Our House

Well, I apologize for the long time between posts. I have been very distracted for the last few weeks. I am also off for the summer and basically lose all of my productivity. 


We have been in our new house for about a month and are still getting settled. Even though we still have some things to complete on the interior, I wanted to go ahead and share some photos.

This is our den, which opens to the kitchen. Disregard the dog toys on the floor in case you were wondering.  We are really pleased that our furniture fit perfectly. This picture makes it look a little bare, so I guess its time to get things on the walls.

Here is our kitchen which we are really proud of. I will give more detailed pictures later.  You can see we are still waiting on the pendant that hangs over the island. It should be ready early this week.

Here is a picture showing how open the kitchen and den are. Also, you can see the built ins we had made for the TV. 

Please excuse this mess. It is kind of our catch all at the moment. We are going to have hooks hung on the left for jackets and stuff. I am also going to get a cushion to go under the window and I am going to redo the bar stools to match.

Here is the dining room, which turned out really well. I love the new chandelier. 

And here is the living room and entry on the far end. As you can see in a lot of these pictures we still have things that need to be hung on walls, such as that piece of iron work just propped up on the chair. You can also see stuff on the table to the left that I can't decide where to put.


I am going to save the rest of the pictures for a second post. Then I will definitely do a before and after picture blog later. 

On The Market III

Here are the rest of the pictures from Saint Andrews. I wanted to finish showing you the upstairs final pictures as well as some exterior views.

This is the bedroom that is to the lest at the top of the stairs. This was the only bedroom upstairs and there was one tiny bathroom to the right of the stairs. That bathroom doesn't exist anymore. We left the paneling that was all over the bedroom and painted it. I think it gives it a nice, warm cozy feeling.

This is the big playroom area that is upstairs. There is also a built in desk around that right corner you see. The door on the right is attic space and the door on the left is a large cedar closet. Then next to that are windows with a built in window seat. 

This is the upstairs bathroom. The playroom, this bathroom, and the bedroom below are all new. We added them over the master bedroom addition.

This is another view from this bathroom, which is shared between the two upstairs bedrooms.

This is the other upstairs bedroom. It has great views of the backyard. I also love the color. We actually used this color in our master at our new house.

This is the view of the side of the house from garage/parking area. I wanted to show the portico over the back door. I love it. I think it is the cutest thing ever and with the trim color we used it really makes it stand out. 

This is a view of the backyard with the new patio and brick surround. Check out all the windows that are in the great room. The light is amazing and it looks out on the freshly landscaped backyard. 

I also wanted to leave you with this picture of the front of the house. This is taken from the parking pad to the side of the house. I think it shows how pretty this house is. The design with the windows, columns, and new paint colors turned out so well in the front of the house. The existing trees and the new landscaping really make this house stand out!!!

On The Market II

I hope that everyone enjoyed the pics of St. Andrews on the last post. I wanted to show you a few more photos of the finished product. I think I am actually going to have to stretch this into three posts. This is a big house and there are lots of pictures to show you.

Here is a picture of the dining room. Once again it has this huge new window that lets in so much light just like the living room.

This is the built in butler's pantry that is right off the dining room, which would be great for china storage. You can see how it connects the great room with the front dining room and living room. Off to the right of this picture is where the other two downstairs bedrooms and bath are.

This is the front bedroom. You can see it has a new ceiling fan and has fresh drywall and paint. 

This is the guest bathroom that is in between the two downstairs guest bedrooms. We left the original tile on the floor but ripped out the blue tile from the walls and tub surround. The floor tile cleaned up really well. The bathtub we had refinished and put new tile up on the shower walls. That is also a new toilet, vanity, countertop, mirror and lights.

This is the back guest bedroom. It was the original master so it is the largest of the guest bedrooms, although both of the downstairs guest bedrooms have two large closets.

Speaking of great closets.... I wanted to show you the biggest of the master's two closets. (Which will obviously be the woman's closet!!) I am so jealous of this closet, look at all of those shelves, think of all the shoes that could be displayed. There are also more racks that can't be seen in this picture.

This is the smaller of the two closets in the master bedroom. It is still very big and will give plenty of storage.

I wanted to show this picture that shows the view of the master bathroom from the bedroom. It is really calming to look in there and see the chandelier, the windows, and the beautiful soaking tub.


It just makes me want to get some bubbles and a good book!!


Here is another picture of the view that the master has looking out on the backyard.

There are still more pictures but I am afraid that this would be too long, so check back soon.

On The Market

St. Andrews is officially on the market and has exceeded our expectations - or at least mine. Remember the post I did where I said Scared? Ryan's not.?  If you don't remember, its worth going back to look at some of those pictures. When you walk through the house and it looks so good, it's hard to even remember what a mess it was before.

The exterior is so cool.  The new driveway, walkway, landscaping, sod and irrigation system make the front look amazing. Not to mention the garage that was converted back from a den.

The huge windows in front with the copper roofing are really cool and add a lot of quality and character to the front of the house.

Look at the great light that the windows let in to the living room. Also, check out that new limestone mantle. I was not sure what that was going to look like, but its really neat.

