goddessof4

Update

2018-10-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well it's been awhile.We finished the bathroom and love it!!!! It took longer than expected but it also came out better than expected ,lol!!! This was a first on so many levels

These are the photos I had on my phone.I will take some more soon. This bathroom has been a game changer! We did not have a bathroom on the main floor and guests had to use the bathroom upstairs.We always stressed about having guests go upstairs especially if they were elderly.Now the only challenge is cleaning another bathroom. This bathroom was created from a closet and part of the dining room about 3 feet and part of the coat closet that was long and narrow.We still need to finish the hallway closet so that it is useable. Hopefully we can finish that before winter. Well it's good to write again ,I have missed this blog!!!

Bathroom update

2016-07-14T07:45:00.001-07:00

We have slowly been working on the bathroom on weekends and days off. To say it's been a challenge is an understatement. Our house being almost 120 years old makes everything difficult. The floor is not level and we tried leveling it many times.We finally got it as close to level as we could and I finally tiled the floor.I wanted marble floor tiles but it wasn't in the budget. We found a porcelain tile that looked like honed marble and I fell in love with it.Hubby liked the look and the price too.So this week we layed down the tile.Hubby cut the tile and I laid it down.It was definitely not easy but we kept going and it was finally finished.The next day we decided to tile the shower.We originally bought a shower enclosure kit. I really didn't like the idea of the shower kit but now they sell one with glass doors and I finally gave in. The glass doors are really nice and look more expensive than we spent. My hubby talked to a contractor friend of ours and he told him we could use our glass door from the kit but add tile to the walls instead of using the plastic that it came with so that is what we did.We chose a classic white subway tile. The boys tiled about half of the shower Monday and Hubby and I finished the rest on Tuesday.Yesterday I grouted the floor and the niches in the shower.Today I'm going to grout the shower. Here are photos of the bathroom so far.

Main Floor Bathroom

2016-06-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

We are finally building a bathroom on the main floor!!!! we actually started a few months ago but we have been so busy that I have not posted. We had been thinking about adding a powder room on the main level for guests since we have the main bathroom on the second floor.I really hated people having to go upstairs to use the bathroom and it was difficult for older people to climb the stairs. We figured out the space we would use for the bathroom.We would use two closets next to each other and a few feet from our dining room. The first closet we used was the entrance closet. It was a very long narrow closet and then there was a closet in the dining room ( which used to be an old bedroom originally).The dining room closet was also under our staircase. This powder room evolved into a full bathroom with the addition of a shower. Our upstairs bathroom only has a clawfoot bathtub so everyone wanted A shower. This addition of a shower complicated our design. It took longer to figure out positioning of everything but somehow once we knocked out walls and opened up the wall under the stairs we gained more head room and the space opened up magically!

