KellyStewart.org

This was our house when we bought it in September 2008. Definitely not going to win any curb appeal awards.

This is during the phase of the addition where our  neighbors, most of whom have never stopped to meet us, asked

“Do you know that your brick doesn’t match?”

Seriously…..we liked keeping them in suspense.

Next, came the removal of all landscaping and our love affair with

30 gallons of LaFonda Sagebrush began.

Ahhh, the mystery of the mismatched brick is solved.

This was the house and porch after digging 3000 (maybe less) holes to plant new landscaping and

the porch was autumned up, as well as the front door painted.

Look at that baby shrubbery….it will take another 10 years for you to mature.

Also, for some strange reason, our sidewalk does not go all the way to the driveway….why, not sure.

So, we killed the grass with good intentions of adding some stones and fancying it up, but that has not happened yet.

This is our house June 2010.

I am lurving me some black mulch, daylilies abloom, black painted wicker with pops of red and

everything springing up to life!

We are far from finished but are really pleased with the fruits of our labor.

We are pretty much finished in the bathroom except for painting our closet pocket door.  We have had major drywall issues in this room and the playroom.  We learned so many lessons on renovating, such as knowing when to do it yourself and when to hire a PROFESSIONAL.  When our original drywallers came in, the pocket door for our closet was not in or installed yet. So they left the opening and we figured we would do it, or bring them back in.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve.

Jason and I have a little tradition of having our close friends, who don’t have family close or who are traveling on Christmas, over after our Christmas Eve service.  We love it.  This year, we had I think, 7-8 families and a whole lot o kids.

Because we are crazy, we had a drywall guy come in on the 23rd to finish out the drywall in our playroom and the bathroom.  Jason had hung the drywall, and it needed to be mudded and sanded.  The sweet man assurred us when he gave us his estimate that it could be done in two days with dry time.  We knew it would be tight, but we would have time to finish up painting before the service and guests arrived.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

He sanded and drywall dust was EVERYWHERE. My sweet parents, came and helped us and, no kidding, my dad and mom are mopping my floors.

We got everything painted and it looked AWFUL.  You could see the tape lines and it was not GOOD.

He has since been out three more times to FIX it, and it looks only marginally better.  I think we are either going to have to get someone else in, or figure our a different wall covering solution for the playroom.

But, back to the bathroom. It needs to be completely repainted after all the sanding and drywall mess. the line of where he taped and sanded, while smooth, does not match up with the texture of the rest of the wall, so we are hoping that flat paint will cover a multitude of sin.

I didn’t include a picture of our pocket door because for some reason, I forgot to take one! We have double doors leading into the bathroom. You can

see that I added hooks for our towels and after 12 YEARS of marriage bought new towels. I got dark brown for me and the paprika color for Jason.

No more wondering which towel is mine. I think it is brilliant. I am doing this with my kids as well.

Also, we added the chandelier….a whopping $40 from Ikea.

The cabinet area is coming together. I added the wooden mirrors, for ease, but I am not in love with them. I am thinking

I may eventually go back and add a big framed mirror to the entire width.  The sconces were from Kirkland’s and the plate I already had. Don’t you love that

each sconce has a light out! Keeping it real.

I love the quartz countertop. LOVE it. It covers a multitude of junk and still looks decent.

I also have our ipod speakers in here for now and some smelly stick thing.

These are my rugs, which if you have ever been down the rug aisle at Target, you have seen them.

I really, really like them. I am thinking of adding the same rug to our bedroom, but not sure, might be overkill.

The flooring…..it is awesome, if I can say that. I am sooo satisfied with what we chose and I planning on adding it in our other bathrooms and maybe even the kitchen.

It just works.

Here is our shower (again).  It has three shower heads and only two are ever used. One will only put out luke warm water….very luke warm.

We have not gotten our plumber back out to work on it, but hopefully, soon, that will happen.  I am thinking of putting Knox in for his bath, because he is old and arthritic and won’t

get in the kid’s tub.  Jason thinks I am a loser for that.

If I could change one thing, I would have added a decorative row of tile, just to break up the sameness.

I am still a fan of the glass doors. Granted I think we made a wise move adding the wall to the right, or we could have scarred our children for life by now.

Privacy is never a bad thing….at least in the bathroom. (Words to live by, feel free to quote me.)

I wish I could say I have taken many a baths in here, but alas, I have not. The water is luke warmy in it too.  In due time…

I am thrilled with my bathroom and closet.  It was a ton of work and time, but we are enjoying the fruits of our labor.

I realized that I have not shared some ‘final’ renovation pictures and I use that word very loosely.

