You win some, you lose some.

"Woman Candy Wednesday" goes out to this beauty!

 I'm dying!

 As I was digging through old photo folders, I found this picture of Gretchen that I must've taken last year while rummaging around my parent's basement.

I think I texted the pic to my older sister Cherie to torture her a bit.

Cherie named this life sized doll Gretchen and it was her most beloved doll in our collection of many.

Growing up with 3 sisters, we didn't usually fight over dolls, (only clothes) so it was to Cherie's surprise and my mother's dismay, that I took it upon myself to give Gretchen's hair a trim. Keep in mind I was about 8 years old and my dream was to become a beautician.

 Aren't you a little relieved right now that I focused instead on interior decorating and using a scissors for crafting, not hair cutting?!

I won't speak of my favorite stuffed animal-(a koala bear) that Cherie clipped down in retaliation. Nothing but the stuffing left. RIP "Cola". :)

Sorry that was so completely random, but it gave me a good laugh today, which I sorely needed after spending the majority of the week on the phone with our insurance company dealing with a refrigerator water line that leaked all over my new bamboo floors on Monday.

Remember these?
And remember that old lamintate flooring underneath my new pile of bamboo (below)  that I lived with for almost 7 years and couldn't destroy or ruin if I tried?

 
After mini-kitchen remodel 2013

I came home from grocery shopping Monday morning and was loading food into my fridge when I discovered this:

 And then this:

 And more of this:

 Which lead to this:

After assessing the damage, we called a company to come dry out the sub-floor and rafters underneath. We've been shouting over industrial strength fans and dehumidifiers all week but at least our dining room table is getting usage for the first time in 7 years as opposed to the kitchen island which is wheeled into the living room right now.

So thankful that it only leaked through to the unfinished part of our basement instead of the portion we completed two years ago. 

Also thankful that I don't have a high school graduate this year like some of my friends who are scrambling to beautify their homes before the graduation open house parties.

I'll keep you posted on our progress but meanwhile, let me know if you have an open houses and if you need last minute staging advice, tweaks or tune-ups before the big event.

I need an excuse to get out of this mess. :)

Just make sure you hide the scissors before i get there!

Meet ya back here soon with a bathroom remodel that I think you're gonna love!

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Mid-Century Modern Monday (sneak peek)

Happy Sunny Monday! 

I have been spending lots of time digging through my attic these days looking through all of the architectural salvage that Ken and I have been accumulating over the years. I must have enough doors, windows and shutters to build a house! :)

Wait until you see the unique pieces that Ken is building to sell at the downtown Zeeland Peddler's Market on May 17. 

I've been looking for springtime inspiration in the form of pillow covers too and snapped a pic of these lovelies while in Sarasota.

Aren't they perfect for a sun room or patio?
No promises that I'll have something like this finished in time, but cute nevertheless.

Switching gears now: 
I wanted to give you a sneak peek at one of the projects I've helped with over the winter months. It's Katie and Mat's mid-entury modern ranch in my old neighborhood which made it even more interesting and fun. Last fall, they had devastating water damage caused by the original flat roof and they needed a complete overhaul on one whole wing of the house. 

 Keep in mind, they had purchased this house one year prior to the water damage and had already painted the rooms, furnished the house and made it their own before it had to be all undone.
Here's a pic of one of the kid's bedrooms during demo:

 Here it is put back together: (sorry about the quality of photos. I was only taking these for my reference in staging the room and walls). I know they're not blog-worthy, but I'm also all about keepin' it real around here)! Smile.

Here's a shot of the torn apart laundry room at the end of the long hallway: (This is one of the coolest houses I've ever seen, btw. I can't wait to show you the 'real' after pics)!

 Here's what we're up to now:

Waiting on cabinet doors, laundry cart underneath the countertop below and wall art:

That's a custom made drying rack. So functional.

This bank of closets in one of the boys' rooms is brand new and wraps the wall where the original closets were pulled out. 

 Before pic of the boys' bath:

AFTER:Semi finished :)

 Waiting on lighting, faucets and hardware:

 BEFORE:

Waiting on a drawer front obviously. We found the wall art on Etsy. Perfect for this style home.

The striped wall was done in a charcoal and light gray.

Carpet was ordered through Carey Tinholt at Carpet Direct. I highly recommend this guy. Favorite carpet guy for sure!

 I never had taken before pics of their master bath prior to or during demolition, so this probably won't do justice, but picture a bank of flat paneled white doors with zero character. 

 These were custom built by IS-2 Interior Specialties on the south side of Holland. Shout out to Tim Obbink over there.You do amazing design work!

 We chose the contrasting walnut and white fronts to coordinate and compliment the original dark brown penny tile on the opposite wall.

Master bath vanity with a waterfall granite countertop. Door fronts and drawers to be dove white to match closets.

 New soaking tub where the large  1970's sunken tub used to be:

 
 View looking down the hallway into the master bath.

