Ordered this necklace online and I’m really liking it. Banana Republic Moto Chic Statement Necklace… check out more here!
Parker Bracelet
July 11, 2014 was the day our lives changed for the better. Parker was born! It’s amazing how such a small someone can bring so much joy to a family. He has brought our family closer together in many ways.
I pinned this picture on Pinterest (HERE) knowing that someday I wanted to order it as a way to commemorate a special someone. Parker was that perfect someone. I ordered it on Etsy and it arrived within a few days. I love it!
Parker Bracelet: Olive Yew Jewels
Gold Bangle & Merlot Gem Bracelet: Suo Boutique in Monrovia & Brea
Gold Stacking Rings: Mary John Fine Jewelry
Parker at 5 Weeks
Thank you to the ever talented, Valentina Glidden, for capturing these beautiful images of our new little family in our newly renovated home!
See the farmhouse sink in action!
Island/Laundry Closet/Changing Table
 
Fireplace Renovation
Today we decided to tackle the fireplace renovation. We found out that the fireplace was not original to the house it was added much later… but not very well. First off, it’s not centered on the wall, making it very difficult to figure out furniture layout in that room. Second, the brick that they placed around the face was not installed correctly, it wasn’t event attached to the wall, they were just stacked on top of each other. So needless to say, the bricks were falling off and needed to be replaced.
I have seen a lot of cool fireplace flips on Pinterest where people build mantels around their existing brick. I was hoping we could just do that but in this case of poor construction we needed to just remove them completely and start over. So that is exactly what we did…
EXAMPLE. Found this picture on Pinterest and used it as inspiration for our mantel construction.
Faulty brick fireplace with no hearth at 10:00 AM
The boys built a hearth (tall enough to sit on) and created a box for the mantel.
Adding the detail moldings to give it its’ character.
Detail Moldings
Finished Details Pieces
Finished Detail Pieces with Paint
Adding a white Moroccan tile back splash.
Finished back splash! Adding gray, wood-grain tile for the hearth.
Complete at 10:00 PM! Looks even better with natural light streaming through the windows.
Baby Shower at the House
Today we had a family get together/baby shower at the house. It made my heart so happy to see each room in use and people enjoying themselves on the porch. It’s times like these that make all of the late nights and hard work worth it. So glad we get to share this space with others!
Telling stories on the porch.
Need to get some art on the walls… Any suggestions?
Still trying to figure out furniture layout in this room…
Cousin Daisy 🙂
Parker’s Room
For some reason Parker’s room has been the hardest room in the house to start. I think it’s because I have so many ideas and such high expectations that it’s almost like I don’t know where to begin… so it just sits there. This week we finally began chipping away at some of the projects. Check them out below:
Attempt #1 – wanted to add an accent color above the plate rail. This ended up being too baby blue. Up next… navy!
Bought this crib for $75 at a garage sale! Score! Just need to sand and paint it.
Found this changing table/dresser on craigslist! It was a light birch colored wood when we bought it. Kevin painted it black to match the other furniture in the room.
Newly painted changing table/dresser. You can also catch a glimpse of the new navy accent above the plate rail.
Thanks Kelly for the Parker vinyl! Purchased on etsy!
Parker vinyl up on the wall (and the newly painted crib)!
New book shelves built by Kevin.
Maternity Photos
As an early birthday present, Kevin agreed to have maternity photos captured by our friend and fine art photographer, Valentina Glidden. I am so happy that I have these pictures to look back upon. What a great gift!
First Family Gathering
We’ve made it! The day has come. Our house is finally presentable enough to host a family get together. We were delighted to be able to invite our families over for Easter today. The only thing missing in the kitchen were the doors to cover our laundry-island.
The table is set and ready to go! … we need to replace the folding chairs eventually
The island makes the perfect buffet!
First family gathering at the Rietze residence!
Enjoying the afternoon on the porch!
Our last Easter without kids!
Day 176 -177 |Fixing the Porch
Day 176
Our final inspection by the bank is coming soon and we are scrambling to finish all the last minute projects. My mom is working on scraping the last bit of paint off the original doors and Kevin tackled replacing the front porch posts. One of the first things the inspector noticed when we purchased the house was that the posts were not aligned so that project was on the have-to-fix list. Another project on the have-to-fix list was the ridge cap on the roof of the garage. It was heavily deteriorated so Kevin had to replace those tiles before the final inspection.
SO MUCH PAINT!
Thanks mom for scraping paint off these doors for the past 4 months…
Temporary bracing as old hollow posts are removed.