Here is the blank slate. We chose Bamboo shades and I REALLY love them. These are privacy shades and have worked out great. I got them at Home Depot.

At first, I put our old duvet cover  on it. I knew I wanted to bring in some orange to tie in the bathroom, so I started thinking how I could do that…

I pulled out our older duvet cover that had white and brown on one side, but couldn’t find the shams, so this is what I have thrown together…

I LOVE our barn star, which I had to change up a bit to make it work, but it was on clearance at Lowe’s for $12, was LARGE and I love barn stars, so above the bed it went…

I found the orange and brown pillow at TJMaxx ….

and my next purchase is new LAMPS. These are way too small and are missing the piece that keeps the shade from falling to one side.

Jason also hates that our tables are so far from our bed…I am going to keep them their until we can new tables….great strategy, huh??

My curtains, which I ADORE, are from IKEA.  at our  old house, I only had two panels. I had gotten the LAST pair at IKEA a year ago and these were

the display curtains. They have the lining and everything. So I got a friend to cut them in half and hem them.  LOVE how they turned out.

My curtain rods are from ROSS…seriously they were like $12 a piece, which is CHEAP!!

I used some SL Aberdeen wall plaques which used to hang above my bed on one side of the dresser, which looks like a

kid dresser in our bigger bedroom. I am not sure what I am going to put on the other side,  hence the use of ‘final’ very loosely.

My rug is WAY TOO SMALL, but it worked for now. I am thinking about using a larger version of the rugs I have in my bathroom…but you have not

seen those, so I will show those another day.

That is LEO the LION on our armoire which Jason and I got when we were in Africa. He is our reminder to be

Lion Chasers…to be bold in our faith and to do hard things….

This is our temporary side of the room. Our plan is to mount the tv on the wall, and build new storage and buy a new comfy chair.

For some reason, our cable wire is not working properly, so we are unable to really use the tv. Jason keeps telling me every 87 times I have asked, that it

will take a whole day to replace it and that he is prayerful that it would work then…..not what I want to hear. I have missed listening to Matt Lauer, as I get ready in the mornings.

I am overjoyed, relieved, thankful and in love with our new space. It is more than we expected and I

will never take for granted having my own bathroom and a closet again.

EVER.

Today, I am thankful for my inlaws….

Yes, I wrote my inlaws.

They raised my husband to be a man who leads, has integrity, can laugh, take on the burdens of others and see life as greater than himself

They laid the foundation for his life and therefore for my life and for the life of my children.

I am forever grateful and indebted to them for the man they raised.

They also like me and my kids, but then again, they did raise their son to have amazing taste!

Thank You Dan and Luann…..

Today, I am thankful for my home.

I don’t take it for granted.

I don’t wish for one that is larger or grander.

I have see the way millions live this year- in one room, with no electricity, running warmer or a bathroom.

So, today, I thankful for our home, that provides more than shelter, but allows our family to grow, live and be…..

I will never again take it for granted!

Today, I am thankful for weekends.  We usually sleep in a little later than usual, which is divine.

I love to sleep, but having three kids pretty much makes sleeping til 8 a huge blessing!

I also love having a chance to catch up on whatever needs to be caught up on, otherwise known as, laundry at our home.

It is also time to relax and hang out with our fam.

Our weekends have been filled with home renovation for 6 months and I am ready to reclaim our weekends!

Until then, I am thankful….

A major reason we added on to our home was because of our need for another bathroom and bedroom.  Our house had a master with a bathroom attached, but it was really small and since we knew we were going to add on, we decided to go with the master suite.  It has been fun and stressful, deciding on all our finishes and layout for the bathroom.  We decided to splurge on the shower and although it has been a labor of love and tears, it has turned out beautiful.  I am really excited.  After sharing a bathroom with the kids for over a year, I can say, I am SO APPRECIATIVE of privacy and my own space.

Here are some highlights…

I love how this turned out around the bathtub…I went with the brick pattern with the tile and I am really pleased…

This is our beautiful glass (if you have any cleaning tips let me know).  I love it. FLAT OUT LOVE IT! You can also see that we have several options..

one shower head, a handheld and another shower head. Again, this was our splurge!

Our fixtures are tuscan bronze from Price Pfister.  We bought them all off of ebay and saved a mint!

Our inset…

We turned the floor on a diagonal and I am really pleased with how it turned out.

The mirrors have been my nemesis.  Because we centered our sinks on the cabinets, the space to fit the mirrors is tight. I wanted separate mirrors and between getting the right size and

the right color….it has been a challenge.

These are mirrors #9 and #10..

Excuse the wonky pic, it is turned on my computer but not on wordpress.

