House project progress

So I haven't been making a lot of changes to the house because I have been planning all summer to take a few weeks to go to Florida and visit my daddy, family and some friends, but I wasn't really sure WHEN that was going to be able to happen. Just that I wanted to go before the summer ended so that Madison could go with me and Julian. I hate to start something and then get interrupted and have to put it aside for a while. I lose my focus and that makes me frustrated.

However, I have done some things..just simple stuff. Baby steps, baby steps. Lol.

This was the living room after we closed and before we painted or even began moving anything in. We were in the process of painting when this was taken back in the beginning of May.

This was the living room earlier this week after putting up curtains. I love these..I can't tell you how awesome this looks in person, but something's missing or 'off' and I can't figure out what it is. Like I said, I painted this room back in May but the color is completely washed out by my flash. Is it the chair? It's going bye-bye soon and we're going to get some real furniture, thank God! I'm going to go get the matching tie-backs..maybe that will help.

This is the laundry room when we moved in. We had to remove the cabinet to get the washer and dryer in where they were supposed to go..not that it was a bad thing because apparently it was actually an under the sink bathroom cabinet. It is identical to the ones in the upstairs bathrooms. It was also a really huge pain to take out because it was not put up very well.

This is the laundry room today. The shelves to the left are for the coupon loot. I hate my kitchen 'pantry' so I keep most everything down here anyway. It even looks much more colorful because of the bottles and packages. Lol! 

Coupon loot!

I'm not really done with the laundry room. I would like to paint..I'm thinking either a different color on each wall or all green, yellow or orange. I would like it to be a light color because it's in the basement..then again, you can't get much lighter than white. Also, I want some sort of storage above the washer and dryer, maybe from Ikea and I would like to remove the cabinet above the toilet. We also want to add a utility sink and replace the cabinet under it as well.

This is my foyer today. It's seriously a mess and it makes me crazy. I've been tossing boxes to the left side as I unpack them until I can sort them or break them down. I am going to leave it this way, aside from some of the luggage, until I get back from Florida, because I think I am going to start working on it then. Oh, that stupid sign on the door is so that the sheriff doesn't come out and be really pissed when I set the alarm off because I forgot to disarm it. Yes..I totally would. On accident, of course, but still..

I think I'm going to have to hire a painter to come paint the foyer because the ceiling is seriously high..like 15 feet. I'm too clumsy and I will most definitely fall and break an arm or dislocate a femur or something. That light is hideous and I would like to replace it with this one. I like silver-tone much better than anything else.

I have many other plans for the foyer but I think it will take a while so I'm going to have to have another (READ: SEVERAL o_O )project working as well. More than likely my master closet will be the first. This was about a quarter of the way through what I have planned.

This is yesterday taken with a lens adapter that I was trying out. Still not done but unfortunately it will have to wait. I am so impatient. I think I'm going to just do the ClosetMaid thing since I want to keep the pink and white. Kevin wants to do wood but I say NO! More dust, can't see stuff cause I don't have x-ray vision, too dark, too hot, etc. Not to mention I do what I want! Yes, my husband shares this closet with me and yes, he adores me. ;)

There are other things I have been working on and this really doesn't seem like a lot. But like I said, baby steps.

This is harder than I thought

Writing in a journal daily or even regular, that is. I'm using MacJournal and I can use it to post selected journal entries. This will be my first done that way. So what did I do today? I’ve really been in the crafty mood lately. I finally made the wreath I have had the stems for since March! It turned out really nice although I wish I had more of the stems. I will know better next time, though. Now to buy a wreath hanger!
        
I also cleaned out our closet. When we moved we dumped everything in there and we haven’t really had a chance to get to it. Oh, I lie! I’ve had plenty of chances..just not the interest to do so. The before pic is below..remember, I painted it pink? I still love the pink..I just need to paint the white trim because it’s pretty dingy looking.
        
See the eyes looking at me..? She’ll be mad when I take everything out because she won’t have anywhere to chill and hide. I’ll find her a comfy baby blanket instead.
        
Halfway..
        
