Home Updates

Hall Bathroom Update

Posted on May 22, 2025May 21, 2025 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Thursday!

I’m excited to share a post all about our hall bathroom that we updated recently. We’ve lived in our house for over ten years, and I can’t believe that this bathroom is the last thing we chose to complete. It probably should have been the first thing we did!

It’s such a small space, and it’s the bathroom the kids use…kind of. They used to always use it to get ready, but when we redid Hadley’s room last year and bought her a vanity, that really did help alleviate the amount of time she needed to be in there getting ready. For whatever reason, through the years, the kids never wanted to shower in there, so they’ve made their way down the basement to shower and use Trav’s bathroom. Well, a couple of months ago, he had enough, and said it was time to update the hall bathroom.

We are fortunate to have a neighbor who likes to do renovations. Through the years, he’s helped us with many things including the other two bathrooms, kitchen back splash, sun room floor and more.

Trav had a couple of guys from the farm help with the demo, our neighbor did the labor and installations, and Trav and I made the design decisions. haha

I’ve shared a few snippets with you along the way….including this pic of the bathroom with only the tub left standing! We had to take down the wall because we put in a pocket door during this renovation.

When we came back from spring break, our neighbor had put down the new floor and a few days later put in the shower tile.

The next step was that we had someone hang the wallpaper. A guy my sister-in-law had used on her bathroom hung the bathroom wallpaper in about an hour! It’s from Rifle Paper Co., and it’s soo pretty.

Then, it was time for the sconces and vanity to be installed…

…as well as the mirror and faucet fixtures.

The last major step was that we had our existing tub resealed. When we first started this project, we’d talked about getting a new one, but this is the original iron tub, and it would have been hard to take out and whatever we put back in would probably be a bit smaller and of lesser quality.

Truthfully, I would have loved to get rid of the tub, but for resale, it’s our only tub in the house. Also, with this being the guest bath, I guess it is nice to pull the shower curtain shut rather than have guests see all the shower products.

Anyway, last week, a guy came and resealed the tub. Shew! That stunk, but the smell was gone by the next day when he came back to finish up.

Over the weekend, we put the shower curtain up and finished up the bathroom renovation after seven weeks!

Here’s the before…

…and here’s the after…

We decided to turn the vanity to go on the other wall which gives more floor space. Of course, it’s a smaller vanity (36 inches), but we still have a few drawers and some under the sink storage. I think it fits the space nicely.

The sconces are from Amazon, and the mirror is from Home Depot. My friend who helped with Hadley’s room make over suggested them, and they are perfect.

I’ve had this beach picture of the kids in Isle of Palms framed in the old bathroom as well, and it’s my fave.

The floor tile is from Lowes, and it’s just perfect!

Exciting stuff! We also got a new toilet. The other one is oval and took up a bit more space…and it certainly felt like it took up more space because the door would open right in to it. The pocket door has changed that feeling.

I still love this little “moment” with the cute tray and canisters.

Here is the before of the shower area (and the bathroom door on the right):

The pocket door truly provides such a drastic difference in the space. We still need to choose a neutral paint color for the hall, so it will probably be a couple of weeks before the hallway is painted.

Travis found the shower tile, and when it was first installed, I liked it…but wasn’t sure how it went with the floor. Well, it’s amazing what grout can do because once the tile was grouted and we started piecing the bathroom back together, I went from liking it to loving it!

The resealed tub looks brand new!

We went with brushed gold fixtures throughout and a rainfall shower head. As expected, Hayden wants to still shower in the basement, so this is most likely Hadley’s shower now…and she’s not mad about it!

The little cut out is perfect for her shampoo, conditioner, shave cream, body wash and razor. I snapped this pic before she officially moved back in to the bathroom.

Walking past this space definitely puts a smile on my face…

…and I’m happy with all the little details!

Now we’ve lived in the house so long that it’s time to circle back to some of the original changes we made ten years ago! I do think we want to repaint the kitchen and living room if we can settle on a neutral color.

The rest of us love the update, but Hayden said I made the bathroom “too southern.” haha! I said we can call her Dolly!

Friday Favorites, Home Decor, Home Updates, Kids

Friday Favorites {#256}

Posted on May 2, 2025May 1, 2025 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

Another week down and another weekend on the horizon. I’m ready for it.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week:

Last Saturday, I was in Louisville with Hadley for her volleyball tournament, but Travis and Hayden were in Lexington for Hayden’s track meet. He’s kind of hit a “plateau,” not making much progress with this times despite his training, and I know he’s been frustrated.

I shared last week, that he had a PR in the mile and he did the same on Saturday in the 3200m. I can’t tell you how much it seems a weight was lifted off his shoulders having run two really good races and making progress toward his goals. I know not every race will be that way, but he was due, and I was happy when Trav sent this pic and told us Hayden’s time.

I stayed home on Sunday, but a friend sent me a couple of pics and a video of Hadley serving. Thank goodness for the live stream, so I could watch her two games on Sunday.

Y’all, I was influenced by Athena (@lifeandlightstyled)…

How cute is this little rug? I’ve had a black and white checkered one for a few years and I was just thinking how I need to replace it.

Honestly, I still don’t understand Walmart shipping, but I ordered the rug Friday afternoon, and it was on my porch by Friday evening! While I was at it, I ordered the brown striped one too for the fall and winter months.

My Target also had the “hello” door mat that Athena shared, so I placed a pick up order, and my porch refresh was cute as a button by Saturday!

