Soaking Up Fall

Recently a lot has been going down in the Lietzke household. And by a lot clearly I mean mostly activities revolving around football and home improvement projects. Are we predictable or what? Jameson and I have been lucky enough to take a few quick trips back to State College to watch our beloved Nittany Lions play (let's just not talk about the outcome of the games, deal?) We also got to enjoy a game in Ann Arbor with my parents to watch PSU play at the Big House. (another 1001 in 101 goal accomplished!)

Fall is always such a wonderful time of the year and I'm trying to soak up as much of it as I can! We got our first snow flurries this morning so I know it is only a matter of time before winter is here to stay. But never fear my friends, I will be burning my autumn candles all the way until the Christmas tree gets put up (which in my family is never until after Thanksgiving). I think Fall is one of my favorite seasons simply because of it's candles. You can find me burning this Spiced Pumpkin one starting in August and I recently discovered Autumn Harvest Soy Candle (Target Limited Edition) and it sure is scrumptious as well. Nothing makes me want to curl up in a blanket with a good book quite like a pumpkin candle.

Jameson and I have also managed to do a some home improvement projects, including painting a couple of rooms. When first picking out paint for the house we settled on a very light grey figuring it would be the perfect neutral. Well low and behold that light grey turned out to be way too light, almost completely white is some lighting. Like stark hospital wall white. It was no good! We decided on a darker grey color for the kitchen and living room so that the white cabinets, trim, and cove ceiling would pop. We absolutely adore it now! It's amazing what transformation a can of paint can have. All of a sudden these beautiful features are a focal point instead of just blending in with the walls. Both Jameson and I agree that these rooms finally feel finished (or as finished as they can be considering I change my mind on decor about every 8 days).

The same weekend we tackled painting our bonus room upstairs. For the first 6 month of us living here it was simply a glorified storage room/walkway to the master bedroom. This room is open to the stairs so it cannot be completely closed off, but it definitely still provides enough practical and useful space. We splashed on same paint, moved some furniture and before you know it we have a brand new office room. This little area has quickly become one of my favorite spots in the house.

Milton wanted to be a part of the pictures

I was also super excited because I could finally showcase this beautiful print from BW Prints.We met Bobbi and her husband in our young marrieds small group at our church and she is such a talented artist and designer! Go check out her website and Etsy shop, you won't be disappointed!

House Updates: The Final Stretch

Life for the past month has consisted of making house renovation decisions, packing, and more house renovation decisions. I now know my way around Home Depot very well and have learned more about appliances and fixtures than I ever cared to know. This whole process has been enjoyable and we try to remind ourselves how lucky we are to be able to pick out almost every detail of our future home...but I am definitely ready for it all to be done. The last week has been stressful to say the least with construction finishing up and trying to get all of the loose ends coordinated with the mortgage company.

But as my dad reminded me this morning via text: "When you are borrowing their money you are not in control. One day at a time. Patience my dear."

Unfortunately patience is not my strong suit and I do not like living in transition. I don't mind change. In fact most of the time I get excited about change. But the transition stage between changes is the worst. I am all about the destination and not about the journey. I want to get to the end goal as fast as possible. But God is definitely teaching me that I am not in control and everything will work out in His perfect timing and not my own. So for now I will take the wise words of my father and be patient my dear.


A lot has changed with the house since I last shared pictures so here are some of the updates.

One of my favorite features of the house is the old wood floors from the original home when it was built in the late 1930's. Their were some holes in the floor that had to be patched up so you can see the old flooring compared to the new patches.

Once the floors all got sanded down the downstairs started looking way less like a construction zone and much more like a real home. Honestly I couldn't even believe they were the same floors. The next step was choosing the stain. Jameson and I knew we wanted a dark brown. No red tints. No purple tints. Just BROWN. We ended up going with the middle stain Spice Brown. We thought it was provided a nice warmth to the space while still showing all the woods grains. The hardwood goes throughout the entire first floor (kitchen, living room, and 2 bedrooms) which provides such beautiful cohesion throughout the house. The upstairs and basement will be getting carpet put in next week.

 

Here is the finished product! (They are slightly darker in real life than they look in the pictures.)

