Updates

Wow it's been a while.  We've been really busy with the house, Cameron's sister got married, Cameron's other sister had a baby, Cameron's brother's wife had a baby, Erin graduated from preschool, Reagan is almost crawling and has six teeth, I had a nephew speak at his farewell, etc. etc.  It has been a whirlwind of activity here at our house.  I'll just post about our home this post.  So we bought a house and we love it.  It has been a ton of work, but I really like doing it and it's OURS!!  We closed and moved in about three weeks after that.  So during that three weeks, thanks to the help of two of my wonderful friends and my family, we fixed it up a little.  It's amazing what paint can do no?  Now, before I start, let me tell you these people loved their colors.  If they found a color they liked, they stuck with it.  Drapes, carpet, walls, light fixtures, vent covers, outlet covers, it was all the same color.

Here's the boys' room before. I didn't get a picture of the floor, but it was pretty torn up.  It's a wood floor, so I sanded and filled holes and sanded and sanded and stained and sealed and it turned out really nice.  There was a big waterstain on the other wall that I didn't get a picture of, but after sanding and painting, you'd never know.

Here's the boys room after.  I stuck with a blue, just much lighter and more calming.  Floor looks good huh!

Here is the fireplace before.  The whole living room was this turquoise color.  They had big heavy turquoise drapes hanging.  I didn't get a pic because they were the first to go.  It really opened things up.  The fireplace and carpet and walls and...well, you get the picture, it all matched.

I need to get a better picture of the after fireplace.  This is the only after I could find.  We just painted it white.  Looks so much better.  I have plans to get rid of the brass in the fireplace.  I think I'll just paint it an oil rubbed bronze or something.

This is the girls' room.  I know, right?  My friend MaryKate called it the drug room.  It was just so bright and...green.  I just don't have the words.

This is the after.  We painted it a fun purple that changes as the light hits it.  It even makes the lime green carpet not seem so bad.

The hallway before.  Nice turquoise that was in the rest of the house. 

Hallway after.  We painted it a grey and I tore up the carpet and refinished the floors here too.  We have a carpet remnant down right now because I need to lacquer it a couple more times.  Just haven't had the time.

Living room before.  See the pretty butterfly insets to the right?  They had them all over the living room and kitchen.  I didn't love them, and when my friend Julie said she could just see the mom telling her kids to go catch butterflies so they could mount them, I just couldn't keep them without thinking of all the dead butterflies.  Out they went.

Living room after.  We decided to do the board and batten treatment in the living and dining rooms and I LOVE it!!  I still need to caulk and paint.  Sigh...

Here's the kitchen before.  A green that looked dirty to me and I didn't love.

Kitchen after.  We went with a yellow.  Love how it makes my kitchen sunny.  I also really love my aluminum cabinets.  They are so fun.  I also don't believe in taking the cereal and milk off the counters apparently.

This is my BIG window above my sink.  The thing I love most about our house is the windows, I think.  We have lots of big, sunny windows all over the place.  I wanted this cafe' style curtain that was fairly sheer so the light could still come in.

Our room before.  Don'tcha love the pink?  I sure didn't.  Luckily, Cameron's aunt was moving just as we were and she didn't want the carpet from where she moved into.  We took it and re carpeted our room and the whole downstairs.  Thank you fairy God-Aunt!! 

This is our room after.  I don't have a headboard, so I created one with these fun stick on dots.  I need to make a little green throw now with some green pillows.  The wall color is a nice neutral sand.

Here's the dining area before.  There were some big, heavy floral drapes here and we totally tore. them. down.  We also thought since there was wood floors throughout most of the house, there would be wood floors under this carpet.  Not so much.  Now, before I give you an after of the dining room, I also got a new table and chairs.  We found the table on KSL and the chairs I got from DI and Savers.  I'll show you my work on them too.

This is my before...

...and my blue after!

Before...I didn't want my chairs to match, can you tell?

After

Before

After.  Love the orange!!

Before...we got these two chairs at Savers for $2.00 each.  NICE!!!

After.  I put the material on the two end chairs and only Cameron and I get to eat on them. 

I didn't get the before of this guy.  He was the last one I found to complete my collection.  He was a wily one, but I finally found him.  He was just wood color before.

I didn't get a before of the table, but this is after the primer.  It was a darker wood.  It even has three extra leaves.  Hooray!

Here's the before again, just to remind you.

and the after.  I.  LOVE.  THEM.  You can't see it, but I took the cupboards out on the upper right side of the before picture and just left it open.  That's where all our dishes are now and I think it's great.  Oh, and do you see what was under the carpet?  It's not bad at all, but not a permanent solution in my mind.  I'm still thinking about what to do there. We've been so, so blessed in this venture and we're just loving it!!  Hooray!