An up close look…

I love a moment for scallops!

…speaking of scallops…When we were at my brother’s house for Easter, I saw this cute little lamp. My sister-in-law had a couple of them, and I thought they were so cute. I’ve always wanted one for our front hall table as there’s no outlet for a traditional lamp. I’d saved a few to an Amazon list, but just never ordered one. This one is from Walmart, and it’s sold out…but she had a third one that she hadn’t really used, and gave it to me! I love it so much.

I tried to find it to link it in case it comes back in stock, but I can’t find it on the website…which is a bummer because I’d love another one.

BTW – she also has this blue and white one that I’ve seen shared as well, and it’s so cute too…and in stock!

Circling back to the front porch, we moved two of the chairs that were in the sun room to the front porch to replace the ones we’ve had for over fifteen years. The lovely weather, the lilac bush, and the swivel chairs have been a great way to spend evenings recently.

We’re making progress on our hall bathroom update. Truly, it’s basically back together, but there’s a few little things to complete.

Trav has been helping our neighbor who has been doing our bathroom update. Well, Hadley was tasked with painting the baseboards…and she understood the assignment. haha

You know I’ll share a whole before and after, but the wallpaper went up this week, the vanity was installed, as were the sconces. The biggest highlight is that we now have a working toilet! It’s the little things over the pretty things at this point!

The mirror is the “chef’s kiss” to this wall.

Remember last week when I shared that Trav and I have been watching Race for the Crown with the races leading up to last year’s Derby?

Well, we sat down to watch episode 4, and in that episode, they were at the Derby draw where the post positions for the races are announced. Trav said, “Remember, I went to that last year? Maybe I’m in this episode.” Well, yep –there he is!

He’s going to be so difficult to live with now…haha!

On Wednesday night, Trav went to a Derby week dinner with work, and he came home with some food and some flowers. He made a big deal about “bringing me home flowers…” even though I’m pretty sure they were just the table center pieces.

I put them in this cute vase that I have, and they smell so great.

Favorite Mom Meme:

I feel so seen!

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:

Today is Oaks and tomorrow is Derby. I don’t think I’ll never not share this pic of the kids in kindergarten. At school, they’d made their own Derby hats.

This pic of Hadley playing dress up with my (borrowed) accessories is so cute too.

Unfortunately, this year I’m not going to the Oaks like I have the past few years. I love that tradition, but with the iffy weather and just a lot going on at school, I opted out this week. Maybe it will work out to go next year.

There’s truly nothing like Louisville and Churchill Downs the first week in May!

Weekly Recap:

I had a couple of posts this week:

Monday Memes

Monthly Moments

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to finish my post about what I read in April, but I will share that next week!

What are your weekend plans? The kids have a track meet, and you know we’ll be watching the Derby on Saturday.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Friday Favorites, Home Updates, Kids

Friday Favorites {#255}

Posted on April 25, 2025April 24, 2025 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and happy Friday!

How was your week? I’m not going to lie…this one felt like a doozy…so I’m definitely feeling TGIF!

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week:

Easter fun!…

…and a lovely Easter church service.

…followed by a great Easter lunch!

My mom visited us for about a week, and she was able to see a couple of track meets and a couple of my nephew’s baseball games. Plus, it was Easter weekend. She also helped by taking Hadley to her PT appointment, and even took the kids to school a couple of the days. It was a nice visit.

While she was here, we played Play Nine, and then Hayden randomly wanted to play BINGO. I think he has a future at church halls and senior living centers! He was very good at calling out the numbers.

Hayden and I went to my nephew’s baseball game on Monday night. I miss the baseball days! It was a fun game to watch and my nephew did a great job.

We’re making progress on our hall bathroom! The guy doing the work is our neighbor, and the hold up isn’t him! We’ve done a bad job with our ordering timeline. The shower tile finally came in, and he got a start on it yesterday. Our vanity should be in soon, and we have someone coming to do the wallpaper (I think!) early next week.

The track season continues…The kids ran on Tuesday night, and both of them ran well. Hayden’s fastest 1600m time is 4:47, and he’s been chasing his 4:40 goal. I know he’s been frustrated, and Tuesday night, he ran lights out! I haven’t seen him run so confidently or so smoothly in quite a while…and he ran 4:40, placing 3rd! He had a big smile on his face.

Hadley ran the 200 and 400 and was close to her standard times, even winning her 400 heat and coming in 4th overall. She’s still going to PT for her calf, so I think she was pleased with her runs and it had been a couple of weeks since she’s raced.

Travis was excited to start this new Netflix docu-series about horse racing and the races leading up to the 2024 Derby. We’ve watched the first couple of episodes, and he knows/is acquaintances with some of the guys. One of his clients provided some commentary in the episodes we’ve watched. I’m sure we’ll keep watching this series when we have time.

Have you seen the “send later” feature on your texts?

This has come so handy for me. At 6:00, when I’m sipping my coffee, I usually try to get my day in order and often think about texting the carpool or other people I need to respond to, but don’t want to do so that early in the morning. So, I’ve been creating some of the texts and then scheduling them for 8 or 9 in the morning. I really appreciate this feature right now!

Favorite Mom Meme:

Ok, Hadley really isn’t a diva like this, but this one still seemed kind of relatable, and I did chuckle!

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts this week; I always appreciate my blog readers!

Easter Recap

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Monthly Musings

We have a busy weekend ahead filled with track and volleyball…and maybe a nap for me?! I will need it.

