaves early in the morning and they were neatly placed into large piles i then played in by the time i woke up.  the rest of them they meticulously stuffed into garbage bags and placed near the curb for the city yard waste to remove.

HONESTLY, WHO KNEW?!?!?!

well, just my luck. we bought a house with no less than 14 trees in our front yard and another 10 in the back.

*note: we live in a neighborhood with requirements that you are to have at least 2 trees in your front yard, TWO, please tell me WHY oh WHY the previous owners felt it necessary to then have 24 on a 1/2 acre lot ... what the heck?! --- these pictures honestly don't do it justice --- I'm talking A LOT of trees* 

whew, i mean don't get me wrong, it is pretty, it does stand out, and it does add privacy in such a big neighborhood, BUT you can bet my green-thumb (or lack there of) that after the amount of leaves we have seen this fall, tree removal is NEXT on the house completion "To Do" list.

alright - are you ready for the scene i came home to that got me all fired up and inspired this blog?  i wish now that i would have taken more pics, but i was BEYOND mortified when i rolled up from ONE DAY of work (after literally having Shane rake leaves the night before) and seeing this.  i swear to you, i pulled up to my house snapped a extremely QUICK photo and pulled into the garage as fast as i could. HOPING AND PRAYING my neighbors would forget what i looked like until we got the situation under control. 

BEYOND embarrassed. that was literally just one side of our driveway. ohh how i wish so badly i would have gotten a picture of the rest of yard. conveniently i think it was the windiest day of fall to date and all of our luscious leaves created a perfectly stacked pile right on the side of our driveway (THANK GOODNESS i drive an SUV and was able to drive right over those suckers)

so, first order of business. continually rake leaves until my hands fall off. next, remove some of these bad boys. and last, consider buying an industrial leaf vac that gets rid of these fellas.