{renovate} back entry

Happy Monday and Happy Valentine's Day! I'm not a big Valentine's Day gal. Most years I try to do something I a little special and out of the ordinary (cute card, breakfast in bed, etc.), but I totally forgot this year. Um, yeah. Wife of the year much?? :)

We actually have a pretty big project happening in our house right now, though. So in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd preview the *love* we've been showing our house lately.

This is our back entry. A mud room of sorts. While Chris and I are the only two people, really, who walk through that door, the area opens up to our kitchen. So you're looking directly into the back entry when you walk from the living room into the kitchen. And friends, it ain't purdy. This is what it looked like when I moved in. Yes, that's a fridge on the left. And yes, that was the second fridge in a 10-foot space (there was already one in the kitchen). If you look close, you can see how poorly the door fit. Like, not at all. That space at the top right let in a LOT of air.

We immediately got rid of the second fridge. And last summer we got a new door. That's where the fun stopped. This is what the entry has looked like for the past 8 months. (Insert, in your mind, a cute black bench next to the locker.)

Oh, and these are the stairs that somewhere a long the way we ripped carpet off. We decided after the first of the year we need to just get this done so we can move on. It's a super small space, we've just been intimidated by the not straight, or flat, walls. So we came up with a plan of attack that doesn't involve hanging dry wall (yah!) and have been working on it for the past couple weekends.

First we demoed. Don't I look thrilled?! ;)  Under the linoleum was 80 year old tile (hence the mask)!

All done!

Chris' best friend is a general contractor, and this weekend he came over and helped so, so much. The main thing we accomplished? Tearing apart the rickety stairs, tightening them and putting them all back together. Not so glamorous, but very essential to our home's well being.

There will be more updates to come! I'm excited to show you paint colors, curtain fabric and wall finishes. You know, all the fun stuff!