Have a great weekend,

Home Decor, Home Updates

Hadley’s Room Refresh

Posted on February 21, 2024March 30, 2024 by jgalvinwhite

Hello!

Today I’m sharing all about Hadley’s “room refresh.”

Once the kids turned 13, I had it on my mind that I wanted to update their rooms and some of their furniture. Last summer, I got serious about clicking around trying to find ideas for Hadley’s room since she cared way more about a room update than Hayden did. Well, like I do…I started to feel overwhelmed, so I hit pause on that project.

Around their birthday, Hadley mentioned her room again. So, I decided to reach out to my friend who has an interior design background. She said she’d love to help. So, one day when Hadley was at volleyball practice, my friend came over, measured Hadley’s room and we chatted about ideas.

We live in an older home with smaller bedrooms. I wanted to somehow give Hadley more storage while also eliminating a bigger piece of furniture. My friend knows Hadley pretty well, so I knew whatever she came up with Hadley would love. When she asked what color palette Hadley was thinking about, I only knew that Hadley likes blue.

The next day, she sent me these designs, and I immediately knew that Hadley would love it.

(This wasn’t the blue on the walls that she thought Hadley would want — it’s just what was in the rendering) I’d never thought about putting Hadley’s bed in front of the window…or thinking there’d be room for two night stands.

I’ve shared a few “peeks” in previous blog posts…

…and another when we did the wallpaper a couple of weeks ago.

…and Hadley really tidied up her closet during this process too.

Before:

Well, Hadley got to purging and Travis got to painting before I could take a true “before” photo, but I’d shared these pics in a previous post a few years ago, and her room still pretty much looked like this:

…and this…although we’d gotten rid of the bean bag a while ago. The cubed shelf is what I was trying to eliminate with the new refresh.

(Hadley’s furniture was my furniture from when I was a kid. We painted it white when it was time for the kids to have their own rooms when they were three.)

Ideally, I wanted a new bed for Hadley, at least one night stand, a vanity that could also be used for a desk, and then instead of a dresser and bookshelf, I wanted a combination of the two which would eliminate one big piece of furniture from her small space.

It was crazy to think about, but I also told my friend that whatever we chose/bought, I wanted Hadley to feel like she could take with her to her first apartment.

I was blown away by the design.

I like that my friend emailed me the design board with clickable links. So, if we didn’t purchase everything all at once, we’d have that email to go back to when we’d make purchases in the future.

Also, since I wasn’t 100% sure what Hadley would want, I initially only bought the bed and desk. The desk was out by the Christmas tree on Christmas morning, and then, I wrapped up the board for Hadley to open with the ideas.

She was surprised and excited.

Since were home over Christmas break, we used that time to get started. She purged her room filling bags with trash or donation piles. We moved everything out of her room, and she helped Travis paint.

Over break, we also put the bed together and after she made some decisions on what she wanted from the design board, we ordered the rug, vanity mirror, night stands, and bedding. The bedding on the design board was back ordered, so we found something similar at Target.

We’ve pieced the rest of her room together over the past six weeks or so.

Anyway, here’s the finished product…

After:

Ta da!

The wallpaper was the “chef’s kiss” to the room. I’m very grateful my friend Amy was able to help me with it a couple of weeks ago.

The nightstands are perfect and easy to put together.

The bigger drawers in the night stands are still empty…which makes me happy knowing we still have empty storage.

I love that Hadley kept her “girl boss” sign.

She’s had it for years!

The natural light in the room is so nice, and creates a calming vibe with the blues.

We bought the bed that has two storage drawers. In the IKEA picture, these drawers are side by side under the bed. I was pleasantly surprised that you can put the drawers wherever you’d like, so she has one on each side of her bed. Side by side didn’t work because of the nightstands.

On this wall, it was so blank I wasn’t sure what we would do. The design called for two bigger pieces of art, so I thought we might do that…and I’d let Hadley choose, but then we decided that she had a few things she didn’t want to part with.

She likes gold accents, so I went with that idea.

She updated the pics in the white collage frame that she’s had for years.

The quote above the collage is something my mom gave me when I graduated high school. It’s always hung somewhere, including in Hadley’s room the past few years, so we kept it.

Hadley loves macaroons, so I picked up this print at a yard sale, but then I put it in a frame I got at Target.

The gold pineapple we got at Hobby Lobby years ago when we updated her room when we first moved in our house.

Travis gave Hadley the dancing picture last Christmas, but it was in a white frame, so I spray painted it gold.

Then, I had one spot that just “needed something,” so I sent a puppy pic of Homer to Mixtiles for one last piece for the gallery.

I’m really glad we used what we had and incorporated meaningful pieces. And…I think we could still add to this wall if we want to through the years.

We bought the full length mirror a few weeks ago. I needed the mirror, so I could spatially figure out the gallery wall.

I’ve never purchased from Ruggable before, but this rug is washable. I already see a muddy Homer paw print, so we will probably have to wash it sooner rather than later. haha

This vanity has been perfect. It’s long but not wide. The one drawer is big enough where Hadley has a few school supplies on one side and then her skin care/make-up and earrings on the other side.

I bought the suggested desk chair from Ikea, but I didn’t realize Hadley preferred one with wheels. So, we looked at Home Goods a few times and never found what she wanted. We clicked around on Amazon, and she found this fuzzy/Sherpa fabric one….and it’s cute and functional.