The kitchen is to die for. The cabinets are great, the countertops are beautiful marble, and the appliances are so nice!! 

The master bedroom is beautiful!! From its big room with soothing colors, its his and hers closets and the bathroom I mean wow.....

The marble tile is sooo pretty and classic looking. 

Ryan held an Open House this weekend and had to have set some kind of record. Probably close to 150 people came through the house. It was supposed to be from 2-4 but he was their until 5 with people. Check out his online listing here and you can see more pictures. There are too many to show here, so I will do a second post with more of the pictures.

Burgundy Update

Here is an update on our house on Burgundy. Things are moving along very quickly. We are in a huge time crunch to get out of our house and at this point our new house is not going to be ready. So, we are going to be living with my parents for a week.

Here is the kitchen with some changes. The drywall is up and the hardwood floors have been installed.

Here is a picture of the den. The paneling is down and drywall has been put up.  There was a problem with the firebox which needed to be replaced so we just ended up redoing the whole thing. We ripped out all of the brick and got a new firebox and put up new brick.

This is a picture of the upstairs. The ceiling has been raised and new smooth drywall has been put up. 

This is a picture of the master bath still waiting to be dry walled so it is kind of hard to make out what's what. You can actually see through the studs into the guest bath. 


If you look closely, you tell where the shower has been framed up and the toilet is going to be next to it. We are going to have double sinks with mine to the left of the door and Ryan's will to the right of the door. 


It is not going to be as easy for me to use some of his drawers and encroach on his counter space now. Even though I feel certain it will probably still happen. We currently have 8 drawers in our bathroom and I use 6 of them:) 

Here is a picture of our master closet, which once again is hard to tell without the drywall. It is a good sized closet but does have the angle of the stairs coming down.


I am excited though and I know we can make it work. I am thinking of neat shelves or something that I can have built under those stairs.


You can tell by the hardwood floors where we took in the hall closet and where the old bedroom closet ended. The space on the right is where the old shower was. So, it really is pretty good sized. 


The house is actually a little further along then these pictures show. I just didn't want to skip part of the process. All of the drywall is up and the tile has been laid.


I picked out all interior paint colors this weekend. We also tagged slabs of granite and marble we want for the kitchen and bathrooms. We also went to Graham's Lighting and picked out all of the light fixtures.


We will be moving out of our house on the 21st and are hoping that this house will be ready on the 28th for us to move into. I have to be honest, I was over there yesterday and I have my doubts.

Long Overdue Update

I apologize for the long time period between my last post. Things have been busy. Ryan has been super busy and I thought with him doing this full time would give him more spare time. Well it hasn't. In fact I almost feel he is busier then ever before. But in due time I know that things will calm down and there will be more of a routine.... I hope.
I have been out of town, packing for the move, and enjoying this warm weather.


A lot has happened at St. Andrews and it looks amazing!!!

The slurry has been put on the brick, the trim has been painted, and the copper has been uncovered. The exterior has exceeded our expectations!!!

The back patio has been poured and the brick has been laid. Not shown in these exterior pictures is the new driveway and new walk to the front door. This week they are installing the sprinkler system and starting to put in the landscaping!!

The cabinets are wonderful, the countertops are beautiful, the appliances are my dream, and the backsplash is perfect. The kitchen is basically complete. We are still missing the light fixtures, which are being installed this week. 

Check out that farm sink. This one is hand made and beautiful! We are also still missing plumbing fixtures which are going in this week as well.


I am hopefully going to get back over there and take more pictures soon. All of the rooms have been painted, the floors are finished, the light fixtures and plumbing fixtures will be done end of this week.


Keep your eyes peeled because this house will be on the market very very soon!!!

RKA Investments Officially Open for Business

I shouldn't say officially open for business because it was already open for business. It's just that know it is fully open for business - as in Ryan's only job.


This past Thursday was Ryan's last day at his full time job. Some of you may not have realized it but while Ryan has been working on all of the houses you see on this blog he also had a full time job. Depending on their busy season it was a 60-70 hour a week full time job working for Standard Construction.


Ryan has a degree in Building Science from Auburn so construction has always been his calling. He worked for Montgomery Martin, a large general contractor, here in Memphis right out of college for 4 years. While there, he worked as a Project Manager building mostly commercial projects that ranged from small retail spaces to larger office buildings. He then had the opportunity to go work for my family in the road construction business. If you know Ryan you know that houses are his passion, so that is why this change makes so much sense. 


He is now able to focus all of his attention on his business: custom building, home restorations, and real estate. He was actually listed in the Commercial Appeal on Sunday as one of Crye-Leike's top sellers for February! 


It is slightly scary when your husband tells you he wants to quit his job and start his own business. There are a lot of securities with having a job.... health insurance, car insurance, a cell phone, a truck, free gas and the most important a paycheck twice a month! 


That being said, I believe in him and I know he is going to be successful! I love houses too, so it is exciting for me as well. Here is a link to his RKA Investments business website if you would like to check out some of the stuff he is doing.