Growing up I loved Saved by the Bell. There would usually be some sort of drama (Gasp, Jesse is on pills and we have an aerobics video to record). But then it always returned to happy perfection when Slater and Zach saved the day. Remove the commercials and, if you’re like me, you realize you can solve most of life’s problems in less than 22 minutes. (Even Screech occasionally found his coordination and had a few ‘special’ moments with Lisa within those 22 minutes. I’m telling you…I thought anything could happen in less than 22 minutes).
And I’m certain most of you reading this have also seen the magical home renovations on HGTV that occur in the same time frame. Well guess what my friends?! Our latest project is overdue on our own magical home reveal. Sure we did a reveal party but someone (me) was hitting the cheese platter too hard to remember to take any photos. And now that we’ve also hosted a few Christmas soiree’s, I want to do a proper BEFORE and AFTER photo share.
The actual renovation for our Pied-a-Terre (read more about it here and here) took a full 13 weeks. But today I’m giving you the pretty ‘tied with a big bow’ finished version. And in less time than our coveted 22 minute sitcoms. (Although please do let me know in the comments which project you want to hear more about). If I can add humor and helpful information to it then I promise to do a write up to share details. And when are vaulted ceilings and updated tile never not funny!?.
Just like I couldn’t wait to see Lisa Turtle find a soft spot for Screech each episode, I hope you too can see that this house was wonderful to begin with. It just felt dated and we love to find and restore some updated charm.
Oh…and because you know my family likes to keep things interesting. Our whole family fled to Mexico for a week in the middle of this 13 week project. What HGTV never shows you in those 22 minutes is the insane mental exhaustion of a renovation. Spoiler: beach cocktails help cure this ailment. We came back ready to finish. She is a beauty! Take a look!
THE BEFORE. Forget about curb appeal. You could barely see the house driving by!THE AFTER. Ahhhh! There she is! Bushes be gone and show us your bright white! (more specifically Sherwin Williams Shoji White). You actually notice the big sprawling tree now as well.THE BEFORE. Come on in and let us show you around. THE AFTER: Even the models seem cuter in their raingear! 35* and rainy on reveal day. But for a family that ‘loves a rainy night’ these 8 foot glass front doors ‘are a beautiful sight’. Thank you Eddie Rabbit for my lyrical door description. THE BEFORE. Split level with a split-second decision on which staircase to use. There were TWO staircases within 4 feet of walking in the door. If you’re indecisive like me, you’ll appreciate that we gave you one solid grand entry.THE AFTER. The largest doors I’ve seen in person with my actual eyeballs. A bright and elegant light with just a few grand easy stairs taking you into your cozy living area.THE BEFORE. A solid dark palette and turns out the fireplace brick was poorly assembled. One swing of the hammer and it all came down!!! THE AFTER. Why yes we did vault the ceilings! Installed real hardwoods, updated the fireplace that turns on with the flick of a switch (or by asking my 3 year old to do it)! And of course we gave her fresh paint – Sherwin Williams Front Porch.Speaking of paint – that painting you are all going to ask me about is by Legendary Katie Murray.THE BEFORE. The laundry room and storage was all one space. We redesigned the entire downstairs and think it’s much more user friendly. (do you spy one of the staircases that formerly led to the entryway?)THE AFTER: A sizable (and stylish) Laundry Room. Large enough to host a gathering and pretty enough that you might actually run a load of laundry too!THE BEFORE. This was the large living space off of the laundry and storage area. They gave us a great space to work with. We just knew we could make it more functional.THE AFTER. Smooth ceilings, reinforced header (au revior columns), and lots of places to stash the toys before company arrives!THE BEFORE. This half bath was showing it’s age with a few dated design aspects.THE AFTER: Downstairs bathroom. A few easy, inexpensive and simple updates! So fresh and so clean!THE BEFORE. Master Bedroom had a large layout with an area that we felt would be better used and appreciated in the Master BathroomTHE AFTER. The Master Bedroom is still spacious with a seating area (out of view from photo). We think you’ll agree on stealing space for the Master Bath…..THE BEFORE. A tiny Master bathroom considering the overall size of the house. Itsy-bitsy shower and just the one shell-shaped sink!THE AFTER. There’s room in here for two! Larger shower and a double sink vanity (because we believe in the sanctity of marriage). THE BEFORE. Previously the Master closet was accessed thru the bedroom. Our