Doin' it with Duane

Jacob and I bought a house for two main reasons.  It was cheaper than renting, and our dog Lola needed something bigger than an apartment.  Of course there were other perks that went along with a house, but we always had dreams that our "starter" house was just that, and not necessarily our final home.

Then life happens, as it usually does, and 5 years later we are still in the purple house with a little man added into the mix.  Three years ago Mom and Duane came down for an extended trip.  We added in a few house projects, and a new tradition was born.

Now mom and Duane use their soon to expire vacation days to come down and help us with odds and ends.  And since the invention of Pinterest it is easy for mom and Duane to look at my boards and pick out what they want to work on while here.  Last year, of course, was getting the house ready for baby.  So this year it was to better the house, as it looks like we are here for a few more years at least. 

Words can not express how thankful we are for parents who are willing to get dirty, work hard, and sweat, on their vacation none the less.  Duane is possibly the most handy man I know.  He can dream up anything we want done.  We give him an idea, and he sees it through.  And not just we will do it quickly so it is done, but done the right way, so we are only adding value to our house.  I guess this blog post is an attempt to thank Duane and mom for all of their hard work.  And really to show off what Duane can do.  His passion is really working on projects, and making ideas in our heads come to life.  His work is done correctly every time, and done beautifully!  Just look and see what you think!

Curb appeal was on the TOP of mom's list this year.  She has been working on our flower bed for a year or so, and she couldn't wait to get her hands in the falling apart tree in the front of our yard.  We dug up all the circle bricks, to find they were put in upside down, hence the constant slopping.  While digging up the tree, we dug up and replanted the massive amount of daffodils.  We replanted daffodils around the mailbox, which desperately needed a new coat of paint.  We also repainted our front porch, which added a really nice pop of color.   The last step for the front yard was to trim, and hopefully save our front tree.  The previous owners placed the bricks on top of the tree's roots, which caused part of the tree to die off.  By readjusting the bricks we are in hopes we have saved this tree.  Duane and Jacob braved the humidity and opened the front yard up.

The manly men after the tree had been chopped up

HAHA!  Manly Men!

Our mailbox looks fresh and a new flower area!

Our porch is bright white now!

Mom and I did a lot of work on the inside just decluttering, and clearing items off of the floor, as Lil' man is on the move, and into anything he can get his hands on.   We organized 3 (well technically 4) closets, to make room for the many items that have to be put away temporarily.  I love organization so I enjoyed loved this process. 

Check out that AMAZING pegboard!  Takes everything off of the floor!  AMAZING!

Look at all that room for more stuff!  This closet used to be stuffed full!

This is my cleaning/extra linen closet!  So pretty

 Jacob and I had painted our living room/hallways (THANKS to mom and dad Larkin for the mass amount of paint it took to do this large area).  We had completed putting up cat shelves, and then painted out the second mantel we wanted.  Then Duane and mom made it all happen.  The living room and hallway are COMPLETE!  The second mantel is more than we even dreamed!  It is a perfect addition!  Duane's ability to take a piece of wood and create our projects is awesome.

Our new fireplace!  Seriously perfect! 

I think this is Pin worthy on Pinterest!

A complete look of the living room.  You can also see the new baby gate is in place. 

New art to add some color above the couch

A picture collage.  Also the cat shelves to the right.  Greg is demonstrating! 

You can't see the pictures, but they are baby pics of the new main man Lil' Boo!

The 3 sets of grandparents in the hallway!  A perfect fit!

Another piece of art to add a splash of color.  I guess we are becoming adults...with art pieces...

A huge new concern for us was the dog/cat food.  With Cade being mobile it never fails that he heads straight for the dog dishes (that were on the floor), and only a matter of time of knocking over the cat dishes that were on a small table.  So we created our own animal center! We already had the hutch, just re-purposed it.  We also painted the one wall in the dinning room the color the kitchen/dinning room will all be.  We had to get this wall done, as the big blank spot on the wall will soon house Jacob's fish tank again.  I love the yellow!  It really has brightened up the whole area!  I can't wait to finish painting!

A look at the dinning room as a whole.  The blank area will be home to a fish tank soon.

Our pet center.  Dog dishes below in the drawer.  The cats have their own spot.  Again, Greg is modeling for you. 

This is what our center looks like all closed up.  Perfect if you ask me!

And then the BIG project of the week.  Jacob's dream fish tank stand.  Him and Duane talked before their trip down here.  Jacob did his research, and got a majority of the supplies to get a start, but him and Duane were committed and completed way more than Jacob ever imagined!  Jacob has been looking at stands for a while, and they were priced around $1500.  The time and effort that Duane put into this would make this piece worth at least double.  It is a beautiful piece of woodwork.  What an awesome piece of furniture we will add to the dinning room soon enough!  Words can't describe how excited Jacob is! 

Here it is! Still in the basement.  It will be painted/stained black before it goes upstairs.

Simply perfect!

Custom shelves, drawers, and filter mechanics. Gorgeous! 

WHEW!  All of this in a week's time.  And we had time to experience some great restaurants, play with Cade, enjoy some shopping, and many memories made at home.  I think we can say we are closer than ever to having a real home.