summer projects: building a "shop"

aka: LONGEST. PROJECT. EVER.

Ok, not really but considering the hubs told me it would be done within a few weeks...

#fail

We are fine with how long it is taking, honestly, because it's mostly due to how much we are doing on our own and how crazy life has been to keep us from even worrying about this "shop". Our builder is actually done with his part (same one that built our house) it's just on the hubs now.

Ok, first let me back up. Ever since we built our house, we knew we had the most perfect little spot in the corner of our lot for a "shop". Some may call this a detached garage, which it is, but the hubs calls it a "shop". My dad had a huge shop when I was growing up since he worked on cars, welded, and all sorts of things. The only thing Chad knows how to do is build deer stands (insert side-eye emoji here) and he can build a few other things too - IF he wants to! He mostly just needed a place for his {huge} zero turn lawnmower and Bad Boy (basically like a souped up golf cart for the hunting-obsessed) All this junk was taking up TOO much room in our beloved new garage, therefore I haven't even been able to park my vehicle in it since hmmmm last October? 

We also do not have a covered porch on our house, only an open deck so we thought if we did a tiny covered porch off of the shop it would be a place for Chad to move his grill and have more {covered} patio space for entertaining.

I'm rambling, but here's the sketch I created back first of the year when we knew it was almost time to get the project started with Botts Construction. No set "garage plan" or anything, just a ridiculously simple one minute sketch.  From us to him and we all just kinda rolled with it.

Then we held our breath and prayed.

HA! No, we trusted our builder and he knew just to make it match our house so that's exactly what they did. Granted we didn't go with a metal roof (even though that was my first choice!) and we ended up using shake siding on more than just the gable...and a different shape window up top...but for the most part our new shop looks EXACTLY like this sketch. (and yes, that is a Christmas wreath because that is how the "Christmas-obsessed" envision things :) 

First up: the footings

simple cement block foundation (which we can stucco or brick later should we choose. I may need to add that this shop has been done on a B-U-D-G-E-T)

walls went up...

roof and side porch went up...

concrete was poured (and apparently it takes three grown men and two children to pour concrete and sit and watch it dry? Hey, it looks good though!)

under the side porch we extended the concrete to make a little curved patio towards the back. Nothing crazy, just big enough to maybe fit two big chairs. Two chairs for Chad & I to sit and watch the boys run and play, watch a football game and/or sip a glass of wine, perhaps? Yes, please.

the black shingles and the Granite Grey Certainteed vinyl siding goes on (again, all to match our house)

cedar posts are added on the porch (this pic was before they finished the detail of them...) shake siding is finished on front.

next up: lighting.

a sneak peek at what I purchased from one of my favorite companies! This is the fourth custom light fixture we've bought from them and we have been pleased with every single one. Love a good made-in-the-USA company too.

garage door and side door were added after Chad wired the shop himself (with the help of a family friend), got the power ran out there, added lighting and now he's working on inside walls and porch ceiling to finish.

i put my special "touch" on this man-cave of a shop, with the hubs' approval, of course. (and a paint color I saw over at  The Houston House blog.  Check her out. Ashley is an awesome interior designer in Savannah and an amazing artist too!!)

I'll have to keep you waiting, because I'm not even 100% finished with the door. You see, we work a little slow around here. HA. 

Next time I update I hope I can share the "final reveal" (if we really EVER get "finished" and can do that sort of thing). Off to order patio chairs from Target that I've been eyeing for months and it's finally on sale. WHY must patio furniture be so expensive? WHY?!!!? Sigh.

t-ball, cooking, and building...oh my!

yeah, just trying to think of another blog post title other than "catching up" or "lately" because that's all I've been doing and this is definitely just a mish mash of what we've been up to this past week or so!

First up, this adorable market opened up just two doors down from Sugar. More on that later (bc it's fabulous!) but I've now become addicted to this cookie dough chocolate bar from there and a Diet Coke, which is the perfect afternoon pick me up if you ask me.

Last Friday night I thought it would be fun for us to have a "make your own pizza night", which we've never done with Cade. It was fun...and yummy! He made a traditional pepperoni pizza and I did bbq chicken pizza. We will definitely be doing this again soon. He loved it and has really started helping me lots in the kitchen lately.

Last Sunday was busy. We went to church, came home, ate lunch, then I went up to Erskine College (just a minute drive...or you could walk... from where we live) for two different photoshoots for friends. It was a gorgeous day to take photos!