I have to go down to Lowes and buy another sponge painter brush because they’re pretty much not meant to last and my dear husband decided to dump all of them in a bucket of water and a bunch of buzzy insects drowned themselves in it. That freaks me out..sorry. I’d dump it out but me and Julian are in the bad habit of going outside barefoot and I’m scared we’ll step on a stinger. I know, I am a fraidy cat loser. I can be that if I wanna though.

Christmas tree hunting..in April??

Ok, so because I was thinking about using the space in my hopefully future foyer for a Christmas tree, I got to searching for a white one in particular. Well, I found one and then I found some others that were even more interesting and in my opinion, totally beautiful! One of them in particular is my favorite, but you have to wait until the end for me to tell you which one! ;)

You can check prices & pick up most if not all of these trees at treetopia.com

Candy corn tree

I Want Candy Cane Christmas tree

I'm Just a Rainbow Christmas tree

In the Navy Blue Christmas tree
I just love blue on everything and anything

Orange Christmas tree
This would actually be pretty cool for Halloween for obvious reasons. Maybe spiders and bats with some of that webbing stuff..eh, on second thought maybe leave the webbing off. Kinda overkill, methinks!

Powder Pink Christmas tree

Rainbow-riffic mini Christmas trees

Smurftastic Christmas tree
We are UNC fans and I think this would be great themed in UNC ornaments and maybe some simple silver balls.

Upside Down Christmas tree

Vote For Me Christmas tree

We Put Baby in a Corner Christmas tree
The name of this tree cracked me up!!

White Christmas tree
Simple, classic, so many ideas

You can find a ton more of every color you can imagine on this website. I have some predominantly pink rainbow-esque ornaments that I bought after Christmas this past year that would be awesome on the White Christmas tree. But I totally can't stop there, y'all. I mean I LOVE the Powder Pink & the Smurftastic as well. I truly think my favorite has got to be the I'm Just a Rainbow tree, though I have not a clue how I would decorate it. I am a huge fan of rainbows!

Has anyone of you out there ever had a colored tree? How did you decorate it? Any ideas for any of the trees above?

We're buying a house!! ..I hope

To make a long story short, we've been trying to buy a house for nearly five years now. Since Kevin moved in with me and Madison and brought his wall of boxes with him. So enough talking for now and more looking. Here are pics of the house we are under contract with right now and we hope to soon move into.

The kitchen. Meh on the color..pretty bright but could be worse. There is definitely some renovation to be had in this room. That skinny white door is the pantry. There is a look inside further down in the pics. In my head, I envision the pantry to extend to about where the stove is in this pic. The stove will not be there. There will be more cabinets/counter space and possibly double wall ovens. There will be an island in the middle with a cooktop and an under counter drink cooler, that locks, to lock up the alcohol. After all we have kids and both my husband and myself were once both curious teenagers. Where I am standing in this pic will be where the refrigerator and my freezer reside and possibly more cabinet or counter space. That is at least, my vision.

This is some stupid grill/exhaust thing. Our inspector says it doesn't work. He may be wrong. I think it is ugly and I hope he is right. Oh and these countertops are hideouso!

This is the pantry. Blech..

The living room as you come up the stairs from the foyer. Surprisingly bigger than this pic appears.

Living room again. The doorway to the right is the dining room.

Looking down the stairs to the entryway from the hall/living room. I love that huge wall over there. I have a great idea for that space!

Dining room. Living room to the right and kitchen to the left. The backyard is through the window.

Dining room but looking into the kitchen.

Again, dining room.

Dining room. Kitchen to the left. Living room to the right. Kids love to run around empty houses.

Living room. The steps lead to the entryway/foyer.

Omg..ok, enough of these three rooms already. Living room.

Another of the kitchen. The cabinets are not so bad..

My kid sitting on the stairs leading to the living room.

What a ham!

Silly boy!

What can I say? He's cute!

You know you like it.

Last one of the kid, I promise.

Me no likey the border..

Or the trim color..

Another angle..this is the hall/kids bathroom.

Standard cabinetry.

I loathe and despise these types of showers

Master bedroom..I love blue but I'm not sure about this carpet/wall color combo

Deck off the kitchen..which is a frickin' death trap apparently. Meh..we'll upgrade/repair it at some point if the seller isn't required to do so.

