Kitchen Cabinet Re-Paint: Nesting Gone Wild

Well, well, well... Looks like another pregnancy symptom hit - nesting. Unlike most moms-to-be who pull out their nicest cleaning attire and scrub baseboards and carpets, I decided to calm my urge with painting. Not just a small project either, I painted my entire plethora of kitchen cabinets turning my muted, sandy wooden cabinets into a white wonder... They rock!

Of course I sanded, primed (2 coats) and painted each cabinet door and box to perfection for this... Add a few accessories from around the house and a select few I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby and BOOM, beautiful:

Making This House Our Home: Upstairs

Yesterday I shared my inspiration for the downstairs of our house. I reviewed with the man in charge and he gave the go ahead! (Now, if anyone would like to contribute funds or energy to the cause... Ha! Kidding. My "penny pinching" self will get these projects underway for the lowest amount possible.)

Since downstairs will host the warm colors, I wanted to contrast to showcase cooler colors upstairs... Here are my inspirations.

1.  Master Bedroom / Bath - coastal (in warmer temps) and snow (in the cooler months).  The colors will be white, slate gray and a gray/blue color.

Bed:

Bath:

2.  Guest Bedroom / Bath - a hotel/spa feel to make sure our guests feel welcome and pampered!

I think my house is going to be pretty rocking once we get these projects going!  Now is the hard part... where do I start?!

Making This House Our Home: Downstairs

Well, we moved in 2 months ago. Being extremely unable to live out of boxes we were unpacked and set up the day after move-in... Actually had a Mary Kay Open House the following weekend! (Insane? Perhaps.) We have our fence now installed and the nursery nearly done... So now what?

It's time to tackle the decorating of the remainder of the house! We want to add punches of color to compliment the new carpet and paint that we were so blessed to find when looking at the house. Our style is vintage meets contemporary chic meets casual... It's comfortable and all our own. Of course we want to keep the homey feel and welcome folks with or without shoes into our abode. So, here is what I'm thinking for the downstairs. Since all rooms sorta connect, we will run a theme of:

1.  White cabinets in the kitchen, cream walls, red/brown/tan accents...

2.  Cream walls, red/brown/white/tan accents in living room (keep it cozy)...

3.  Continue the theme into the dining area but add a conversation piece with the light fixture...

Of course we have neither the time nor the money for all of this. It's going to be total DIY Madness Makeover! Now all that's left is to get the husband's seal of approval and we can get started... But where?!

Oh Shutterfly, You Shouldn’t Have

After 10 months (yes, you read that right… 10 MONTHS) of being married I finally got around to getting my wedding album put together and ordered.  It arrived yesterday - the bright orange box safely tucked in box #3, the key neatly laid in our tiny apartment mail hole.  You see, I’ve been waiting ever so patiently for this little puppy to arrive.  It is my own creation, showcases the happiest day of my life thus far.

I had used Shutterfly once before, but did not want to spend an arm and a leg to have my COMPLETE wedding album printed.  I wanted a big book, with page after page of snapshots from the wedding.  I’m not going to lie, I wanted every shot taken in that book.  Pricing the books made my head spin.  Our photographer (who took some AMAZING shots and I would recommend him to everyone) had created an example book with his favorite shots and told me it would be another $100 - $125 for him to have it printed – leather bound with thick pages… errrr. No thanks.  Shutterfly’s options were much better, but then you get into adding pages.  WHERE was I going to find a place that could let me create the album of my dreams at a reasonable price!? WHERE, I ASK YOU!?!

Customize Your Heart Out

Recently, Shutterfly came out with a new option for book creation, a completely customizable path that allows your artistic expression to seep through your project in its entirety.  I fell in love immediately.

I still had one problem, pricing.  We don’t have extra cash just laying around asking to be sent off for fun projects.

Sign Up for Shutterfly = Discounts Baby!

I created a Shutterfly account previously (as mentioned above) and would occasionally receive offers for discounts and freebies.  None of them caught my eye until… “50% off ALL photobooks”.  You say what?! 

I began diligently working away, selecting pictures for each page, uploading photo after photo after photo (this goes on 700+ times).   I selected colors and layouts, special phrases and fonts.  With “and they lived happily ever after…” the book was complete.  I submitted it for print and began my wait. 

Here is my book, sitting in its new home in our living room for all to see.  It turned out better than I could’ve imagined.  The colors ring true, the pages luxuriously thick, the product is exactly what we were looking for.

Click here to view this photo book larger

I invite you to visit Shutterfly’s website and sign up for your own account.  Just for doing so, they will give you up to 50 free 4x6 prints.  

 

 This blog is not a promotion for Shutterfly.  All opinions are truly my own.  And no, I was not asked to review my product.  I just love it so much I had to share with you!

DIY: Master Bedroom Re-Do

"This. Is. Perfect."

This morning when I opened my eyes after hitting snooze once three times I was in awe of the work we have completed over the last three evenings.  Our master bedroom ("where the magic happens" according to my husband's Facebook comment) was in desperate need of some TLC.  In its previous life, it was a hodge-podge mess of randomly collected furniture that we tried to spruce up with our wonderful bedding we received as a wedding gift.  Needless to say it wasn't working for me.  At.  All.

I began dreaming up a room idea - one that could bend with the seasons.  After careful thought and consideration I came to the conclusion - EVERYTHING must be painted white.  Finding bits and pieces of inspiration on the Pintrest boards I knew the seasons I wanted to feature were summer (think beach cottage with sandollars and starfish accents) and winter (think snowflakes and ice accents).

Without snapping pre-paint shots, I can't stress how much nicer this room looks.  But, without more of my ramblings, here is the finished product... sheer perfection in my book:

The grand total for our total room overhaul was a huge $75...

     $30 Wall Mount for the TV (husband's addition to the room)

     $20 New Curtains

     $15 Paint & Supplies

     $10 New Lamps (got 2 lamps at Wal Mart for $5/each)

Now that I've got the painting bug, I wonder which room will get hit next...