Hawkins Homerama Est. 2013

Everybody loves a good #DEMODAY Thankfully we were able to start our timeline of work while still living in the house. The longer we could stay the better. We were also extremely grateful for my parents letting us bunk up with them for the renovation, it is a HUGE blessing. Thanks Mom & Dad! October 15th was the start of this journey. The timeline had the demolition and removal of the breezeway and single car garage. Once that was removed the new foundations and footers could be poured for the footprint of the addition. The yard would be graded out and the framing of the addition would begin.  Technically our first demo was the removal of a tree in the front yard. We did this in the Summer. A very large, old tree that happened to be right in the middle on the front door walkway. It was old and on its way down and wasn't going to take the chance of it ever falling. And of course it completely blocked the front facade of the house. Our plans included adding in some architec...

Planning & Dreaming, Dreaming & Planning back and forth we go. We knew the drafting of house plans would take time and we were OK with that because we wanted to do it right. We wanted to thoughtfully address all of the wants and dreams, realistic or not, but we wanted to plan for the best and for the future. Remember this house is the next several chapters for us. This is where we want to be while our kids begin their school journeys. This isn't a flip or a transition for us, we know we are going to be here for a bit and that's how we looked at it and looked at every decision. First things first, finding an draftsman to put our dreams to paper. Our Heady Avenue house I was able to do this part since we stayed within the original house structure. This one was gonna be a full gut along with a fairly large addition. Structural engineering, roof pitches, etc needs an experienced professional. You also have to permit your plans along with inspections throu...

Ooops we did it again! Most were calling us crazy but we found another project. The days of watching our kids walk to school are here. Being  able to give them the opportunity to grow up in a neighborhood where their fellow classmates (and lots of family!) are a bike ride way is something special. The next few chapters in our family's life will revolve around meeting new friends, school events & activities and we want to be present for it all!  Rewind almost a year Ago........... This house came into our lap literally out of nowhere thanks to our realtor Jon. We knew we were "looking" for the next but wouldn't say we were hard core house hunting. Maybe Matt and Jon were but I wasn't ready, at least not with a 6 month old at home. Matt was persistent on moving and a phone call from Jon led to an immediate walk through that evening and we knew we couldn't pass this one up. We made an offer that night even though they had anot...

Little by little yes we are starting to get settled in to our new home. Furniture is being bought, frames are being hung, décor being placed around. Yes we are finally starting to get some personalization to this place! Knotty Pine Room So this room has turned somewhat into a little family room or den. We figure that down the road when this place starts to fill up we are going to spend majority of our time in these 3 areas, kitchen, dining and family room. We had the TV wall mounted and filled the shelves with all of our fondest memories. Shelving placement is one tricky thing to do. I could probably rearrange these shelves over and over and over again. My main goal is trying to keep it all visually balanced. I decided to take out a shelf from each side to break it up a bit. I removed  them at different heights so it creates a more asymmetrical balance effect. This also allows you to put larger and taller items, not just having it all look so mono-tone shelf on top of shelf...

Literally. Blood, Sweat and Tears. All of that and so much more went into this rather large journey of ours. And it was worth every single second. All of the late nights and early mornings, the long weekends full of work and no play, all the band aids and ibuprofen, the trips to and from & back again to Home Depot and Lowes, the laughs, the arguments the tears. It was all so worth it. The time, patience and talent we gave to this makes every inch of our new home so special. There is a story to tell about the floors and walls, plumbing pipes and vents, lighting fixtures, bath tubs and toilets. You name it we did it. And it all would not have been possible without our family. Thank you to Matt's Grandpa for lending his knowledge and expertise throughout each phase of the remodel. Thank you to our parents for their continuous support and helping hand and a place for us to live during it all. They too all endured the blood, sweat and tears and without their help there is no way Mat...