Nowhere in the excitement of “We are going to buy this house and renovate it!” did anyone even hint that the amount of dust involved in that statement alone is enough drive a person completely mental. I’m not talking “dust contained to the rooms you are working on”. Or even the rooms next to the rooms you are working on. I’m talking “dust in the upstairs guest room closet on your winter coats that are still in the packing boxes” dust. The best part is that you think you have cleaned it up, but when you come back downstairs the next morning, the reappearing white snow looks like you don’t even know what a mop is. I need more coffee just thinking about it.

I’m not blaming anyone (#ahemmother), but I do think there should be a disclosure at the bottom of the mortgage that states you will stand on the brink of insanity at least once should you choose to accept this massive undertaking.

I say this all tongue-in-cheek… I am truly thrilled to have an actual foyer and sanded kitchen!!! In case you can’t remember, here is what the foyer looked like when we moved in.

That beige door led to a coat closet that took up a lot of space and really closed off the entrance from the front door. We don’t technically need that storage, and I wanted a warmer feel to the entryway. So my Tennessean Chip Gaines went to work!

And here’s where we are now! (Still a lot of dust, but) the drywall has been repaired and we are ready to paint!

Until we do the hardwoods, I will just put a thick rug over the pieced flooring. I am searching for a new light fixture. The dentil molding will go back on the wall, and we will put picture molding under the chair rail in the foyer and up the stairway. (Similar to the dining room.) I am so happy with the light and space that opened up! I’m considering a mini church pew or some kind of bench with lots of greenery, maybe a rustic coat stand, etc… My Pinterest/Houzz wheels are on overdrive.

My dad is coming Sunday to help with the house (specifically the kitchen), so we wanted to prep the space as much as possible. Our kitchen was covered in lots of stubborn wallpaper and TONS of wallpaper glue, so sanding the walls in preparation for paint was quite an undertaking.

A reminder of the move-in state of affairs…

And the prepped walls with newly skimmed ceiling! It may not look like a big change, but there has been a LOT of work done to get to this stage.

Painted cabinets/ceiling/trim walls, new hardware, new matching pendant lights, and a new fridge – those are the current items on the checklist! I can’t wait to see this space transformed. New counters, sink, and floors will come eventually, but we can wait until after baby for those!

Andrew has painted the ceiling in the study, so we are ready for the trim and walls! You can see some of my experiments on the wall 🙂 I’m still not sold on a color, but I better decide quickly because he is catching up to me!

Real-life renovation.. It isn’t pretty and it always takes longer than you think it will. But it means there is progress, so I’m holding onto that with my very last shred of sanity.

Happy Friday to you! Cheers to a cool, relaxing weekend!