Featured Projects: Fall Decor

In case the mound of rubble in my master bathroom didn't give it away, I've been slightly preoccupied with our bathroom renovations this week. Oh yes, and that 13 hour work day I had yesterday. Phew. Even though fall is my FAV-OR-ITE season, I haven't had a chance yet to break out all of my fall decor. Well, that and the fact that I'm lacking a little motivation because the weather here in Georgia isn't incredibly fall-ish (hellooo 91 degrees today!). 

But many of you out there in the blogging world have already gussied up your homes with some beautiful autumn decorations. I can't even believe how creative some of you ladies get! Here are some of my favorites.

Pine Cone Fall Mantle from Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures

DIY Fall Topiaries from Decor Chick

Magnolia Wreath from Centsational Girl

Adorable Stuffed Owl from Pony Tails & Fish Scales

Fall Wreath from Crafty Land

Silver Pumpkins from Hooked on Houses

DIY Fall Wreath from Burns House

Fall Mantle from Sweet Something Design

Fall Pillows from Tatertots & Jello

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins from Orange It Lovely

Sooo maybe those muffins aren't decor... but they look amazing! I looove pumpkin flavored stuff. Just wait till I share my world-famous pumpkin cake recipe later in the season.... MMMM! Thanks for all of your creative ideas! Feel free to comment with a link to your newest fall project- the more inspiration, the merrier.

Featured Project: Kitchen Renovation

Now how is this for a honey-do list? My sister-in-law, Kelly, told her husband that she wanted a bigger kitchen. And lucky her, he didn't just nod his head and mumble something along the lines of "sure, honey!" He headed to Home Depot, grabbed the stuff he needed, knocked down a few walls, and built Kelly her big kitchen! Okay, so maybe it wasn't that simple... here are a few words from my brother-in-law, Nate, to tell us the real low-down on their kitchen renovation.

Our kitchen was a small rectangle crammed between our dining room and the garage. It was a very small space with limited storage and felt dark and cramped due to a dingy stained pine floor and stained pine cabinets.

We decided to push our entry door from the garage out into the garage about 3 feet to open the space and make the kitchen into an “L” shape and use the new space to build a pantry. The biggest hiccup in the plan was the fact that the wall we moved was load bearing. I didn’t want to have a header protruding into the kitchen since I felt that would reduce the impact of opening the room. I decided to solve this problem by putting a post on either site of the new opening, installing a double lam beam above the ceiling by cutting out the ceiling joists, the reattaching them with joist hangers to the new beam. After this was done, I removed the wall from underneath the new beam and the ceiling did not fall!

We also added a side panel at the refrigerator to allow us to pull the upper cabinet over the fridge out to the front of it for better access and giving that elevation better definition.

After the pantry was built, the cabinets were modified, the ceiling was re-supported, and the flooring was installed, we painted the cabinets and doors and installed the new pulls to complete the renovation, giving the kitchen a more open and modern look and feel.

Are you ready for this? Here are the amazing after pictures.

Didn't they do a great job?! Nate reported that the entire project cost about $2,300. Annnnnnd he told me (okay, that's a white lie- I'm simply hoping and praying!!) that he wants to come work on our upcoming bathroom renovations! :) We're lucky to have such talented family!