 The handles got put on all the kitchen cabinets and we love the clean, sleek look.
The master bathroom has lots and lots of Travertine Tile. We spent 2 hours in The Tile Shop looking at Travertine and we couldn't find anything we loved. We decided to stop by Home Depot after our unsuccessful Tile Shop trip and immediately spotted the perfect (and much cheaper) tile. Home Depot for the win!

That is all we have for now, folks.

House Updates: Kitchen Progress

We have made quite a bit of progress with the house since I last spoke of it. Paint is now on the walls, the basement has been framed out, cabinets are in, and tile is complete in the bathrooms. I don't have too many pictures because it is still very much a construction zone but I thought I would share some of the kitchen progress today. The kitchen is the heart and soul of any home and Jameson and I have really enjoyed picking out all the details for this room. We both love clean and simple lines so we knew right away we wanted white Shaker style cabinets with a sleek glass subway tile back splash. To add contrast we decided on a dark grey Uba Tuba granite. We got a leathered finished granite which creates a matted, textured look instead of the traditional shiny, smooth finish.

These were some of our inspirations for the kitchen.

We got a great deal on the stainless steal appliances by purchasing a refrigerator that is now discontinued and a very gently used stove. This week the hardwood floors are going to be sanded and stained and then the appliances can go in. It has been such a cool journey to see everything come together and I can't wait to see the finished product.

I'll leave you with the pictures of the kitchen I took this weekend. Please just ignore the sawdust and tools everywhere...no one every said construction was pretty.

Home Sweet Home

So I've been keeping a secret for a couple of weeks now and I am absolutely terrible at keeping things to myself so I just have to shout it from the rooftops.

WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE!!!!!!!

Having a place to call home is so important for Jameson and I and we are beyond excited to have a place we can call our very own. Moving away from our loved ones and starting our own family in Detroit has had its share of challenges, which is another post for another day, but we have grown to love this city and we look forward to establishing roots and really investing in our community. We hope that this home will serve as a place of comfort and rest. As a place of laughter and friendship. As a place of warm meals and lots of Penn State football. But most importantly we hope that our home will reflect the love of the Lord.

I suppose I should backtrack for a quick second and explain how we found our soon to be home. A couple of months ago we started browsing listings. We weren't very serious and didn't have a relator yet, we were just doing things on our own. Then we found a house we liked. Called the relator. He showed us the house. It wasn't for us but we liked the relator. Because he is also a contractor. So he helps renovate lots of houses. He showed us some more houses. And then some more. And then he brought us to a house that was under construction. He knew the people doing all the work and thought it would be the house for us. And turns out he was right!

The first time we walked in the house it was a complete construction zone. I'm talking sawdust everywhere and holes in the floor and walls. But as we were walking through the layout something just felt right about it. Jameson knew it was the one from the beginning. Probably because he is a visionary. I needed a bit more convincing. Probably because I am a realist. And a worrier. But nevertheless we fell in love. It's a unique situation because the construction is not yet complete, but we get to work with the contractors to pick out all the details. Cabinets, flooring, paint color, tiles, carpet...are you getting the point? Yup we basically get to customize it how we want. Within reason of course.

Without further adieu here are the pictures of it so far. It's still a work in progress. But a mighty beautiful work in progress if I do say so myself.

Outside View - The snow hopefully will be gone when we get to move in!

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom - Yup that's a walk in closet over there. Good thing, Jameson has a lot of clothes :)

Stairs to Master

Upstairs Sitting/Reading Room - Jameson wants to mount a TV here but I don't think he will win that battle.

Downstairs Bedrooms and Small Closet

Living Area - Those are original hardwoods from the 1940s which will be sanded down and stained!

Downstairs Bath - The bath is rockin' the white subway tile

Stairs

Kitchen - Minus the cabinets, stove, fridge, and everything else that makes it a kitchen

Guest Room 1/Outside - Again snow please PRETTY PRETTY please go away soon

Guest Room 2

Entrance and Bay Window

There is also a basement which Jameson has taken over as his man cave. But he is graciously allowing me a laundry room down there so I can't complain. Maybe I can get him to help fold clothes while he watches sports. Wishful thinking? Yeah I guess so. But hey a girl can dream!

As you can see it still has a ways to go, but we are enjoying the process and can't wait to move in. If anyone likes moving couches please come visit us, we will welcome you with open arms!