The vanity mirror isn’t what was on the design board. I should have known that Hadley would want one that lights up. haha

She found this one on Amazon, and it is neat. It has three light modes and a USB charging port.

Not to sound dramatic, but this vanity has saved my sanity in the mornings. The kids share the world’s smallest bathroom, and they always seem to be in there at the same time in the morning. Because of this vanity, now all Hadley has to do in the bathroom is brush her teeth! Otherwise, she can get ready in her room.

Hadley is still loving her new makeup/skincare organizer. I like that it looks cute, and it’s a spot for her to hold her products.

Then, to keep it real –this corner still needs some TLC. The one piece from IKEA that we haven’t purchased yet is the cabinet that will replace the bookshelf and this dresser. So, we’ve left a few things sitting on top of the dresser until we know if we’ll need them once we do get the new cabinet.

We have plans to go to Cinci next month, and I hope to go to IKEA for a couple of returns and maybe to go ahead and get the cabinet for this corner.

*update*

We finally got the cabinet for Hadley’s room.

We had leftover wallpaper, and my mom put it in the cabinet. We also took out the bottom shelf to make room for my Gma’s jewelry box that I’ve had for years.

*one more update*

I’d forgotten we bought these knobs to add a touch of color. We did have to buy different screw to make them work for this cabinet, but they were a cute finishing touch.

We did have to buy different screws to work for the drawers.

I just love walking past her room now. It’s such a bright spot in our home.

Sources:

In case you are interested, here’s where we purchased everything:

Paint Color: Benjamin Moore White Dove
Wallpaper: Wall pops: Blue Wisley (I purchased four rolls for this one wall. We have leftovers, but we did have to use more than I thought to find the correct spot to match it up along the way)
Rug: Ruggable: Verena Soft Blue rug (I got the 5×7 for her room)
Lamps: from At Home Store
Bedding: white quilt from Home Goods, Linen Chambray comforter set from Target
Night stands: Her pretty blue ones aren’t available, but there are a couple other color options. When I ordered her “ice blue” ones, it did say only two in stock…so I’m not sure future availability.
Mixtiles: Homer pic
Gold Frame: 11×14 brass gallery frame from Target (Although, when I got it, was on sale)
Bed:Upholstered bed with two storage boxes from Ikea.
Vanity: white dressing table from Ikea.
Vanity mirror: Vanity mirror with lights (3 lighting modes) and USB port from Amazon.
Chair: upholstered vanity swivel rolling chair from Amazon.
Makeup organizer: rotating desktop makeup organizer from Amazon
Floor mirror: arched floor mirror from Amazon
Cabinet: Hemnes glass door cabinet
Knobs: from Amazon. Come it many colors.

I hope I’m not forgetting something. Let me know if you have questions about anything else.

We’re so pleased with the outcome. Maybe I can convince Hayden to let me tackle his room this summer!

{This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my blog.}

Home Updates, Let's look

Let’s Look

Posted on January 17, 2024January 16, 2024 by jgalvinwhite

Hello!

The month of January is flying by…and it’s already time for Let’s Look with Erika and Shay.

This is one of my favorite link ups, and this month we’re looking at…how we clean our closets.

I know I’m not the only one, but once the new year hits, I’m ready to purge the pantry, closets, and drawers…and it’s a great time to get organized.

About a year and a half ago, I did a major closet purge and re-organization. I had let my closet get out of hand, and it took isolation in my bedroom for five days due to Covid for me to get it handled…haha

Thankfully, my closet is still in pretty decent shape. Some of that is because I still utilize two closets: the one in our bedroom and one of our hall closets.

When it was time to get organized, I took my closet section by section as to not feel too overwhelmed. I actually took the time to try things on, and if it didn’t fit or I didn’t like it, then it went in the donation pile. There weren’t many pieces of clothing that I threw away, but if something had a hole or a stain, I tossed it.

Another thing I bought was hangers, so that they all matched. My closet still pretty much has those matching hangers. My thought was twofold: one, that it would like nicer to have uniform hangers; and two: that if I wanted to use those hangers, I would kind of have to stick with the “one in, one out rule” to not let my closet get too overwhelmed.

To be honest, it’s probably time for another clean out, but nothing like what I needed to do in July 2022.

I still think one of the best things I bought were these clear acrylic dividers. I actually bought two six-packs, and I used them in both closets to keep jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sweaters organized.

This is the pic I took of the finished product, and my closet still pretty much looks like this which makes me happy.

As we’ve been updating Hadley’s room, I had her do a closet clean out over winter break.

I didn’t take a before picture, but Sis really “leaned in” to tossing things and getting organized.

She actually has a really great closet…I’m kind of jealous.

Now, it looks more streamlined, and so much better!

We bought a few clear plastic bins at At Home, and we figured we could use them somehow.

On the top shelf, she has two bins filled with random things for spirit week or dress up days. That is kind of random, but very “on brand” for my spirited 8th grader. Honestly, I’d rather her keep leis, spirit sticks, tutus, etc. all together in one (or two) bin(s) where we know we can find these things rather than have to buy these things again in the future.

On the bottom shelf, she has a couple of boxes filled with photos and cards. These used to be on her bookshelf, but we got rid of it to make more space in her room.

The next two clear bins just have a couple of extra blankets. They could have just stayed folded on the shelf, but putting them in a bin ensures they have a spot and stay folded (read: smushed) in the bin.

