4th of July Party - Inspiration

jennysteffens.com

If I have not shared before one of my all time favorite daily reads is

Everyday

OCCASIONS

by Jenny Steffens Hobick

I absolutely adore Jenny's simple effortless style that can be used for any occasion.

Her style encompasses classic American tradtions in such a tasteful way.

I could not resist sharing her

star spangled

4TH OF JULY

PARTY

I love hosting & entertaining guests

and simply can not wait until our new home is finished,

to share special backyard parties with our friends & family.

I will definitely be stopping by Jenny's blog for inspirations.

If we were entertaining for the 4th, I hope it could look as inviting & timeless as this.

Have a great weekend &

 Happy 4th of July!



Natural Nautical Meets Botanical ~ Dwellings

Michael has added a few new Summer touches to the shop.

This is one of my absolute favorite looks yet.

The natural nautical is right on trend right now.

I just love the driftwood mixed with the fresh pop of green.

I have to get some of those picture frames.

They are galvanized!  I love it!



Perfect for any casual relaxing Summer retreat.

See more of Dwellings here.

Can't get enough of the shop?

Like Dwellings on Facebook.









Our Renovation ~ Removing Addition Part 3

The story of the removal of the addition would not be complete if I didn't share this next part.

Remember this huge pile that once was part of our home?

If you haven't read Part 1 & Part 2 check them out.

We spent the next couple weeks removing debris.

Filling dumpster...after dumpster....after dumpster.

Until one day when I came home & surprise!

We had new "siding"

I think grey is a nice choice;)

And the debris pile was nearly gone.

And oh yeah!

Another Surprise!

Remember how we had left part of the home on the right side.

That is what will be part of our kitchen.

Well, Surprise!  It's gone!

Travis just decided one day that he didn't like it.

I think maybe somebody just got a little destruction happy:)

Actually, once the main addition was removed he realized that part of the home

would end up being the only part remaining, that did not have 10 foot ceilings.

Since we plan for that space to be our kitchen  he really didn't think

it was a good idea to leave it & decided to remove it.

Our cabinets would have been on a shorter wall.

It would have been very awkward in the open layout space.

I would have hated it!  He knows me well.

Good thinking honey!

What a great surprise!

Some things do actually turn out to be good surprises!

Now the entire existing home & the addition will all be aligned with 10 foot ceilings.

I can't wait!

I love high ceilings in any space.

I think it makes a small space seem so much bigger.

Our cottage home is going to be around 1500 square feet in the end.

Not huge, by any means, but the ceiling heights should help the space feel larger.

participating

Funky Junk Interiors

Savvy Southern Style

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Our Renovation ~ Removing the Addition Part 2

Our Renovation

Continued...

Back in March we (I use that word loosely, really it was all Travis & his friends:)

removed the existing addition of our new/old home.

We planned from the beginning that the existing addition would be removed.

It was necessary to repair structural issues of the foundation in the back of the house.

We also decided it would be a great opportunity to make this home into what we hoped for.

  A 3 bedroom 2 bath cottage home in our hometown.

We decided that we would add a larger addition back on to the home & totally change the layout.

So, we got to work removing our existing addition.

Travis & Scott, a friend.

If I haven't mentioned it before.

My husband is part of a dying bread.

He is just a good ol boy at heart.

We couldn't have done all we are doing to this house without the help

of all of the great guys who have lend a helping hand throughout this project.

For any of you that don't know, a good ol boy & his toys can do just about anything.

If not, they will give it a heck of a try!

And...

Here we go.

Enter the old tractor!  Ha!

Conventional?

Hmmm...Probably NOT!

Did it do the trick???

Well...

I'll let you be the judge.

And she begins to tumble.

My Aunt Tammy & my brother Michael

while I was near by with the same worried look.

While we all anxiously wait to make sure the entire house doesn't come tumbling down with her.