The Library

2016-03-13T19:12:00.001-07:00

The Library by goddessof4 featuring a bronze statue

Cyan Design strand lighting
lampsplus.com

Varaluz mini light
lampsplus.com

Amara cow hide rug
amara.com

Dot Bo white area rug
dotandbo.com

Bronze statue
chairish.com

Black sofa
kathykuohome.com

Haute House accent chair
neimanmarcus.com

Universal Lighting and Decor gray couch
lampsplus.com

Pink Spring

2016-03-06T10:45:00.001-08:00

Pink Spring by goddessof4 featuring pink furniture

Palm Beach Jewelry rose ring
bluefly.com

Henri Bendel crossbody purse
henribendel.com

Topshop Unique red coat
$845 - net-a-porter.com

Betsey Johnson pink shoes
betseyjohnson.com

Ankle boots
ego.co.uk

High heel shoes
$50 - newlook.com

Pink furniture
bellemaisonfrancaise.com

New Fence

2015-12-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

I received my Xmas present early!! If you have been reading my blog for awhile you know I always ask for "weird" house projects or furniture as presents,lol:) This christmas was no exception.I wanted to fence in our new yard .Hubby would say the property was my present as well but I consider that a family gift we will all enjoy. Anyway,getting a permit for this property was a pain ,since this is technically a front yard on another street ,we couldn't add a 6 ft privacy fence.We could only add a 4 foot picket fence that was 50 percent open and at the corner of the neighboring driveway it had to be 3 feet in height for 15 feet(distance) for a vision clearance. At first I was really freaking out because we have the dogs and I would always have to be outside if I let them play in the yard(they could possibly jump over the 3 foot part)but then I realized I always wanted a victorian picket fence and it was the opportunity to have it.I love the movie Practical Magic (dream house) and saw a photo of their yard and it had a white picket fence!! We purchased a cedar french gothic picket fence.I will probably leave it the cedar color only because I can't imagine having to paint the fence every summer.I have enough of my front porch to touch up painting every other year,lol! Here are some photos of the new fence! I can't wait until spring so I can actually enjoy my present!!!! For now I am happy to rake the leaves and just stare at my new yard from my kitchen window!!!

Dreams come true !!!

2015-12-02T09:04:00.002-08:00

I haven't written in a while.Life seems so busy for me lately! The older the kids get the faster time flies.We had a great Thanksgiving weekend,our daughter and her family came to stay with us over the holiday weekend so that was great. We also had a Thanksgiving miracle!! About 7 years ago I wrote about a house behind our garage being torn down.

We dreamed about that empty lot for years.We wanted to purchase it and add it to our property so we could have a real yard.I tried to find out who owned it and called the city a few times.Then a good friend of ours became our neighborhood Alderman and she found out the city owned the lot.To make a long story short it seemed out of our reach ,so we just kept thinking one day we will purchase it.I still called it our lot every chance I had to talk about it.So here is where the story gets interesting.About a week before Thanksgiving we get a letter in the mail that the empty lot is going to be auctioned off the following Monday and if we were interested in adding it to our lot we could bid.It was a sealed envelope auction so you only had one bid.For the next five days my husband and I were trying to come up with a number that would make sense to us and that it would win!!! Also the two houses next to the empty lot received the letter as well.The blessing for us was that the two neighboring houses were renters and we thought the owners wouldn't necessarily want more upkeep.Of course we weren't 100 percent that they wouldn't bid but we were hopeful. Well our prayers were answered and we won the bid!!!! We bought our dream property lot at a a great price!!!

We are so happy.We are in the process of getting a fence permit to add to the property.We really have to work fast as it is getting colder here.I will add more photos after the fence is up!

Vintage and fabulous

2015-09-04T06:31:00.001-07:00

Vintage and fabulous by goddessof4 featuring vintage teacups

Copper lamp
$440 - redcandy.co.uk

Yerra stain resistant rug
shophorne.com

Kitchenaid food grinder
target.com

Royal Albert vintage teacup
$34 - royalalbert.co.uk

Distressed shelf
arhaus.com

Cream chair
arhaus.com

Redford House cal king bed
burkedecor.com

Accent table
neimanmarcus.com

Summer projects!!!!

2015-08-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

This summer has flown by!!! Most of our summer was depressing.The weather was cold and it rained a lot in June.July was cooler too but warmed up at the end of the month and August was hot although today is chilly. I mostly painted the house.I painted the living room (same color green) but added a gold chevron pattern decal to one wall.It did not come out perfect but its ok because it is removable.I also painted the kitchen.We worked on the pantry wall one weekend.We installed the barn door track for the parlor doors that are now pantry doors.I did repaint them as well( added layers of pink) we had to add wood to them to make them longer ,so I had to paint the bottoms to match. I absolutely love the doors so much!!!! The pantry is my favorite area of the kitchen.I love adding decorative touches and rearranging all my containers.This weekend we made an awning for the outside area of the pantry since it has an exterior door.It really makes a difference .The last thing I have to do is paint the outside and inside of the exterior pantry door and that project is officially done. Here are a few photos of the living room and the pantry doors.

Projects!!!!

