Our 4 Year Houseiversary: Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our 4 Year Houseiversary!  Last time we looked outside; today we're going to take a gander inside around our 1st floor and some of the changes that have happened over the past 4 years.  Two of our big projects early on were installing recessed lighting in three of the rooms (living room, master bedroom, and one of the upstairs bedrooms) and getting replacement windows.  I don't really have any pictures of these projects, but trust me, they were needed.  Our yard is shaded, and our rooms without ceiling lights were sooo dark.  And our windows...some were painted shut, others let a draft in...it was definitely time for some new windows.  Our heating and air conditioning bills are quite happy about that decision also.

I've already given a living room tour, talked about our hideous kitchen, and early on in the life of this blog I posted about our "dog room" turned laundry & mud room, so we'll skip those for today, but feel free to go check them out!

Our dining room served as an office for our home's previous owners.  Here it was back then:

And here it is now (you can also see another view here):

The previous owners had their dining room where we now have a toy room.  Then:

Now.....hello there, clutter:

You can also see more toy room pictures here and here.

Our Master Bed & Bath are also on the first floor.  Here's a bedroom before (yep, it's small for a master bedroom!):

It's looking like this nowadays (wishing I would have fixed the curtains before I took the picture):

We haven't done much to the master bath yet, but just for kicks here's a "before"....

(Nope.  It clearly wasn't enough that nearly all the trim in the entire house was painted blue.  The toilet paper had to match).  We have gotten a new toilet since the "before" picture was taken during our home inspection.  There's just something that wasn't working with the faux wood look....plus I kept thinking I could get a splinter on my....well, you know!

Disclaimer:  I'm sure the previous owners probably loved their home, and this post isn't meant to diss their style (is "diss" still a word?)  Everyone likes different things, and some of you might be thinking I'm crazy!  That's okay!  Life would be boring if we all did everything exactly the same.  I just enjoy seeing the changes and progress we have made in making our house ~ our home.

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Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about my 31-gifts fundraiser, with all proceeds going toward our adoption??  The good news is:  I'm sooo excited about how well it's been going!  The even better news is:  we've decided to extend the fundraiser until Wednesday!!!  Need some great Christmas gifts?  Head on over and check out the fundraiser....click here for a direct link.  This month's special:  For each $31 you spend, get 50% off specified items.  

Looking for a great deal?  Zipper pouches (9"Hx7.5"Wx1.5"D; available in 8 different patterns) are normally $12.  Buy 3 and get the 4th one for only $6!  Stuff them with some treats and they would make a great gift!  Think....school supplies for teachers, makeup for your sister, a manicure kit for your babysitter, or maybe it's just a really great way to give a gift card!

Linking to a few of my favorites ~ check them out!

Our 4 Year Houseiversary: Part 1

Yay!  It's our 4 Year Houseiversary!!!  We moved into our 1961 Cape Cod four years ago, knowing our home would be a work in progress for quite awhile.  Sometimes I forget that was the plan all along, and get frustrated thinking of all the projects that still haven't been completed.  We are committed to not going into debt (unless there would be an emergency) for house renovations, so the "big projects" take some time to save for (especially now with an adoption and two trips to Ethiopia in the not too distant future!)  Anyway, when I sit back and think about it, we actually have done quite a bit in the four years we have lived here.  Interested?  Keep reading.....and stay tuned for our "inside" updates, coming soon!

Today we'll start with the outside.  Here's what it looked like when we moved in...sorry for the poor quality pictures....they were taken with an old camera in a rainstorm....

We started by pulling out lots and lots and lots of ivy.  I wish we would have kept track of the number of hours spent ivy-pulling....it was insane.  We also took out all the shrubs in front of the house - we wanted to be able to see our cute house, not have it covered up by a hedge!  We reseeded the lawn and took out some of the trees (and the fountain/birdbath).  Just this summer we painted the shutters from the country blue color to "Lincoln Cottage Black" and redid the porch swing.  Here's what our house looks like currently....

Still a work in progress....I'm still wishing for that new red front door and we need some landscaping on the left side, but it's improved, don't you think?

Here's the front porch before....

and currently....

Woohoo for being able to see past hedges!

Moving around back...picture life deep in the Amazon jungle.  Add some chainlink fence in random places, and you've got our backyard.  Seriously, it was bad.  I even entered it in an "Ugliest Yard" contest and I'm pretty sure I didn't win because whoever was choosing the winners probably thought it was just a joke.  Here's some "before" pictures (although most of the random chainlink was gone by this point, and we have kept what was around the perimeter)....

