Doors, doors, doors.

Ugh, renovations. Oh how I am sick of them.

But all is worth it when Dman and I get to step back and admire our work.

Today's treat for y'all: our new mission style doors!

Here is what was in the house when we bought it:

Yes, I failed to take a real before picture (as with most things we have renovated - darn excitement - I jumped the gun with everything), and yes, the door is now functioning as a fence hole-filler-inner to keep the mutts in. Our fence is HORRIBLE but one project at a time right? I know it's very white trash but don't judge me.

Anyway, as you can see, they were u-g-l-y, UGLY. A bad paint job of oak, and those bronze doorknobs that totally remind me of my childhood which, I might add, were all loose and falling off. Quite a few of the doors didn't even close because the frames were warped.

So, we decided to replace them with these beauties:

Please ignore the poor picture - I was at an awkward picture taking angle.

I chose to do mission style doors. Why? I am in love with the design movement. It originated in the late 19th century when people looked to break away from Victorian design but wanted something with more substance than the mass produced furniture of the industrial revolution. So furniture makers began making pieces that had straight lines, uncluttered profiles, and used very heavy/chunky peices of wood. It's a very modern (clean lines) but rustic (chunky, often highlights wood grain) look. Love it.

I was debating going with shaker style doors, which is very much of the same style. It originated with, no suprise here, the shakers and is characterized by many of the same characteristics as the mission style, the only real differences being that the shaker style is more delicate and not so heavy, and in the way that it is constructed. Modern shaker style uses a more complicated joinery that mission which is a lot more work for the manufactuer, and hence, a lot more money. So I went mission!

I chose brushed bronze doorknobs to match the mission period:

And thick, chunky, plain molding, again, to match the mission period of the doors:

One more project down, a zillion more to go!

Have a good one.

Leah xoxo

We were feeling silly.

It's Sunday after dinner.

We played a couple rounds of Mexican Train and then Dman pulled out the Halloween candy. That's right, we like to pon of our old candy on family and friends.

The treat of choice: chocolate eyeballs. So we thought we would give em a try as eyeballs.
It was REALLY hard to get them to stay in the sockets. And it was REALLY funny. My abs still hurt from laughing so hard.

Good 'ol Wilson humor.

Scott was the best at it.

Kailey too.

My Mom, not so bad.

I was hopeless. Oh well, I have other talents.

I LOVE SUNDAYS! And I love my family.

Leah xoxo

Braddock

Take a look at my latest photo shoot with my nephew Braddock over here.



Such a cutie-pa-tutie!

Leah xoxo

So lucky.

Today I feel LUCKY.
This may not look like much to someone who has their very own real laundry room, but to me this is heaven.

My sweet husband has listened to me complain about how I HATE doing laundry in the icky, dingy, dirty basement so he surprised me with an as-good-as-we-can-get-until-we-can-afford-to-develop-the-basement laundry room.

My heart melted.

He used the cabinets and counter tops that we ripped out of the bathrooms for storage and a folding surface, added a rug so that I didn't have to stand on the concrete and worry about dropping freshly washed clothes on the dirty floor, and even hung a picture to make it feel un-basementy.

And look, these are the dried flowers that I have saved from our first anniversary back when we were just 16! Nice touch Dman.

I am one lucky girl. This reminded me all over again why I married him. I just feel all too blessed that I have a husband that is so in tune with what I need.
He knows me inside and out.

I was sick today.

And they were very sympathetic. Didn't leave my side all day. Even went as far to make sure they were both on the same pillow as me - just in case I might need them.

NOTE: No, I have not changed my bedroom colors to chocolate brown and orange - that ugly thing that is covering me is my 'sick blanket'.

Leah xoxo

My master retreat.

So I figured that since I do not want to share pictures of my house until the final product is done, and I am just too anxious to share, that I would let you in project by project, room by room.

The first on the list and a room that I got done right away is our master bedroom. I pretty well brought everything from the condo, and painted it the same color: white!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (did I mention I LOVE) a white bedroom. It feels like I am on vacation everyday!

NOTE: I did not take before pictures of a lot of our renos for some stupid reason - I think I was just too excited to get started. So just picture an UGLY BOX and that is what I started with.

So here she is, my new room:


It's all in the details.......


A little bling bling....


My vintage inspired alarm clock from IKEA. Super cute and super CHEAP!




This used to be in my bathroom, but when gutting the bathroom, we added more cabinets so I did not need this anymore. It serves as a great bedside table don't you think! I might get D-man to cut the legs off a bit cause I think it is a tad too high.




These are the drapes I made:

Out of ivory VELVET!! The master bedroom/love shack is the perfect place for a little bit of luxe and swag in my opinion.


Speaking of luxe/glam, meet my chandelier:


And my mirror with a beveled mirror frame that I got for Christmas. LOVE it.
Please ignore my Saturday house cleaning dress.


Our closet used to look like this:

Until we installed these:

Our PAX wardrobe systems from IKEA. I LOVE them! D-man and I agree: best money we have ever spent. And oh so attractive as well. I went with an off-white shaker style door.

Take a peak inside to witness them in all their glory:


Organization bliss.
There are cubbies for my jewels.


Pull-out hangers for my pants:


And a drawer for my sweaters:

The perfect finishing touch!

The only thing left on my list for this room is a upholstered bench for the end of the bed. Keep an eye out on Kijiji for me...I love a furniture-redo project!

So there you have it: my vacation room in Edmonton. My must-follow rules for a master bedroom:

1. It must be light and airy - who wants to feel like they are sleeping in a cave.
2. It must be romantic.
3. It must be glamorous - leave practicality for the rest of the house. This is your retreat so make sure it feels like one.
4. It must be organized and tidy. Nothing kills the romance like laundry and dirty socks lying all over the floor. (I know, the moms are thinking: 'she has no idea, just wait till she has kids' - and you are right, I am sure it will get a little harder to pick up after two children - get it, Dylan and a kid = 2 children - but I think this is a MUST. I know that I will ALWAYS need a RETREAT and even more so when I have kids.)
5. It must feel like I am on vacation which is achieved by all of the above.

Hope you enjoyed my bedroom tour! Next up: my new mission style doors!

Leah xoxo

Dear time,

Leah here. Please slow down. If you plan on ignoring my request, please consider the following first:

-I work a full time job all day, everyday.
-I come home and have to make supper.
-I have to run a business - pictures are not going to edit themselves and clients do not like waiting 2 months to get their pics back. I do not like editing till I go to sleep every night.
-I have a house to clean and take care of.
-I have bills to pay and groceries to buy.
-I have to make enough money to support my husband, myself and our expenses.
-I have two callings, both of which require a lot of my time.
-I have to serve the Lord.
-I have to do missionary work.
-I have a house to renovate.
-I am a landlord and have a tenant to deal with.
-I have puppies to pay attention to.
-HART needs my help.
-I have a lot of doctors appointments lately.
-And somewhere in all this I have to find time to dedicate to friends and family, and if I am lucky me?

I can't keep everything straight with how fast you go. I am feeling overwhelmed. Can you please just maybe add a couple hours to each day or pause for while, or heck, maybe you could invent a machine that makes me money so I dont have to work my life away and feel the presure of finances on my solitary shoulders each day. Maybe?

Please get back to me as soon as possible because I fear I may go nuts if you do not.

Yours truly, and waiting in anticipation for something to change,

Leah Karch