my kitchen then and now

it's been four months since we moved in i've been a little busy and a little lazy. i wasn't able to get to seattle for my "big house furniture buying trip" until the end of july, so i was set back a bit. (you can see all about that fun trip here)

karl and i plan to update and probably renovate the kitchen the beginning of next year, so my plan until then was to make a few small changes that would make big difference.

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first i took down the existing curtain rod and mini blinds from the windows to bring in more light. then removed the dining room light and installed the new pendant light i bought from ikea. i also put up light filtering roman shades to replace the blinds. i chose to take off the top cabinet doors to give a more open feel, plus i really like open cabinets with white ware on display. i bought a new table and chairs that fit this dining area better than my rectangular table

from our last place.

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so here is it, my kitchen

then:

and now:

then:

now:

a few details up close:

i'm very happy with the results. it feels like a new kitchen and i love it.

for william's books

william's room was the first project in the house to get underway. i knew i wanted to stick with the same theme for his room but really make everything come together with the finishing touches i never got to before.

the last month or so i've been looking for something to house william's growing book collection. i got lucky when out with katelyn a few weeks back: i found a used book shelf/cart at a thrift store in pullman for $4.99. one side stored the books and the other side had red felt glued on from it's previous owner. it was nasty, dirty felt, but i knew exactly what i wanted to do with it.

i scrapped off the felt and used chalkboard paint to give william an area to be creative and draw.

william and i both love how it came out. i hope to have the rest of his room, before and after, up shortly.

william's cute little face.

thursday morning will and i went to katelyn's place for a craft; we made silhouettes of our kids to display as art. i sat in front, looking at each of the children, entertaining them so katelyn could get the right angle for each photo. after that, she did the hard work of changing, shrinking each one, getting it just right for printing. we then cut them out using a razor, traced them onto the paper we wanted and framed 'em. that's it. short and simple.

i love william's, he looks little, yet so grown up. this was a fast and easy project, one that i was happy to start and finish in a day.

temporary sewing room

after unpacking the important boxes for the last couple weeks i just recently made time to put together a sewing area for myself. it's very temporary so the "box" desk is what i used because i had so many sitting around. it gets the job done right?

here is the before.

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here it is after. nothing fancy as you can tell, just the necessities.

i put an old thrift store basket to use holding my fabrics.

and carved out a few shelves to store my knitting accessories, decorating books and picture frames not currently in use.

nothing to do with decor

or anything i made, but i'm posting it because i really like it.

i found a cool song last week while looking through itunes. since downloading it i've played it more than a dozen times. because i'm unpacking boxes and won't have anything creative to make for a while i'm sharing this song with you. you'll be surprised by the female singing. i think she sounds pretty good.

tell me what you think, have you heard it before?

27

i didn't mind turning 27 today, i felt so loved that i didn't care how old i was getting. my friends katelyn, michelle and heather took me out last night; we walked the mall, went to bucer's pub/cafe, a favorite of mine, here in town for some italian sodas and hot cocoa. to top the night off they surprised me with more friends who met up at eastside cinemas for a movie. thank you so much.

karl brought home the tulips this morning and made my day. love you karl.

michelle gave me this pitcher that for now hold my flowers but will be added to my whiteware collection to be put on disply. thank you michelle, i love it so much. plus i get 3 free vinyl decals for my new house.

katelyn gave me lots of goodies with this metal "&" from restoration hardware for my birthday to add to my number/letter collection. i love it! it will be perfect in my new house. thank you kate.

karl took me to "the breakfast club" this morning and gave me $25 toward something at pottery barn and $25 toward music at itunes. i can't wait to shop. thanks babe.

we're moving

karl and i have bought a house here in moscow and plan to move in the 30th of this month. i can't wait to get out of this little condo where i can paint and renovate. we've waited to announce it because there are a lot of hurdles to get through the first 5 weeks or so. but at this point we're past anything going wrong so we can safely say it's ours!

we will be getting the first home buyers credit of $8000 and most of it's going to new furniture and updates throughout the house. the pictures below are from a few different places online that i've collected since our offer was accepted. these are where i drew inspiration for some of my plans and hope to recreate a little something like it in our new, to us, home.

the entry way will have one of these shoe cabinets from ikea to provide clutter control and give a little shoe storage.

our kitchen will eventually get new counter tops and cabinet doors similar to these above. the current cabinetry in the kitchen is from the 90's. not terrible but in need of an update.

the house has 3 bedrooms; one being sort of small, leaving not a lot of room for an office. i don't want it out in the open so i'll be looking for something similar to this beautiful desk to hide our computer.

i hope to recreate our master bedroom to look something like this. a little romantic yet still neutral so i can easily change the look with bold color and accessories.

the house is 1200 sq ft so i still have to be creative with storage and space. karl and i both want a library but it will have to be in the living room. there's a small nook in the main room where we can do something like this. it's cozy and inviting with a little light and comfy couch i hope to be reading a lot more than i do now.

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