Calico Cherry

J got a phone call today that our flooring has finally shipped and is waiting for pick up! One small step closer!

Goodbye Bathroom

Warning: This post is going to get scary. :) 

Here's the bathroom before demo:

...and here's the bathroom after...(actually, shortly after this they pulled the tub out too)

believe it or not, this is where that vanity used to be! 

Sort of looks like a haunted house to me....

Thankful for Our Family!

This isn't the first time I've said it and it's definitely not going to be the last- our family is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. You won't catch Dad in these pictures but he's been faithfully helping from the very start.Thank you everyone for the help this weekend! :) If you find yourself bored on a Saturday you're always welcome to visit the little house...we might put you to work. ;) 

Sydney taking out the kitchen wall...I love this girl, she can even make demolition glamorous! 

Bradley was definitely an trooper. He ripped out almost the entire bathroom. 

(more on that later)

Teamwork: Syd, Uncle Allen, Bradley, and J pulling off the last cabinet...woo hoo!

My mama-in-love peeling wall paper... 

The Dumpster Arrives...

what a lovely lawn ornament :) 

time to get started! 

it won't be empty for long :) 

Date Night

Friday night is date night so this week we decided on a quick dinner and a trip to Lowes. Nothing like quality time perusing cabinet stains and laminate designs. :) We really did have a good time. I'm so indecisive and my sweet man is so patient. I'm a blessed girl, to be sure! After staring at the choices for quite a while...we decided we liked this cabinet stain and this laminate for the countertops. We'll probably do something like it- I never realized how pricey cabinets can be. It's a good thing we have a small kitchen. I can definitely see how a big kitchen remodel would require a big budget! Joshua had an  idea to get them unfinished and then stain them ourselves. That would be another fun project to do together and we'll save a little too!

 stain color and laminate design

cabinets and countertops together (at the store...we aren't planning to do the tin backsplash)

The Cottage Project

For our first year of marriage we decided to live in Blythewood but not on 'the land' with our family. We are enjoying our adorable, little apartment but we've decided that in the Spring we would like to move to Jordan Crossing. Our kind and gracious family is allowing us to stay in the rental house on the land. It's small and in desperate need of a little TLC, but with a little love we think it will be perfect for us! We plan to give 'the little house' a few significant renovations and turn it into a cozy cottage. :) Our long-term plan isn't to stay in the cottage but we want to make some modifications to make our stay a bit more pleasant. Then, when we move on to our own home our family will benefit by having an updated place to continue renting. My beloved Beverly suggested chronicling the changes to the cottage and thus The Cottage in the Country blog. We began our project this month and our move-in date is set for the beginning of May. We have quite the To Do list but in the words of my sweet Joshua, "the house is a can of worms- it's just a matter of when we decide to put the lid back on the can."

First Official Lowe's Shopping Trip

We're up early on our day off and headed to Lowes for our first OFFICIAL trip- that means we're actually buying things for our project! Yay!! ...um, kinda. :)