The wire basket Hadley has had for years, and it used to sit on her desk. We got rid of most of the school supplies she doesn’t need, and decided to put her yearbooks and photo albums in it. Her new desk is actually a vanity, so we didn’t want as many school supplies on the vanity.

Lastly, the pink and white striped bin she has also had for years. It’s always housed her sheets, but we got rid of the sheets she didn’t want. Now she has a pair on her bed, and then an extra pair which is all she really needs.

We’re still figuring out wallpaper and what to hang on the walls, and then her room will be pretty much finished. I plan on sharing her room when it’s all complete. My friend did an amazing job sharing ideas, and I really appreciate it.

Hadley’s really loving her new space.

Homer likes it too 😉

We have NTI day #2 today due to the bitterly cold temps…and more snow is on the way tomorrow! We’ve gone from 0 to 100 where winter is concerned!

Home Updates

Shiplap Update

Posted on January 11, 2022January 10, 2022 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Today, I’m sharing a quick home improvement project that we recently did.

I’ve been wanting to add shiplap to two walls in our living room. I knew it would be an added touch that would make the house feel cozier and brighten up the walls a bit.

It’s been a minute since we’ve done a home improvement project, and I was excited that this all fell into place pretty easily.

Once I saw Sarah share her shiplap update with links to where she bought the shiplap (Home Depot), I shared the idea with Travis. This way, I knew that what we were buying would look great because I was able to see the finished product on someone else’s walls.

As per most projects, I had the vision, our neighbor did the handywork, and Travis did the painting! #teamworkmakesthedreamwork

Before:

Well, I’ve shared these photos before when I did the Tuesday Transformation series, but here is the living room listing photo when we bought the house over seven years ago.

After we moved in, we had most of our walls painted a gray color.

Finally, after seven years, I purchased a mirror back in the fall. Remember when we were home for two weeks on quarantine? I finally took the time to purchase a mirror! The wood tones on the mirror really made the chest (a family heirloom) stand out instead of being an after thought in the room.

During:

We purchased the shiplap, and our neighbor measured and cut the boards before nailing them to the wall.

It took him a couple days to do both walls, but the difference was amazing!

Here’s the other side of the room before the shiplap. Also, the built-ins were in need of a fresh coat of paint.

…with the shiplap installed but not yet painted:

After:

Once all the shiplap was installed, Travis painted it white. He kept it simple and used Behr Ultra Pure White Satin.

Close up: (of some of my favorite things: shiplap, cotton stems, books, and a candle)

Before photo

Of course, it helps that my Christmas decor is *finally* put away, but the room looks so bright and airy.

…with my “regular” decor put back in place:

Another close up:

I’ve still left a few winter touches out for the next month or so. This was my view on one of the snow day mornings last week:

And…one more close up of the finished product:

I swear sometimes I think our house will never be 100% finished, but it’s been a fun process through the years. #foreverfixerupper

Technically, the only major project we have left is to update the hall bathroom. That being said, we still think about an addition of some sorts in the future to give us a bigger master bedroom. We’ll see. For now, we are happy completing little tasks along the way.

Per usual, I have to thank Travis (and neighbor Bob) for making my dreams come true!

I hope your week is off to a great start!

Everyday Life, Friday Favorites, Home Updates

Friday Favorites {#77}

Posted on July 23, 2021August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Long time, no talk! How’s it going? My blogging break has been much needed, but I sure have missed posting!

Today, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites.

Here’s what we’ve been up to the past couple of weeks along with some of our favorites.

These bracelets are one of my favorite things to wear lately.

My friend, Amy, sent these to me. She hand makes these custom bracelets. She has so many cute and fun options. Check her out on Instagram (@soulshine.kc)! I know you’ll love anything she makes!

Hadley went to sleep away camp and had the best time! She was so sad last summer when camp was canceled, so she was so excited to go back this year! We were one of the first in line for drop off, and she had a great time with friends, old and new. Camp was definitely a favorite for Hadley this summer.

I loved seeing the photos on Facebook. I missed her, so it was nice to get daily updates and see her smiling face!

Hadley at camp was one of Hayden’s favorite parts of summer (haha!). He also went to golf camp for the first time, and he loved it!

One things that wasn’t a favorite…poison oak! It’s never good when your kid wakes you up at 3 am to tell you he’s itching all over! We aren’t sure where he picked it up, but it sure did spread quickly. Thankfully, we got into the doctor the next day and the steroid meds helped immensely.

We’ve also continued to have lots of baseball this summer. It’s always a favorite watching Hayden and his team play. They have lots of fun together.

Another favorite…we FINALLY got our new basement floors. I shared that our master bath shower leaked down to the basement bathroom and living space in early May, so the floors had to be ripped up. What we had put down when we updated the basement a few years ago was no longer being made, so we found something pretty similar and are really pleased.

The original floors after Travis ripped up the damaged flooring vs the new finished product:

Then, I found this pretty rug at Home Goods to replace our previous area rug. It’s super soft and I love the gray tones.

Another favorite is my new messenger bag. I’ve been wanting one for quite some time. I stopped in a favorite boutique that I hadn’t been to since before the pandemic, and saw this gold toned bag. It was my summer gift to myself for teaching summer school 😉 They had some fun straps and I liked the one it came with, but I got this one (in pic below) from Amazon!

Another favorite is dinner al fresco! The kids were having too much fun playing with friends, so Travis and I ended up having dinner on our back patio by ourselves on Sunday night. Steak and asparagus by Travis…and microwave Bob Evans mashed potatoes by me!

