You followers on Instagram have already had so many sneak peeks of what we are doing for The Pedraza Project so I know you are gonna flip out when you see the plans we have for their house!
This whole thing began last fall when our friends Charity and Danny Pedraza told us that they decided that 2016 was the year they were going to adopt. I was OVER THE MOON for them. I mean….so excited! Complete with flappy hand waving and open mouth screaming! I react exactly the same when some one tells me that they have a present for me. And a new baby is just that….a complete gift from God.
You should know that the Pedraza’s have been talking about adoption for a long time – it’s basically part of our daily conversations for the last three years. And they are the perfect family for it. I could give you a million reasons that they really should adopt (she is a preschool teacher, they volunteer at the Path Project, she even offered to be a surrogate for a dear friend….etc.) but I won’t. Just know that they are really the sweetest and most loving family and I am gonna start calling myself Aunt Katie to their new baby.
SOoo….as conversations continued, Charity shared some ideas about fundraising efforts and how basically how they would take a big chunk of their kitchen fund to pay for the adoption. She simply told me that giving a baby a home was more important than what the home looked like. And I seriously could not agree more. But I also happen to know a few brands who would love to give such a deserving family some of their amazing products and share that process with the world (hey that’s where I come in!). I talked to Jeremy (since he handles the business side of the blog) and asked him if he would reach out to some of our contacts and see if anyone was interested in providing materials. I knew that we could manage a really stunning makeover because their space NEEDS it.
This is where I feel like I need to prep some of you. Some readers completely understand that this is a for-profit blog. I make money doing this thing and I never take that for granted. This is my passion and if nobody reads this blog and I didn’t make one cent, I would still do it. It’s my dream-job. BUT it’s definitely icing on the cake that I have amazing sponsors and brands to work with each week. And some readers don’t like sponsored content. They feel like it’s not sincere or organic. And I understand that. But the fact is – we can’t do this house without sponsors. Simply put – the generous people behind some amazing companies are making this happen for this family. We are simply the muscle. The budget they had going in was $2000. The rest of their savings is going to the adoption. And whatever is not sponsored, Jeremy and I are gifting to the Pedraza’s. We are ALL invested in this thing with our own money and we are all REALLY excited to make this happen. And we hope that you support these companies too as they help make this thing happen. Together we get to make this house a welcoming home for a new baby…and being of fan of babies and houses, I think there is nothing more wonderful 🙂
OK OK – Let’s see house pictures!
That is their door from their garage. As you walk in, you basically step into a large unused area that is right in front of their laundry closet and if you continue walking, you step into their dining room. That is the door to the garage next to the P picture.
The dining room area is large and open to their living space and you can see their kitchen from the table.
If you walk in and turn left, you see the largest wasteland of space. This area is where their dog bowl is and where the ‘pass-through’ window is….and that’s it. Nothing else. This is seriously valuable square footage but it’s lost.
If you walk in and turn right, there is the laundry closet.
As you can see – it has bifold doors that also get in the way of the garage door…
And if they are open, Charity can’t put in bleach in her washer (HAHAHA! I seriously laughed obnoxiously when she told me that. I use bleach constantly and the fact that she couldn’t get to the bleach container was hilarious to me in a oh-how-terrible-kinda way).
This is what she ends up doing to get the bleach in the machine. Partially opens the door and pulls out the drawer. Then she hopes she has amazing aim 🙂
Doors definitely need to go.
And if this space is going to be open to view, we need to address the shelving situation too. A couple pretty cabinets or shelves is great for spaces like this. BUT we can’t take the cabinets or shelves all the way over because the electrical fuse box is right there. I have a great solution for this that I can’t wait to share!
For those of you that need this more visually – here is a floor plan. The brown flooring is the hardwoods that are staying put. The rest is getting tiled with something beautiful!
The kitchen before is obviously cut short. It’s crammed all into one area and it actually needs more walls for storage. We also need to move the dishwasher and fridge because they are sticking out into the space.
By adding a dividing wall between the laundry nook and the kitchen, we actually create more space for PEOPLE. Because ya know…people need to be in the kitchen 🙂
Shifting the fridge over to that new wall with the range allows us also to give them a big storage cabinet on the other side (Hello pantry! Nice to meet you!) and then we can scoot the dishwasher next to the sink so that she can actually stand at the sink to load it. Over all – the L-shaped kitchen is a really easy kitchen layout that makes sense (so many designers use this as a basic layout) and we can create more storage overall and more space for the whole family. In order to do that, we just have to build a wall and then create a new opening where the pass through is.
