Giving Cabinets New Life

As I've mentioned before, we tore down a house before starting our build. Conveniently, the old house had amazing oak cabinets that were in pretty perfect condition. They weren't really my style, but I definitely saw their potential and my Pinterest loving self was chomping at the bit to get going on a project. We thought they would be perfect for the laundry room, but since we don't have any windows in that space I wanted to lighten them up with a fresh, light color. And the hardware was outdated. So, Andy took this on as his first real husband duty!

We decided on the pieces we wanted for the space, and Andy got going on heavy duty sanding. I think later on we decided he didn't have to put so much time and effort into that but it was all worth it in my opinion:)

I can't find a picture of the before cabinets, but here are the pieces after some sanding.

I wish I had a before picture to show you the great condition they were in.  These pictures do not really do them justice, but you get the idea of what a big to-do this was.  We got to try out a new attachment paint sprayer. A few coats and some trial and error got us some purty lookin' cabinets!

And now, the beautiful after photos...

We've given them a whole new life! I'm thrilled with the fresh, creamy color and the pulls are perfect. Won't the open cabinet be PERFECT for laundry baskets?!?! I'm pumped for all the organizational possibilities. I am so thankful for Andy as this project took him a few months. I think he is now a little turned off of DIYing, but I think after some time he will be open to giving it another whirl:) I can't wait to install these bad boys and just move in already!

Life

We have gotten a lot done lately! But we still have so much more to do..

On the wedding front, we have our registry done! Well, I shouldn't say done but pretty well started. We're waiting till the house is done to get more of the fun design things on the list. Everybody says it's so fun, but it was exhausting. I know I'm a neurotic mess so I made it more difficult than most people do, but I like to research things before I purchase them. And since we are starting from scratch on everything, I had quite a bit of researching to do. Also, we've nailed down a bridesmaid dress. Getting closer on the entertainment side of things, too. I have a style for the invitations picked out, I just have to have them made. And we have the whole honeymoon thing to do.. So. Much. Planning.

As far as the house goes, we have some dry wall hung - not much. Baseboards, trim, and doors have been finalized. Yesterday, we nailed down paint colors for pretty much every room, so I'm excited to get that going! We have a style of kitchen cabinets selected, and are hoping to have the designer get going on the specific layout. We sorted through a bunch of cabinet add-ons for organization and it got me pretty darn antsy. The organizing enthusiast in me is just itching for some projects and ready to put things away.  I. Am. So. Pumped.

In two months, it should be a completely different house! At least I hope it will be.

On another note, Friday was my last day of clinical rotations at work. This coming week will be my orientation into community work, which will last ten weeks. I'm guessing ten weeks will fly by compared to the twenty of clinicals! I'm enjoying it, but also very thankful that time has flown by. We have so much to look forward to :)

More of the same

There really is not a whole lot of updates here, just more of the same. So busy! I have been freaking out because of our looooong list of things to get done. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do about it because it's harvest season, and Andy is pretty much unavailable. We still need to register and do TONS of shopping for house items, but keep waiting for a rainy day. So, me being me, I've been doing hours of research on registry items, flooring, cabinets, paint colors, etc. It needs to stop. Maybe next month...

On a positive note, my mom confirmed that my venues were booked for the right days (I booked them almost a year ago, but my anxiety causes me to think of worst case scenarios). Also, after a few days of harried phone calls, the chair covers have been booked :) I am waiting to hear back from a DJ/lighting vendor and we have booked a day to go bridesmaid dress shopping! Hallelujah, I think we're getting close.

I know I say this every month, but is it seriously almost October? This is my last week on the hospital floors, and for the next three weeks I'll be covering staff and functioning like a full-fledge dietitian. At this point, I am so ready... and surprisingly, not nervous. We'll see how I feel come Monday. I am exciting to bust out these next three weeks and jump into the Community rotation. Although I really like clinical work, I am ready for a change up! I can't believe it's almost here and we will meet our new intern class next week!!

By the end of October, I better have a lot of news or else I will really be one frantic, psycho mess (as if I'm not already or anything). Here's hoping!

Busy bees

Andy and I have been busy little birds this summer.  We are two days out from the month of September and I can hardly believe it. What have we been doing all this time to make it go so fast??

I have been doing the whole full time job, Monday to Friday, 40 hours a week thing. It's tiring but totally doable. I am really liking what I do and who I work with. And I've been surprised at just how much my evenings in Peoria fill up. The other interns and I go hiking every Tuesday, which I love. It seems like we've been getting together one other time each week for random get togethers, too. Plus I usually have errands to do or a friend to go to dinner with.. it all adds up. There really hasn't been much boredom!

Not only are the weekdays busy, but the weekends seem to be just as chaotic. We've had several family get togethers, bridal/baby showers, trips moving friends (and myself), and just a whole bunch of fun things on the calendar. However, the not so fun part is having no time to lie by the pool. But I guess I'd rather be busy and exhausted than bored and lazy.

The worst part of this whole "not having time" thing is the stress that it leads me to feel about wedding planning. All of a sudden I have been feeling as though I need to get things done. We've had the reception and church booked for almost a year, I bought my wedding dress last month, and the photographers have been a go for a while, too. But in the last few weeks I've really been in gear.  Most importantly, we finalized our list and sent out save the dates! The guest list was by far the most stressful part and I hope nothing tops it, but we have gotten a lot of compliments on our cards and that makes it all worth it :) Also, I have contacted the chair cover people and am waiting for more info from them. Plus I think we have narrowed down a bridesmaids dress! If I don't get those two things settled in the next 6 weeks, I know I will be a nut case. Also, we are trying to set aside a day to register for gifts, so that will be one more thing. After that the next thing on our to-do list will be narrowing down a DJ/band. The last 6 months of our engagement better be breezy after this part!

