Labor Day Weekend & Before Pics!

Labor Day Weekend has proved to be fun-filled and inspiring! We spent Saturday and part of Sunday up on Lake Gaston with friends and Dablet got to enjoy more water festivities! She even gave her daddy a special touch on the fishing pole off the dock for a little catch and release:

After the quick hour drive back it was time to get back to it! I have been planning and dreaming about a home makeover for months now; finally, the ideas are starting to come together. In case you don't know the back story, Kyle and I moved into a fabulous house in Durham, NC just over two years ago. It's been a whirlwind since then and our home has been neglected. Our walls are (for the most part) "Blah Builder's Beige" and when we sold our printing company it seems like half of the office contents came home with us...utter CHAOS!!

I have been attacking the home makeover with the highest need rooms and the small neglected spaces coming first. Part of the benefit from this is I can have some extra time to make the decisions for colors and style for our largest spaces. However, I have given myself the goal of having our first floor (essentially) complete by Dablet's first birthday party just 2.5 short weeks away! After having "Hoarders" on in the background for 10 minutes yesterday afternoon Kyle an I started tackling the mud room and laundry room. I will preface this by telling you that our mudroom is where the dogs hang out when we're not home and I have recently repaired a few holes chewed in the dry wall....I'm thinking about some sort of wall reinforcement....luckily there have been no new holes in months!

We had this sign made at a fair representing our Golden Retriever, Husky, and Rottweiler

Classic find from the San Diego Zoo gift shop! Every pet owner needs a copy of this one!

Our mudroom is more than just a room, it actually has a granite built in desk and lots of cabinets. I use the cabinets for paper goods storage, flashlights, first aid kits, and such...I'm working on a creative use for the desk that is also pet friendly.

Here's a "spin around" into our laundry room to cover our before photos. The paint has already been picked out and I'm working on taping tonight. Whoever designed the cabinets was not someone who does laundry frequently because they are WAY too shallow given how far out the laundry machines come. Thus I am ALWAYS jumping up to get detergent and I'm 5' 10"!!!!! I will be making something "better" happen here!

I hope you all have had a fabulous Labor Day weekend. Enjoy your family and your time!!