2015-05-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Our house has been quiet on the project list lately but that is about to change!!! Since we have finished the pantry ,I have been on the lookout for a special door.In my original vision I wanted an old rustic door hung on a barn door track. I searched Craigslist occasionlly and finally found a door I really liked.It was located by a town not far from where Paloma lives.I emailed the owner but never heard back.I fell in love with that door and especially the price(it was $40).Fast forward to last weekend,we went to a flea market that Paloma has been wanting us to go to by her house. I specifically wanted to find a door for the pantry and really didn't want to spend over $40 since I had found one for that price before. When going to a flea market you never know what to expect.One man's junk is another man's treasure,lol!!! At first I didn't see any doors and almost gave up hope.My husband said we would probably find some good stuff torward the back in an out of the way section and he was so right!!! I saw a pale pink door that caught my eye!!!At first I thought it was too narrow for the door but there were two narrow doors that almost matched. Originally these doors were parlor doors but the lady had painted one door pink and added chicken wire to a window that had broke.The other door was striped of its original paint but had both the frosted windows in tact. She was selling the pink door for $55 and the other one $45 but since I wanted both doors she would sell them to us for $50.So I bought the set for $50. I was happy ,since these doors are narrow we will be putting two doors in the pantry. I am always impressed at how the universe provides and brings to me things that are better than I have envisioned!!!!For mother's Day we will put up the doors!! I am super excited to have the final jewel to the pantry.I have decided I am going to add a little trim to the pink door around the chicken wire and leave the other door raw. Here are photos of the doors.

Now

2015-04-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

I feel like my little blog has been neglected!! At first it was my laptop acting up.I officially need a new battery and more memory.EEK! I tried uploading photos from my phone to my laptop to blog but it only accepted 9 photos. I have to ask hubby what's up with that,lol! I am officially re-starting my spring cleaning.I started in March (kind of)and then it became cold here again so it is feeling like winter.Not very motivating for cleaning,I would rather curl up under my blankets and just find pretty house blogs to look at. I do have a bunch of repainting to do. More touching up the walls and refreshing them but I hope to repaint a dresser in our bedroom.That project will be a complete makeover since I need new hardware .I also would love to do an accent wall behind it.Life just seems so busy for us right now.The family has grown in size and with that comes more family functions,birthday parties,etc.Hopefully I can get the house in great shape before summer!!Just thought I would drop in to say HI!!!! Hope everyone is having a great Spring!!!

Baby Finn

2015-03-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't written on my blog in awhile.Time is flying by!!! Maybe some of you know by now but if not we are grandparents again!!! Baby Finn was born on Feb.11,2015 to our daughter Paloma and her fiancé Jake.I was blessed to be present when the baby was born!!Baby Finn weighed 8 lbs and 1oz.e was 20 1/2 inches long and was born at 4:21pm.Here are photos of a photo shoot I took of baby Finn

50 Shades of Grey

2015-02-09T08:45:00.001-08:00

50 Shades of Grey by goddessof4 featuring a mini dress

Coast mini dress
$535 - coast-stores.com

Pre-owned Dolce & Gabbana Black Lace-Up Corset
1stdibs.com

STREET COUTURE Nicky Chantilly Lace Corset
luisaviaroma.com

Giuseppe Zanotti leather shoes
$1,380 - ssense.com

Dolce&Gabbana peep-toe booties
matchesfashion.com

Giuseppe Zanotti heels stiletto
farfetch.com

Forever 21 feather flower hair clip
forever21.com

Valentine's Day Cute Pink Hearts Cliparts, Heart Digital Sheet, Sweet...
etsy.com

Valentines Day Candles

2015-02-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone.I did a DIY soy candle making video on youtube.I show how to make a fragrance candle and a essential oil candle. Hope you enjoy it and make some for yourself.

Julian's 13th Birthday!!!!