Once July hits, I start thinking about school. I always feel better after I get my room unpacked (which will maybe happen next week?…they are still cleaning my area of the school), buy my desk calendar and lesson plan book.

I decided to try the Happy Planner teacher planner. If you know any teacher, you know we are picky about our planners. I’ve used a variety through the years, and I just thought I’d give this one a try. I was close to ordering one online and then realized Michael’s has some and they were 30 (or 40?)% off…+ my teacher’s discount at Michael’s! I love a good deal.

We are soaking up these last days of summer. We’ve had a couple pool days this week after a three week hiatus. June is our big pool month, then we had vacay, camps, and lots of rainy days that took the pool off our fun list for a bit. The kids have had lots of fun with their friends this summer at the pool. It’s definitely a favorite part of our summer.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Me…all summer long trying to keep up with my kids…vs. my parents in the 80’s (Although, the Major was pretty strict about knowing our whereabouts!)

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday

One of my favorite vacation photos popped up in my Facebook memories recently. Siesta Key in 2017…sunset and the kids playing in the ocean.

I still hope to post intermittently over the next few weeks while continuing a little break.

I will share my Sentence a Day for July and what I’ve been reading this month as well once we get to the end of July.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer! See you back here soon.

Home Updates, Not Just a Mom

Not Just a Mom

Posted on July 12, 2021July 11, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! How was your weekend? Ours was filled with a few errands, baseball and basketball on Saturday (baseball was rained out on Sunday), some family time and more!

It’s already the second Monday of the month (sigh!), so I’m co-hosting with these ladies for our Not Just a Mom series.

This month’s topic is Home Tour.

Well, I’ve written blog posts sharing our home improvements, so I will link back to those during this post. I did a Transformation Tuesday series during the pandemic sharing our house updates through the years.They include before and after photos of our fixer upper home that we purchased all most seven years ago. Wow! That’s hard to believe.

I shared in the first post of that series that I didn’t even want to look at our house because I knew it needed so much work. Travis convinced me to look, and we stopped by the house a few times before making an offer (at the same time that another offer was being made too!) The inside of the house we could update. We couldn’t beat the location, the yard, the schools, and more.

So here we go….

Living Room:

I love our living room and how bright it is. The only thing I wish is that we could change up the seating configuration. All the main seating is up against the wall with the windows. There were hardwood floors under the carpet in the living and office (dining) room. They were untreated which actually worked well for us when we tackled this and the kitchen area.

I’ve been thinking about adding “shiplap” to the walls on either side of the fireplace and add a mirror above the chest. That’s on our project “to do” list.

Office:

So, our office is what would be the formal dining room. Our first couple of years here, we did have formal dining room furniture that we had in our previous home. We then decided to make this space more functional for us and brought up the desk that was in the basement, ordered this cute cabinet, and moved these chairs in from the kitchen for additional living room seating when needed.

Living Room/Office

Kitchen:

The kitchen is one of my favorite parts of our home. When we moved in, there was carpet in the kitchen! A few quick fixes we did pretty immediately included, pulling up the carpet, laying hardwood and then staining the kitchen, living room/office, and hall floors all the same finish. Travis painted the lower paneling white and eventually painted the fire place. We had the island installed within the first month of living here. We had the cabinets (they are great quality…just not our color preference) painted after living here about six months.

Since I wrote the kitchen post, we have made a few more dream list item updates with a gas stove and updated (as close to farm house style as I could get) sink. Here’s that post and the kitchen post:

A Few more Home Updates

Kitchen

Sun room:

The sun room was a perplexing space for some time. Travis painted the wall paneling gray almost immediately, and then we also changed out the flooring within the first six months of living here. Until April of 2020, we didn’t really use this room much, and it housed our leftover furniture. Then, the pandemic motivated us to figure out this space. We purchased some new furniture, brought up the tv cabinet form the basement that I had painted, and made this area more inviting. We now spend lots of time in here!

Sun Room Part 1

Sun Room Part 2

**Sun room part 2 is at the end of the Life Lately post.

Master Bedroom:

Our master was not a space I put forth a lot of effort. I always had bedding that I loved and wanted to feel cozy, but we hadn’t done much else to our room. Randomly, in December 2019, I had the idea to move our bed how it is in this photo (it used to on the wall where the pictures are). This created more space when you walk into the room which I immediately loved.

In April/May 2020, we purchased new bedding, Travis and Hadley painted the walls, we hung a little gallery wall, and Travis and I put up Wall Pops wall paper on the wall where our tv is located. (You can see that in the master bedroom post). Now, this room is the definitely more cozy. I do wish our room was bigger (as well as my closet), but the room definitely is more functional now and a space I enjoy.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom:

Like our bedroom, the master bathroom is also small. I can’t believe we waited as long as we did to update it, but the finished product was definitely worth the wait.

Master Bathroom

Kids’ Rooms:

The kids’ rooms both show their personality. We kept them as is for about nine months before painting them and adding some personal touches in the summer of 2015. Like the master, I do wish their rooms were bigger, and, of course, I wish they were tidier, but I kind of let them do what they want with their rooms, and ask them to pick up every couple of days. Hadley is asking for a bit of a refresh, but we just haven’t had time this summer. I can understand wanting a bit more of a “sophisticated” middle school look ;), but I do think her room has stayed pretty age appropriate which was my hope when making color choices a few years ago.

Hayden’s room is still pretty much the same, but he now has a desk in his room.