As the wall is being built, it shows us a clear separation between the kitchen and laundry nook and that new laundry/mudroom is the area we are going to tackle first.
Here is the plan for the new laundry nook….and boy is it a good one 🙂
Okay so I’ll just go through it by number –
1 – New lighting! The boob lights are out and we are bringing in dark bronze lighting with industrial flairs.
2 – Once we put the washer and dryer back in, there is just enough space for storage between them. I am thinking of building a small rolling cart like this one for dirty laundry leftovers.
3 – Track lighting is back baby! And this one is affordable and perfect for creating some task lighting in a smaller space.
4 – I want to put a barn door up to create separation between the laundry room and the dining room. This gives the Pedraza’s the ability to close off that space and put any clutter away for dinner get togethers. I love the texture of this table for a door.
5 – The biggest member of the family is named Bella and she is a giant Great Dane that loves to cuddle. I found an amazing artist on Etsy that does watercolor dog portraits and I think it would be just perfect for this space as an ode to their fur baby 🙂
6 – A huge colorful painting would be an easy and quick way to tie in all the colors in this space. This is inspiring.
7 – Adding a rug would be a great way to soften the floor. I like this one or one with a little color. We shall see.
8 – I saw these knobs at Target and think they are perfect for a laundry space. It’s like a little nod to the wash cycle!
9 – Charity and I both agree that the door back to the garage needs color – we painted it already this Sherwin Williams Tidewater and it’s amazingly beautiful.
10 – I want to get the walls to be that blend of gray and beige that hides dirt and does the laundry for us 🙂 This is called Front Porch by Sherwin Williams.
11 – White cabinets are amazing for small spaces and I think I want to add some pattern to the back wall. I’m still on the fence. I love it but I don’t want to make the space even smaller with a pattern. I love it in the inspiration shot.
12 – The floors are gonna be dark. Dark and glorious. They will hide everything (including Bella hair) and ground out the space. We chose these plank style wood look version that has this cool slate vibe.
13 – Charity is short so we definitely need a step stool so that she can access the upper shelves. Sorry girl. It’s true.
14 – Lastly is a wall of hooks. I promised their daughter Natalia that I would put up hooks for her back pack and she lit up. I can’t wait to actually see it all come together for that moment!
So that is the plan. What do you think? AMAZING right?! I am so excited to get back to it! Now back to the grind y’all! And follow us on instagram @bowerpowerblog to see sneak peeks of our progress in this space!
Katie, you are too sweet!!! I have never felt sooo motivated to visit a sponsor and shop than now!
Thanks for all you do and the great daily visit (yeah okay so you aren’t really aware of that visit, maybe it is only ever me talking, but you always get the party started!)
Here’s to many years of morning coffee breaks!
Love the plan and your big heart–such a gift for this family! I hate that you have to justify it though–every blog needs sponsors. (It ain’t free, yo.) How awesome that they will work to help this deserving family! Can’t wait to see the finished rooms!
I actually love the plan BUT just from experience, we have dark wood floors- they are stained Dark Walnut and were pre-treated with ammonia to darken them even more. We have two cats and the floors show EVERYTHING. I wish they didn’t but every little speck of dirt and cat hair tumbleweed is obvious and every little water spot and footprint can be clearly seen which has led to us vacuuming almost every other day and cleaning the floors weekly. It keeps them in nice shape but it can be a little tiring! I wouldn’t trade them though because they are GORGEOUS.
So sweet of you & Jeremy to offer your man-power and your connections to get this space done for them! What a fantastic gift to your friends. Love seeing people use their resources for good, and it sounds like it can’t get much better than this family & the heart they have to adopt! Can’t wait to see this come together, and look forward to seeing what brands/companies have helped you guys out, so we can help them out with our business as well!
Glad you’re using your connections to help people who need it. I love that Kate from Centsational Girl does that. Will adding cabinets above the washer/dryer block access to the circuit breakers?
The plans look amazing! Dare I take your fan-ta-bulous job at putting this inspiration board together and try it on for size?!?! My laundry room needs an update. hmmm… I’ll share if I am able to pull it off! The Pedraza are so lucky to have you and your sponsors to make it all come together!!! Can’t wait to see the space transition/transform!
What a great idea to add that wall! I was stumped when I first saw the space. Seems like a very deserving family. Can’t wait to follow along. 🙂
Awesome idea Katie! Such a great way to help out.
Just to clarify, I don’t think anybody has a problem with sponsored posts! We all want you to keep the lights on and this blog running. The only thing that kinda rubs me wrong are affiliate links that you don’t disclose on here or instagram. Like amazon or restyle.me links. Just let us know when you are getting a little moola so we can factor that into our decision making. No biggie.
