What Can Under $100.00 Getcha?

I just want to point out that I have blogged 3 days in a row! That deserves some sort of prize, right?! Anywho, this weekend we got an itch. A small remodel itch. It just so happened it was about 4pm on Saturday. The hubs and I never start projects early in the morning, that would be to easy =) We have been wanting to reface the front of our kitchen bar and with DJ's upcoming birthday party this was the perfect time to get started. We originally knew we wanted beadboard and chunky moulding to fancy up the place but when we got to talking we decided to go gloss black and I couldn't be more thrilled. The before was boring and very white! We needed the black contrast. We have some left over bead board and I plan on painting it black and sticking it in the cupboards where our glass fronts are. This will really help our glass pieces show! And if I don't like it, I just repaint it! Easy peasy!

Monday Mumbles

This past weekend was unusually productive in our household. When we have had guests over they cannot believe how much we have finished on our house in such a short amount of time, yes there have been tense stressful times but for the most part, I don't feel like it's over taken our lives by any means. Like I have said in previous posts, this has been my husbands life long dream, to own a home. He happily fertiziles the yard, mows the lawn, turned our in ground hot tub into a huge sand box for Riley (his proudest moment!) He stayed up late touching up paint and did I mention he drove me to Corning, Paradise and across town all this weekend to check out some craigslist purchases. And let me just say, it was well worth it! We scored an antique dresser/changing table for the little mans room, a desk, and two wing back chairs (that recline!) for our formal living room!

We are in the middle of potty training Riley. This has been WAY harder than I anticipated. I just want to make sure we are doing what is best for Riley in the approach we are taking. Plus, when you are 7 months pregnant, bending over to wipe a booty and clean the training toilet is rough! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

$2.00 and Some Elbow Grease

These old bench was sitting to the side of our front yard and I thought it looked so cute in between three birch trees but I knew it needed a little TLC. My original plan was for it to be red but after I scored this red and white striped fabric for a $1.00 at a yard sale, I knew that I should go black on the bench. So off to Lowes I went and bought a .99 cent can of black spray paint. I came home sanded the baby down, put a light coat of stain over it, sprayed it black, sewed up the pillows real quick and VIOLA! I put it back in it's origina place and it looks so cute next to our black and white house! All for $2.00 and a little elbow grease!

Making Progress

This is our formal dining room. I tried to find a BEFORE picture of what it looked like when we moved in but no luck! You can see at the bottom of the picture that one wall was red and the other two were orange. I knew we were going to use this as a formal living room instead and really wanted it to be a peaceful space for adults to go. Although, I think the kiddos will spend time in here too.

This is the progress we have made so far. We changed out the light fixture, painted all the walls,

put up wallpaper on one wall and added the weinscoating with the square/rectangle detail in the middle. We still need to caulke and paint the weinscoating and moulding so they will all be the same color, then remove all the tools and pull the extra old carpet piece that is currently in there and we are in business! I still don't have any furniture for the room yet but thats ok, the hard work is done!

A Before and After of sorts!

This currently is our master bathroom. This room I would say is the most important room to me besides the kitchen. My vision is that we move away from the hopsital feel and into something warm and inviting. Especially after the upcoming birth of our boy I want to have a space that helps me truly relax after a long day of taking care of the kids. Every night since we have moved in I have tried to relax in the bathtub and do my devotions. I really believe this time has helped me to be a better wife and mother.

I had painted the bathroom the color it is in the picture but have since decided that it's not warm enough. So yesterday I spent all afternoon while Riley was sleeping repainting this bathroom. I painted it a warmer color. I am hoping our friend Brad will come this weekend to hang the chandelier above the bath tub. Also, on the list of things to do is change the light fixture above the sinks and change the faucets. I am thinking brown and bronze accents to warm it up. I still need to get towels and towel bars and personalize the space a little more. Stay tuned for the after pictures, this may take a while so be patient!

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Meet my new bestfriends! Jim and I had shopped around for some washers/dryers but unfortunately everything was WAY out of our price range in the front loader category. I searched for weeks on craigslist with still no luck! We ran across an add for the Sears Outlet store in Sacramento. Jim just happened to be taking a trip to Sacramento to look at some properties and stopped by the outlet center. They carry appliances that are either slightly dented or returned, but all have been checked to make sure they are in working order. These run about $1200-$1400 A PIECE! Whew, that sounds exhausting to pay that much.

The outlet center is lined with different appliances at different prices. Also, if you are willing like we were, you can get a mismatched set for cheaper. We were able to purchase the pair for $1000 total! You do the math! They also offer a 1 year warranty and a 90 day no hastle return (except the hastle of driving to Sacramento

I couldn't be happier with my new friends. Our clothes have never smelt so clean and did I mention, they are energy efficient?!

Mantle Love and Nonsense

I have always wanted to have a mantle so when I saw this "Happy Easter" sign at TJ Maxx I knew I had to have it! I am a huge fan of buying decor after the season is over so I can get a huge discount on it, so I have a beautiful Christmas garland for next year.

Unfortunately this is the only Easter decoration that I have but it makes me feel good every time I walk by it. I am going to plan a small Easter egg hunt for the kids this year in our backyard and was even thinking of having our family over for a brunch that day too.

