Introducing .... Our "new" kitchen!

Okay, so it's not new really. But it's freshly updated with paint and hardware.

Check out the crazy transformation that cost us about $150, plus lots of free labor.


BEFORE










AFTER

New Living Room Decor

I changed around some decor in our living room. What do you think of the changes?

BEFORE



AFTER




I also added these little photos to the side wall.

BEFORE



AFTER

Baseboards

The baseboards are done!! It took us what seemed like forever to go through all eighteen million, okay, six, steps. But it's finally something we can cross off our list.

BEFORE


DURING (ready to nail-in)


AFTER

Unfortunate Camera Incident

Due to the fact that my camera was stolen, new renovation pictures will be delayed.

Here are some projects that have recently been completed that I hope to capture soon:

• Baseboards are DONE!
• Front door refinishing DONE!
• New doors on 1/2 bath and closet downstairs (in progress)
• Final Kitchen pics (need to put up 1/4round, and attach two final drawer pulls)
• New art in the living room (all framed and ready to hang)

Up next

• Refinish upstairs guest bath vanity and paint walls
• Finish painting master bath (only trimmed out right now, ooops!)
• Organize office and put art on the walls
• Figure out what color to pain the spare room and find a twin bed on craigslist
• Backyard - clean, landscape, furnish
  

As you can see, our project list is getting smaller, but we still have a bit to do. I'm really enjoying how much our house is starting to feel like a home. My most recent visitor came by last Friday night and told me that it feels like a "spa." I'll take it! I love that it feels so serene and peaceful.

I'll update as soon as we get a new camera (hopefully Costco has a good deal!).

The Jungle aka Backyard Patio

When J and I bought our house, it had been empty for 5 months. We didn't touch it for the first 3 months we've own the house, so that means that 8 months of overgrowth (and other misc. living things) were living in our backyard. J finally got fed up and took too it with a vengeance this past weekend.

I don't really have any good pictures of outside since it grossed me out, but this one is taken from inside in June 08. Look how overgrown everything is!





Cleaned up a bit





These are most definitely still our "Before" pictures of the backyard. We have big plans for back here... Hopefully we'll get to it this century.

Oh, and here's our collection of the waste. There's about 10x that amount in the garage. Anyone want to pick it up and take it off our hands?

Fireplace/TV/Built In Decor

What it looked like at closing. Attractive, no?



J and I made a trip to IKEA, we rummaged through some boxes and came up with a decor solution to the fireplace built-in section of our living room.

Our New Living Room

Here is a picture of the room and what it looked like the day we closed.




Here's a half-way picture. Half-done tile, paint on the walls, no baseboards.



Here's a picture from this morning. New curtain rod that has a corner connector, new sheers (still need more rings though), new rug that has blues, greens and chocolate browns. The table is the same table we bought in 2007, but the ensemble is making it feel more like home. Really, a rug makes a HUGE difference.