Before & After: Master Closet

When Hendrik built his house he built a closet inside each room.  This is fine and dandy when one person is using the closet but when you throw in two people it gets a little tight.  Yes, we could have made do with the smaller in room closet that was built during original construction but we did have another option that isn't ever going to go to waste so that is the option we chose. 

We pushed through the bathroom wall into the shop and made a glorious walk in closet.  All our clothes and shoes and day to day items are now in there and the smaller in room closet houses all the guns, coveralls, camo, and hunting gear.  Perfect fix!

Here is how it began and ended!

 

Before

 

 

During

 

 

After

 

 

 

 

 

There is really nothing to explain about this closet. I feel it speaks for itself and is fabulous.  It completes the master suite and really is a room in itself. 

I could just sit and read in there. LOL I'm not even one for fashion and shoes but I do love the organization and design of the closet.  I worked closely with the contractor to get exactly all the storage and room we needed and even reused the towel cabinet for the corner. 

 

If you can't find me now you know where to look!

 



Before & After: Master Bath

The master bath has undergone subtle changes that make, to me, a really big difference.  I don't have any pictures of the before before...when we first started dating and Hendrik had just moved in but lets say that there weren't mirror let alone wall décor only a hamper for laundry and towels in the cabinet.  I immediately ran out and bought mirrors for both bathrooms from Lowe's and not too long after I printed the vintage duck prints and framed them for décor. 

Before

After

The slate tile in the bathroom has blue ran through it.  The tile is what spawned the inspiration for the color scheme in the master bath.  I wanted to bring together the blue/ black hues from the tile into the bathroom décor but also wanted to continue the homey feel of the rest of the house. 

Like I said above the mirrors and duck prints were after the initial before but even once I moved in I kept those touches and added onto them. 

I used the metal art work that coincidentally hung in my Winnsboro master bathroom in this one as well. It matched perfectly and fits the space above the toilet perfectly as well. 

I found the butterfly prints at one of my favorite booths in Canton and I think they compliment the ducks and color scheme as well. 

The metal basket magazine rack is something I recently got at Canton and put together.  The metal basket is just old and rusty and I attached the metal flowers with a burlap twine that blends in to the basket.  I love the final touches it adds to the bathroom. 

 

You might notice the main change is the towel cabinets that are in the before picture but has been replaced by a door in the after picture...well that is my ultimate addition and will be coming up in a post soon!

 

I love our master bath and really now that it is all done the closet, bath, and bedroom is the ultimate master suite. I tell Hendrik constantly I love it so much and it feels so comfy like a hotel room.  I love that it is a perfect escape.

Before & After: Guest Bathroom

The guest bathroom has gone from tacky western that Hendrik's roommate decorated in to classy farmhouse.

 

 

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

 

I reused a lot of things that I had in my Winnsboro house like the apothecary jars, stained class window and fluffy white towels.  I also used my media chest out of my bedroom furniture as a cabinet to hold towels and rags. 

The cow prints came from a really cute boutique store in Winnsboro called Claire Ida Frances.  Once I purchases the cow prints I bought the classy blue shower curtain to accent the apothecary jars and also the blue hues in the prints. 

I reused the picture from that is antiqued from my old guest bath and created the print in Word. 

The lotions and baby's breath in the tray on the counter add a nice touch for a guest and finish out this space.

Before & After: Laundry Room

I'm finally completing the last of my little projects that are putting the final touches on turning Hendrik's newly built house into me and Hendrik's HOME! 

like I said not a lot of change

First up is the laundry room.  There wasn't a lot of change in this room just a few wall decorations and organization racks. 

Before

 

After

 

 

 

 

Simple additions made this room finished...I added matching rugs in front of the sink and door and I also re-used my cabinet front chalkboard from my Winnsboro house for above the sink.  This room out of all rooms has changed the least.  It's pretty hard to revamp a laundry room without something major like paint. 

Weekend in Omaha

At the beginning of November, the 7th thru the 9th, I booked a mid-day reward ticket with my frequent flier miles to Omaha, Nebraska.  I flew out of Dallas late Friday afternoon and Mia picked me up at the airport around 10 p.m. Friday night.  We headed downtown to her and Josh's apartment to drop my bag and the walked to Wilson and Washburn's for a late supper.  I hadn't eaten since lunch so I was starved and with them living right downtown everything is open and bustling with people.  We both had really good food and a cider beer then we headed down the street a bit further to a bar, Billy Frogs, to hang out for a bit and have a few more drinks to catch up.  We headed back to the apartment around 2 a.m. and then still talked in bed for probably at least an hour. 