 

Pretty, huh?  Yeah, I was scared to walk back there because of all the creatures I knew were lurking in the weeds.  Our little dog actually caught a mouse in the backyard the first week after we moved in.  Not cool.  Well, it was a little cool that our dog caught a mouse, but not cool at all that I had certain proof of rodent life.  And the shed?  I pretty much feared for my husband's life every time he walked in.  On the brighter side, demolition was quite easy - a few kicks and it was down!

Lots more weed & ivy pulling, a landscaping crew, a firepit (blocked in the following picture by trees), a swingset, and a new shed later....

We do still plan on putting pavers or stamped concrete in the firepit, but again, much better, don't you think?  Come back later this week to see some of the changes that have happened inside the house!

Click here for a list of parties I may have linked up to!

My Favorite Outdoor Spot

Although like a lot of things around here my favorite outside spot still needs some work, I thought I'd share it with you.....so without further adieu, our screened-in porch!

This area is out back and connected to our dining room, which makes it the perfect spot for entertaining on these fun summer evenings.  (Especially now that stink bug season appears to be over!)  I also love sitting out here at night with the hubs after the kids are in bed, playing Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride....watching the lightning bugs and listening to the birds!  First item on the "to do" list for this post is....replace the ugly outdoor thermometer.  I have been searching but unfortunately mostly what I'm finding are digital ones.

A closer look at our comfy cozy area, along with some notes for the to do list...

We got this furniture set at a yard sale for $40 (score!) but it sadly still needs a nice table and some pillows to spice it up a little.  I sometimes come out here with my coffee (iced of course) and Bible for devotions in the morning and it is so peaceful....except for the squirrels and birds fighting over who gets to eat from the feeders.

Now the view turning around and facing the house (keep in mind those lights are just a reflection)...

Pretty plain.  I'm hoping to find some sort of fun artwork, or maybe shelves to go against that boring wall.  I've thought about adding some curtains but not sure if I want to go that route...sometimes the rain comes in so I have to be a little careful with what I leave out here.  I do love our kid's picnic table and it comes in so handy when it's more than the 4 of us here for dinner.

Hope you enjoyed my favorite outdoor spot!  It still needs some love (oooh, brainstorm....how about a rug!), but we are still enjoying it just the way it is!

PS.....Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for my first ever giveaway!!!

Porch Swing Makeover

This originally appeared when I guest posted over at Tatertots & Jello last week....I'm reposting it here today in case you missed it...

Today I'd like to share one of our most recent projects ~ our porch swing makeover!!

Built in 1961 and not kept in the best condition, our home has been a bit of a fixer-upper, porch swing included!  Here's what we started with when we first moved in....



Fast forward 3 1/2 years, and my little guy has changed quite a bit, but unfortunately the porch swing had not!  Since we were already in the process of repainting our shutters (which were also the country blue color), it made sense to give our porch swing a makeover too!

List of materials needed:  one old porch swing, sandpaper, paint (we used Valspar Lincoln Cottage Black), paint sprayer (optional....but we have a Graco SprayStation), stencils for lettering, white acrylic paint - I used DecoArt Americana's White Wash).

The first step was to take it down, clean it, sand it, and clean it some more. 

I knew I wanted to cutesy it up a bit by stenciling on a phrase, so we removed two of the slats to be replaced later.  Then it was time to paint!  I had chosen the color "Lincoln Cottage Black" by Valspar.  We used our paint sprayer for a few coats and a foam brush to fix any runs and get all the other nooks and crannies that were hard to reach with the spray.

My handy hubby cut down the new board to fit, and once it was painted, measured out my chipboard letters for me!  What a great guy ~ he handles any project that involves my arch enemy:  measuring.  My tendency is to just eyeball everything, so if it actually needs to look good, he measures it all out.  I first traced around the letters with a pencil, then over the pencil with white paint, and then filled each letter in.  I lost count of how many coats it took, but I think it was around seven, so a little time consuming, but not difficult.  (Of course, those of you lucky ducks with a Silhouette could crank that baby out in vinyl in no time!!)

Once the wording was completely dry, and the new board was attached, we could hang the swing back up in it's rightful place on the front porch.  I whipped up some pillows ~ I use the term "whipped up" very lightly...actually my sewing machine and I were at odds for a few hours, but she finally relented, and we are now back on speaking terms.  Anyway, I plan on eventually painting the front door red, so I used a fun outdoor fabric with some red accents and some red burlap for the pillows.  Since the pillows will be outside, I left the plastic packaging on the pillow forms to protect them from getting wet!  Smart thinking, right?  Well, they make a funny sound when you lean on them, but at least they look good!  Plus, I made the envelope type closure, so I can easily take out the pillow form if I change my mind.

*One quick note ~ I do plan on adding a coat of clear poly over the letters to protect them a little from the elements.  Although if I don't get around to it, we could always just say we were going for the distressed look. :)

So, there you have it, our porch swing makeover ~ I can't wait until all this rain stops so I can go relax on the swing with a nice tall glass of iced coffee in hand!

