Kitchen Remodel Reveal

Here it is!
This is a link to our entry into the This Old House Reader Remodel Contest 2012!
Click Here to See Jon & Catherine's Kitchen Remodel

There are 6 images that show the remodel: 2 "before" photos and 4 "after" photos.To scroll through them, click the orange arrow.

At the bottom of the first screen is a place for you to rate our project.Slide that baby all the way over to 100 and click Submit!  Please?And do that as many times as your little heart desires ;)(I do think you have to exit and go back in for it to let you vote twice, or thrice, etc.)
The winner gets a 2012 GMS Sierra!  That'd be awesome!Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for voting for our project!

The Moon, a Zoned-Out Cat, & the Kitchen Sink

The photo-a-day challenge prompt for Thursday was "kitchen sink."  My plans were to post my kitchen sink photo along with "before and after" pics from our kitchen remodel.  BUT...there's been a slight change of plans.

I have entered a contest over at This Old House - the "This Old House Reader Remodel Contest 2012".  We love the television program This Old House and watch it regularly.  When I heard about this contest I thought it would be fun to enter our kitchen remodel for a chance to win a 2012 GMC Sierra truck.  So enter I did!  The catch is that the photos that I submitted had to have been never published online.  So I can't put them here on my blog or my entry is disqualified.  What I can do is give you a link to see my entry as soon as it is published on the This Old House website.  I'll let you know when it's been posted!  Until then, here's my photo challenge photo for Thursday, March 22:

When we remodeled we put in a Blanco sink which is a granite composite sink (80% natural granite) and practically indestructable, resisting scratches, chips, and stains.  It is awesome!
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Yesterday's photo prompt was "moon."  I really wanted to photograph the moon yesterday, but there was too much cloud cover and no moon to be found.  I was a bit worried too about getting a good shot of the moon.  My previous attempts have left a lot to be desired.  My best moon shot so far is from August 2010 when I was camping at Bear Lake with my family.

The moon is just hard to photograph!  I'm not using this photo for yesterday's prompt because part of how I'm interpreting this challenge is to submit photos that I've taken that day.

So with no visible moon, I took a picture instead of one of my favorite children's books: Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.  It is the sweetest story about a daddy bunny and his son, each trying to measure their love for the other.  The final line in the book is "I love you right up to the moon ---- and back."  I have very fond memories of my oldest son telling me (after he learned about the word infinity) that he loved me "to the moon and back times infinity, Mom."  ♥

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Today's Photo-a-Day Challenge prompt turned out to be really easy!  I knew that for the "animal" prompt I would photograph one of my two cats.  I got my camera and laid down on the floor near them and waited.  I caught Sophie when she was totally zoning!  

One of the blogs I read regularly, Simple As That, has a link party every Sunday where you can share photos that celebrate "the simple moments and simple joys that make you smile each week."  This photo of Sophie does just that.  I'm linking it up to Rebeccas's {Simple Things Sunday}.





There are some changes coming to Hello, New Day in the next week or so, so stay tuned.  Until then, thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful day! 

Extreme Makeover: Fireplace Edition

     There's a window above my fireplace that used to really bug me.  There was never any window covering on it, no great view to see through it, and it always kinda seemed like a weird place for a window anyway.  Plus, I never really liked that adobe-styled mantel/border thingy.

When I took this photo I had no idea that I'd be
posting it on a blog for all the world to see.
If I had, I would've taken more care to remove
that chair and the boys' Hot Wheels tracks, etc.
But you get the idea, right?

     When we embarked on our infamous home remodel last year (I say "infamous" because you wouldn't even believe all the hassles that went along with it), I really wanted to change the fireplace.  My idea was to remove the window completely, raise the fireplace, and add a cozy brick or stone hearth and wood mantel.  But that was not to be.  Doing that was just too cost-prohibitive and would require repair work on the outside of the house as well.

     The final design and remodel of the fireplace cost much less than my original idea, addressed the window covering issue, and satisfied my desire for a more cozy area:

Today's Photo-a-Day Challenge prompt: Window

     We started by tearing out the surrounding drywall and framing and the tile floor in front of the fireplace:

     We then had our contractor line the area above the fireplace with knotty alder and build some faux columns on either side of it:

     The wood was stained to match our staircase, and since I wanted to get rid of the brass accents on the fireplace itself, we had the front painted black.

     Lastly, we had the area surrounding the fireplace tiled to match the backsplash in our kitchen and had shutters installed over the little window that used to bug me so much.

     Quite a change, isn't it?  I ♥ it! 

Up

     Last year we remodeled our home.  We considered buying a new house but concluded that we love the location and neighbors too much to leave.  We decided that updating and remodeling would be a worthy investment.
     One thing that my husband and I had trouble agreeing on was whether or not to remodel the staircase.  I remember when I first walked into this home 11 years ago during an open house when we were house-hunting: the first thing I saw was the staircase and I fell in love instantly.  Over the years, as designs and ideals changed, I grew tired of the oak banisters and wished for the "new" style of staircase with wrought iron balusters and large wooden newel posts.  After much deliberation, I won we finally agreed to redo the staircase.  This is the finished project:

     Now, when we sit in the living room and look up at the new staircase we both agree that changing it was a great decision!

     One structural change that we made to the staircase was at the top of the stairs.  In the photos below you can see that at the top of the stairs was a little rounded nook.  We had that completely removed which not only opened up the upstairs hallway area, but also allowed for a wider railing at the top landing (which is easier to detect in the very first photo of this post).  A side note: that oak cabinet in the hallway upstairs?  We had that painted to match the baseboards/trim!

     I am participating in Fat Mum Slim's Photo-a-Day Challenge for March and today's prompt is "up". I really wanted to photograph the house that we have here in Utah that is modeled after the house in the Disney-Pixar movie, Up.  It's such an adorable house.  It was purchased by a couple who are self-described Disney fanatics.  How fun is this?
  

Source: The Disney Blog

But, alas, the weather outside is frightful today so I will submit this "up" photo instead:

     Thanks for stopping by!  Check back tomorrow to see what I've come up with for the photo prompt: "fruit".  Have a fantastic day,