I had great intentions of posting last week and even had a blog entry ready to called "Throwback Thursday Laundry Room"...well, it's now Wednesday of the following week and we'll move on to the next random thought strand...which these days are short and unfocused.
I have been comfortably busy this spring working on lots of remodels with you fabulous Champs while simultaneously prepping for Kennedy's graduation open house, which somehow turned into scrambling to complete house projects that haven't made the priority list in a few years (repainting the South side of our house which had faded, repairing cracked and peeling stucco, re-staining the back deck, repainting the garage, replacing wood trim in the garage, power spraying the cement patio and walkways, etc, etc.
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I knew that by hosting the open house here, it would put pressure on us (KEN-with lots of help from this nagging wife) to finally finish these unappealing tasks and I knew exactly what I was doing! :) It feels good to have those maintenance type of things checked off the list, but now...to actually plan the party. :)
I have asked for accountability from some of my closest friends to monitor me along the way. By that I mean, I do NOT want this open house to look like a Pinterest Page exploded in my backyard.
Of course, that's what I REALLY want it to look like in my head, but in my heart, I know that would make this party more about me than it is about her, and I don't want to be 'that mom'.
I'm "that mom" so much of the time...overbearing, overly loud, overly involved, over-committed, over the top, that I promised myself that I would focus on the milestone of the event...the accomplishments of my daughter..not my flair for centerpieces.
I will post pics afterward and let you be the judge of that but in the meantime, here's some random pics of some projects that are in various stages:
This ranch remodel was so much "FUN" to work on-I have "fun" in quotes because there were so many snafus along the way, the homeowners, my contractor Travis and I didn't know which end was up half the time. but we pulled it off and I have memories of it being one of my all time faves!
The homeowner Kyle, missed his calling as a stand up comedian and luckily we could laugh at all the mishaps (none of which were ever our fault). Seriously, none were and we enjoyed the fact that we could find a little humor joking about the incompetence of others. Mean but true.
This flooring below was one of them...I had the tile installers walk off the job upon my request because they pretty much couldn't guarantee me that this flooring could be installed right. They were worried that there would be large gaps where the grout lines would be much thicker than other areas. I ran it by my client (homeowner, Tauna) and we both agreed that we could live with imperfection in exchange for the size of this hex tile which was so cool. They came back the following day and in the end it turned out great! Any minor imperfections we call 'the artisan look'. :)
The cabinets below used to be oak. We had them painted "Kendall Charcoal" by Benjamin Moore.
At the time this pic was taken, we were still waiting for the mirror, which we had framed out and painted our trim color.
This is such a dark pic but I wanted to show you the cool valance that connected these new cabinets in their kitchen. Really pretty way to bridge the gap.
All cabinets for this job were ordered from Starlite Kitchen and Bath in Byron Center. 
(debacle number 1,002 is that the quarz countertops were installed wrong...the kitchen counter was laid down in the lower lever (here below) and the LL counters were installed in the kitchen! I have never had that before! We ended up being okay with how the lower level turned out in spite of it and we chalked it up to a happy mistake, but we did make them replace the upstairs kitchen. That one didn't work at all in there! So both kitchens now have the same countertops, but they look completely different because of the selections/finishes that are next to them.
Fun orb light that ordered for ambiance lighting above the stairwell leading to the lower level.
We had the main floor guest bath wallpapered in a fun geometric print. I'll get a pic soon of the mirror we added.
Many more pics from this project to come....
Switching gears....I haven't really been painting for clients this past year as things were just getting too nuts with the business (too many different irons in the fire) so that was one thing that just had to give.
However, I couldn't say no to this young soon-be-mom who wanted me to recreate a certain look on a dresser that she had seen somewhere online.
Here was the dresser before:
Just a reminder to you that this week Saturday May 21 from 9-2 downtown Zeeland is hosting it's annual Peddler's Market on Church Street. Ken and I aren't participating this spring, which we're bummed about because we just love this market, (and Zeeland) but we just couldn't swing it with all we have to do to help get Kennedy's Senior year all wrapped up. We are hoping to make product for the fall market in September.
Stay tuned...
Enjoy the rest of your week!!
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