Then while Chad worked around the yard, I loaded both boys up to go back to church for an awesome Compassion outreach program, called His Little Feet, and it was just great. Cade loved it and we are definitely looking into sponsoring a child. I wish I could sponsor them ALL. We hugged and gave high fives and fell in love with them all. They were precious. I think it was great for Cade to see so many kids from other countries, hear their songs and their language and to know how Jesus loves EVERYONE, in the whole big world and that there's so many kids without mommies and daddies who we need to help. He was just wide eyed the entire time and afterwards asked so many questions. He is veeery inquisitive these days and how BIG do they both look in this picture???? AAAAAH time slow down!

This past week we've had more tball games. I got the dreaded stomach bug on Monday night so I had to skip Tuesday's game (boo!) , but here's a pic from last Thursday when Chad pitched and Cade almost hit him! It's hilarious to watch Cade play and Chad coach...I don't know who gets aggravated the most. HA! It's too funny.

The weather lately has been amazing. We don't get many 70 degree Spring days, so when we do we like to take FULL advantage. This was taken Monday night (pre - stomach bug) when Chad decided randomly to smoke a deer tenderloin wrapped in bacon and we put on  Chris Stapleton, our fav, and opened up the doors to let the breeze and sweet smell coming off the BGE in. I love nights like this with my boys and it was the perfect cure for Monday blues (like I said, until the stomach bug arrived. *eye roll*)

Also over the past two weeks we started building again. 

Um, no. Not another house.

(not no, but heeeeey-yuhl no)

but a "shop".

a tiiiiny, cute little shop.

Some may call it a "detached garage", "carriage house", and more... but for my deer stand-building, Bad Boy ridin', hunting' and fishing' man...it's his "shop"/man cave. 

and yes, I am every bit ok with that. I haven't been able to get my SUV in the garage since I bought it in October. His "Bad Boy Buggy" and zero turn lawnmower are huge and take up so much room. So does the upright freezer full of deer meat...the several Craftsman tool drawers he (and my brother and bro-in-law) inherited from my dad's huge shop. There's just a TON out there that definitely needs to fill his shop up quick, so we can get our garage organized and start using it to it's full potential! Our cars + kids ride on toys + outdoor toys + extra fridge can all stay but I can't wait to start another project once the shop is done and transform our garage to OCD organization CITY. (because I am SOOOO over it's current condition and how it's been for a year or more. Ugh)

We knew our little "shop" was part of our master plan all along, hence another reason we tried to skimp on things when building our house. My dad had an eight car garage "shop" (he worked on cars/had a car lot so it made since) and when growing up I have so many memories of spending days "down at the shop" while my dad worked on cars, welded machinery, listened to music, built things, and so much more. We would skate, ride our ride on toys, and just have fun time with him. With two boys, I know that's inevitable. Whenever I want to find them, I'm sure they will be in the shop with their daddy and I love that. 

I hope they enjoy huntin', fishin', learn to build things, love to work in the yard (Cade already does) and we hope to extend from the shop and have an area to entertain as well. Our house builder, Botts Construction, is building this "shop" as well and he's basically going off sketches that I did from mine and Chad's vision. That makes me even more eager to see it all come to life as we don't have a set plan or photo we are going off of! I know it will be great and Chad has a lot of neat ideas he wants to incorporate + we have a TON of antiques & old "junk" basically that we look forward to giving a new home and repurposing in the shop and for entertaining. So ready to finish this last missing "puzzle piece" on our property. This house and everything we've worked hard on the outside is slowly but surely turning this all into a HOME. 

Our home. 

and it feels absolutely amazing.

More on the shop and house updates soon!

home sweet home: master bathroom

I have so much to catch up on. We have been busy little bees...lots of workin', going to market, and just enjoying Summer. I'll try to catch up posts on the little ones soon (and share some pics from Charlie's newborn session) but for now here's a post I had drafted up to continue the house tour!

So far we've seen Charlie's nursery, the powder room, the back deck, and now {to continue this random-no-flow-at-all-house-tour}...our master bathroom!

Hands down, this seriously is my favorite room in the house. Ok, close tie with my kitchen but I do loooove my bathroom and knew I must create one I love, because I am certainly a girly girl and spend a lot of time "primping" {yeah, those natural beauties out there who can just get up and go in 10 minutes?... I envy you. Drying/straightening this unruly mane alone takes forever!) Also y'all. Confession: at our old home for nearly seven years we had plastic sinks (ok maybe it's called something else but I swear it seemed plastic...) and parts of it had melted/burn marks because my straightener and curling iron got too close to it. Just remember that when reading all this...can you say major upgrade? My plastic sinks served us well but what a blessing and absolute TREAT our new house has been.