2015-01-23T08:50:00.002-08:00

Julian's Lego stop motion youtube channel My baby is growing up!!!! So hard to believe but he is growing into a very talented artist!!! He has his own Youtube channel and makes these movies! He also helps me edit my videos.I am really proud of the young man he has turned into.He was my easiest baby all around,from his delivery to just about everything.We became a complete family since his birth:) For his birthday Julian requested that he would like to open some wrapped presents and also would like to pick out his own presents.He is like his mom,lol! So we woke up and he opened his gifts before Dad went to work and then the boys and I went to pick up Jacob .Julian wanted Taco Bell for lunch and so we went:) It was his lucky day because after we ordered the worker gave us all FREE large drinks if I filled out a survey.We were pumped,lol!!! After lunch he wanted to go to GameStop which is a video game store.I kind of browsed at Ulta and Sephora which were right next door then we ended up at Target.He was in heaven!!!He scored a large stash of games!In the evening we had his birthday cake and we ordered pizza from Toppers(thats what he wanted) I had to drive to the next town to pick it up since his brother called the wrong pizza place and they wouldn't deliver.Bummer,but it was a happy day on the end!!!!!! Love you Jules!!!!!

Dressing Room Tour

2015-01-20T09:59:00.001-08:00

Ok,so I am learning how to edit on my iPad using iMovie and this what I did so far!!! Hands down my FAVORITE room in my house (second to my pantry,lol)I have added a few new girly pieces to it and I am in LOVE!!I found another 3 tiered cake/cupcake stand from Opuluent Treasures like the one I purchased last year ,in a different color and about 1/3 of the price at Homegoods!!!! We went out of town a few weeks ago and I picked the hotel we stayed at (from our last anniversary) because it had resteraunts that we liked and it had the BEST Homegoods store across the street.Of course ,it was a really nice hotel as well ,lol:) Here is my mini movie trailer of my favorite haapy place! I may need a bigger room soon,lol!! A look into my favorite room!!!

New Year 2015!!

2015-01-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!Although it is January 12 already lol!!! I am ready to write my new goals for the year!!! I just started working out again but I need to commit to 3 days a week. I will go to Zumba on Monday nights,possibly Wednesday mornings and one day at a different gym with hubby. I usually will go on the treadmill or elliptical,maybe some weight machines(at hubby's gym). I also would love to do some Yoga and Pilates at home when I can't get to a class. As for diet,I really feel my body does best on a low carb, protein based diet.I wouldn't say high protein but balanced low carb.The challenge for me is that my husband does love more carb style food,so the challenge will be to really think about what I order when I am out on a date night or saying NO to the kids for a fast food run. Today I woke up and made a protein shake that was delicious. I used almond milk,chocolate protein powder , ground chia and flax seed and a tiny bit of frozen strawberries and banana. I probably should switch the fruit to blueberry to make it more low carb but I am taking baby steps.I usually get over strict with myself and then will basically go back to eating crappy:( Also if the scale moves up instead of down from muscle gain I freak out!! All this is crazy but real.I really want to be easier on myself since for my age. I know I look pretty good but I always want to be better. My birthday is next month and I want to look GREAT for that so that is my mission :). I just thought about it ,I will allow a cheat day once a week!!! I also want to organize my house .I really want to be a neat and tidy as Martha Stewart,lol. Living with all boys that is a struggle ( even my boy dogs are messy)! Along with my fitness goals ,I want to learn to cook low protein meals that are delicious!!!That one would really impress hubby. Last year I started wearing more makeup and I want to carry that into this year.I want to dress up at least on the weekends but look nice even when I am home. For house goals,I want to repaint the kitchen (same color) and freshen up the rooms on the first floor,repaint my room and maybe even add some cool wallpaper to a tiny section of the room. In the spring we need to finish the outside of the pantry and maybe start working on the garage ,oh yeah add a new fence to the back of our yard.Me and the boys tore it down about 2 summers ago ( there is still a chain link fence up) but I need privacy .I noticed I haven't wanted to be in the yard because I dislike seeing the neighbors behind us.We may add another bathroom to our main level.I really hate when we have clients or guests over and they have to go upstairs and use the bathroom.we finally worked out a plan where it would go on the main floor.The bathroom would be the main project of this year. It would be a game changer. EDIT: My hubby informed me that I AM the carb lover!!!! Not him:) LOL!!!

