Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Master Bath Inspiration

Master Bath:








Decor Idea Board (JC Penney/Amazon.com):


Color Inspiration (Home Depot Behr paint):




WINTER GARDEN
360E-3


FUDGE BAR
250F-5


INFORMAL IVORY
330E-1


WHITE FUR
W-F-610

New Sink & Counter top (Lowes):
 

 


 *Paint Wood Vaninty Cabinet White & add new hardware. Also replace gold towel racks w/ silver, remove extra wall cabinet & add white linen cabinet.*

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Some Kitchen Inspiration...

Our Kitchen Now:

Some Color Inspiration:





Chapter 5: Basement Idea Board

So going to Ikea sparked some inspiration for our basement reno next spring...



Color Scheme


For our colors we're going with Home Depot's Behr paint. Walls will be Torchlight 290B-5 to really brighten up the dungeon of a basement. Ceilings & trim will be Vanilla Delight W-B-220, also to make things brighter. The floor, if we go with the final decision to paint instead of put in tile, will be Brown TeePee 700D-4 for a neutral color to bring things back down to earth.




In addition to the sitting/TV area, wet bar, and workshop area, we'll have a pool table/air hockey table area as well:




Monday, December 21, 2009

I'm in Love...


So we made our trip to Ikea this weekend, and this was my first time every going there... our Ikea is 1 hour away in Atlanta, not a trip we make a lot... but I am in love! I want an Ikea in our area sooo bad! I know you can order online, but their shipping costs are through the roof, and it's just not the same as going in that amazing store! But we got the pantry, and it will be fully put together tonight -- hopefully! I will get it stocked, and the kitchen will be almost put back together -- still eliminating a mouse or two, so our pots, pans, and tupperwear are strewn about... But I will post pictures soon! Finally... after almost 2 months, I can get my kitchen the rest of the way out of boxes! Woo hoo!

So the pantry doesn't match the kitchen - wrong stain... but it met the other 2 criteria - under $300 and made of real wood... I can always restain it or paint it later... in fact I'd like to reno the kitchen cabinets and paint them either white, and paint the walls a light green... of course this will be a future project, EXTREME future, but for now, it's functional and it will do the trick... I was just glad to get a sturdy piece of furniture, not made of particle board, in our price range! I heart Ikea.

Friday, December 18, 2009

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!


So we didn't do as much decorating this year b/c of the move... but we did some! I got some new items from a lady at work - 2 bins full for $50... pretty good deal! This included the snowman collection atop my book case, the holder for the Christmas cards hanging on the door, the snowman door nob hanger on the door, the HO HO HO blanket & teddy bears in the rocker, and more that's isn't pictured... Our tree is 3 years old, we bought it when we moved into our old house - we said next year we want a bigger one, b/c it looks a lot smaller in this big house! But we got it from Big Lots for $25. Our Nativity was a gift from hubby's grandma. Our stockings came from the Family Dollar 4 years ago, accept the pig one bought this year for the baby, we got it at Big Lots. And most of our tree decorations came from hubby's grandma or were gifts over the years.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Picture Delay...

So last night I actually managed to sit and upload pictures to my computer... then tried to upload them to Facebook, ran into issues, and gave up... so at work right now I don't have the pictures I was planning on having to create my Christmas Decorations post... and unless I get time in the evenings or this weekend, which is highly doubtful, they won't get posted for a while...


So hubby has given up on building a pantry, b/c even if we bought the stuff this weekend, he couldn't start on it right away, and we'd like to have our kitchen cleaned up before Christmas... so I found a decent armoire at Ikea, and if we can't find anything at the local used furniture stores, we'll stop by the Ikea in Atlanta when we go up this weekend to the family Christmas party (b/c it costs more to ship the dern thing that the thing actually costs...) $279 for shipping! But there's is actually made out of real wood, not composite board, and it's under $300... sooo it wins if we can't find something else. After hubby picks me up from work, we're going to run by Salvation Army, and a few other local shops that sell used furniture and see what we might dig up... Maybe I'll have a project ahead of me, but for now I just want to put my food away!!!