Our house plan called for vaulted ceilings in our master bath. After nixing tray ceilings in the master bedroom and dining, we knew keeping the vaulted ceilings in the bathroom was a must. It really opens up the space and never leaves me chlostrophobic when feeling like a million degrees while drying my hair/steam from shower/etc...We also nixed a few other things to splurge a bit in the master and create a spa-like space that we love. First up, we opted to splurge on a tile shower and to save money for this splurge, nix a tub. We just aren't "bath people" at all. I knew if I ever got the urge to take a bath I would have one in Cade's bathroom so for us - it was just an easy nix. Again, everyone has their own "must haves" or "can do withouts" and that's the beauty of building a custom home!

However, after talking with our builder and knowing this may not be our "forever home", we left space next to the shower in case we ever wanted to add a free standing tub for resale purposes (or if we stay forever, I'm old and want to take more baths :) It's not a big space at ALL but it would definitely fit a {very small} pretty clawfoot tub in the future. At least that's what I see there one day!

For now, to fill that space, we are using an antique cabinet from my dad's shop as linen storage and also have a full length standing mirror/jewelry armoire which I love!

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore "Cashmere Gray"
Trim Color: Sherwin Williams "Pure White"

I also love our floors. We went back and forth about what to do in here. At first we just thought we may use some sort of vinyl planks that looked like hardwood, but we ultimately nixed more elsewhere to splurge on ceramic tile (that yes, looks like wood!) This gave us the look we wanted plus the guarantee that the floors would withstand any moisture in the bathroom and last a lifetime.

Tile: Mannington "Wilderness" in Dry Kindle
Rug: Pottery Barn Outlet

Cabinet Color: Sherwin Williams "Anonymous"
Hardware: Restoration Hardware

Jewelry Storage Mirror: TJ Maxx
Roman Shade: Pottery Barn

One of the places we nixed to get our ceramic tile floors (see how this works? Building and staying on budget is nothing but a game of give and take. Whew!) was the glass shower door. I mean, who knew those dang doors were like $800 or more? When we found out it could easily be added on later, we knew it would be wise just to go ahead and spend that money on the tile floors. Something that would be a PAIN to go back and "add later". I had seen a few ideas on Pinterest and knew I could come up with an idea for the tile shower - without a glass door. Indeed I used a cheap, extra long shower curtain from Amazon and mounted with tension rod, then I realized I still had these {FREE} long curtains I had once used at Sugar to frame out a dressing room mirror. Mounted those on another tension rod so when we take a shower we just pull the shower curtain across, see what I mean? (We pull the curtains out so they don't wet at the bottom though) So this little project costs me less than $50 and for now, totally works. Winning.

Oh and this is "faux marble" tile mixed with real basketweave marble in the niche. Another way we saved $$$. I didn't have exact name of the faux marble tile but I can find out. I was amazed at how great it turned out with the gray grout...

To save money we also nixed double sinks. We had double sinks at our old house and only used one anyways. Plus I knew I wanted a big vanity area! My vanity chair isn't exactly what I wanted but I've yet to find one I love, nor have I gotten a teak wooden shower bench for the shower either. There's a long wish list around here that's for sure!

Mirrors: Scalloped Frameless Mirrors from Target
Granite: White Macaubus remnant from Solid Rock Granite 
(also used in our Powder Room)
Vanity Bench: Target

but oh how I LOVE my vanity area and my bathroom cabinets. Plenty of storage and I have everything {i mean lots bc I'm a beauty product addict!) organized in all the drawers.

My huge makeup drawer was one of my must haves and it. is. my. jam. I love it and used $1 Dollar Tree contact paper to line + acrylic makeup organizer from TJ Maxx + plastic storage containers from BB&B to organize it all.

When you nix the other sink, you can afford to make the one sink you do have look pretty amazing. Hello gorgeous chrome faucet! 

Faucet: Delta Dryden in Chrome

and I'm pretty obsessed with our crystal vanity lights. This picture does not do justice!

Vanity Lights: Golden Lighting "Neeva" Collection

Again, in this antique cabinet, we keep our towels and I have a few baskets to hold nail polish, extra small toiletries, etc...or as Chad says "my knick knacks"

So that's it! 

That's where I primp. That's where the grubby hubby gets clean.

That's where we spray down our muddy toddler {when needed}.

Just for kicks, here's my master bathroom inspiration to refer back to.

It's girly enough for me, yet it's durable enough for my messy men in this household.

It just works for US and again, that's what building a house is all about. I'm so glad it was one of our "splurges".

home sweet home: the powder room

Finally getting around to sharing a few photos of the new casa. Since I'm in nesting mode, cleaning like crazy and trying to make sure everything is "finished" (which I do not think it will ever be)...I figured this would be a good time. I tried to kick things off by sharing Charlie's nursery.