This is SUCH a cool project. What a great service for the Pedrazas and their future little one! I appreciate how you’re using your relationship with sponsors to help out another family.
Recently I’ve been following along with the backlash you’re getting in the comments for how you’re running the blog and business. It’s not fair that you are getting shade for literally doing your job. It totally makes sense that, say, you have sponsored products in the garage because hello, that is primarily your OFFICE space for your blog where you let us learn how to DIY (oh fine and enjoy adorable baby photos) for FREE. Without those sponsors you may not be able to produce as frequent/as high-quality content, all of which directly benefit your readers. If you are writing great content, which you are and have been for years, then naturally brands will want to sponsor and partner with you as a win/win/win for you, them, and your readers. If your blog has outgrown some of its readers, then there are plenty of younger, smaller, less-developed blogs with minimal/no sponsors that they can follow.
Stepping off the soapbox now. Just wanted to say, I love the work you and Jeremy do, and I hope you feel encouraged and supported by me and your other loyal followers!
They look like such a likeable family! And I love that running your blog the way you (you and Jeremy) do has given you the opportunity to help them so much! 🙂
What a beautiful idea! And what a space to work with. Good luck, I am looking forward to seeing what you do 🙂
Great way to pay your success forward!
Looking forward to the final reveal.
I do feel encouraged! Thank you sweetie!
xo kb
Yes these are very dark but honestly you can’t see much because of the variety in them. You can check them out on Instagram and see how well they hide stuff!
xo kb
The cabinets will only go on the left hand side and we plan a hanging rod for the other side so that access will remain! Good question!
xo kb
i understand that some folks want every link to be disclosed but honestly in my opinion that is blog overkill…especially when I have stated it abundantly in our disclaimer page. It’s not required legally after each link and nowhere else on the Internet are people asked to clarify it immediately next to the link. Honestly it’s a little frustrating because it would interrupt the flow of our conversation, ya know? I think maybe every one should know by now that every link on every site everywhere on the Internet is possibly affiliate. I think I see both sides of the argument and respect everyone’s opinion but the fact is I am doing the thing that I think makes the blog read the way I talk and still be abiding by the rules. Does that make sense?
xo kb
I just want to echo Shannon’s sentiment and send more encouragement your way. I always find you honest and forthcoming about sponsors and I think this is such a great way to help a deserving family!
Thank you Autumn. I know I can’t be all things to all people but I do try hard to “make my mama proud” 🙂 It helps to hear that at least some folks see that 🙂
xo – kb
I may be jumping the gun on this one, but is something going to go in the kitchen under the pass through window/in that corner?
If you don’t like the fact that Katie is sponsored, if you don’t like affiliate links; then DON’T read the blog. Seriously; I love most of your projects and I understand that you wouldn’t be able to do nearly as many if you didn’t get some freebies. What’s so hard about that?
I feel like the challenge shelter blogs run into is the shortage of spaces to makeover (hello, YHL and your 3rd house!). If someone could create a blog that just helped deserving families have a beautiful home (make an adaptive bathroom for a child in a wheelchair! New master bedroom for a widow! etc) and used sponsored materials to do it and had all of the creative genius of the shelter blog world to back it up (different bloggers could team up and design a space together!) then we’d never run out of things to learn and pretty things to oogle at. And you could make an income on sponsors and affiliates. You and Sherry could totally do this…
Wahoo I am loving this and can’t wait to see the finished product! I’m loving the painting idea of Bella! love your heart sweet friend! (I’m still LOL about the bleach! bless her, we all have our ways of gettin it done!
Looks like it will be great! My two cents about the sponsored posts/affiliate links stuff. I’m going to jump on the who cares side of things. If I’m not interested in a sponsored post, I just won’t read it – I don’t feel the need to criticize, however. To be honest, I hope that you do get sponsors and make some money off of this, because part of me hopes that this will help you keep blogging – I love your blog and the creativity!
Oh man that is the dream!
xo – kb
Katie,
Totally get it. I don’t want it interfering with the flow of the blog post either! But…having a disclaimer at the bottom of a post that says: “This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive _____.” doesn’t interrupt that flow. It just helps build trust with your readers.
I won’t event try to pretend to know as much about blogging disclaimers from a legal standpoint as you since this is your livelihood and I know you take it very seriously. However, I did find this information from the FTC very informative: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking#affiliate
But here is the text from the FTC guidance document directly:
Q: I’m an affiliate marketer with links to an online retailer on my website. When people read what I’ve written about a particular product and then click on those links and buy something from the retailer, I earn a commission from the retailer. What do I have to disclose? Where should the disclosure be?
