Our shower was full of construction gear so we had to haul the shower curtain and washing accoutrements into the basement apartment. There was only time for one of us to shower, the other had to make dinner. We decided Andy needed to bathe more than me as he had been mudding walls for 25 of the last 72 hours. I threw rice and tofu on the stove and smoothed my hair in the kitchen window reflection. I ran like lightening around the house, sweeping up drywall dust and crusty carpet glue, pushing stray books and crayons into corners. I dug a mostly clean outfit out of the pile, set our pjs for the girls, grabbed a bottle of chilled champagne, noticed how adorable my husband is as he carried our daughters while fastening his belt and hunting for the butterfly finger puppet.
Our babysitter arrived as our our kids ran and giggled down the hallway leaping over hammers, extension cords and tutus.
Things sure are lively around here as we ready our home to receive furniture, art, clothes and life. Well, I think the life is already here.
I really love transforming spaces with my man. He’s so smart and thorough and hardworking. We really want to get these few (big) things done so we can move in and move on, knowing the rest of our remodel ideas will happen over the course of many years (or maybe never).
I said, “Hey honey! How does it feel to know you are almost done with that ceiling?!”
Our wish to hammer it out now means full days and nights right. When the kids are snug as bugs Andy and I crank up the hip hop and work our tails off. It’s fun and reminds me of the early days of remodeling our last home.
We are retexturing all the ceilings and walls.
Having lived with frosting-like plaster walls in our last home, we know we don’t like it. We desire clean, smooth walls to showcase our art collection and now is the time to do it. Our friend came over and gave Andy a lesson and he was off, a mad mudding machine for days. We have a few rooms left and then the fun part: paint!
tracing bodies on the papered floor
girls’ room: walls done, carpet is next
our room: walls finished, carpet gone
I am so in love with our new space and the home it is becoming. In this week’s mama digs, I think back to last fall when we were trying to buy this place. Man, it was super stressful for a while. I learned some stuff through that process. Click to read mama digs: sweet stir.
I’ll be back in a few days with aching biceps to show you our floors. Our those glorious carpet-free wood floors!
18 Comments
I love traced Alice. And I haven’t done that for some time — I think I need to put our newspaper roll to good use this weekend. I love the view of your new home — I can’t wait to see how it ebbs and flows into the unique space you’ll make it into. And, what’s up with forked, popcorn ceiling? Who thought that was a good idea?! Eww… Glad you’re smoothing out the finer details, ripping up the shag. Adoring your abode..
Forked popcorn! Perfect descriptor. I honestly can’t even capture it in a photo. It’s a shiny radial mess.
I never comment enough here, but I’m just ecstatic about the home renos. They’re awesome! And tracing Alice was adorable! Haha. And I have to say, I always loved your frosting-like plaster walls. Haha. Gotta say though, those perfectly geometric ceiling designs are exquisite! Makes me wish we weren’t renting still. And I crave paint on these white walls. Can’t wait to see the floors transform. 😀
Nici! I think I squealed a bit when I saw a new post from Dig. I love home improvement/remodeling, and I’m particularly loving this one of yours. The ceilings look amazing. No doubt two very talented artists are going to rock it out. More!! xo,k
LOVE the hardwood floors! We have smooth walls in our home and don’t regret the choice. Lived with textured walls my whole life and hated painting them–and with a husband who is a paint perfectionist, it was a nightmare!
Cute picture of Ruby on the feet…I can’t believe how blonde she is!
You rock it sista. Admire your hard work and happiness 🙂
You guys rock! Amazing work. I never comment here, but read you all the time and had to say that traced Alice made me laugh out loud. Too cute. Thanks for the great read!
It’s been 18 months …. You are giving me renewed enthusiasm to rip up the carpets we inherited and get down to the wood floors beneath!! Loving these posts.
Oh gosh, you & Andy have been working so hard. It’s all coming together so perfectly though. YAY!
x
P.S. I know I say this all the time…as I ignorantly forget that we ALL get older…..but, I can’t believe how grown up Ruby looks in that 3rd shot. Such a little beauty.
http://blog.scissorspaperrockdesigns.com.au/
I have never commented here before. I stumbled upon your blog by tripping through blogland. I love your posts and your outlook on life. I am a full time stay at home mom to a 6 month old and a full time work from home attorney for a bigish firm in another town. My husband just finished law school and is studying for the bar exam. (whoa, life story…) We have so many changes happening right now and for some reason your blog and your mamma digs posts seem to add optimism to my days and always put a smile on my face. Thank you.
just when i think i cannot love alice any more… body tracing!
You are working so hard. It looks amazing : ) All of your work will pay off soon!
Love how you notice how cute your husband is 🙂
That Ruby and her head of hair = happiness!
Did I spy a pretty blue on that paint roller? So soothing, if it is.
Love hardwood floors. We have them, as well as plaster walls. Plaster makes it hard to change my wall decor much….lots of crumbling and holes to fill. Thank goodness I have things hanging that I really like…..some have never moved in the 12 years we’ve lived here.
Lovin’ the renovation pics!
Love seeing little bits of the new space as they transform… lots of hard work, but will be so worth it. Can not get over how Miss Ruby is growing…. oh her sweet face & tousled blondness! And Alice tracing?!?! Big smiles.
xo
Kate
I just had to leave a comment! In two weeks, I will be leaving my home state of Pennsylvania and moving to yours – Montana – to be with my boyfriend who just relocated to Anaconda. I was feeling really anxious about the situation today and after work, decided to read Kelle Hampton’s blog. Of course, it was about loving her home state and loving that she left. And I felt better. Then, she showed your work and I thought “how cute is that shirt!” and THEN she revealed how you were from Montana and how much you loved your home state. So I came to your blog to see for myself, and I felt so comforted by the fact that someone else is remodeling a home that needs a lot of work. My boyfriend chose a home with much work to be done over the summer and after seeing your already completed progress, I felt so inspired! So though it may have not been intentional, thank you for easing my worried mind about this move!
Oh first of all, the shot of Ruby steals the show. Saying that she’s such a beauty is an understatement. Is she looking more like your Mom?
Your fire to finish the projects amazes me. But it looks like a wonderful spot nestled amongst a wonderful neighborhood, nature, and mountains. You have an amazing way of capturing the moment with your words – especially in this week’s article. Growth. Is. Beautiful.
Here’s wishing you a wonderful weekend.
-Jennifer
It’s so fun watching you do your home renovations. That’s where we were last summer. We still have a few things to finish up and haven’t touched our loft, but you know. In due time. Love seeing your transformation and how well you all work together on it!
It’s impossible that your home will be anything other than gorgeous and 100% your family.
LOVING the ceiling texture. Which is so not something I thought I’d ever say.