New House Who Dis?

We put our beloved General B house on the market, and it SOLD! In less than 24 hours! We knew the market was crazy, but we had no idea it would go quite that quickly. But there are blessings in everything even when they are not revealed immediately.

So we bought a new house and its 2 hours away, we’re moving to Richmond! Its a lot of mixed emotions but the decision had already been made and the wheels are turning. Here is the new digs:

but we aren’t there yet! We are still living in Virginia Beach, having an extended vacay in a beach condo rental. While we’re living it up I’m going to try to show you the final before and afters of General B.

-Ashley

Bloggers we are not

Or at least we haven’t been in the last two years! We’ve been Busy though. We bought General B and quickly at work but all the projects we had in mind. We thought this house just needed a few little tweaks but in the end the list of projects grew and grew and we really made a lot of changes to what we started with. We still want to share them with you! So I will attempt to retroactively share about our projects. Here’s to turning over a new blogging leaf! 

Power of a Sledgehammer

This is a story of how one lucky girl got the closet of her dreams, and yes it all begins with a sledge hammer. Our new home came with 4 bedrooms but because of an earlier sunroom addition one of those bedrooms had absolutely no natural light coming in. This room also happened to be adjacent to the master bedroom. After having spent the first few months of marriage without a closet at all, I lobbied my husband to allow me to transform the 4th bedroom into a closet. He loves me so much he said yes!

The fun began with knocking down the ugly sliding mirror door closet in our master bedroom to make way for a new doorway into the closet.

Existing Closet

 

So with the help of my dad, we tore down the old closet and started on a doorway into the next bedroom.IMG_1031

We did have to slide 1 outlet over to make room for the doorway but overall a pretty easy demo day.

IMG_1033

 

Next we trimmed our new doorway, sliding barn doors are the plan for here so there was no need to put any hinges up. IMG_1045

Next was the fun part, designing my dream closet! I have a vanity that I like to sit at to get dressed in the morning so that needed a home in this closet and I also planned to repurpose the antique china cabinet I restored to house my jewelry. The closet was designed to have two walls with hanging closet rods, one full length for dresses and long coats and one side with 2 levels for shirts and pants. The small bi-fold door closet that existing previously in this room would become a space for shoes. We used MDF to create enclosures for the rod areas instead of having them hang only from the wall. This also gave me the opportunity to have tons of storage on top.

IMG_1143You’ll notice the interior window that overlooked the sunroom will be covered up here, just wait until you see what we did on the sunroom side with this. we also ended up with a little nook in the end with shelving.

IMG_1158       IMG_1157       IMG_1156

After it was all built we painted it the color of the walls so it all blends in and the rods are kept in the natural stain like the flooring. Shelves were added into the Shoe room.

Recognize the lighting? This was the old brass chandelier from our dining room. Originally it looked like this

dining light

We took it down, spray painted it a couple shades of off white and tan, scuffed it up a bit and added bulb shades.

IMG_1941

IMG_1942

 

Then it was on to filling it with all my clothes, shoes, accessories and jewelry (yes, if you had my grandmother you would know that jewelry is not a part of accessories but in a category of its own) I even found a center island that was antique dresser at a flea market that fit perfectly in the center of the room.

IMG_1165      IMG_1164      IMG_1945

Shine a little light on the shoe collection…

IMG_1162

a little fuzzy but a full panoramic view of the room…

IMG_1944

A special thanks to my hubby for letting me take over a whole room in our house for my closet and for cramming all his clothes in his office closet. Dream big when it comes to your closets ladies, and know that you can do a lot to transform it into the Carrie Bradshaw version all on your own.

Before the chaos begins

We are homeowners and we now have lots of projects ahead! Just so you can get an idea of what our blank canvas looks like, here are photos from the day of inspection. The furnishings are those of the previous owner. 

Exterior is brick all around. There is some landscaping base to work with. We aren’t fans of the garage door on the front but we’re coming up with ideas to make that more attractive too.



The front door opens into an ample foyer with slat time and chair railing. 







The living room is full of  charm with a step down, arched door ways and built in cabinets. 



The entry hall opens up to a lengthy dining room the connects through French doors to the sunroom. 





The kitchen and family room share an open floor plan. A header had to be added between these rooms for structure. (Always have a home inspection, the header was completed by the seller and that’s $2500 we didn’t have to spend on structural support) 





A sunroom flooding with light is the perfect spot for my studio

The (4) bedrooms are noteworthy but pictures don’t exhibit much substance. 