As far as house updates, we now have insulation sprayed. Supposedly the dry wall guys are coming at some point. Nobody communicates anything to me properly and it's annoying. If I had their personal phone numbers I would be harassing them every day but I guess there is no reason for us to be in that big of a hurry. Soon we will need to start selecting floors, cabinets, etc. so that will be a whole 'nother chapter in my book that is a to-do list. It's all wonderful stuff going on, but mixed together is quite a lot.

I am so ready for June to be here so we can enjoy all that we are working toward.

Where has summer gone?

I am now seven weeks into my internship! I can hardly believe it's going by so fast. I've already spent four weeks on the hospital floors, and definitely learning more and more each day. Sometimes I feel like an idiot, but I guess that's part of the learning process. I'm starting to find my groove and become more comfortable with what I'm doing. And actually, I only have a few more weeks with adults before I start on the pediatric floors - my favorite! Anybody who knows me is aware that I'm totally baby obsessed. I've been looking forward to the end of MNT just because it's the pediatric part. Just a few more weeks! I can't believe it.. It's already almost August..

Just a short house update, we are in a bit of a standstill. In my last post, I mentioned that we were working on electrical. The house is now all wired. Currently they are digging a new well and starting the septic system. So as of now, we are finished with siding, roof, windows, studs, plumbing, and electrical! Next thing on the to-do list is insulationg and dry walling, but it should be at least a few more weeks till our contractor is available. Some days I'm really thankful that we can take our time with this process, other days I'm antsy. Honestly, this has been the busiest summer of my life and I don't know how I would be fitting much housework in if we were rushed. But I am excited to start on projects. I'm hoping our schedule dies down conveniently when the ball gets rolling again. I'm so ready to decorate and landscape.

Life is awesome.

Major Life Updates

Some major things have been occurring over here. I officially graduated college (exactly a month ago to be exact, but better late than never right?). I moved all my stuff home right away and have been enjoying a few weeks relaxing. I honestly don't know where the time went. I spent a lot of time reading and lying by the pool. Other than that, I really can't recall what I did with all my time. It was certainly nice. My sister's wedding festivities were thrown in there and last week, Andy and I got our engagement pictures taken (9 months into our engagement!). I am super excited to see the final prints next week.

Now that I've moved two bedrooms' worth of junk into one bedroom's space, I have really wanted to get going with this whole nesting thing. It's such a tease building a house and still being too far out to do any of that stuff.  My room is always a mess, but not for lack of trying. I just legitimately don't have anywhere to put anything! It's frustrating and I hate living that way. I'm looking forward to finishing this house up. Too bad I still have a while... Although the electricians are working now. Placing switches and outlets really is tedious and annoying. I'm ready for that part to be done.

In other news, I've officially started my internship. Orientation started on Friday and today was the official first day. It's a little overwhelming and I felt like it was a quick turn around, but overall I'm really excited to get going. Everyone seems to love it and is extremely nice. I'm anxious to get past the boring orientation parts and start working with preceptors. Till next time!

Updates

Okay, okay, I know I've been a bad blogger. But honestly, there hasn't been too much to report, and I don't like to blog unless I have something to say. The past month I've been wrapping up my last semester of college! All I have left is a slightly minor exam this Wednesday, and graduation is Saturday! I've been counting down the days pretty much since college started, so it's a bit of a weird feeling knowing that it's almost here.

In my free time, I have been doing quite a bit of research for the house. Since my last post, the porch posts have been installed and I'm really happy with them. Our front door was ordered weeks ago but is due to arrive this Wednesday, so hopefully by this time next week I will have a completely finished picture of the exterior :)

Speaking of pictures, I know I'm awful at taking them. However, just the other day I got a brand spanking new iPhone 4s, so I know those pictureless days are over. The day after I got it, I made sure to go to the house and take pictures of every angle I could. There isn't really a point in showing them now, but they will be nice to have when I start doing posts room by room. We'll see if I keep my word, though.

Although we've pretty much come to a stand-still on house building, I have been doing lots of research. Andy and I have quite a large to-do list. So far, he has been a trooper at being motivated, so I can only hope his motivation continues and that I can keep up. The past few weeks, he's been hard at work on the old cabinets that were in the old house. They were pretty much in mint condition, so we are salvaging and reconfiguring them for the new mudroom bath, as well as the laundry room.  I am so thankful I'm marrying a handy man. He's done so much work on them.  The mudroom bath sections are close to being done, so we should be able to prime and paint within the next few weeks if we wanted to. We are thinking black for the mudroom bath and a creamy tan color for the laundry room. However, my ideas change on a regular basis, so we will see :) We do have the pulls for the mudroom bath purchased, which was more of my thing. I'm excited to start doing more of that fun stuff.

Thanks to Pinterest, our to-do list consists of much more than the cabinet project. First, I stumbled upon this uber perfect master closet on Sawdust and Paper Scraps. For weeks, I've been trying to design a closet based on our needs and dimensions. We are doing this 100% from scratch so we may bite off more than we can chew. Also, I've been trying to find just the right bench/storage for our mudroom. I've pinned options on several of my boards and there are just too many to choose from.  And, I drool over these DIY IKEA built-in bookcases by Centsational Girl.  The dimensions used here aren't the same as we would need, and I'd like to find an option with some filing cabinets, but it certainly has given me somewhere to start from.

Once we get the dry wall in and I know my exact measurements, we'll be able to really get going. I think the Master closet project will be first, because I know if we move things into the space then we will never take it all out and live in construction. Then the mudroom bench will be next, followed by the office built-ins. We'll see how long it takes us to get there!