renovations allowed for a proper en suite.THE AFTER. Master Closet (En Suite) has an updated layout and is now accessed thru the bathroom. I love this because it means if you sleep in later than your partner, he can shower and get ready in one area without opening and closing doors and turning on various lights. (I might be speaking from personal experience here ‘5am Heath’).THE BEFORE. Leigh-Ann’s bedroom. I’m not sure who Leigh Ann was but she had 3 layers of wall paper and I was digging her ever-changing design ideas! As we did with all the bedrooms, we just freshened it up and made it move-in ready for anyone’s design to take shape!THE BEFORE. We replaced all 16 single panel doors. RIP Leigh-Ann’s room.THE AFTER: ‘Leigh-Ann’s Bedroom’. Now Greenley’s bedroom and she loves having her own ballet barre along with two closets. #girlsdreamTHE BEFORE. Layout was already large so we just updated with some of our favorite design ideas at the time!THE AFTER. The most commented thing on this Hall Bathroom thus far has been regarding the shiny finish on the vanity. It’s hard to see in the photo but just know it has serious luster and we love the way it pops with the gold accents and white tiled wall. THE BEFORE. Most of you have seen the backyard from the pool here. But we also wanted to update this side of the yard. THE AFTER. Again we simplified things by reducing the stairs and opening up the area to better entertain your friends and family. THE BEFORE. I will end this post with the most requested room in the house….the Kitchen! I coined the wall to the left as the ‘isolation wall’ because the cook was literally cut off from the rest of the house. The space was too small to let others into the kitchen with you, yet being fully walled off, you couldn’t even pretend to be a part of the group.THE AFTER. The kitchen now opens up to the main living area. The high ceilings make it feel more spacious and you still have easy access to the living area downstairs. You should have seen the 10 guys hauling in this massive marble island countertop. THE AFTER. Casing out the kitchen sink window instantly made it feel larger and we added the largest window we could find within our time constraints. Now this is a kitchen I can really spend some time in (I probably still won’t cook, but I will spend more time here).
Y’all this house (our Pied-a-Terre) is FOR SALE! We have moved our little family here until the next owners find it and I can whole-heartedly tell you that it’s wonderful! Will you stop by for a drink if you’re ever in Fort Worth? It’s seriously the perfect home for hosting. Tell me the details of this project you want to hear more about. You know I love to share!
Lake season in Texas is officially over. Sure, there is more than enough water, but I’m way too cold and full of pumpkin-spiced lattes to trapse around in a bikini. And quiet down now if you are already thinking to yourself that I should never trapse around in a bikini. This is not the place for body-shaming!
To keep my spirits up on chilly days, I like to blare songs from our ever evolving summer boat playlist. They are fun and sunny, but many tend to be so inappropriate. Why is that? Nevertheless, it reminds me of when I first learned the gravity of playing a foul language song to the wrong group.
When I began working for SeaDream (as a Yacht Director on the luxury line) the song ‘I’m On A Boat‘ by The Lonely Island, was released. (Grandma, do not click that link!) What you also need to know about me is that I’m the type of girl that ‘acts first, worries later’. Meaning, I don’t really think of my actions before they occur. This often results in fun. Yet, usually gets me into trouble. While working on SeaDream, I was basically removed from the real world. Week to week I had one goal and one goal only…receive perfect scores on our Voyage surveys. Ok, ok, I wanted to do a good job and be helpful to the rest of our crew. And I genuinely did want the guests to like me. But let me get real with you quickly. I didn’t check Facebook, I didn’t watch TV and I barely emailed with friends and family. I was consumed with creating daily itineraries that catered to the elite traveller. And of course I was constantly responding to Patty’s complaints about the pesky locals not taking the US Dollar (she brought 500 $1 bills to France and she wants to use them). Or maybe I was busy solving Mr. Wienfeld’s issue of needing crab legs for the 4th day in a row (because he didn’t realize we had fresh crab the last 3 days and today we don’t. This is now my problem). All that to say, I heard there was a ‘fun’ new song about being on a boat and didn’t realize the mass amounts of profanity throughout this Boat song. I was the naive world traveller….a ‘flipping tourist’ you might say. (NOTE: It isn’t actually until THIS VERY MOMENT that I am realizing this song was actually a SNL-skit thing. Cleary I’m still out of touch).
