nothing but love...

for joe that is!

{especially joe on sale!}

we scooped up these beauties recently

{Gray approves!}

husband's going to build a bench for us to snuggle up on!!

hopefully the great weather will last just a little while longer

- we want to put these to good use!

shout out...

to Jeff & Tracy!!

today's the big day!!

{photography by Bliss Photographic}

we wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!

can't wait to see you!

{today is dedicated to you - so we get the day off ;) yay!}

slacking...

while it may appear, from our lack of posting,

that we've been a bunch of slackers -

it's not completely true!!

well actually, not true at all!

I'll have you know,

we've decided on two more "big list" items:

carpet and tile!

our options here are:

* 1 ~ sculptured stone

* 2 ~ uptown taupe

* 3 ~ matte grey

and the winner was uptown taupe!!

because it looks the best in the space while also being able to stand up to baby/dog filth!

{and that's not the pattern we chose - just the colour!}

the pattern looks a little something like this:

{oooooohhhhhhh}

and hiding on the left in the first picture is our choice of tile,

she's beautiful!!

she had to come home with me right away!

and while we aren't ready for these two additions to be installed -

knowing what we're doing is enough to check it off the list!

more to come from our super busy,
action packed week!

{I can't give it all away upfront!}

one down...

one decision that is -

paint colours!!

clearly, it only takes one trip to Restoration Hardware

to fall for their colours!

it's almost impossible to leave the store without paint samples,

case in point - picked up a paint deck:

{husband drew on them with pen - for shame!!! those are sacred to a designer!}

then husband picked up some samples, 

and I painted the swatches

{Gray's room first!}

the ones that made the cut?

* 1 - buttermilk     2 - ash     3 - graphite *

Gray picked number two for his room

{no really, he did!!},

number 1 is going in the hallway because it is dark

and needs some light,

and number three is going on all the doors!!

yep, grey doors!

I'm very excited to see how those turn out! 

I would paint the whole house in that colour -

but I love light and airy spaces too,

so I'm containing myself and limiting it to the doors

{for now...hehehe...shhh don't tell husband}.

neighborhood creeping...

ohhhhh yeah!!

while husband worked on the deck,

{almost done!! pictures coming soon!}

Gray and I hopped on the bike and took some drive-by photos of things we liked!

we have to start planning the fence

{you can arrive anytime now, RPR!!},

the front walk, and the exterior of the house...

here's what caught our eye: 

 {love this style of fence, so simple and pretty!}

 {we like the small fence detail beside the entryway, also the matching wood door}

{a simple and quick way to clean up the front walk}

 {we're doing a wood detail around the windows too,

something like this suits our style of house}

forgive the blackberry quality photos -

had to stay inconspicuous!

decisions...

so many to make - and fast!

one of the major ones - 

hardwood. 

we're putting it throughout the entire main floor...

that's a big commitment!

{especially since husband is installing it himself!}

deciding criteria:

* there has to be enough of it, we need 1400sqft

* it has to stand up to abuse from the dog and baby

{poor hardwood, doesn't know what it's in for!}

* it has to look good

* it's got to be the right price!

surprisingly, this narrows down the options quite a bit!

for this project, here's what we're looking at for choices:

after a few "durability" tests, it's been narrowed down even more -

goodbye birch, you may be pretty, but you won't make it a day with our boys!

if we go with the ones that meet all the deciding criteria, 

we're really left with options 3 and 4.

tough call!

with number 3, Acacia, we have 27% more durability of oak so it can handle itself! 

at the same time, it has a lot of movement, so could be too busy.

with number 4, Oak, it just feels so typical and safe...

but is now really the time to spice it up?!

demo time...

it's started!

so far, just the hallway upstairs, but we have to start somewhere!

first up -

changing the trim and paint colour!

bye-bye trim!

and bye-bye paint colour!

{primer first!}

it's been going quick with this little helper around!

{maybe he's more of a supervisor?!}

next up - demo in the bedrooms!