Super 80’s master Bath- as much as I dislike this aesthetic , I’m looking forward to demo! 

Projects are underway and we are knee deep in paint, nails and spackle, but loving every minute of making our vision come to life. We can’t wait to share some project photos next. 

Ashley

Key to our dreams



It’s a process buying a home that can’t be avoided, but at the end no matter the circumstances proud new owners are grinning with happiness. We are no exception. Yesterday was always planned to be our closing date but the time changes several times throughout the day and it was touch and go for a bit over the last few days if it was even going to make it. I won’t bore you with the details because I know for certain our challenges were mild in comparison to some. In the end, we have the home we wanted and nothing can take awy from that now. 

I know I’ve been promising pics of the new place and I’m sure you’re hoping for more than a shot of the key. They are coming very soon, really I mean it this time😄

Ashley & Jeremy Bitner (homeowners) 

Sherwin Williams Coma

We have just returned home from the paint store and now need a nap. Choosing colors for the new house (General B as we like to call it) has been going on work weeks but today we took advantage of the sale at Sherwin Williams and stocked up on the colors we’ve nailed down. 10 gallons and a quart is enough for today. The gentleman at the store was quite impressed we were taking on so much. We will certainly not wait to see a roller or brush for the rest of our lives when we’re done but we’re so elated to make this house our very own that were blinded by the reality of painting 2k square foot of house top to bottom. Here are our selections so far: 



  • Foyer- Riverway
  • Sunroom- Butter up
  • Kitchen cabinets- Dover White
  • Kitchen- Ethereal Mood
  • Family room- Cascade Green
  • Living room & Hallways- accessible Beige
  • Master Bedroom- Collonade Gray
  • Master Bath- Minter
  • Guest room- Watery
  • All Trim- White Flour
  • Front Door- Cloudburst 

Whew! It’s exhausting me just writing out that list. Time for a Sunday Siesta! 



Do you want to build a snowman?

Winter in Virginia isn’t anything like what the north east and mid-west experience but this year we’ve certainly had our fair share of the white stuff. In fact, there are flurries outside of my office window right now which is why I’m blogging during lunch because its too cold to run out for a bite. Last week’s snow storm inspired my pancakes, and I’m brainstorming on what I can make this evening that will warm Jeremy and I up.

IMG_0950

We have only a few weeks left in our little beach cottage before we take the final leap in growing up and moving inland so this weather is definitely helping ease our pain about leaving a place that’s a hop, skip and a jump from toes in the sand.

IMG_0947

We have absolutely loved this house for the past year, and will cherish all the memories made here. Last February when we moved in from a tiny 700 square foot converted garage {which made for very intimate quarters} we spent the first few weeks following each other in a circle around the core of the house. We laughed saying this house was too big, then we out grew this place before all the boxes were unpacked. Jeremy would blame my inability to throw anything away, a characteristic I proudly take from my Gramps.

So this weekend we will begin to put every last possession into boxes once again. This time the excited it through the roof knowing the boxes will not have any projection for making a return to our lives for quite some time. We promise to share photos of our new house soon!

P.S. The snowflake pancakes are a cinch to make. Just put pancake batter in a condiment bottle with a small spout (about the size of the end of a Q-tip) and squirt out any shape you like. The first lines you do will of course be the most golden so keep some strategy in mind for how you design your one of a kind breakfast delights. Be sure to do your flipping gently!

Ashley

New School {p}Inspiration

Since about 1998 I’ve been keeping images, tips, recipes and magazine clippings. They are all displayed in clear plastic sleeves which are categorized into binders by subject matter. These have been my inspiration books through the years. I’ve even loaned them out to friends when they are looking for inspiration for a new space or ideas for a table scape. These binders have grown into a full volume of ideas and inspiration. In the last couple years, Pinterest has become my second edition. I still clip magazine recipes and images that catch my eye but my Pinterest boards (74 and counting) organize all the inspiration I can find online. Browse around in my online binders and lookout for more posts on Pinterest attempts. I promise to show the wins and the failures too!

Ashley

Hello world!

What better way to share all the chaos and adventures in life than revealing them on our own blog? None, we’ve decided. We hope you’ve stopped by for a little humor or inspiration and that you’ll decide to come back again and often.  Cheers to crossing the blogging starting line!

Jeremy & Ashley