 

 

 Billy Frog's

The next day I was so tired but knew I didn't want to waste the short amount of time I had sleeping in so we were up and getting ready Saturday morning at 8.  We got coffee downstairs from this awesome espresso machine that is free for the tenants in the building and walked into the blistering wind and cold to The Diner for breakfast.  This place was so cute and straight up old school diner.  The food and coffee were so good.  We both stuffed ourselves with breakfast burritos smothered in salsa verde and then shared a cinnamon roll.  After breakfast we decided to go to the zoo since Omaha's zoo is ranked #1 in the nation.  Mia pulled the directions up on her phone and it was 2.1 miles so I suggested we walk...that's not far right.  Well I think city 2.1 miles is way further than country 2.1 miles because it took us at least an hour to walk all the hills and fight the wind to get to the zoo.  It was quite exhausting. 

 

 

 

Once we got to the zoo we bought our admissions then headed straight for the indoor desert dome to warm up and see the sights.  There were the cutes prairie dogs and goat like deer called klipspringers.  The desert dome was a desert habitat to showcase desert animals, birds, and vegetation.  It was really neat.  Below the desert dome was the night kingdom and it had a ton of creepy crawlies, crocodiles, beavers, snakes and bats.  It smelled musty, felt damp, and would probably give you the creeps if you stayed too long. 

We also rode a ski lift over the safari animals and it was freezing but nice because otherwise we wouldn't' have gotten to see them since that portion is currently under construction.  They had a really pretty butterfly exhibit also that Mia really liked.  After finishing up the outside animals and exhibits we watched an IMAX movie over the South Pacific reef life that was really informative and pretty.  It made us want to be at the beach for sure. 

 

Once we finished up with the zoo we called Josh to pick us up because walking back the 2. whatever miles wasn't happening...our prairie dogs were barking. LOL  Back from the zoo we crashed on the couch to just unwind before we hit the downtown area again for dinner and more drinks. 

 

 

 

We ate a fantastic Italian dinner at Vivace in the Old Market area and we left WAY too full.  I love Italian.  After dinner we hit up Dublin's, an Irish pub, and just talked more and enjoyed people watching.  I wanted a bit of an early night since Sunday was my last bit there and I was getting home really late on Sunday night I didn't want to be even more exhausted. 

 

 

After Dublin's we made our way back to the apartment and stopped by a renovated hotel called The Deco and had a quick drink in their super modern and chic lounge, Encore.  We hit the showers then couch to try some Netflix since to Mia it was "so early" LOL  I didn't last 15 minutes before I woke myself up and moved to the bed. 

Sunday we did sleep in a bit more until 9 then were up and at breakfast.  Mia wanted to try the European buffet at the hotel down the street so we grabbed a quick bite there then headed downtown to rent bikes and go on a city tour.  The tour was self led...we went to Freedom park and down the Missouri river to the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian bridge that is on the Nebraska Iowa border. That was nice to see and we were in two places at once! On the way back we took a different route to take in more of the city and had a ride around the lake in one of the parks.  The bikes were really nice rides and way better than walking since we had our fill of that the previous day.  I loved riding all over the city and since the wind wasn't blowing our heads off like Saturday the weather was perfect. 

 

 

 

After our bike ride we still had a bit of time to spare so we just wondered around downtown inspecting all the old buildings and little shops.  We stopped back by the apartment around 1:15 so I could grab my bag and head to the airport.  I arrived in Dallas at 10 p.m. then home around 12:15 a.m.  I was super exhausted and drained when my alarm went off at 4:30 to go workout and start my Monday after my fast and furious fun weekend in Omaha but it was well worth it.

 

 

 

I was really impressed with Omaha .  There are a ton of little restaurants and shops to explore.  You can also tell that the city actually puts a lot of effort into making the downtown area pedestrian friendly and encourages people to get out and explore what is around them.  We passed numerous people running, walking dogs, and just meandering around on Sunday when we were bike riding.  Also something that I loved seeing in Omaha was the amount of historic buildings that have been kept up on the outside to keep to the original period and then on the inside re-purposed for offices, apartments, shops, and restaurants.  I think this is way better than destroying something with so much charm and history to simply replace it with modern glass and architecture.  Other than a few new banks and such the entire downtown area is original. 

airport reading and coffee drinking

This quick trip to the unlikely Omaha, Nebraska was just what I needed.  It was a nice reprieve from the crazy semester at school, a mid break from work since my vacation time was up and also just the amount of packed time to catch up with Mia.

Where will my next trip be....I hope over the seas!! ;)