Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Adrienne's Nursery


One more "Before and After" before we move for you all :)  This has to be my favorite room in the house....but I'm a little biased.  Adri's room is by far the room that has gotten the most thought and planning.  I love her little nursery.  I have spent a lot of time in there.  Seriously.  There were some nights I was just waiting until she could sleep through the night.  Honestly though, there are some nights now that I want to go in and have a quick little cuddle with my girl.

From the moment we found out we were having a girl my mind was spinning with ideas for a nursery.  Seriously, that day we went and picked out paint colors.  I absolutely love the color pink, so I was in heaven.  Her nursery used to be our home office (pictured below).  I'm so embarrased that this was our office.  Seriously scary, right?  You'd think I would have snapped a shot of it clean at least.  Oh well, note to my 4 year younger self, right?




So we planned and planned and finally picked our colors.....Dazzleberry Pink and Cotton Candy Blue.  How could we not pick those colors for the name alone, right?

Here's the itty-bitty nursery with it emptied out:



And painted:



And with the new flooring (and proud daddy) all ready for some furniture:


I was so proud of the furniture finds in this room.  I Craigslisted for months, scouring the Twin Cities trying to find the perfect pieces for the nursery.  The rocker I got for $10.00 -- yes, $10.00.  It was barely used and the lady who sold it to me said her little boy was never into rocking.....crazy child! :)  I bought a little footstool off of Amazon for another $10.00.  I made the pillows with the left over fabric from the crib skirt and window valance.  Perfection.   And we have seriously gotten our use out of that rocking chair.




Then I found this dresser (it also has a mirror) and I knew it would make the perfect changing table (I was totally copying Young House Love for this).





I loved the idea of being able to use the changing table as a dresser in a few years.  Plus, the nursery is a really, really small room, and we didn't have space for both a changer and dresser.  I painted the base white, painted the drawer pulls and stained the top a lovely dark walnut.




 I also made drawer liners (out of wrapping paper and contact paper) and made it even more girly :)



I seriously love this dresser now.



/> And then came all the details for little Adrienne's room:







I am so sad to leave this room behind.  There was so much planning that went into it in anticipation of the best thing that has ever happened to us.  But I know our new house will hold many new memories and exciting moments.


Linking up to these parties :)



Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Basement Office Makeover

I promised if I found more before pictures I'd post some of our room redos that didn't end up on the blog.  And, yes, in all my cleaning and purging of my computer files (moving forces you to clean and throw away A LOT!), I found some before pictures.

About a year and half ago, Kevin and I decided the "second kitchen" (I use that term loosely as it was never used as a kitchen, but more so as a storage area) needed to go.  We wanted to turn the space into a home office for us (combined with a workout area for moi).





We removed the cabinets and appliances and yet again removed tons of wallpaper.  We had the plumbing lines capped, but left them somewhat accessible in case we ever wanted to make a little bar area in the future (or in case the future owners wanted to access the water or drains). The biggest projects were painting (it's a large room) and adding flooring. 


Finally, we took the cabinets and painted a few of them with a fun stencil pattern and laid a countertop remnant on top of them.  


I'm still in love with that stencil pattern.  I've been brainstorming, trying to think of places in the new house I could use it.  Oh the possibilities are endless!

So here are the final pictures by the professional.  It's from a slightly different angle, but you get the idea :)









 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Some Final Before & Afters





While the current state of my house is looking a little scary from boxing our whole lives up, I thought I'd share a few final before and afters.  Now mind you the final pictures are the professional photographs that were taken of the house to sell it.  And then I will also remind you that my original photos are far from professional :)  So while the house looks so much better, it's probably a little skewed due to the quality of those photographs (just a little disclaimer, right?)