Kids’ Rooms

Basement:

The basement is still a space that is a work in progress. Like most basements, it’s not our most put together part of the home, but we have tried to make it inviting and have updated it with new floors, Travis (and I) painted the wood paneling and we’ve made color choices that tie into the rest of the house to at least make things as cohesive as possible.

Travis also painted these bookshelves white, added the wooden planks and mounted the tv. This was definitely a labor of love, but a cheap update with lots of bang for your buck!

I don’t think I’ve shared this but almost two months ago, our master shower leaked down into the basement bathroom and seeped on to the basement floors. So, our basement and basement floors currently look like a disaster area! I think the new floors will finally arrive this week, and then hopefully we can get the basement put back together.

Basement

Basement Bathroom:

The basement bathroom was my very first Transformation Tuesday post! It’s still one of my favorite before and afters. Travis now uses this bathroom, and the closet in the basement is where he keeps his clothes.

Thankfully, with the master shower leak, this area was spared except for a few wet walls (The insurance company brought out fans) and a hole in the ceiling to repair the pipe. That hole is finally getting fixed this week, but thankfully, this bathroom is still in great condition!

Basement Bathroom

We still have a few more updates both major and minor. The hall bath still needs updated and the basement needs to be put back together. Then, we are doing little things like plantation shutters in the kids’ room, a shade for the front door and basement windows, and probably making a few tweaks in the kids’ rooms to prep for middle school.

So that’s a look at our home sweet home! I love looking at houses, so I can wait to see what others share! House Hunters and Fixer Upper (and similar shows) are my favorites to watch. House Hunters is permission to be nosy, and I love a good before and after on remodeling shows!

Next month’s topic is Daily Must Haves. The first thing that comes to mind is coffee! 😆

Make sure to check out the other ladies’ posts, and I hope you have a great week!

Thanks for stopping by.

Home Updates

Posted on November 5, 2020November 4, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! I have a few house updates to share with you today.

So….as I’ve mentioned before, our house is an ongoing process. We’ve lived here six years (which I can’t believe) and continue to chip away at projects. Some projects have been major and others have been minor, but I do (usually) appreciate that we’ve taken our time to make decisions while living in our home.

Here are a few things we’ve accomplished lately…

Living Room:

Starting with the smallest update…I purchased some new pillows from TJ Maxx.

I actually got these pillows back in mid-September. I’m all about neutral pillows on the couch…

…especially this time of the year when I add in seasonal pillows.

Another new recent purchase was a pair of ottomans for our two living room chairs. We purchased two of these high back swivel chairs about a year and a half ago. At the time, we’d discussed getting ottomans, but just didn’t want to spend the extra money at the time.

After a while, we did decide it would be nice to have somewhere to prop our feet! Well, when I went back to the store (again, it’s been a year and a half), the same gray (“concrete” color) fabric of the chair was no longer an option. So, I brought home a few samples and settled on these two options and put a poll on Instagram…

While, the poll didn’t help much…actually, it made me feel like I couldn’t go wrong with either choice…🙂…I went with:

The striped option! It took almost two months for both ottomans to come in, but I’m so pleased with them.

And…here’s the other one:

Kitchen:

Moving on to the kitchen…

I’ve previously shared that I picked up these bar stools at the At Home store. This wasn’t necessarily on our list, but our previous ones had lasted over five years, were on the smaller side, and I wanted taller, sturdier ones.

These have been working perfectly for us so far.

Now…moving on to the more substantial updates.

It has been my dream to have a gas cook top. I watch cooking shows, I make dinner most nights, and I thoroughly enjoy cooking. Getting a gas cook top has been at the top of the wish list for quite some time, but we’ve always focused on other areas…and, to be honest, we didn’t know who to call for a gas line hookup. 😂

Anyway, we found a very affordable and reliable plumber (we’ve had issues with our previous plumber) who said a gas line hook up would be no problem.

Right before my surgery, we went to Home Depot and chose our cook top. While there, we decided to go ahead and switch out our microwave to one in the same “gallery” as the new gas cook top. I do hate to get rid of a working appliance, but the microwave wasn’t that expensive, and it definitely completes the look for this part of the kitchen.

Our handy man neighbor installed the microwave after the plumbers left. Travis sent me this pic once everything was installed.

I can’t get over how much more efficient the gas range is…and it looks beautiful! I’ve enjoyed cooking on it over the past week.

**I didn’t take a “before” picture of our old range and microwave, but you can see the white appliances in the picture above with the two new stools. I took that pic about a month ago.

Lastly, we purchased a new sink and faucet for the kitchen.

Besides a gas stove top, a farm house sink has always been a dream of mine. That being said, the apron style sink would mean needing different cabinets, and that kind of project obviously doesn’t make sense since we are pleased with our cabinet situation.

So, we went with this single basin drop in kitchen sink. I always assumed we’d get a white sink after having a standard stainless steel double bowl sink. But…Travis found this one on build.com.

The sink and faucet decisions were being made after my surgery, so Travis ventured out on his own to a local store, Ferguson Bath, Kitchen, and Lighting Gallery, to look at the color options for the sink. He sent me pics of the concrete gray and metallic gray colors. We decided on metallic gray because I liked that it was darker and would be a good contrast with our light gray cabinets.

Travis picked out the faucet on his own. He knows my style by now! haha…and he even made sure to choose a “spot resistant” faucet which was a genius move!

Like the gas stove top, I love this sink so much. I’m glad we waited, looked around, and made a decision that was perfect for the space when the time was right.