 
 We chose a dura-stone product in a light white/tan to brighten the space against the dark wall tile.

Again, can't wait to show you more angles and accessories, but we're working on wrapping up some details and then the fun staging begins. It will be worth the wait, I promise.
See you back here soon.

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"Odball" Spring Break

Well Champs, I've returned from sunny Sarasota, Florida and I'd like to be able to report that I brought back some sunshine and warmer temps here to Michigan, but such is not the case. 

I'm once again typing this from my home office while bundled up with a winter coat. I'm serious.

But enough complaining. I'm just grateful to have enjoyed the out-of-doors for a week solid. To breathe fresh air. To bike and swim. It was all fabulous and I will be working hard to keep that 'vacation' mindset going in these last few lingering winter/spring months ahead. 

On the first Saturday we got down there, we made plans to attend the weekly downtown Sarasota street market. We stumbled upon it last year and knew that we wanted to come back.

Abby, is this what you're picturing for our downtown Zeeland Peddler's Market? 

I am. :)

(If you haven't already, put it down on your calendar: May 17 from 9-3 on Church st. in Zeeland).

 We took the above picture from on top of a bus that had been re purposed to a mobile cafe! We had just enjoyed delicious strawberry-banana smoothies which melted quickly in the hot Florida sun. Hard to imagine that now from where I stand (sit).

I remembered this artist from last year and maybe even posted about him before. He is the owner of Red House Design Studio and he makes all of these projects out of reclaimed wood leftover from his day job as a carpenter. My sister, Lo is thinking about ordering a special piece for her new house. I especially liked his 'beach' motif artwork like the one below. 

You can find him and his work at www.redhousedesignstudio.com

I tried talking Ken into making something like this out of our leftover wood scraps but he shot down that idea quite quickly. He wasn't interested in planing and planning and painting to perfection like these. 

There were all kinds of different vendors. Homemade crepes, coffee booths, art work, pottery, flowers, herbs, annuals, sweets and pastries etc. It was packed with people walking up and down the entire downtown district. So festive and fun!

 My whole family-all my sisters and their families and our parents made the trip down to Florida for vacation and we made so many new memories with all of our 'forced family fun' activities that we packed into the week. 

My 12 year old nephew Jagger and I had a schedule of events you could attend to earn points for the duration of the time down there. At the end of the week, our 'sponser' Pata (my dad) bought prizes for the winners. Here's the agenda Jagger had prepared ahead of time and distributed once we got there. (Od ball is an acronym for the families represented-Ockerse, Denhof, Boeve, LeBlanc and LeBlanc (holly).

Here's some of the crew decorating team bandannas the first night of the competition. You were given a point every time you showed up at an event wearing your bandanna.

 Some people really took it seriously! Go Cole!

The Ockerse's had an unfair advantage. That family is really artsy and creative. Here's Robert designing his bandanna to represent the activities planned for the week.

 And here's the end product, which of course was voted 'best in show'.

 Here they were-all lined up for voting.

And here we are proudly wearing them as we battled out some newcom (sp)-(laid back version of volleyball) in teams. 

 In the mornings, Ken and I were able to break away from family bonding time long enough to get some beautiful bike rides in.  This was a trail we found 5 miles from our resort. It was a short 3 mile trek through beautiful Florida landscape. I should of taken a picture of the "Beware of Alligators" sign. I was a little unnerved but glad I was on a bike, and not a hike. 

This is on the boardwalk at Lido Beach near St. Armand's Circle. So pretty!

 Another shot of our morning biking on Lido Beach.

 Our closing ceremonies for the week included a 'decorate the camper' competition in which Team Ockerse literally decorated a camper. His name was Cole. We were supposed to use a roll of tin foil to commemorate your favorite Odball memory for the week. This was their interpretation of our mini golf tournament in which the teenagers spent more minutes checking their cell phones, than their golf score. That's Pata in the background getting everyone's attention. Of course Team O won again. 

 We even had a last minute 'twinning' night. Or 'Who wore it best'? No one dared judge that competition. We all wanted to go home on speaking terms. :)
My sisters and best friends (l to r front~Holly, Mom, Me back row l to r~Lauri, Cherie)

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better time spent with family.

 On our 20 hour driving trip home we planned to stop in Nashville to walk around for a few hours and grab dinner. So glad we did. That place was so much fun! Ken and I had been there years ago for a long weekend, but the girls had never been. Glad we got there somewhat early before the nightlife got a little too crazy. It was a beautiful day to be there. Sunshine and high 70's.

Brecken and Kennedy livin' the dream.

 Ken and Christy livin' the dream:

And now it's back to the daily grind -although it was kinda fun coming home to this rug rat I have to admit.

 Not sure when I turned into a creepy cat lady but I did somewhere along the way.  This was Brecken's Christmas present that somehow became my responsibility. :)

Thanks for putting up with my Odball spring break slide show. 

I use this blog for professional and personal endeavors, so sorry you have to endure both. 

See you back here soon.

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