My Plank Wall

I picked out this project pretty much the minute I bought my house. I didn't know where it would go in the house, but I just knew it needed to be done. And we finally got it done this weekend.

 

When we painted the master bedroom, we purposely left off one wall, knowing this was going to be THE wall.  Random painting on the wall courtesy of my dad. ;)

 

 

 

Last week, I went and picked out the paint colors (milk paint is NOT the cheapest option, just FYI, but definitely gave this the exact look I wanted), and then Friday evening, we all met up to get the lumber needed for the job. We started in with cutting down the strips, and then I spent the remainder of Friday evening/Saturday morning doing the painting.

 

 

 

Each strip had several layers of paint/stain, and I was thrilled with how they turned out.  There were seven color combinations total. 

 

Sunday morning was the beginning of installation and I think it ended up taking roughly six hours, with some breaks here and there.

 

My little helpers arrived mid-project, and this is the ONLY time this is allowed to happen. ;)

 

 

Making progress!  We had a really good system set up as far as two people down on the saw, and two upstairs doing the install and picking out colors and measurements for the next row. It was quite the strategy session at times! I think our relay system resulted in almost 40 calls back and forth from upstairs to the garage.

 

 

The finished wall! I need to get some better pictures with the big camera, to show more of the detail, but OMG are we absolutely in love with this wall. We put the bed back last night and that wall really makes the room. I have one more project to complete before the room is done, and that's a custom headboard. The 1950's five-panel door is already sitting in my garage, waiting for sanding/painting. I can't wait to see this room 100% finished!

 

 

The building team - photo cred: Carter

 



The Boss

Just in case there was ever any question as to who was running this show.........

Nine?!!!!

Carter Ryan Davis, slow it on down, buddy.

 

 

It's crazy to think how quickly nine years has flown by. I remember all of his little moments like they were yesterday.

 

I have never met a more athletic kid. Sports are on his mind 24/7. He runs a mile a minute, all day long. Nothing gets him down, EVER.

 

And the kid is beyond smart. I'm just waiting to see what advanced program he will be in this year. Math is definitely where he excels - he blows through his homework and is back outside playing before I even have a chance to check it! His nose is always in a book - and not chapter books. He prefers encyclopedias (I'm not kidding) and such. Constantly learning!

 

He has an unrivaled zest for life and such an active spirit. I'm sure proud of this kid!

 

Happy Birthday, Carter!!! I love you, bud.

New Gig!

So an amazing opportunity was dropped into my lap recently and I have to take a minute to brag a little bit about it.  A family friend, and former BSU football player, currently works at Boise State in the marketing/promotions department. He was in two weddings I shot this year, so there is the established photography connection. He knows our family supports BSU big time, so he contacted me and told me they were needing an official photographer for their promotional work before/during the BSU home football games and this seemed like something I'd be interested in.

 

Ya think?!

 

So we hashed out a few details, and here I am, committed to shooting their promotional photography ON THE FIELD, every home game. Can you say EXCITED?!!!! I sure can! This girl will have a press pass, and other fun goodies, and I don't think I have ever been so excited for "work" in my life!

 

We attended the game this last Saturday via some season tickets (for this game only) I won through the Backpack Buddy program through the Idaho Foodbank. It pays off to do good things! So we scoped out all of the promotional activity going on, and I totally psyched myself out because I'm pretty sure I will have to be on the field (literally) for some of these things. Yikes! But the sidelines are dang near empty, aside from press, during the games, so I have no doubt it will be easy to secure the shots they are wanting, and of course having a blast in the meantime. I'm sure glad my new assistant will be with me - should be good times!

 

Project Complete: Master Bathroom!

This project was fun most of the time and challenging other times. I swear, the former owners had NO clue what they were doing with 99% of the stuff they did in this house. There were definitely some "WTF" moments. Ok, a lot of them. ;)  But I do have to say, being knee deep in this project with Matt and my parents was a lot of fun.

 

One of the funny moments was my "girl" hammer. Yes, I got this stupid thing at Walmart. It's a 6-in-1 tool, but it's versatile, damn it! ;) My old one broke, of course, so I ordered a new one and it arrived towards the end of this project. My dad actually used it a couple of times, against his better judgment, and it DID get the job done THANKYOUVERYMUCH. And we have picture proof that he touched the "worthless" P.O.S. ;)

 

 

Love you dad!!!

 

So here is the final product. When I moved in, there was dark sage green paint covering this entire room. Thankfully, the attached walk-in closet was a normal cream color, so we focused entirely on the bathroom itself. We lightened it up with new LED lights and lighter paint selections. I knew I wanted an accent wall, and I have lots of this teal/aqua color throughout my entire house, so it made sense to utilize this color on a smaller accent wall so it wasn't overwhelming. I found a print that was such a perfect fit, though I wouldn't normally put a print this size in a bathroom. I think it really capped off the room. We kept some of the light fixtures, for the time being, and updated the other fixtures so they all matched. For now, the tile in and around the shower, and on the floor, will stay, though that is another project that is on the list. Overall, I am thrilled with the outcome, and can't thank my parents enough for their help.

 

 

 

 

 We will be finishing up the master bedroom makeover this weekend. The paint is done, but we have the plank wall to complete. I'm most anxious to see how that turns out.

Can I Have My Weekend Back?

OMG what an insanely busy weekend!  On top of the two weddings I shot, we started the master bedroom/bathroom makeover. I got very little sleep, spent far too much time on my feet, and now feel like I need a couple more days added on to my weekend to play catch-up for everything else I needed to get done!  ;)

 

 

One of my weddings was out at the Bishop's House. It was a quiet ceremony, with one mix-up that had everyone laughing, and Matt joined me to be my assistant. It was a lovely evening for a wedding. My other wedding was downtown Boise, and we skirted around some weather and had a great day! Matt also helped with that wedding and it's so fun to have him along!

 

In between all of that work, we had my parents over to help with the master bedroom and bathroom. In addition to updating, we are still finding a ridiculous amount of things the former owners attempted to "fix" and/or "upgrade". Either scenario, no matter how you look at it, has amounted to a lot of work on our part to truly FIX/REMEDY. We seriously can't figure out what those people were trying to accomplish, but good lord they left a mess. It's all an adventure! We got the master bedroom completely painted, and now the fun project (my shiplap/plank wall) will commence. I think it's really going to finish out the room, and I'm hoping it will end up looking just like I envision (per Pinterest, of course).

 

 

We also started in on painting the master bathroom. The kids were allowed to help with this one, at the very beginning. My accent wall came out so great (final pics still to come), and getting rid of the ugly sage green that was in there before really lightened up the entire room. I am thrilled with the changes so far!

 

 

 

We also started in-depth planning for the next big foreign travel adventure. Exciting times!