Actually it wasn't exactly that scary.
Okay, well there may have been a few moments...
Travis had strategically weakened the structure and detached the existing addition.
Remember he does do this for a living.
(Not normally with a tractor, but this project is all about budget.)
Then the real fun began...

Going...

Going...

Gone!

My Uncle Jeff

Whew...what a relief!

It worked.

1 Addition down.

1 Main House still standing.

My proud husband.

Who will do just about anything to see that our dreams come true.

Love you honey!

Me & my sledge hammer.

Ha!  As if I did anything but snap photos!

Here is what the back looked like before.

Here is my tip for this post.

Do not try this at home;)

But if you do,

definitely remember to appreciate all the long hard work that goes into a renovation!

Always be thankful for any helping hand!

I will continue try to catch you up to speed on our renovation.

I hope to get you to the present day soon.

I'm a little behind as you can see.

Follow our Progress.

participating
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Funky Junk Interiors
Savvy Southern Style
WhipperBerry
The Shabby Nest
The DIY Showoff

Summer Sale at Dwellings

This weekend Dwellings is having a Summer Sale.

All Pillows 30% Off

Dwellings is also offering a savings on select Summer merchandise on the Sidewalk.

A few of my favorite pillows.

A view of the Sidewalk Sale

Have a great weekend!

Sidewalk Sales at Dwellings

Shop Dwellings in downtown LeClaire this weekend for Summer Sidewalk Sales!

Great deals on select Summer merchandise.

All Summer Pillows on Sale too.

Looking forward to a great weekend working at the shop.

My Brother's Wedding

Congratulations

to

Mr. & Mrs. Matthew & Katie Hall

Married 6.9.12 in Ankeny, Iowa.

This was absolutely a night to remember!

Wishing you both love & happiness for a lifetime.

Love you guys!

.........

I wish I could say I had all these fabulous photos to share.

For someone who normally has my camera attached to my hip.

I must say, I was absolutely way to busy having a fantastic time to take many photos.

Their wedding & reception were everything they dreamed of.

It was heartfelt, touching & CrAzY FUN!

It was great to get a glimpse of how much Matt & Katie truly love one another.

I will have to share more photos once they get them from the photographer.

Here are a few family shots of rehearsal dinner.

Travis, me, Mom, Matt, Katie & Michael

Travis & I

And a few more from the reception.

An extremely special night to remember & cherish for a lifetime,

not just for Matt & Katie, but for our entire family.

Love you guys!

Carrie

Our Renovation - Removing the Existing Addition ~ Part 1

Before

Back of Our Home / Existing Addition

Our Renovation continues...

Well, needless to say I can barely keep up with the posts of our renovation.

Believe me we are still progressing!

We're so busy & I have been taking so, so MANY photos I really don't even know where to begin!

I thought I would do a few posts this week to catch you up to the present day.

I'm going to split this first one into a couple posts.

Another view from our backyard, of the back of the house before.

On a Friday afternoon immediately after work Travis & I got to work.

Say goodbye to the existing light blue vinyl siding!

Just as we suspected....

There was old painted white clapboard siding underneath.

Maybe....just maybe....

It will be in decent condition or maybe we can refurbish it.....

That was a short lived thought;)

(Okay, so I knew that would have been to good to be true.)

We fully expected to find pieced together holes & god knows what else.

And that we did!

You can see Travis strategically cutting large pieces of the roof to begin to

weaken the structure for the removal of the addition.

Our house was originally built in the 1880's.

We know that the addition you see here was added on at some point.

On the interior of the home this addition left much to be desired.

It was not structurely sound.

We knew from the beginning it would need to be removed completely from the home.

So, our plan was to gut the interior see more here.

Then remove the existing addition which has since been completed.

I will continue to post more pics of the tear down in a seperate post.

Back of Our Home After siding was removed.

To see more of the progress of Our Renovation go here.

Participating

Thrifty Decor Chick

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Funky Junk Interiors