A: If you disclose your relationship to the retailer clearly and conspicuously on your site, readers can decide how much weight to give your endorsement.
In some instances – like when the affiliate link is embedded in your product review – a single disclosure may be adequate. When the review has a clear and conspicuous disclosure of your relationship and the reader can see both the review containing that disclosure and the link at the same time, readers have the information they need. You could say something like, “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.” But if the product review containing the disclosure and the link are separated, readers may lose the connection.
As for where to place a disclosure, the guiding principle is that it has to be clear and conspicuous. The closer it is to your recommendation, the better. Putting disclosures in obscure places – for example, buried on an ABOUT US or GENERAL INFO page, behind a poorly labeled hyperlink or in a “terms of service” agreement – isn’t good enough. Neither is placing it below your review or below the link to the online retailer so readers would have to keep scrolling after they finish reading. Consumers should be able to notice the disclosure easily. They shouldn’t have to hunt for it.
The pass through will actually become the doorway. The little wall next to the pass through opposite the fridge will be Bella’s bowl area 🙂
xo – kb
Thank you Jen!
xo – kb
Love this inspo! Could you please link the painting? I’m in love!
I see that you will move the fridge to the oven wall, but I feel like you should steal a few deet for the laundry/mudroom space. With another child, those few square feet will be priceless. You could add a bench and shoe storage to the entry side, then add shallow cabinetry and open shelves to the kitchen side. Make the door openings slightly smaller and place the fridge there.
Just a suggestion from a mom with a too small laundry room/mudroom space.
Love your blog and your generous heart, Katie!
(And to those who can’t stand/understand a sponsored post, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE where things are your kind of perfect.)
I can’t wait to see how you transform the space. I’m loving all the colors. Thanks for the links. It makes it so easy check out things we like from the mood board.
I am so excited you have chosen to help the Pedraza’s! They are so special! I will be praying you thru this project!! Xo
Great moodboard! If there’s room, would you consider a stepstool that doubles as a chair? (something like this:
http://www.target.com/p/ecom-step-stool-cosco-ylw/-/A-18824881?lnk=fiatsCookie
It would look really cute and have the added bonus of someplace for people to sit down and deal with shoes. (or to sit with a magazine and get a few moments’ peace while “doing the laundry”)
100% agree. Hooray for you that you get paid or benefit in any way for doing what you love!
Great plan for the Laundry room, cant wait to see it. I actually picked out that same light fixture today for my laundry room that is similar looking to your plans. As an adoptive momma, what you are doing is super sweet, and wonderful since we know first hand how much adoptive costs can be.
Aww, I totally need blogger friends to help us remodel our kitchen. I think we are stuck with bad flooring, dated counter tops and cabinets and really odd layout until my kids graduate college. I may be exaggerating a little… but not much. Stay at home mommies that work PT at home don’t bring in the the big $$. Big dreams, flat wallet.
Can’t wait to see it reveal. I love the foot stool. I’m not short but would total use it for cute factor.
Do they have a go fund me page for their adoption or this project?
Thanks Lori! They really are amazing and generous people 🙂
xo – kb
Thank you Dara and I’d love to see the fixture in your space too!
xo – kb
They do not yet. I will let you guys know if they set something up!
xo – kb
That’s so cute! I think we are REALLY tight on space in there so I don’t even know if the stool I picked will fit!! I’ll keep ya posted!
xo – kb
The colorful one is part of an interior photo that I couldn’t find the original source! Wish I could be more helpful!
xo – kb
We would but it would make for a very narrow kitchen then that would look oddly shaped. We actually consulted a few designers after we came up with many options and this was the thing that made the most sense financially!
xo – kb
Yes! That makes total sense…and is exactly what I do. There is clearly labeled at the TOP of each post and page a link to the DISCLAIMER & DISCLOSURE page…which not only outlines that links can be affiliate but also other information that is important. It’s not buried and it’s placed at the top so that people can read it and see it before even seeing a link. Putting something at the bottom of the text of a post is also prohibitive to comments – imagine someone asking you a question and then immediately giving you a paragraph of legal information…it would be distracting in my opinion. I understand that some folks just don’t want me to make any money because of them…I get it…but I also do not want the feel of the blog to be filled with disclaimers. Hope you can see that 🙂
xo – kb
Totally agree you do a great job with your sponsored posts that are clearly marked at the top. But then there are posts like these with affiliate links that aren’t marked in anyway. Those are the ones I am referencing. Again affiliate links, not sponsored posts.
https://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2016/06/my-current-favorite-frocks-that-are-breastfeeding-friendly-too/
And, just make sure I am clear…bring on the affiliate inks. I love reading blogs and understand that is a great way to bring in some cash. Just asking that you let us know.