Linking up to a few of my favorites!

It's always such an honor to be featured ~ THANK YOU!

My Naked House

You may have noticed the lack of really exciting amazing great posts filled with unique ideas around here lately....well, there's a good reason for it!  We have about a million projects going on around here....a few for some upcoming guest posts that I am totally excited about....and a lot more dealing with general upkeep and home improvement.  Oh, the joys of home ownership.....especially when it's an older home that wasn't necessarily taken care of wonderfully by previous owners!  But, with all the hard work comes the JOY of having our own home, which we do really love!  I'll be posting about all our random projects, but for now, here's one of the projects currently in progress....

Yep, my house is currently naked....no shutters!  It's won't be that way for long though.....hopefully, at least!  (And yes, in addition to changing up the shutters, we'll be power washing the green nastiness away too).

In other news, be sure to head over to A Turtle's Life for Me today, where I'm guest posting ~ it's a project I had blogged about months ago here (when I'm pretty sure I was the only person reading my blog), but I went into more detail over there.  You'll want to check out Natalie's site anyway.....she has some seriously great stuff!  My current favorite is the Dress Up Headquarters she made for her daughter.....I can't wait to make one for Carly some day!!  Thanks for having me, Natalie!

PS ~ I'm trying out the extra large photo size.....what do you think?

Living Room Tour

You've seen our newly remodeled Mud/Laundry Room and our hideous kitchen....now welcome to our cozy Living Room!

"Cozy," at least, is the look I'm going for :)  I don't necessarily have a style, but I want my family and friends to be able to feel comfortable and welcomed in my home.  It's a put your feet up on the table kinda place!

You probably remember from my kitchen that the previous owners of our house loved the color blue.  Like a lot.  So this "before" photo (taken at our home inspection) probably won't surprise you...

Clearly, it could be worse.  Some of you might even like the before better than the after, and that's okay.  But it's definitely not my style.  We were super thankful that the baseboards, chair rail and moulding had recently been painted white ~ the only room in the house where this was the case ~ the rest were hunter green, tan, and you guessed it....blue.  Here's what the same view (mostly) is looking like these days...

I love my Pottery Barn Adeline rug and Farmhouse Armoire....I know the cool thing to do is have a flat screen tv mounted on the wall, but I just really prefer a great piece of furniture that I can close the doors of and pretend the tv is not even there!

Although we added recessed lighting, we live in a shaded area and with a porch directly in front of the living room that blocks a lot of the sunlight, this room is still never too bright, so sorry about the lighting!  You have probably noticed on the walls the lack of many decorations, and that is for two reasons....one:  I like to keep things simple, and two:  it takes me sooo long to decide what to put up on my walls!!  One of the pictures I do have was a wedding present from my dear friend, Sonya!  I still love it, friend!!  (Sidenote:  Sonya and her friend have started an etsy shop.....be sure to check it out....maybe someday she will add some of her photography!)

Another "before" picture...

I didn't get the exact same view for the "after" shot, but here's a few from that side of the room...



Eventually I'd love to create a gallery wall above the couch, but for now my framed poppy poster from Michael's is working....even if I still think it's hanging a few inches too high. 



Another thing we'd like to do eventually is have a fireplace insert that is actually inside the fireplace and doesn't stick out...and hopefully one without any shiny bronze!  I do loooove my chair & ottoman ~ they are super comfortable and you'll never guess where I found them......Walmart!  Who knew?!



Continuing around the room...



My side table is also from PB.  Our couch and loveseat were bought at a turniture store when we were first married...probably not what I would pick today but they are neutral enough to work with anything!



You've probably noticed that I love Pottery Barn, and now I feel like my reputation as a frugalista is at stake!!  I want to mention that we do live near a PB Outlet, where we got our armoire for an incredible deal because of a few scratches.  The rug is from PB but I actually bought it on eBay, and the side table was bought with a combination of money I received for Christmas gifts and some really good sales & coupons!  And, this transformation took place over a course of several years - not one major shopping spree.  There, I feel better now.  Do I think something needs to be a famous brand name or cost a lot of money to look good?  Absolutely not!!  Case in point ~ our coffee table (pictured below with my remade cloche).

Made from reclaimed wood and purchased at one of our favorite antique/thrift stores for $20!!  I smile when I think about when I purchased it (over five years ago now) and the picture I must have been at 8 months pregnant trying to shove it into the backseat of my Dodge Neon.  :)  I love how uneven and imperfect it is....great for our young kids and we don't even need to use coasters!

Although it's not yet in it's perfect state, it's a comfy and warm place for our family.  I hope you enjoyed the tour of our living room!!





Linking up to a few of my favorites!