Again, no room is really 100% finished and may not ever be, the more we change things, move things, etc. However if I wait around to share photos when it IS in fact just like I want it, then you guys may be waiting around to see pics in 2020. Real talk.

So here's one of my favorite rooms in the house. Our house plan allowed for a pretty decent size guest bathroom. It's right off the main living area and straight across from our master bedroom door. I found the rug at Pottery Barn outlet first and it sort of inspired the whole room. I knew I wanted it to be rustic, eclectic, with fun brass fixtures/accessories (that also mimic hardware in our living room and kitchen, so it flows). I was prepared to splurge a bit because hey, if guests come over this is one of the rooms they're always going to use of course.

Three things to note about this room/words of advice:

1. We wanted something fun on the walls. Ok, so *I* wanted wallpaper. I fought for it. Told the hubs a million times how wallpaper was back in trend (I had just recently done wallpaper in Sugar's dressing rooms at that time) and well, no such luck. He never disagreed with me on really anything, but the wallpaper was his one vice. He said NO WAY Jose. Do I think I could talk him into it later? Why, yes, but for now on our fresh and new drywall, we have an awesome paint color that we both love, love, love. I wanted a navy with the slightest tinge of teal and we went through TONS of paint swatches. Finally I went with my gut with Benjamin Moore's "In the Midnight Hour". It's perfect and hey, we can always add a fun wallpaper on the ceiling later and have the best of both worlds! Compromise.

2. We always had this idea for a "rustic/eclectic" powder room and we planned to convert my grandparent's antique washstand (that was in our sunroom at our old house) into a vanity. I had seen it on Pinterest, of course, and was obsessed. Our builder said it was super easy to do, just drill holes and pop a vessel sink on top. No problem. BUT the problem was that after we got everything framed up, we took measurements and realized that it was going to be just a few tad inches too wide for the space. That was a bit of a disappointment, but there's going to be a lot of surprises when building. I definitely found that out.

So back to the drawing board I went and found a super simple Restoration Hardware freestanding vanity I loved with a marble top, but I did not love the price. I asked our cabinet guy could he whip one up and he gave me an amazing price (like, a third of what RH was going to charge for it). So we mimicked this vanity and found remnant white macaubas granite (looks a lot like marble) and created our powder room vanity for a very reasonable price (good thing, because it was definitely not in the budget. Always allow for contingencies! They happen) So word of advice: always check with your local peeps first to see what they can come up with before buying anything retail!

3. I thought we would only have a granite backsplash on the BACK of the vanity, but when I came in one day the vanity was flushed up against the wall and had a backsplash and a side. I did not love at first, yet I did not pitch a fit. Again, I was just ecstatic to be building a house and I let a lot slide off my back. I was just grateful for anything. Now I am totally ok with the way the vanity is flushed towards the wall and realize had it not been, I would have drove myself nuts trying to get into that little nook & cranny to clean between the wall and the vanity. So win, win. If I could go back and change it, I may...but then I may not. So another word of advice: be there when the granite is installed. HA!

Ok so without further rambling, here she is. 

You can tell our living room paint color (SW Worldly Gray) looks so different just from one lighting to the next. It looks more beige on one wall in the hallway, then more grey on the actual foyer wall. Yep, that's the same color. Crazy, right?

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore In the Midnight Hour
Trim and Vanity Color: Sherwin Williams Pure White
Rug: Pottery Barn Outlet
Toilet Paper Holder: Thirty One Gifts

Mirror is an antique from my papa Hall's house. It was in their living room as long as I've remembered

Faucet and towel holder: Delta Cassidy Champagne Bronze
Granite: White Macaubas remnant from Solid Rock Granite in Elberton, GA

Vanity Light: Kichler (and I just realized I need to take that sticker off!! Oops)

Vanity Hardware: Martha Stewart from Home Depot (also used in our kitchen)

So I knew I wanted an eclectic gallery wall on one wall, full of antique photos framed in gold frames. I am a dork and love, love, love old photos. Seems a little crazy for a powder room but I gained inspiration from here and here. 

I have so many more photos to frame and get up there, but this large group photo is a 1956 employee group photo from the Abbeville Shirtmaster Company. It includes my grandma Hall and again, just thought it was a cool piece of history to preserve. 

The velvet European mount is Chad's dads. I'll post more pics once I {ever finally} get this wall gallery done.

My other question for all of you out there is what the heck do I put above the toilet? Blank space there is killin me but I'm at a loss right now. So therefore it will sit on the "back burner" along with everything else and may be finished in 2020.