Pantry tour

2014-12-27T09:52:00.001-08:00

My love of pantries began with my love of old homes,probably on the show This Old House!! It is one of my happiest memories of my childhood,watching the show with my mom. My mom loved that show and although we never did renovate our home growing up ,my mom would clip out ideas from magazines and file them away.I have kept up that tradition,lol! I call my notebooks with all the magazine clippings my "dream books". I have been lucky enough to have some of my dreams come true!!! One of those dreams was to have my own pantry! I have been obsessed with pantries especially after watching my favorite movie " Practical Magic".The whole house would be my dream home really but I learned in order to manifest your dreams it starts with appreciation for what you have. I do LOVE my home it is small but it has a charm about it.When we came to look at this house my hubby and I thought it had good bones,lol! We have been lucky enough to transform it into my little dream. So back to my pantry,this home was built in 1898 and it is almost the exact replica of Trent's grandparents home in Harvey,Il. Very strange since we live in Wisconsin but not so much if you believe in coincidences.I really loved grandma's sink which was an old cast iron farmhouse sink and the first room that reminded me of their home was our kitchen which has a huge cast iron farmhouse sink! The Harvey home had a pantry which was long and narrow in the back of the kitchen but our home had a huge kitchen with no pantry! Our house had a side enclosed porch that was small and wasted space.We basically didn't use it except to let the dogs in and out to the yard. One day about 3 or so years ago I told Trent that we should convert the porch into a pantry.He thought it was to much work and basically said NO.I kept talking about it and a year later he caved and said we could turn it into a pantry.Well, we started working on it and immediately stopped because the floor was sagging and we would have to rip it out and reinforce it and it was too much money.I still imagined the pantry and talked about it and then this June while we were cleaning out the porch ,the boys told me " dad is ripping out the floor" . So the pantry project began! My hubby redid the floor joists and re built the inside of the pantry!! We added wood ship lap looking walls and shelves ,a new hard wood floor ,electric and lighting ( which never existed before)and we have a dream pantry!!! The exterior is still being worked on but it now is to cold outside to complete.Hopefully it will hold up until we can complete it but here is a tour .

Happy Halloween

2014-10-31T07:06:00.003-07:00

Our Haunted Porch tour!!! Have a safe and spooky Halloween!!! It is 36 degrees and snowing here in Wisconsin.Last week we were in the 70's bummer!! We will be trick or treating with our winter coats on .Also it started snowing!Yikes!!

Baby Raiden

2014-10-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

Baby Raiden was born on October 15,2014.My last post was about our son Tristan and Marta's baby shower in Chicago.It seemed like a long two weeks until he was born!! So glad we have finally met our new grandson.We have been so busy that I never had a chance to share the news!.We went to Chicago twice in the past couple of weeks to visit with them.On our way to Chicago I remembered I had written to someone on Craigslist about purchasing a claw foot bath tub ( they lived in Chicago) for Marta and Tristan's bathroom. I rewrote the person and said I was in the city for the day and would like to see the tub.So after a while the man called me back about the tub.The bathtub was a really good price and we figured we would see it and buy it on the spot.The only problem was that we had my small sporty car and needed a truck to get the bath tub to my dad's house (where Tristan and Marta live).After trying to see who we could borrow a truck from we finally remembered you can rent a pick up truck at Menards (home improvement store) hourly for a good deal.So off we went to rent a truck after spending most of the day with Raiden and purchase the bathtub and the hard part was carrying this bathtub up to a second floor bathroom.I don't know how my husband and boys did it but they got it into the bathroom and by a miracle the bathtub fit in the spot(which was another challenge).My husband had built this bathroom years ago in the attic of my parent's home.When we lived there we had a mini size claw foot bathtub but the one we bought for Tristan and Marta was a full size claw foot tub.So this was the adventure the first day we met our grandson!!! Never a dull moment in our family.