Ready for the final tour?  Here we go:

Exterior:

Before:

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=11d925838d&view=att&th=140bf633513c18f4&attid=0.3&disp=inline&realattid=f_hkuzpybh2&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8WAWpsWd7hD_7kkSJ5d-ob&sadet=1377600725508&sads=COIeMzE8BCiOy8yQsbvUDsL7CT8


After:

 Entry/Foyer:


Before:



After:

 Kitchen:


Before:

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=11d925838d&view=att&th=140bf633513c18f4&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hkuzpyay0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8WAWpsWd7hD_7kkSJ5d-ob&sadet=1377600555557&sads=Xoi6rCdmFwEpvoSDFYuDXsBHxtM



After:

Living Room:


Before:


And if you want the true before :) 



After:


Sun Room:


Before:

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=11d925838d&view=att&th=140bf633513c18f4&attid=0.4&disp=inline&realattid=f_hkuzpybo3&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8WAWpsWd7hD_7kkSJ5d-ob&sadet=1377600628753&sads=Lvo2fBamSN6ZUnAgPbPqWk20q3w


After:



 Master Bathroom


Before:


After:


  

TV/Entertainment Room:


Before:

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=11d925838d&view=att&th=140bf633513c18f4&attid=0.2&disp=inline&realattid=f_hkuzpybc1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8WAWpsWd7hD_7kkSJ5d-ob&sadet=1377600702434&sads=2YZdAsruWNZFKDH6fMMfAQc8yt4



After:


Downstairs Bathroom:


Before:

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https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=11d925838d&view=att&th=140bf633513c18f4&attid=0.5&disp=inline&realattid=f_hkuzpybu4&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8WAWpsWd7hD_7kkSJ5d-ob&sadet=1377600770162&sads=U-2_mqpLX-aj-f2vR9fH-f-vpII



After:

Our little house has come such a long way in the three short years we've lived here.  I'm so proud of all our work.  But I am so excited for our new house and all the love and sweat we will put into it.  Have a good week, bloggy friends! :)



  



Wednesday, August 21, 2013

After two years.....

Anyone out there?  It's only been, um, 2+ years since I've posted.  And I can tell you so much has happened.  Just as I'm sure two years changes a lot in your life too.  So where did I leave off?  I stopped blogging to focus more on my job with the family plumbing and heating company.  At the same time my husband's position change at work made his work-life balance almost all work :(  So I gave up blogging to do the more important things in life.  It was a good break, and completely necessary in order to keep me focused on what truly mattered. Then big changes came along and I well, blogging was at the bottom of my list.  But - I will be back (on a new blog).  So here's my big changes in the past two years:

BIG CHANGE #1:

Meet Adrienne June:



My little sweetie (now already 15 months old) has consumed my days and nights -- and I LOVE it.  She arrived on May 29, 2012 and this spunky, little chicky has filled our worlds with joy.




You can follow me on Instagram to see oodles of pictures of her :)

And because of Big Change #1, Big Change #2 had to happen (I sound as if I've read too many Dr. Seuss books, right??)

BIG CHANGE #2:



Goodbye Hand Me Down House.....a little sad, but very excited, too.  We are moving!  I'm super, duper excited -- but honestly, as I'm packing up my house (especially Adri's room), I'm getting a little teary-eyed.  We put so much work and love into this house that it will be sad to go, but I'm so excited for our new adventure on Parkridge Drive :)  



(I am hoping to have a little bit of time to get up some final before and after pictures.  We updated a lot since I've been absent from my blog and I think it'd be fun to see the final product).

I also think I might like to start a new blog (or add on to this one??) with all the changes we will be making at the new house.  It's outdated, but we love the style, layout and neighborhood. 


BIG CHANGE #3:

In addition to my job with my family's plumbing & heating company, I've added one more venture to my list :)  I have created an activewear site that carries some awesome brands.  This is where I've been blogging recently.  I got serious about exercise and healthy eating after Adrienne was born (yup, I packed on 40 lbs -- ugh).  But it eventually all came back off (and that 5 lbs I was trying to shed before I got pregnant even) with a little extra work.

www.alldayactivewear.com

I'm so excited about all the changes that have happened, and I know there will be more to come. 





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