For now, we will just enjoy. More house pics to come soon!

snapshots around the new casa

So we moved nearly a month ago and we are slowly but surely getting settled. Within the past few weeks, I've had several ask about pics of the new casa. We are by no means fully unpacked, fully settled, and sure as heck not fully decorated (aka: Cade's room is the only room with anything over the windows besides paper temp shades). We probably won't be for a while, so while I would love to snap my fingers and have everything perfectly in it's place... I have to keep in mind what Marquillyn Smith said in her book "The Nesting Place", "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful..." ....and useful, and amazing, and so much better than before! Yes.

Oh and we certainly haven't let it stop us having friends and family over to cook for and entertain and if it's not all perfect by the time baby boy is here, well hey that's fine too! Isn't a house really always a work in process? I'd like to think so.

A shot of some of the exterior (garage is to the left). Stickers still on the dormer windows, no landscaping, no grass...see what I mean? Plenty left to do, BUT we finally got our porch railing painted last Saturday and I just love it. Wish those darn gutters weren't covering up my columns but I am thrilled with how the porch turned out and can't wait to turn on those fans and enjoy it in the evenings when the sun sets behind the house. The front door just looked so "blah"since we don't have our door knocker up yet, so I threw up a monogram I had and Chad's immediate response was a look and "Sandi. Isn't that a little girly?" Ummm, no! It's blue. I mean I could have done pink, right? 

Our open shelving in the kitchen is one of my favorite things.

Along with my hot pink barn light in the laundry room! We did without cabinets in there for now, since we had that small cleaning closet to hold necessities, but I do hope to have a friend build some open shelving for me so things are even more easily accessible. 

Confession: I went ahead and pulled out the bunnies! Easter really is right around the corner. Never been more excited and ready for SPRING? Who's with me?

I also looooved unpacking china from a box topped with a handwritten a note from my precious grandma Hall from years ago. That box had been sitting up in our barn just patiently waiting to make it's way into our china cabinet (before I had just placed our everyday china serving pieces in there because we didn't have enough room). I am so glad I didn't even bother with registering for fine china, because this simple china she left me is just so much more special and meaningful. All white with the tiniest gold trim. Both of my grandmother's were the classiest, most chic ladies I must say. So blessed to have little reminders of them (and all of our precious grandparents) throughout our new home. 

I've said this before, since both of our parents were only children that means there was a lot of antique furniture left to us three grandkids (my sister and half-brother).  What a blessing! This piece of furniture was so dirty just sitting down at the shop, but I knew it would look just perfect cleaned up and used as a linen cabinet in our new master bathroom. It has exceeded my expectations. Now no, I do not keep the boxwood wreath on it at all times since we do open/close those doors every day, but it had a nail already at the top of it and I thought hey, why not for the pic. I am glad I pulled out my good camera to snap a few pics, because once our TWO wild boys get ahold of this house in the years ahead, it may look nothing like this. HA! Let's remember it as fresh and new mmmkay?

We may not have mirrors yet...but we have monograms! #priorities.

(I took these pics last weekend and big news: we have since received our mirrors and got them hung. More pics on that later because you won't believe where I found them!)

Sneak peek of our closet, which I have yet to really organize and I just knew that would be the first thing I'd want to get my hands on. 

*Sigh*...if only I weren't pregnant, tired all the time, and had an hour or so to spare.

More antiques, like this mirror from my papa's house that fit perfect in the powder room.

Paint touch ups have also happened since I've taken these pics!

We basically reused all of our old furniture, but I did buy a new ottoman from World Market (waited until it was on major sale) to use as coffee table and I am obsessed. So lightweight, the perfect shade of blue, and it just looks great with our chocolate brown sectional. 

Glimpse into Cade's room. Still need to hang this pic and more, but it's coming along and I love all the color...

The boys' bath. We joke and call it a "jack and jack" instead of "jack and jill"...

It's a little tight, but think it will be the perfect size. That piece of art was one of the first things I bought for their rooms. I found it at a big trade show at market, straight from the artists' booth. I knew it was the perfect piece for what I thought was just going to be Cade's bathroom, but now that it's a bathroom for TWO boys I just love it even more...

(that striped frame needs to have a picture sticking to it...)

and just because I like to keep it real here on the ol' blog...what you see is what you get...so let's not forget a pic of Charlie's nursery. Baaaaaah!!!! Bless it. 

I told you, work in progress is our theme right now.

All in good time, my friends, all in good time. Until then, we are just relishing in the joy that comes from our NEW HOME. Could not be more thankful. We have certainly been enjoying it and appreciate our parents who have helped us work hard getting things organized, cleaned, decorated, etc...

It has been life changing in such a good way.

More updates soon!