Laundry room and downstairs half bath..I'm kinda disappointed that where that window is there is no door. I feel that should be a door instead. It also seems really dark even with the light on. Maybe some more/different lights at some point. But I really like the idea of having a laundry 'space' where I can shut the door and hide the mess. :)

More laundry room

View of the toilet, mirror & sink

Looking back into the basement at the foot of the stairs

In the downstairs den looking back at the garage door. Fourth bedroom is directly to the right. Where that light is leads back to the entryway.

Closet & to the left, bar area.

Bar, which will more than likely be changed. Namely the mirror and shelves. An idea my mom had was to put a small refrigerator/cooler underneath the cabinets. I would fill it with snacks and drinks for the kids (Madison, currently) and their friends. I'd let her know when I fill it that whatever had to last until set amount of time. If it was emptied before then, oh well, you have to wait. Also, we wanted to put possibly a locking one on the opposite side for Kevin to have liquor and beers if he wanted.

Another view of the bar.

Directly across from the bar. These pics make this area look smaller than it really is when you are down there.

Fireplace closeup.

Fourth bedroom. We'll more than likely make this our home office. At some point we would also like to replace all this carpet with wood(ish) floors. I hate carpet.

More bedroom/home office

This is the entryway/foyer. The house is set up like a split level but in most split levels when you walk in the door you are literally standing at stairs. There is actually a lot of room in this entryway. Both walls on either side are huge! The one on the right (shown here) is a little bigger. I want to put photos here, either a main family photo with all of us and other photos spiraling out or an idea I have for a 'family tree' look. There in that little triangle area where the stairs meet, I would love to put a tall, skinny Christmas tree. I bought some really pretty ornaments after Christmas this past year, not really knowing how I would work them into our regular stuff. They're rainbow colored and would look great against a white tree. I just hope I bought enough! LOL! I don't know what I would do for the rest of the year..ideas, anyone? Also, I am thinking of maybe at some point sanding the banisters down a little or something and staining them a lighter color. Hmmmm...I wonder even if I could somehow take that one to the left as you go downstairs down..anybody?

Crazy huge wall

Looking downstairs at the garage door and upstairs at the kitchen and the hall leading to the hall/kids bath and the bedrooms.

This is the opposite wall in the entryway. I would like to maybe do a cross theme on it. Just all sorts of crosses, I have a pic on a Pinterest board.

Front door. I personally am not a fan of window on the sides of doors (I have stalkers), but maybe I can  put some tall plants there like my cathedral cactus or something. ..Nah, that won't work. I don't know.

One of the non-master bedrooms

Same bedroom..sorry about the darkness

The other non-master bedroom. On a side note, all of these bedrooms have fans..which is awesome. I like fans. I actually have two in storage so some of these may possibly come down at some point.

Same bedroom and my daddy peeking around the corner. He came to check everything out like a good daddy does. Even the inspector was like he wouldn't be a good daddy if he didn't. LOL!

Front of the house

Back of the house

More back of the house and my husband & my truck

More back of the house and a playset that my daddy says probably just needs to go. It looked a little dangerous.

The slide was crazy steep. I think we'll have to replace it because the boy really liked it and I would like him to have one.

More back of the house

Our backyard meets up with our neighbor's front yard. At some point we'll get a fence to contain the boy.

Pretty sure the property line was just beyond that tree in the background.

Behind that house in the background is a fence. Beyond that fence is the golf course and beyond that is a playground and a duck pond. Oh, and a steam engine and an old 17th century church graveyard. Can you say awesome??!!

Ok, so there's 4 bedrooms, one of which we'll use as a spare and a home office, 2100-2600 square feet, it's one year younger than I am, and it is literally 4 doors down from my parents' house. Which is awesome because I know the neighborhood and Madison won't have to transfer out of the school district. Behind us is the golf course/park and if I can find a way to get myself and two toddlers over the fence in one of my neigbors' yards, I'm gonna visit the duck pond and playground extensively this summer and often into the future. We close April 27th and there are still a few issues we have to get worked out with the sellers but I have my fingers crossed. What do you think? :)