UPDATE: To Ikea we go... the thrift stores were a bust, and the weather is too nasty to try to hit a few more stores tonight... so tomorrow either before or after the family get together we'll run by Ikea and pick up the above armoire for $229, which is not bad for real wood. The local Mission wanted $250 for a beat up used one... HA!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Fall 2009: It's time to recollect...

So we've come a long way in the past month and a half... and it feels longer than that! We moved on October 31, 2009 (yup, Halloween...) We had to move, paint, and trick or treat all in one day! Well it took 2  days to finish painting, but we weren't moving anything into those rooms anyways. But we'd come a long way, if everyone recalls the trouble we had closing on the house to begin with! Clear to say I had plenty of time  for pre-planning...

But even once we "moved" in, we had to keep all our furniture in two rooms (family room & dining room) and the boxes in the garage for an extra week until the carpet arrived (so we wouldn't have to pay them to move furniture...)

So we lived in the family room, and the kids camped out on the living room floor on a matress & in a play pen... it's suprising how much stuff you really can live without. We lived out of boxes, clothes baskets, and suite cases for that week, and we had hardly any food in the house...

I dreamed of how the house would look once finished, and came up with several idea boards for Ella's room, Andrew's room, and the Master Bedroom...

The new carpet came, and we could finally move all the way in... the unpacking began - a 2 car garage full of boxes... We still aren't 100% out of boxes, but we're close! And hubby didn't think we'd be this far in this short of time... but I was determined to be most of the way moved in & have the house decorated even a little bit for Christmas! I knew Thanksgiving wasn't going to happen... But I reached that goal. 10 days until Christmas and the tree is up, outside lights hung, wreath on the door, stockings hung, and even a few extra indoor decor spread around (pictures coming soon, I promise)... presents are 95% wrapped... 100% purchased (well mine, hubby still has some shopping to do this week...) I think I've outdone myself considering we just moved in the house not even 2 months ago. :-)

We still have quite a to do list:
  • Touch up paint (hubby installed the security system, which meant tearing up the walls...) Hope to have this done before Christmas...
  • Build pantry cabinet (yup, nonperishables are all still in boxes...) Also to be done before Christmas...
  • Exterminate mouse (I swear he followed us from the old house... he packed himself in a box and came with us...) To be done ASAP- our trap isn't working, so I have our pest control company coming out tomorrow morning!
  • Go through the last of the items out in the garage (we're pretty much unpacked, just some loose ends!) After new year...
  • Hang curtains in Master Bedroom (have had them for a few weeks now-- waiting on hubby to fix the curtain rod holders...) Hopefully before Christmas
  • Put up the curtain pull in the family room Hopefully before Christmas
  • Hang a few more pictures (new family Christmas pictures!) Before Christmas
  • Wrap a few more gifts to go under the tree...
  • Install fence After New Year
  • And once these few minor projects are finished, and once we pay off some credit cards (oh the joys of moving & home improvement) we will start on our big renovation: THE BASEMENT. Also enjoy reading: Basement Ch. 2, Ch. 3, and Ch. 4 (When I'm stuck waiting I do a LOT of preliminary planning... LOL) But once Income Tax time roles around, we should be able to level our credit card debt, and start fresh on the Home Depot card! :-) So hopefully come spring we'll be ready to start finishing our basement space!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Thrifty Office Decor - Christmas Style

So there wasn't any Christmas decorations in the office... I came across some perty ones at the Family Dollar (always a good deal...) but the deal only got better at 50% off.


$1.50 (raindeer)

$2.00 (ornaments) $0.50 (basket)

$1.50 (tree) $1.00 (garland)

Total: $6.50

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Early Christmas Present


So as I had mentioned previously, we got one Christmas present early (hubby's, even though he says it's for all of us... LOL) It was on sale after Thanksgiving, so we went ahead and got it. We also went to Big Lots for the TV stand so it'd have a place to sit... So this is hubby's new favorite toy... I like it as well, though I didn't see a problem with our old TV (if it's broke, don't fix or replace it!) But it has a new place downstairs for when we fix up the basement for entertainment space...