Inside these 6×6 posts are 4×4 wood beams. Kevin created a casing for the 4x4s with 1×6 wood pieces to create beefier posts.
Filling nail holes…
Primed and ready for paint!
Kevin replacing the ridge cap on the roof of the garage.
HELPERS: Mom U, Matt Milburn, Jon Uyboco
Day 158 | Back Splash
Day 158
After work today, Timmy and Kevin began installing the white subway tile back splash. They worked so fast! They finished the entire kitchen and even started the grout. Something we learned about grout today… do not let grout sit on your tile longer than 30 minutes without washing it off. Do not. We thought we could cover all of the tile with grout and then go back over later with a wet sponge and smooth it all out. Well you can’t. At least not easily. It was a MAJOR pain and it easily tripled the amount of time it took to finish. We had to sit there with razor blades and chip away at the dried grout and the grout lines are not as smooth as I would have liked them to be. Live and learn.
HELPER: Timmy
Day 156 | Granite
Day 156
Today our granite was installed! I am so happy with how everything is turning out. My dream counter top would have been a honed black granite (READ MORE ABOUT HONED GRANITE HERE) because it has a more casual feel but it was more expensive. However, I am pleased with how these polished counter tops look. We are almost done with the kitchen!
One final piece left…
Ta Da! We went with the color absolute black.
Day 132 | Nice Surprise
Day 132
It was so nice waking up in our own bed, looking out the door and seeing the light streaming into the kitchen. Ahh, we’re home!
Today we began setting up the furniture, cleaning the kitchen cabinets, and unpacking the kitchen boxes. We are planning on having our home group over on Monday night, so we need to get the house presentable enough to host.
This evening a bunch of friends surprised us and brought over dinner and gifted us with a steam mop! We are so touched by this outpouring of love, thank you Jesus for such great friends in our lives. It was nice to clean up the remaining dust all over the new floors.
Our new table set up in the dining room. We have enough room to keep it set up at its’ full length.
Thank you friends for such a nice surprise!
HELPERS: Ali, Whitney, Matt, Timmy, Mom, & Dad
VISITORS: Mike, Ian, Kristy, Elissa, and Jake
Day 131 | MOVING IN!
Day 131
Drum roll please… after one hundred and thirty-one days, we are finally moving out of the parent’s house and in to our own! We began moving out stuff out this evening after work. We removed the plastic on our carpet and Kevin and Timmy began moving the furniture in. I started unpacking boxes and washing laundry (the washer and dryer were hooked up this week too!). Tonight was the first time we slept in our own bed in our own house. Pure bliss.
Kevin removing the protective plastic off our carpet.
Setting our bed up!
HELPERS: Mom & Timmy
VISITORS: Kelsey & Sue
Day 126 | Wood Floor Finished
Day 126
Kevin and I finished the wood floor in the rest of the house today and boy are we sore! Later today, Dan helped us move the appliances in from the garage.
Look how good the wood floor looks against the white moldings. I’m in love!
Wood floor in living room finished!
The appliances are in!
There really is nothing quite like removing the plastic off something new. Ahhh!
Day 125 | 1:00am Wood Floors!
Kevin and Jason began installing the wood floor in the front of the house in the morning. Then Matt joined them in the afternoon, then Dayna came over, and then Mike… What a team of great help. We had a nice assembly line system of sorting the wood grain, passing the board/measuring, cutting the board, locking it into place, and nailing. With just a minor set back and having to remove multiple rows of flooring… we finished 2 bedrooms and half of the dining room and living room at 1:00AM. These friends are dedicated. We never could have finished this quickly without the help.
THANK YOU for working so hard to help us finish these floors!
HELPERS: Jason, Matt, Dayna, and Mike
Day 118 | Accident
Day 118
The past few days Kevin has been prepping all of the floors on the raised foundation for new subfloor. There have been a lot of rotted boards that Kevin has had to replace. We are going to add a new layer of plywood subfloor to the entire front of the house before laying the wood.
Kevin laid new plywood down to go underneath the wood flooring.
Today on the way to Lowe’s someone backed out of their driveway and into the red truck! Ugh!
Later we picked up the sink and Jason helped Kevin screw down all of the plywood.
HELPER: Jason
Day 116 | Family Room Floor Finished!
Day 116
After five days of struggling with gluing the wood floor onto the slab, we finally finished! It looks great. Even though our backs ache, our knees are raw, and our fingers are throbbing… it was worth it!
Blue tape is a MUST when installing wood floor that requires glue.
