Leave us alone for one minute…..

A couple of weeks ago my mom went on a trip she’d always wanted to go on. She went to Alaska. It was her third try at going so we were so happy for her that it worked out this time. She left on a Friday morning around 10:00. We stood in the drive way and wished her safe travels and waved good-bye. When they cleared the end of the street we dashed back in and started the SURPRISE HOME REFRESH!!!!

Two hours after her departure we had her cabinets packed up and her counter tops ripped out. The next morning at 8:00 the guys showed up and ripped her bathroom down to the studs. At this point I may have had a slight panic attack. We had one week. ONE WEEK. Us, the people who have been working on the same kitchen for 10 months just ripped out someone’s kitchen and bathroom. Okay, deep breaths.

This had been in the works for a while. We had already picked out tile and granite. We also had lined up the painters, the tile guy, the plumber. When people came and worked on our kitchen and did a good job, we asked them if they would put us on the calendar for this week when we knew she would be on her trip.

Everyone showed up for us. It really was a miracle…….here are a few things we did

We didn’t want to be too intrusive so we did minor spruce ups in her bedroom. We just got new bedding, a cute new rug and added these Bee Pillows……they kind of go with her nickname that all her family and friends call her so we wanted to add those in.

We painted this room. We also got a new rug and a little storage area to capture all the great grands toys and books. She also has all these little succulents. I went to Hobby Lobby and got several little candle holders. They made the perfect size for these little plants. I got them in different heights and they made the perfect little succulent garden.

We painted here too and got the new granite counter tops. We also added new rugs in front of the fridge and sink. We grabbed her a new coffee pot and added a little marble tray or two. We finished with a bright new table cloth and fresh flowers.

This was the major reno. This room went down to the studs and and was the one I was most worried about. We removed the standard tub insert and put in this semi-curbless shower with the hand-held sprayer, the grab bars and the teak seat. It really turned out beautiful. We painted here too.

We also painted all the hallways, the laundry room and the guest bedroom. If you noticed tags on lots of things in all the photos, that was intentional. I left all the tags on everything so she could veto anything she didn’t like. We may rip out your walls and counters, but we very much support you returning a rug if you don’t like it :).

We still have to re-hang lots of her pictures but we were very pleased with what we got done. It really was the best time. Every one who worked on this was phenomenal. They showed up and worked hard. They all knew we had one week and they were determined to get us there. It was just the sweetest thing to see all these men, especially my husband, digging in and staying up late and doing whatever it took to meet the schedule. Y’all she was due back on that Sunday at 8:30 am……..the plumber stayed and finished the night before. He didn’t leave until 11:30 pm. I heard phrases all week like “make it nice for grandma”, ” we’ll make it good surprise”, “she will like this”, “we love helping with surprises”. We worked until about 2:30 that morning getting everything back in place. Shout out to my daughter who hung with us even though she had already put in a full work day. Seriously it was like we were on HGTV and working toward reveal day. I now have a lot of empathy for those folks when they say how tired they are.

Fortunately, she loved it! What a gift it is to be able to give to someone else. She is always taking care of everyone so doing something for her was wonderful.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to go try to get my kitchen finished.