So Long Popcorn!

One of the first items on the to-do list for the new house was to remove the popcorn ceilings and replace them with knock-down. Some people don't care either way about popcorn ceilings, but we're not those people. In fact we have very strong feelings about popcorn in that we really don't like it. It flakes at the slightest touch and dust clings to it, which makes the ceiling look dirty over the years, plus that can't be good for you. To take it down though is a huge mess, so we opted to do it before we moved in. We contemplated going the DIY route, but after talking to a couple of people who attempted the task themselves, we opted to just bite the bullet and hire professionals.

Here are the ceilings in all their popcorn glory...

The kitchen and family room area

Bedroom ceiling

The ceilings had cracks in certain spots around the house from settling, so we thought this would also be a great opportunity to patch those up...

On the first day, the team showed up to prep  the house and start scraping off the popcorn. Everything that was not  ceiling was draped in plastic to catch all the falling popcorn and all the light fixtures were wrapped...

Then it was time to get scraping! They sprayed the ceilings with water and then started scraping away...

We watched them scrape away praying that they wouldn't uncover some sort of damage to the drywall needing to be repaired. Thankfully all the drywall looked great...

Once the scraping was done they sprayed knock-down texture and left it to dry for the painters the next day...

   

Next day, the painters arrived and started painting the ceilings. Within a few hours our ceilings were done!

 

Not sure if you can tell from the photos, but it made a huge difference in the feel of the house. The popcorn felt dated and now with the new ceilings the house feels more clean and modern. Plus thanks to the new paint the house smelled brandy new :-)

Latest View of Success

Image via here

This pretty much sums up my life the past two weeks. Used to be you could not get me out of bed before 8:00 am without me turning into grumpy cat, and now I leap out of bed on the weekends at 6:45 am to start working on what seems to be an ever growing list of things to do. Right now my goal is just to unpack as many boxes as I can, which is easier said then done. My method of unpacking right now is just putting everything away and worrying about organizing later just to get the boxes out of the house (my husband keeps yelling how they attract bugs...no thanks!). Hopefully soon things will start to settle down and I can start actually organizing and working on the house. This photo just reminds me I need to do laundry :-/

Dining Al Fresco

Since moving into the new house I've become fixated on our outdoor area more than anything else at the moment. Perhaps it's because summer is here and the thought of spending my weekends watching my husband cook at the grill and while sitting outside watching the sun go down makes me smile.

Image via here

Over the weekend we had family over to break in the new grill my parents gave us as a house warming present (pretty sweet huh?!). When it came time to sit for dinner, everyone was scattered all over the house finding whatever chair and tabletop they could find since our little patio table with two chairs from our townhouse didn't fit everyone.

Image via here

Afterwards I started day dreaming of beautiful outdoor dining spaces. Tables covered in pretty glassware and colorful dishes, vases filled with flowers from the garden, and candles lighting up the evening.

Image via here

I started going through my Pinterest looking for ideas on seating. I really love the idea of a clean lined table surrounded by casual seating, perhaps even a mix of seating....

It's a work in progress, but this is what's spinning around in my head right now. I've already started bringing all the pieces together. In fact I've already put in a call to my parents to borrow their truck to go pick up the table this week. Hopefully with a few more items we'll have an outdoor dining area to enjoy the rest of the summer!

Table: Pottery Barn
Rattan Chair: Pier One
Folding Chair: IKEA
Rug: West Elm
Seat Cushion: Pier One
Umbrella: Pottery Barn
Lantern: IKEA
Coasters: Furbish
Oil Candles: Crate & Barrel

And We're In!

It's official! We moved to the new house over the weekend and are currently in unpacking mode. It feels so amazing to be in our new home and we feel so blessed and happy to be starting this new chapter in our lives. Before we even moved into the house, the first thing we did was remove the popcorn ceiling, which resulted in the whole house being draped in plastic. There are more photos to come but here's a peek at the start of the plastic tenting...

While the guys were at it, I begged them to take down this weird 90's ledge that was above the sliding glass doors you see when you walk into the home. The ledge was so low it made it nearly impossible to hang curtains and I had no idea what to do with the ledge to begin with...so off it went!

I took lots of photos of the end result, so I promise I'll post them soon. While the popcorn was being removed we weren't allowed in the house and we basically camped out in the back patio. So to entertain ourselves we diverted our attention to focusing on outdoor projects. The one at the top of the list was getting the sprinkler system up and running. Since the house was empty for a while the whole system needed to be woken up, which resulted in a lot of digging to find lost sprinkler heads and this cute little guy to help hold up the pipe collecting lake water for the sprinkler system...

Yep, we now own a plastic goose...it's a boy. We moved in a few days later...

Weird to see your whole life packed into one truck! Right now all the boxes are being unpacked and items set aside that I'm just not sure what to do with yet. I'm looking forward to working on the house and sharing the progress with you all as it comes along!

Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend!

Image of the Day: Dine in White

Image via Pinterest, Design by India Hicks

Image of the Day: Fish Scale

Image from Emily Henderson's Instagram

I have bathroom floors on the brain since we're going to have to redo all (yes, you read it right, ALL) the bathrooms in the new house. I am completely obsessed with this fish scale tile Emily Henderson chose for this bathroom. So different, so pretty! LOVE LOVE LOVE

Listening To: Next to Me

Hello loves!

I've been listening to this song on repeat all day. Nothing like a good song to help you get over the mid-week hump. Enjoy!