Here are a couple of example of what I mean:
http://www.shannanmartinwrites.com/2016/01/falling-free-rescued-from-life-i-always.html
or
http://centsationalgirl.com/2016/03/shapely-statement-mirrors/
I clearly show a WHOLE PAGE OF DISCLAIMERS. Every affiliate link is covered by that because I have that page at the very top. Does that make sense? Neither Kate or Shannon have disclosure pages clearly marked at the top of their blog and MOST blogs do not clearly state what affiliate links even are but I CLEARLY explain it. Lauren, I feel like I’m being redundant but at the off chance that maybe you missed it….do you see the link at the top of the page? Where it says Disclaimers and Disclosures? It’s a FULL page chock full of TONS of disclaimers – ALL important for EVERY post. It states a whole section about affiliate links. The fact is – I am not going to list each disclaimer after every statement or link…that would literally be overkill in my mind. If other bloggers chose to do it…fine…good for them…but I am going to have the disclaimer page to disclaim all the links possibly being affiliate…that’s my choice and I appreciate you respecting that choice.
xo – kb
Lovely Katie!! What an inspiring family, can’t wait to see the finished project. I’ve been following on IG:)
What a fun project! Just felt inclined to mention that we currently have the doors off our laundry nook just off the kitchen (in the midst of remodel), and it can get rather noisy, and the dryer puts off a fair amount of heat into the living space as well. Not sure if this would occur here or if it would bother them, but I cannot wait for some type of door to cover our laundry area! 🙂 I hope it’s a non issue for you guys.
I love the idea of extending the kitchen. It’s hard to understand without really seeing the space, but it seems like the sight-line to the family room will be cut off when extending the kitchen wall. Have you thought about just open up the pass through and doing an island there to provide extra storage and extend kitchen space into the other living spaces? Keep up the great work!
Technically speaking, the sight line wasn’t there to the living room (you could see into the dining room but the actual living room goes behind the laundry nook if that makes sense)….we would love to open the concept up more but we had FOUR load bearing walls in the kitchen…I know crazy…so that’s why we did that plan.
xo – kb
Oh Katie. You and Jeremy have such beautiful, loving, generous hearts. Your whole family, actually. High fives and hugs for being really great humans <3
Love ur blog – just a suggestion – pls add an Instagram link in addition to the others (Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest, etc) below the blog title. Can’t wait to see how u transform this place.
ive come to figure out that when multiple blogs are all extoling the virtues of the same website or product at the same time that it’s probably a for profit moment. and honestly nowadays that’s probably 99% of the time. for example, if all in the same week three blogs are all telling me what a great company banana republic or dot & bo are, I know that there is probably more going on even if I don’t immediately see the 6 pt italics font disclaimer somewhere disguised in the post . but if I like a dress or whatever that they show, I will probably just open up a new tab, enter in the website & search for the dress myself. that way I can shop w/out feeling manipulated into doing it. I mean if this is your source of income I doubt anyone is thinking youre doing it for free since there are a lot of costs w/ running a blog that has lots of traffic. & if people are that upset that you get comped or free vacations, etc out it, then they should start their own blog & cash in too. millions of companies would love to have you rep their products for profit, it’s the new age of advertising.
Yes. I agree. Always feel free to just search things out organically 🙂
xo – kb
Great suggestion! I will work on that 🙂
xo – kb
Thanks for the suggestion. We actually already planned for a door (check out number 4 in the plans) and it should help some with the noise and heat. fingers crossed 🙂
xo – kb
I also have no problems with your affiliate links and such. Just wish I had the funds at the moment to buy some of the things you have shared- maybe down the road, we are buying a house right now. 🙂 It takes time to find good and interesting products, and I appreciate recommendations so to speak. Sponsored posts vary in terms of how interesting they are but I think you and a few other bloggers do a good job making them interesting. I’d rather someone like you benefit from it than just see a magazine ad or commercial (which are possibly less effective for the companies anyway, I barely notice stuff like that.)
Would it be possible for you to email me a bigger version of it?
Thanks Alyssa 🙂
xo – kb
Sure! I found the original source for the photo – http://summerhouseinteriordesign.com/ice-house-oxford/
But it looks like the site is down right now. You can see similar art work at their shop.
xo – kb
That would be super awesome! What a great idea!