I just remember being incredibly ecstatic that an entire song had been written about my current life! Although, if I think about the language that gets thrown around at sea I suppose it shouldn’t have been shocking that the lyrics of a boat song were littered with f-bombs towards your mutha.
Before listening to even one chorus of ‘I’m on a Boat’, I just took it upon myself to download this ballad and blast these tunes through the entire yacht sound system. After about six lines of ‘Mother F*&@?$ boat’ I realized I had made a mistake. An ugly mistake. Our dear Captain wasn’t amused. I mean this is really bad if even lifetime seafarers are officially offended.
Music never really has been my thing.
So what is ‘my thing’? I’m not really sure, but it’s clear I’m always up for taking risks! To me it’s just a way of life. Whether it is risking my career on playing a song to the masses that I didn’t bother to preview yet or just taking a risk in designing and doing things differently. Why live life safe, when you can just LIVE?! (My personal motto is, “it will all just work itself out“. And this honestly bugs my spreadsheet-addict husband. He plans and organizes and over-prepares. For everything. You can imagine how upsetting it is to him to see me throw things at a wall and they actually stick. And look pretty decent too).
You may hear my life motto being mentioned a lot. Oh, also, Jesus has my back. Always.
But returning to the subject at hand. Boats. Growing up allllll I wanted was to have a boat. My parents had a canoe for a short bit. I don’t feel like that fully met my desire. Like not at all. They finally sold it (or donated it. Or sunk it. I need to ask them how one gets rid of an old rusty canoe).
As the years went on my parents would go on cruises and I didn’t get to go on a SINGLE ONE! Not a single one!!! The travesty! I let them know many times over how deprived I felt.
I should have saved myself the whining. If only my younger self knew that I would someday spend 2 years living and working on one of the best boats in the world – SeaDream. (I promise you LOTS more stories coming your way from my years on the water).
Then I found a man who wanted to marry me (sucker) AND he owned a boat. So it should be no surprise to you that our kids also love the water and have a boat obsession.
When it came time to move our oldest son from a crib to a bed we felt like we had one solid option to ensure this little guy would love stay put all night in his new sleeping arrangement:
A BOAT.
We had just moved into a new home (the 3rd home for our 2-year-old boy). His new room was so spacious. We couldn’t just do a bed that looked like a boat. We knew we wanted to take an actual boat and make it look like a bed.
Down we trekked to Eagle Mountain Lake and let the Harbor Master know that our young son loved to sail. This kind man found us an old sailboat that he was thrilled to give to a young sailor. And construction began.
A new paint job (royal blue for that authentic nautical look) and a platform to fit a twin-sized mattress. Heath and Johnny Madison spent a few weekends getting the boat prepped to set sail up our staircase. Meanwhile, I hunted for a PG version of ‘I’m on a boat’. Doesn’t exist.
Friday afternoon was boat move-in day. And it started raining as soon as the 5 man crew arrived to hoist the sails boat over the banister. I wanted to panic but remembered a boat is built for water. Still to this day, I couldn’t believe we made a 14-foot sailboat fit up our stairs and into our sons room.
It took 6 strong men and an equipment loader to bring in our 2 year olds bed. And they say kids are spoiled these days…This was the point of no return. It had been hoisted up the stairs. Now we all prayed it would fit thru the doorway.Can you believe this beast fit?!?! Our movers certainly have ‘choice’ words for us after this move.
That night we told our son ‘bon voyage’. He climbed in his new bed and slept all night. We think….Heath and I celebrated with several margaritas so it is possible that we just snoozed right through it.
Our version of the ‘America’s Cup‘ is: Whoever sleeps past 7am wins Gold!Thankfully this boat has a shallow draft (I’m sure that means something to real sailors, but to me it just meant it could fit through a doorway!)
Will you please tell me a song you have accidentally played to the wrong crowd?! Or share your favorite boat songs so I can add them to my playlist for next summer!