Day 114 | Farmhouse Sink
Day 114
OK installing wood floors on a slab foundation is MUCH harder than nailing them directly to the subfloor of a raised foundation. The glue is messy, the boards begin to separate, and it takes A LOT longer! I’ll let you in on a little tip…use painters tape! As you go along tape the boards together after they have been glued, this will keep them from separating and it will save you the heartache from finding gaps between boards that cannot be pushed together. Ugh!
On a positive note, we ordered our kitchen sink HERE from Pacific Sales. This was one feature that I didn’t want to skimp on. I truly believe that an apron-front, farmhouse sink can help sell a house! Women, don’t you agree? Can’t wait to see how it will pull the kitchen together.
Mmmhmm… an apron front sink is just the ticket. KOHLER
Day 112 | Wood Floor!
Day 112
We are finally ready for flooring! After sanding, painting, installing moldings, cleaning, and removing tack strip the family room is ready for floor. We purchased dark brown, engineered hard wood HERE and we are going to install it ourselves! We have installed wood floors before on a raised foundation, but never directly on slab. We shall see what it’s like to have to use glue…
Sample of the wood we chose next to the kitchen cabinets.
Always leave the boxes of wood inside the area where they will be installed 2 days prior to installation. It allows them to acclimate to the temperature so that they won’t expand or contract once they are in place.
Day 111 | Hood Vent Cover
Day 111
Kevin constructed a box to hide the vent that goes above the microwave. It blends in great with the cabinets!
Day 105 | Hardware
Day 105
Hurray! The cabinets are in!
Just missing the fridge… and counter tops… oh and flooring… BUT it’s coming together!
Shaker style cabinets from Ikea!
We installed all of the hardware on the doors and drawers, we hung the microwave, and added plywood to all of the counter tops in preparation for eventual granite.
Nice new microwave hood.
Plywood laid for the granite to be installed and hardware put on all cabinetry!
This afternoon we drove down to Anaheim and checked out all of the granite wholesalers. Got a lot of prices, now we just have to decide. Black? Dark Gray? Marble?
Day 101 | Cabinet Install
Day 101
Over the past few days more drywall in the kitchen has been put up and more cabinets have been installed. It’s finally beginning to look like a kitchen. Excited is an understatement. Does this mean we get to move out of our parents’ house soon?
More drywall being installed.
The frame for the kitchen island/laundry center.
The frame for the kitchen island/laundry center.
Drywall complete!
Cabinets beginning to go up!
Day 90 | Bathroom Floor
Day 90
Kevin and Jason worked on putting the floor in the bathroom.
HELPER: Jason
VISITORS: Mom R., Grandma, Gary, Daisy, Kathy, Ryan, Heather & Tim
Day 89 | Back to work…
Day 89
Today Kevin and Jason worked on the bathroom. My mom and Caleb worked on cleaning up around the house.
HELPERS: Jason, Mom U., Caleb
Day 88 | Dining Table
Day 88
Merry Day-After Christmas!
Today we bought our dining room table HERE from World Market: Cost Plus for a great price! They were having a 15% after Christmas Sale today only and we got an additional 10% off for taking a table already out of the box. Woohoo! I love to find good sales.
John’s guys have begun drywalling the kitchen!
World Market Bishop Table
VISITORS: Mike & Nikki, Jon & Suzanna
Day 81 | Minor Changes
Day 81
The inspector came today and told us we need to change a few minor things to the new electrical and plumbing. No worries, easy fixes Kevin says! Phew!
Day 77 | Unexpected Expense
Day 77
So far this home renovation project has progressed on schedule and without any surprises… until today. Our plumber informed us that the plumbing under the guest bathroom was completely rotted and that we really should replace it. This was one room that we weren’t planning on renovating, looks like we were wrong. That means added plumbing costs, new flooring costs, new vanity… ughh!
Today Kevin sanded the hutch and ripped up the floors in the guest bathroom.
HELPER: Matt Milburn
Day 76 | Normal Saturday
Day 76
My mom continued stripping door #2 of its’ paint and my dad installed the sprinkler box, which he so nicely matched to our new paint 🙂
HELPERS: Mom & Dad U.
VISITORS: Jake, Kelly & Stephen Chakerian
Day 75 | Sod
Day 75
Sod and the rest of the plants were installed today! I am SO happy. To see a project come to fruition is so fulfilling. Thank you dad for the BEST house warming gift. It’s coming together!
The grass alone makes it look like an entirely new house!
Just in case you forgot…
Day 74 | Flowers
Day 74
My dad’s guys began installing some of the perimeter flowers in the front yard. I’m sure the neighbors are glad to see something other than dirt piles in our front yard.
The Home They Built 