My "early Christmas present" is the kitchen nook, but it's still in boxes... hopefully it will be assembled by the weekend. The rest of the presents (minus one giftcard I'm waiting for in the mail...) are wrapped and under the tree (or hidden in the closet or attic -- "Santa" gifts.) Two more weeks until Christmas, and I can hardly wait! I love Christmas morning even more now that I have kids to watch get all excited when they see the gifts under the tree...

Monday, December 7, 2009

First December Weekend Update!


What a productive weekend... I got the lights up outside (and didn't hurt myself...) There is one section not working, but I'll have to fix them either one night this week or next weekend... Hubby finished the security system, and his uncle is coming out later to activate it. :-) He also fixed the toilets, then clogged another... I told him this is going to be a real problem - he bought some fiber pills over the weekend.

Saturday night was the Christmas Party with hubby's work, and it was a fun time. It was a very nice, semi formal event with good food, drinks, and dancing. It was a nice evening out w/o the kids! Those are rare.

I can park my car in the garage! Hubby got most of the stuff out of the garage and put away, and what was left he pushed to one side so I could get the car in. I didn't have to scrape ice off my windows this morning! Thank goodness, b/c I wouldn't have had the time!


Cleaned house, finished unpacking the kitchen (our new corner nook should arrive this week!) We didn't get to Home Depot to get the materials for the pantry yet... the first check of the month is always short b/c insurance comes out of that one! So hopefully in 2 more weekends we'll be able to get the things we need to get it built... My pantry food is still in boxes, but at least it is organized and shoved in the corner and out of the way for now.

EDIT: Corner nook arrived today!!! 12.8.09 We'll *hopefully* have it assembled tonight and placed in it's designated corner! By next weekend I hope to update with new pictures of our Christmas decor & new nook!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

First December Weekend Plans


So hubby's weekend starts tomorrow. His dad is coming over to help him around the house... not sure what all they are going to do... but as for my weekend plans, I'll be putting up the outdoor Christmas lights, cleaning up the kitchen (gotta get all the pantry food consilidated to as little boxes as possible) so that when our new kitchen nook arrives (hopefully next week) we'll have room for it! We may go to Home Depot this weekend to get the materials for the pantry. Hubby & I are also going to put up the new curtain track on Saturday for the family room curtains. They are up with a regular curtain rod, but it's kinda hard to get out the door. So I ordered a track so we can slide them  back and forth a lot easier... 

Also on the agenda is to finish cleaning out the boxes in the garage (and hopefully finding my Nativity Set and Fiberoptic Angel) and hopefully next week I can actually start parking in my garage! I hope hubby gets to the basement this weekend - we moved the old TV cabinet down there, so he needs to get it put in place and get the basement back oragnized (and sweep up his mess from the holes he drilled for the security system...)

Monday, November 30, 2009

4-Day Weekend Update - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!


Happy Monday everyone... it's offically the start of the Christmas season, my favorite time of year! We had a very busy 4-day Thanksgiving weekend... Thursday we went to hubby's grandmother's for Turkey Day w/ his family. Had a good meal, and ordered our new TV! 55" LCD HDTV by Insignia that we got on sale for $1200 - LOVE it! Friday, hubby picked up the new TV at the Best Buy store, and we ran by Big Lots and got a new TV stand.


Saturday we went to Walmart *shutter...* the dreaded store, and got our pictures done at PictureMe - I love that portrait studio, have NO complaints, and prefer them any day over Olan Mills for their quality, and quantity/price. While there, we also picked up the curtain track I'd ordered site to store, and got groceries (heaven forbid...) I'd have much rather gone to Kroger, but since we were already there and all...

Got the house cleaned up, tried out my new Shark Steam Mop and I love it! It's so much better than the Swiffer or Clorox mops... and well anything beats a regular old mop and bucket... and it's just steam, no soap, no wet floors to worry about the kids tracking all over just after I finish!

I also finished all my Christmas shopping (online, I refuse to go to any other store other than the grocery between Black Friday and Christmas Eve...) We got all our Christmas decorations up inside (minus the nativity set & fiberoptic angel I'm still digging for) and we'll be putting the outside lights and decorations up next weekend!