Riley and I spent some time weeding in the backyard this week. She was so confused as to what I was doing. When I was all done, I couldn't believe how much I had pulled out. Jim got home and told me he thinks I pulled out some bushes! Whoops! But I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself that at 25 weeks preggers I could pull out a bush with my bare hands! Well, actually I had gardening gloves on, but still!

Lately I have been thinking, if my midwife was a fly on the wall, what would she be thinking about what I am doing. This has helped me slow down a little bit. The baby is doing great, we have a check up this week and I cannot wait to have another ultrasound but I don't think that is for a while. I keep daydreaming about going into labor (yes, I said daydreaming!). I can't wait to kiss his little face and learn how to change a "boy" diaper!

I'm Lovin it!

We are all moved in to the new house, painting is all done, new flooring throughout, flowers planted (thanks to my SIL!), some wallpaper up, new light fixtures! It has been the craziest couple of weeks for us but so worth it. I have to admit, there were times when I thought, if I don't slow down I am going to go into early labor! Luckily I have an amazing family that was there to help.

This is our new breakfast nook, I purchased the chandelier at overstock.com and the table is the only new furniture we purchased for the house! We got it at a local antique store. The chairs are covered in a maroon and creme toile. I love it! I knew we were having a white on white kitchen and dark floors so when my SIL saw this at an antique store I knew it would be the perfect pop of color!

Many more pictures to come! I am leaving today for a "mommy" day in Sacramento. I am thrilled to be getting out of the house for a bit and so thankful that my husband is taking a half day so that I can go have a little me time!

Who does that?

I am pretty sure I won't be blogging a whole lot coming up here pretty quick. As of yesterday we finally own our house! Tomorrow we receive the keys and then let the fun begin! Floors are coming out first, then paint, then floor moulding, then new light fixtures, then wallpaper, then weinscoating and hopefully some unpacking!!!!

My sister in law Becky is coming on Thursday to help me paint! woohoo! I couldn't be more excited. We are having alot of much needed help coming and I so appreciate it!

Speaking of my sister in law Becky, she created this most adorable apron for Riley. And get this, it was a party favor for my nieces 5th birthday party! Who in their right mind makes aprons as a party favor? My sister in law does! She is beyond talented and can whip up about anything! Most of Rileys hair bows are made by Becky. I have been telling her for about 2 years now that she needs to start selling these things, but with 3 kids, I am sure thats not a huge priority!!

I hope I get a chance to upload some new pics of the work being done on the house, but don't count on it for a while!

I have gotta have this!

Ever since I started reading this blog http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ I have been obsessed with silhouettes. And when my sister in law came home with silhouettes of her children from Disneyland I knew I needed to get them done of the kiddos. I have been looking on etsy for sometime now trying to find the best deal. I knew this wasn't going to be cheap but I figured I could spend $100 (including silhouettes and frames) on a picture/painting for the wall or I could spend around $100 on these. Riley has my moms silhouette framed in her room from when she was only 13 years old! This is one of those items I would grab if there was a fire! I still haven't convinced my husband that this is a MUST yet, but we will see! I think they would look great in black chunky frames against the wallpaper we just purchased.

I found this set of three for $45.00 plus $5.00 shipping!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39924506&ref=sr_list_14&&ga_search_query=silhouette&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=4&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

P.S. Lets get real here, I don't know all the ins and outs of a blog and have no idea how to add a link or position a picture. Can anyone help!?!

Wallpaper Galore!

I have been searching for the perfect grey and white wallpaper for only, hmmmm, a couple of months now! I finally decided on a style that I would like. So, today we went and ordered our wallpaper. I was so excited to see that it was 30% and free shipping! I am currently obsessed with grey and white. I think it's so relaxing and can be romantic! Paired with a sparkly chandelier and I'm in Heaven! It's going to go on an accent wall in our formal living room, above some weinscoating. It's actually a formal dining room but we would like to have another living space. We don't really have a need for a formal dining room at this time but we do have the option of moving our dining room table in there if we have a big dinner. Our table I think can hold up to 10-12 so it may take up the whole room! But we have a big family so I am sure at some time it will come in handy.

This is not (I couldn't find the picture) but this is very similar to what we chose.

I can't wait to post pictures of our new house and how we have chose to decorate. Just like many, we are on a major budget so I am looking for ways to make a BIG BANG for a little buck. We are hoping to have a home that our family will enjoy coming over to visit!

Tuesday.

We have been busy busy busy getting ready to rent our condo out. So much that lastnight I couldn't even walk, my tailbone hurt so bad! Good news is, I put the ad out yesterday and we've already received many calls and are showing it tonight! I am praying for the perfect tenant!

On a side note, I want this light fixture but I know deep down it doesn't really go with the rest of my decor but it's so cute!!! We receive the keys to our new house one week from Sunday and I can hardly wait! Unfortunately, we are having all new floors put in so I won't be able to move in until around the first week in March. We are having wood floors put in the entry way, kitchen and breakfast nook and then carpet in the rest of the house. It should be really beautiful!!!! Pictures to come!

The chandelier is from Modern Chic Home

www.modernchichome.com

So Yummy!

Lately I have been browsing the internet looking at design ideas, colors, decorations, etc and I came across these chairs made by Pottery Barn. They are slightly (really!) out of my price range but a girl can dream right? I am a huge fan of the green one and the yellow one. I think they are around $1000 a piece but I am praying to find a cheaper version in the future! It's nice to have a vision and get an idea for what I like even if it is not an option to purchase. A girl can dream right?!?!