Halloween Baby Shower

2014-10-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is breaking news to my blog,we are going to become grandparents again very soon!!!! My oldest son Tristan and his girlfriend Marta are having a baby Oct.10 or so. We wanted to throw them a baby shower and since they live with my dad in Chicago we had the shower at grandpa's house.This is the house that I grew up in.It is a Chicago brick bungalow.Most of the city has versions of these homes. The kids decided we should have a Halloween theme since it will be an October baby and Tristan has always loved Halloween(he trick or treated until he was like 18 with his younger brothers,lol)!! So the boys and I made a lot of the decorations and we bought a lot of different items and used some of our Halloween Stash.I bought a blowup Hello Kitty(at the end of the season last Halloween) to put up in the front of the house.We thought it would look cute for the shower day so everyone would know the "party house". The boys and I went the Friday before and cleaned and rearranged my dad's house and decorated.The party was on a Sunday and we went early to finish the prep work.Chicago,Il is about 1 hour and 40 minutes from Kenosha,Wi(depending on traffic).Luckily we arrived on schedule and the party was a success!!! My friend Maureen made the baby shower cake and the boys and I made cupcakes.One thing I have learned is that it is definitely harder to throw a party at someone else house and in another state!!! I am still recouping and it is 4 days later,lol!!! Here are some photos of the party..

Pantry

2014-09-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! We have been SUPER busy at our house.So much going on!! We have been on a stand still with the pantry because we wanted to board up the windows from the outside and add siding to them before we finished the interior.Well,that plan didn't work since we have a huge bee hive in the outer part of our home and we are under attack from the bees,so we decided that we will wait until later in the month when it cools off a bit and the bees leave the area to finish that part. We had done some inside work little by little but have made the most progress yesterday:) That is how hubby works,he gets inspired and then knocks it out.We went to Menards yesterday for more plywood ,insulation,and car siding wood then came home and started building.Also we found a shallow cabinet the perfect length for the pantry.So here are photos of the room.

D.I.Y. Cupcake Stand /Jewelry Holder

2014-08-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!!We have been so busy over here with family stuff.Paloma moved to another area with her family this weekend and we helped her move.As always moving is stressful and takes a lot of time and energy.We also did extra work with our hair clients so it seems like we are behind on our pantry project. So I have been wanted to get my creative juices going and have wanted to make my own version of a 3 tiered cupcake stand and a cake plate.I have seen photos posted on instagram. Well I finally made mine and they turned out really cute!!! I filmed a tutorial for my YouTube channel so I will insert it at the end.

Pantry lighting/anniversary weekend

2014-07-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

This was our anniversary weekend(15 years).We were lucky enough to go away for a night by ourselves and it was so nice to getaway!!! We stayed at a Sheraton hotel that was so beautifully decorated in a modern way.We loved it.It is a contrast to our style at home which is antiques/eccletic with a little bit of modern thrown in,lol! So the hotel was in Northbrook ,Il which is about 45 min away so we weren't too far.It was in a really cool part that had a nature preserve prairie by it.we took a walk on the nature preserve and I would love to bring the boys there.It was beautiful! When we got to the hotel I spotted a shopping center across the street and there was a Homegoods store.It was huge and I convinced Trent to take me there. OMG,I was in heaven!!! They had the most beautiful house decor.It was a little overwhelming but I focused on finding somethings that were on my list to buy.I have the 3 tiered cake stand (in my room) from Opuluent Treasures and I noticed they had cake stands,candle holders,etc.from that brand so I bought a mini cake stand for my dressing room and a candle holder for my living room.It was seriously hard to walk away with only two items!! They had the most beautiful pillows there but with Yoshi chewing everything up I didn't purchase any. When we got back home we went to Menards and Lowes to look for siding for the pantry and hardwood floors. We ended up not buying any yet but we decided which styles we would purchase probably next week.Trent had already wired most of the electric for the pantry so I asked him to install the light.Originally we were going to change the dining room light and use the dining room fixture for the porch.When he took off the dining room fixture he didn't think it would work in the pantry. I don't know if I wrote about the mercury pendant lights I bought 3 years ago but I bought them on sale (2 different sets) and they have been in my basement waiting for the perfect spot.I showed these to Trent before but he didn't think they would work so I was surprised when he told me to get my mercury lights for the pantry. My heart skipped a beat with joy that they would be used!!! He installed them yesterday and all of us were so excited to see them up and working. This porch was added on some time prior but there was never any light source.We have been here at this house now 10 years!!! Crazy,right!?! We were all like how did we live with out a light before? Ha,so Progress is being made. Here are photos…..

Dressing room tour

2014-07-18T13:26:00.002-07:00