And…

Well, you know how it goes…We made all of these decisions, and then…our washer went kaput.

Pretty new front loading washer and dryer appliances came with our house when we bought it in 2014. The owner before us used them pretty minimally, so we kept them when we moved in. That being said, the front loading washer has been nothing but trouble. So, when it started giving us issues…again…we decided it was time to get something more efficient and reliable than try to get the front loader fixed again.

I was still out of commission, so I told Travis I trusted him with whatever he picked out. I also made it easier on him because I said to only look at top loader washers! 😂

This washer arrived last week as well, and, again, I can’t get over how efficient it is to use. I was able to do three loads of laundry in the amount of time it would have taken me to do one with the old washer.

While we are certainly crossing off items on our house “to do” list, we always just try to prioritize, save money, and complete as we can. Technically, the dishwasher is the only appliance that doesn’t match the kitchen, but we’ll live with it for now.

The hall bathroom is the only other room that hasn’t had a face lift. I’m not sure when we’ll get to it, but we will some day.

We have other future projects in mind that are smaller, but I continue to be pleased with all of the updates and all that we’ve accomplished so far. Our house definitely feels more like home with each decision we make.

I hope you are having a great week. See you tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

Home Updates, Kids

Transformation Tuesday: Kids’ Bedrooms

Posted on June 2, 2020June 1, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Well, this is the last stop (for now) for my Home Updates series. To be honest, I feel like I’m ending this tour in a slightly underwhelming way, but I still thought I’d share.

Also, real talk: sometimes my kids’ rooms make me cringe! They tend to be full of clutter which drives me crazy, but I like to keep it real over here…and I make all of the rest of the house look “my kind of pretty,” so they should have their space.

Even though the kids aren’t babies anymore, they still tend to have lots of stuff…so I try to provide them with as many organizational options as possible to keep Legos, baseball cards, art supplies, hair ties (Why does Hadley have 100 scrunchies?!), etc. Also, I’ve given up…they’ve cluttered their walls with whatever the want, and I’m just going to have to deal with it 😉 Anyway, here’s a peek at their spaces.

Before:

These are the only pics I found on the listing photos, and I think both of these photos are of Hayden’s current bedroom.

Summer of 2015, after we’d lived here a few months, the kids spent the night at their grandma’s house, and Travis and I painted both of their bedrooms in about 24 hours. So, this is a pic of his freshly painted bedroom in June 2015. He’s had this bedding for years! The other side of that quilt has cars on it, and we bought it when each kid moved into their own room when they were three. I’d say we’ve gotten plenty of use out of that quilt. We bought the plaid comforter after painting the bedroom.

Hayden’s bedroom now! All the sports signs a boy could ever want! haha

We bought the hat rack from Pottery Barn Teen, and it’s been perfect for his wall and keeping everything organized.

I made this canvas for Hayden we he got his own room in our former house. It’s from one of my favorite scenes in To Kill a Mockingbird. When Dill first meets Jem and Scout, he says, “I’m little but I’m old.” Dill had such a cute little personality that I thought the quote was perfect for Hayden.

This magnetic frame was a little DIY that Travis and I completed together. Well, I found the frame years ago, and then we finally purchased a piece of sheet metal and nailed it to the back. Then, it became a place for Hayden to use magnets to hang photos and his drawings.

I don’t have any before pictures of Hadley’s room, but here’s her freshly painted room in June 2015. Since then, she’s gotten a new bedspread and new bedside table. Her bedroom furniture was the furniture my parents bought me when I was in the seventh grade. When the kids got their own rooms in our former house, we painted the bed, the desk, and then dresser white. Honestly, that was before I knew about chalk paint, so that project was definitely a labor of love. I bet if I’d used chalk paint, it would have taken half of the time.

Here’s her current room. Hadley’s not super girly, so I love that she chose a light lavender for her paint color, and I found the hanging poms for her window at Hobby Lobby. The wooden monogram came from an Etsy shop, and I painted it white. We found her side table at Ikea.

My grandma gave me two wooden chairs that are many many years old, and Hadley uses one at her desk.

I love the “Girl Boss” sign that Hadley found while we were at Home Goods one day. Also, this summer, she really wanted a little plant for her room, so I picked her up a succulent at Trader Joe’s since they are hard to kill! 😉

I love the artwork on her wall. She painted the unicorn at a painting class we took. I found the pineapple at Hobby Lobby, and have a “thing” for pineapples as they are an expression of “Welcome” in a home. Lastly, I found the “In a field of roses, she is a wildflower” print on Etsy and then bought the frame. If that doesn’t sum up Hadley, then I don’t know what does!

So, that’s a little look at the kids’ bedrooms! We obviously didn’t have to do much in those rooms besides fresh paint, our own decor, and some updated blinds. I had a little control with their spaces, but wanted to give them the freedom to make choices…and then I just shut the doors when I can’t take the clutter!

Hallway Bathroom

The last major space for us to update is the smallest space in our house….the hall bath. I’m not sure when that will happen, but thought I’d go ahead and share those pictures.

Our current setup. I at least tried to make it cute 😉 This is the kids’ bathroom and what guests use if we have people over. First world problems, but the space is so small that it’s a recipe for a daily fight while the kids get ready in the morning.

Thanks for following along on this Home Update series I put together. We’ve worked hard making our house feel like home. We just keep checking off projects one at a time.

Here are my other Home Update posts:

Have a great day!