LAND TO HOME

There was a lot of research with our "self-taught crash course" on HVAC... Bigger is NOT better!  After a dozen visits by the HVAC company over the past year, we were at our wits end dealing with the humidity in the house.  Last fall, the units had been recharged, systems balanced, new coils in the… Continue reading HVAC 101 Crash Course: Bigger is not better

String It Up!  Our middle son has found a new way to put wood from the garage to use and make money.  It started with my Christmas present which he made to say MOM and added clips for pictures to hang.  Since he made my gift, he decided that sanding wood, staining or painting, hammering… Continue reading A new entrepreneur: String It Up!

Our new year began with taking down the Christmas lights and adding a fire pit to the backyard...   During a stressful afternoon, our neighbor texted to say their was a rainbow over our house.  We captured these pictures as the rainbow as so bright and a reminder of God's promises...it felt like a hug… Continue reading New Year: 2020 & Hexclad Pans We Love

A family tradition seemed so much easier this year....(A.) Was it because we had built a whole real house so a gingerbread house seemed much easier?  (B.) Was it because I bought a pre-constructed gingerbread house with all necessary items included? (C.) Both A & B   It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...this… Continue reading First Christmas…

Construction projects are always happening!!! Blaze, the bearded dragon, enjoyed his upgrade from a glass aquarium to a custom home...   WOW!!!  Who knew that hanging lights on the back porch could be so eventful....  We are SO THANKFUL that this black widow and nest was discovered BEFORE it became problematic!!!   Decor is coming together....cozy,… Continue reading November Highlights & Mold Resources

Pumpkins and fall were a welcome sight as the fireplace wall transformed over the month... Amongst house projects, we added a furry family member...Milton, a chocolate lab puppy, came home with us at 8 weeks... After years of asking for a 4 Wheeler, our almost 16 year old got his early Birthday/Christmas present... Yes, this… Continue reading October: Fall Fun & Decor

TILE, TILE & MORE TILE..... Backsplash was one of our hardest decisions and was such a feeling of accomplishment when it was complete!!! Master shower flooring was one more memorable project as the pebbled floor tile looks great on display and comes in tidy 12x12" square sheets....However, they don't fit together like puzzle pieces.  Displays at… Continue reading September: Tile & Air in our home

REMEMBER STONES: A reminder of our house journey... 5305- our first townhouse we rented 15307 - our first home we built with a builder 1536 - our second home we built with a builder - chinese drywall / sinkhole 5519 - rental house for 5709 - our home we bought as a foreclosure and redid floors,… Continue reading REMEMBER STONES

August flew by, but ended with a great anniversary celebration...and HUGE SURPRISE!  MY favorite GC (Owner-Builder Hubby) and I met Fixer Upper's GC Chip Gaines...While we don't watch a lot of television, we have watched Chip & JoAnna Gaines HGTV show where they took on many fixer uppers and made a house feel like a… Continue reading August & All things Magnolia Anniversary

With getting more organized, has come more purging and cleaning.  Stuff clutters. Stuff overwhelms and despite our planned out closet space, it was time to purge.  It felt great to purge and bless others. Cleaning on the other hand feels like a never ending process which does not lead to the same sense of accomplishment.… Continue reading Purging and Cleaning – You can clean with no chemicals, too!

Life is not always an "easy road" - in fact the road has a hole again...so, our driveway guy was called to come fix the paver which was missed and repair the hole in the road... This is symbolic for us right now as we continue to face a lot of adversity and feel like… Continue reading Busyness of June & Mold and Metal Toxicity (part 2)

We love our front door! There's a lot of special details about our house, but the front door tops the list.  The heart shapes on the outside and inside are special to us.  When we prepped the land to build, there was one invasive cherry laurel tree which was cut down.  One of the stumps… Continue reading Memorable May & Mold and Metal Toxicity

April was full of little projects, getting organized, baseball games and trying to live life while continuing to settle into our new house..... A multi-step project which Craig has undertaken....it will look amazing when it's finished and ultimately, there will be benches on each side in the nooks. Projects under construction make for creative places… Continue reading April: Stonework, shiplap and egg hunts

Surprises can be bad or good... This was our bad surprise on March 1st...the downstairs tub leaked into the storage closet under the stairs.  We are SO THANKFUL that the concrete slab was sloped towards this closet and not towards the kitchen... the carpet acted like a sponge so the water did not go through… Continue reading March Surprises & Choosing Carpet Carefully

We are making progress....a driveway really helps to complete a house...and helps with less dirt coming in the house... Cleaning up the front yard and hauling away trash seemed ongoing... Tackling our list of projects...the start to the fireplace... Shiplap in the boys bathroom... Shelves to organize the homeschool room... First injury in the new… Continue reading February & Pitiful paint and texture with VOCs

Wood floors made in Tennessee.... More of Craig's great tiling work....and...Closet shelves are kind of like toilet paper - you don't realize how essential they are until you don't have them....Beckett learning how to install door handles... Boxes can pile up.....Pinterest inspired pantry shelves turned out great.... A fun mailbox and looking forward to having… Continue reading Joyous January & Wood Floors

Maximizing the month of December... Laundry and mudroom tile...Blake discovered that his favorite part was grouting... Craig installed 16 doors and trimmed 20 windows... Master bathroom is coming together... Boys' bathrooms are getting finished... Outside house color was determined....color matched to a hardie board sample... Each board was individually stained by the Walkers and a… Continue reading December Decisions & Countertops

Sunday: More tiling in the bathroom and laundry room   Monday: Electricians began the final steps of finishing outlets, switches and hanging lights Tankless hot water heater was installed in the garage Tuesday: Doors and tongue & grove wood for the porch ceilings delivered Electricians continued We continued with numerous trips to Home Depot and… Continue reading Second Week of December: CRUNCH TIME

Front Door installation was done after a couple of late nights...it was a HUGE DIY project! Normally this time of year we are working as a family to secure a Christmas tree into a tree stand and make sure that it all lines up and is straight.  This year, we had a different project....we got… Continue reading Essentials: Front door & Cabinets

WOW! Our paint color turned out better than we anticipated! We are so thankful!  We are so thankful for so very many things!!! This was a great week of having this construction project look more like a home every day.  We paused to enjoy Thanksgiving with family and talk about our blessings this year, with… Continue reading A week of thankfulness…