Option #7 and #8 would need to be painted black with some distressing of the oil rubbed color..not sure exactly how to pull it off.

What do you think?

This is a big weekend for us to finish out a lot! We are working on painting trim, finishing the trim, finishing the landscaping, sanding drywall and painting touch ups…

We are so close!

Over the last three days, my dad and I have been busy at work, making a most dramatic transformation to the outside of our home….

We planted…

40 variegated monkey grass

4 hydrandgea bushes

19 Holly Bushes..the non prickly kind

44 day lillies

3 Nandena bushes

4 White azalea bushes

98 monkey grass

4 Knock Out Roses

2 Japanese Cypress trees

1 Random I forgot the name tree

1 Leeland Cypress

2 Teddy Bear Magnolia trees

2 Orange Mums in planters…

Equals…..

One less thing my husband has to do….

(I will add pictures of the whole thing once we have mulch!)

Let me just say that building, renovation, or adding on to your home, IS NOT FOR SISSIES.

It is hard, exhausting, stressful, all consuming, expensive, and at times, just plain ugly.  It takes a lot of ugly to make something beautiful…..construction wise.

I don’t like a lot of clutter and mess, but I can deal with it when there is an end goal.  Jason and I both are at the point of just being plain ol’ tired and ready for this to be done.  He has worked his tail off, is known on a first name basis by most employees at Lowe’s, has made hundreds of phone calls, spent all of his spare time working in the addition and has managed the budget.   I am so thankful for him and his commitment to our family.  Many would have caved before now!  Although it is hard for me to admit, which has issues in and of itself, there are parts of our home and yard, that look AWFUL.  There is no getting around it, it just looks a mess.  For me, it is not so much as I am concerned what people think about it, although there is a touch of middle school girl, lingering in my mind, as much as it just leaves me feeling unsettled and not able to rest.  We are at the point where there is ALWAYS something to be done which leaves for little down time.  I have not watched tv in months, it feels like, and evenings spent just hanging out have been few and far between. But, we knew that this would be part of it, to get our home the way we want it.  And this his just

phase 1…..

Living in the mess, has been such a great reminder of how Christ takes the ugly, the chaotic, the muddy and REDEEMS.   I can testify that he takes the ugly, the broken and works at it, exposing the mess and begins the process of making it new again.  , but in the end, what was once ugly, shines precious and refined, purified because of the choice to walk His path because…

He alone makes beauty from ashes.

even though the path is rocky and uneven…

it is muddy and slow….

it is full of twists and turns,

some places are harder to navigate and walk through…

but in the end, the result is worth every ounce of effort it took to become more like Christ…

There is healing, there is hope and there is BEAUTY…to display for His splendor!

So through the journey, I am reminded that even in the imperfect…. there is beauty.  It is a beauty that comes from watching a man love, lead and care for his family, by SHOWING what it means to work hard.  It is the wonder of family surrounding us and showing us their affection through sweat and blood and time spent to make our house a home.  It is our friends, who have been understanding and have placed no expectations on us during this season of life.   It is in the men who have entered our home, who have used their craft, and have been respectful, patient, helpful, full of knowledge and willing to go the extra mile with us.  We are reminded that we are blessed…..

Isaiah 61 (and Jesus’ first words in his ministry…)

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, ^[a]

² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

As you can see by the less than frequent frequency of my updates, and the reoccurring theme, the dition is our life right, now.  So feel free to pass reading if you could care less about what my MBR looks like…I will not be offended!  I will let you know that we are going to Disney is two weeks, so I should be back to posting about normal Stew family things soon!

This is the back door removed and the two worlds meet!  I passed by about 30 times thinking the door was open and I needed to close it!

This is the color in our kitchen, which I love.  It is called Saffron from Restoration Hardware, which we color matched at Lowe’s.  We are going to do a wainscoating pattern on the bottom.  I am going to add pictures all down the hallway and some art that the kids make.  I am really excited to get this going.

Here is the opening into the MBR.

Matt got a bit of the floor laid and Jason finished it last night.  I really love it…..

Here is the tile.  Jason likes color variation and I love the tumbled look.  This was one we both agreed upon and I am very pleased with it!  It is 16×16 and it can be your too from your

local Home Depot!

Here is our vanity and your first glimpse of our bathroom color.  It is called Paprika and it looks like Paprika! It was a bold choice on my part but I was struggling to decide what to put in

there, so I went with one that I secretly had a crush on.  I am going to accessorize with brown in both rooms and add orange accents in the bedroom.  We will see if it works or if it totally flops.

One day closer to having this all finished!!!