Kitchen Reno Idea Board

The kitchen is really the heart of the home and right now mine is quite dated. Paul and I have been talking about a kitchen renovation since moving in last September, and we are finally getting to the point of making decisions on it. A while back I posted about the initial floor plan for our renovation, and this weekend we were able to visit some interior kitchen design places and really start narrowing our choices when it comes to the materials being used. There are things that I know that I want– gray subway tile with white grout, white cabinets, brushed nickel hardware, and adding an island. In my dream kitchen the island would be a warm dark wood and the rest of the cabinets white, but we are not gutting the entire kitchen and rather are rearranging the existing cabinets and are using an existing cabinet to help build the island in order to save money so we are going to end up painting both the cabinets and the island white. At first I was a little skeptical with all the white, but with new darker floors and gray subway tiles I think there will be enough warmth in an otherwise sterile white kitchen. This is such an important room so thus far it’s been a daunting process in deciding on all the aesthetics but after this weekend I’m starting to feel pretty confident.

DIY Bathroom Backsplash

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hope everyone is having a great week thus far. On Monday I shared how I painted the bathroom vanity in our guest bathroom makeover, and today I'm sharing how we added the backsplash in our bathroom as well. When I originally was coming up with design plans for this makeover I wasn't going to add a backsplash, but Paul really wanted to add it and I'm glad that he did because it ended up looking great! That said, although I helped with picking out the tile and helped clean up the tile after it was set in the Thinset mortar, Paul did the rest of the project and therefore gets all the credit for this successful DIY  project! Best part about this project is that since we only tiled a small portion of it, all the tile combined cost $24!

DIY Painted Bathroom Cabinets

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! If you follow me on Instagram than you might of seen my post of getting some cable channels, so this weekend was spent watching a lot of HGTV and also exploring some new areas in downtown Grand Rapids. It was really nice getting out of the house despite the cold temperatures! This weekend, we also made more progress on our bathroom makeover. It is not completed, because I'm still being indecisive on the shower curtain and artwork I want, but besides that all the big projects in this room are complete! The largest transformation in this room is definitely from painting the cabinets, so today I will be showing you how I painted them and tips and tricks I learned along the way to make the process go more smoothly. 

DIY Balustrade Coffee Table

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I'm so excited to finally share details on our DIY balustrade coffee table. This was our first building project, and I'm elated with how it turned out. When I was searching for a coffee table that I wanted to purchase, I immediately fell in love with the Restoration Hardware Balustrade coffee table. Only problem was, it cost $1495 which was way more than what I wanted to spend. That said, when I came across Jen Woodhouse's tutorial and Ana White's building plans  on how to build a look alike version of the Restoration Hardware coffee table, I was literally jumping up and down and couldn't wait to get started on this project. I will be sharing a link to her building plans at the bottom because they are the reason I was able to create this beauty! Also I changed up her original building plans of a rectangle coffee table and made mine a 38.5" x 38.5" square coffee table and a little taller, so if you're interested in the rectangle version make sure to check out her plans .

Guest Bathroom Design Plans

When we bought our house we knew that we definitely wanted to update the look in the guest bathroom. The bathroom has peachy brown walls, light vanity cabinets, and a builder grade mirror. It is in great condition but lacked the personality and style that I wanted.   

DIY Board and Batten Fireplace

Today marks exactly four months since moving into our house, and during that period our board and batten fireplace has definitely been one of my favorite projects! We wanted to add the board and batten above the mantel for several reasons: A. Most importantly, we thought it would look good B. the ceilings in our family room are 10 ft. high so by adding the board and batten above the mantle, it complimented the tall ceilings and made the wall feel taller than before C. In our family room we have a mixture of dark and light furniture. We thought by adding this large board and batten extension and painting it white,  it would help balance the large bronze clock that will be hung on the wall across from the mantel. Paul and I came up with the design plan for this project, and together my husband and father-in-law made it come to life. They did an AH-Mazing job, if I do say so myself, and I'm so grateful for all the time and effort they put into this project! 

Master Closet Makeover

A few weeks back, we finished a very important makeover in our house, the master closet.  When we bought the house, the master closet lacked functionality and did not maximize space by any means. I own an unhealthy amount of clothes so it was important that we built a space where both of us could fit a lot of our wardrobe. We did the whole makeover for under $100, and it ultimately was well worth the investment. 

The Before

Welcome to It’s A Grandville Life, I’m Megan LaMacchia! In the last 6 months I’ve graduated from the University of Michigan, started a full time job, got married to a handsome man named Paul, and less than 3 months into our marriage we moved across state from Ann Arbor to Grandville, Michigan and bought our first house.  I don’t advise anyone to take on this many stressful events in such a short time period, but I must admit I wouldn’t change it for the world.  I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason, and I couldn’t be happier where all these events have lead me to, including beginning this blog. These past 6 months have been filled with one milestone after another, and now I’m ready for that milestone train to take an immediate halt (because of course that next milestone is having babies, and although Mr. L and I can’t wait to have a family one day, we are not ready to take that on anytime soon). Instead, I want life to S L O W down.  I want time to appreciate life, this new marriage, this new house and being the best wife, employee, and homeowner I can be. Being all of those things doesn't just happen. Rather it takes a whole lot of work and TLC.  That’s where It’s a Grandville Life comes into the picture. When I decided to write this blog it was just as much for myself as it was for others. I wanted to document this special time in our life and all of the projects we had taken on, while also wanting to inspire others.  Also, with my family living across the country in Oregon I thought them along with others might like to check in occasionally and see what Mr. L and I are up to. On this blog I will touch base on everything and anything including our house transformation, DIY projects, beauty, fashion, home design, cooking,  Friday's favorites, and everything in between. For the remainder of this blog post, however, I will talk about our house, because, well, it's new and exciting and when I do talk about our house transformation it's important for you all to see the before pictures.  That said, without further adieu here are the before photos of our house which are images from when the old homeowners lived here and some images from when we first took possession.

Here is a picture of our house! I must admit, it was a very exciting and proud day when we got this house. I never thought I'd be 22 and married, let alone buying a house!

Family Room

Here is the living room. One of the things that immediately made me like this house was the Cathedral ceilings. I love a bright house with a lot of natural sunlight, but then again who doesn't?  

Here is another view of the living room and entryway! Also, check out that fireplace that has so much potential:)

The Kitchen 

Here is the kitchen. As you will see in the next picture, this kitchen has some SERIOUS space to work with/ play with/ cook in/ eat in. Before we bought the house, I must admit, hubby and I spent many of hours in Home Depot dreaming about and planning out what we will one day do with this space.

 And there you can see even more space, which will give us plenty of room to one day add an island and make the cabinets in an "L" shape rather than it's current "U" Shape.

The Deck 

Here is the deck that's right off of the kitchen! We can't wait to have some BBQ parties here some day!

The Master Bedroom

I can't wait to show you  all the changes that we've already made to this space, and the headboard Paul let me buy!

The Master Bathroom 

                                                                  Bedroom #2 

This room is going to be our guest bedroom, so that said, I love the color pink but it's got to go! 

Guest Bathroom 

Bedroom #3

Look at the ceiling and window in this room! Take a guess at which room I turned into my home office:) 

Basement 

Bedroom #4

Bedroom #5

Hallway in the basement that leads to an unfinished Bathroom #3, and yes, I've already started thinking about the floor tiles and color scheme that I will one day want to use in there. 

So there you have it, the before pictures of the house! I can't wait to show you all in the next blog post what we have done in the last two months to start making it our own.