By Mandi | 09/08/2017 | 18 Comments
Hey guys!! While things in the Merc are cruising, things outside the Merc are getting done as well (can you tell we’ve been starved for projects for the past 9 months?!)
By Mandi | 09/06/2017 | 11 Comments
Hey guys!! We hit a huge milestone at the Merc, the holes for the windows have been cut!!
By Mandi | 09/01/2017 | 1 Comment
Guys. I can’t believe it. 1 year ago today was the day that I saw the Merc for the first time. I can’t believe that we’ve been on this rollercoaster for a year already! I think that is the most mind boggling thing, we’ve been working on this for so long and it still feels like we’re just getting started! A year ago we had no idea what we were really getting ourselves into. We had dreams of disappearing easements, and tiny budgets (hey Court, remember when we thought we could do the renovation for 100k? ? #children)
The most amazing miracles happened (and are still happening) and I feel like there is a whole unseen army of Merc loving angels pushing this thing along (hopefully they are really good at tiling…)
Mostly though I want to say thank you to YOU. When I started the blog 7 years ago with wild projects like making a rug, and covering a nightstand in tin foil, I had NO IDEA that it would change the entire course of my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of this community and joining us on this adventure of a lifetime!
By Mandi | 08/31/2017 | 8 Comments
Dudes! We’re renovating an 1928 mercantile store and turning it into our dream home! Start from the beginning here!
Uncovering the brick on the front of the Merc has been a huge undertaking. In the 1940’s when the original store was added on to, the brick was covered up and has been buried under 2″ plaster ever since.
When I was planning the exterior reno I knew that I wanted to uncover it, but the problem with that is that you have no idea what you’re going to find. The brick had 3 layers of paint on it and had been HEAVILY scarred so that the plaster would stick to it. It wasn’t the pristine and perfect brick of my dreams, thats for sure.
By Mandi | 08/29/2017 | 9 Comments
Hey hey!! You know when you have a new perspective come into your life and it makes you take pause? Well, my sister Amy just bought their first house (YAY!!!) and so we are in constant conversation about home decor and how to furnish it. I sent her over my private pinterest board of FAVORITE decor at The Home Depot and she was like, “um hi, why wouldn’t you share this with your readers?” SO. Are you ready to see 17 of my favorite pieces that you can mix and match?!
Lets chat living rooms. the living room is the first place that people think of when it comes to decorating because a) its the center of your home b) its what people see when they come over 3) it where you usually invest the most money. I’ve picked some awesome staples, consider these a spring board, that you can customize and fill in with DIY, thrifted treasures, or favorite pieces you already have! (Remember my post all about mixing thrifted + new?)
I love an eclectic mix of styles, its what Vintage Revivals is all about, so here are a few ways I would start!
By Mandi | 08/28/2017 | 49 Comments
A huge eye-opening lesson that I’ve learned with the Merc, is just how much planning ahead of time has to go into building or renovating. I’m admittedly a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. Its who I’ve always been but I can’t really do that with a renovation like this. Man its a good thing I have an awesome contractor to keep me on task! So while we are still a few months away from kitchen installation, and the walls are currently 2×4’s the kitchen planning is in full swing.
By Mandi | 08/24/2017 | 4 Comments
A few weeks ago Court and I took the BEST trip to Chicago! I’ve partnered up with Elkay to create some really cool projects this year (I can’t wait to show you!!) and to kick things off they brought us, and a few of my other favorite bloggers to Chicago! Any chance we get to visit one of our favorite places is an absolute yes. Hello, pizza? Garrett’s Popcorn? The Cubbies? ALLLLLL the yeses.
So let’s start off, if you’re looking at the name Elkay and can’t quite place where you know it from, let me give you a hint. If you’ve got a stainless steel sink, have ever used a drinking fountain, a water bottle filler, or washed your hands in an elementary classroom sink, chances are astronomical that you’ve come in contact with an Elkay product. But aside from drinking fountains and bottle fillers, Elkay has some killer sinks (not just stainless!) and faucets.
