My list from last week is complete!  I even got it done on Thursday of last week, but was celebrating the 4th of July up right so I haven't gotten to post.  Here is the reminder of the list:

• Iron and put duvet cover on bed 
• Sew curtains for office and hang them up 
• Gloss Kitchen Cabinets 
• Paint window and doors in kitchen 

And without further ado..I present to you the master bedroom (it is still a WIP):

In the picture above we scored the mirror from IKEA for $99 and the green chair was FREE at a garage sale.  I love the avocado green color!  One day I may recover it but for right now I love it! This is Adam's nightstand.  This was actually free to us because it was mine nightstand when I was a little girl.  In another month I will have the matching one on my side.

So for now I get to use my favorite blue shelf as my nightstand (seen here).  It also is having to hold books because I am out of space.

I picked this little gem up  at an antique store in OKC for  $3.50.  It holds my ring and my hear deals/bobby pins (luna likes to eat them so I needed something by my bed in order to keep them out of her little tummy!)

Here is a more detailed shot of our new duvet cover.   I got it from TJ Max for $30 on the clearance rack! It is the perfect blend of old/new with the added detail of the lace.

Here is a sneak peak of the office which will hopefully be completed within the next couple of weeks.  Pillows still need to be recovered and boxes still need to be emptied (don't have enough storage space to contain it all)

Hope you all enjoyed the little tour.  Still much, much more to do like hang pictures, find some more pillows for the bed so there isn't so much white, but I was too excited not to share it with you!  Have a great week!

Sorry about the lack of updating.  Adam and I decided to take a last minute trip to Texas two weeks ago for our two year anniversary and then last week Adam left for Seattle for a mission trip so we were busy getting details squared away for that. On top of all this I got the amazing opportunity to translate at the health department for women who were pregnant.  If anyone ever needs to tell a woman in Spanish she has a sore on her uterus...call me!  As well as I was distracted by ironing and hanging my new curtains from Ikea...I couldn't let them just sit in the package when they were beckoning to be hung!  Over the course of the last two weeks I completed the following projects from my previous list:

• Gloss the kitchen cabinets 
• Finish trim in bedroom #2 (the office) 
• Unpack boxes in the office (Still have a few more, but no where to put them) 
• Hang window treatments in the office (meaning sew the curtains and spray paint the rods)
• Gloss the bathroom cabinets 
• Sew up the duvet cover 
• Adam: finish the second coat on the bathroom 

Here are is a picture of what I have been up to (with the help of my trusty companion, as my mother always says "every job needs a supervisor" and Luna makes quite a good one):

So my list for this week is the following:

• Iron and put duvet cover on bed 
• Sew curtains for office and hang them up 
• Gloss Kitchen Cabinets 
• Paint window and doors in kitchen 

Basically my goal of this week is just finishing up projects I have started (hence the short list).  Next week I hope to start sewing pillows and painting furniture (coffee table, end tables and kitchen chairs).  Which is so much more fun!!! and then I will be able to pictures of entire rooms!  We will see how this week goes though, don't hold your breath!  Hope everyone has a great week and I will update my status at the end of the week!

To Do List

I live by to-do lists.  Ask my friends in graduate school and they will tell you I am constantly making lists with little check boxes and writing things in my calendar during class (it's is borderline  obsessive).  Anyway....since having a list helped so much last week in putting my little hinney in gear here is my list I hope to accomplish this week:

• Gloss the kitchen cabinets
• Finish trim in bedroom #2 (the office)
• Unpack boxes in the office
• Hang window treatments in the office (meaning sew the curtains and spray paint the rods)
• Gloss the bathroom cabinets
• Sew up the duvet cover (yes that's right it was about 4 inches too big for our comforter, although both were labeled full/queen, so I get the joy of correcting the mistake)
• Adam: finish the second coat on the bathroom

I will post pics at the end of the week on all I am able to accomplish...toodles for now!

one check + two check = one smaller list

There is never a dull moment in our household right now! I am always finding something to clean, something to paint or a DIY website that gives me more ideas of various thing I want to do.  Here is the to-do list as it stands right now:

• Unpack ALL kitchen boxes
• Finish painting the kitchen  (finish one coat of gloss on cabinets)
• Finish painting the trim in bedroom #1
• Start painting the trim in bedroom #2
• Iron duvet cover and pillow covers and put on my bed

So here are some pics of what I have been up to.  I will post more on each of the projects once all my major projects are completed.  Hope you all enjoy!  Let me know what you think!

Before the baseboards were covered in various paint colors and a lot of the paint was peeling off:

Now they are smooth as a babies butt:

The kitchen also went from green to blue and the cabinets went from black to white.  Here is a picture so you can see what it looked like before:

  And here a small sneak peak at the after (still need to put on the gloss so I have nothing on the countertops):

And here is a pic of the wall color:

And the beadboard we hung (well my dad hung):

To do list

Here is what I hope to accomplish this week:

• Unpack ALL kitchen boxes
• Finish painting the kitchen
• Finish painting the trim in bedroom #1
• Start painting the trim in bedroom #2
  
• Iron duvet cover and pillow covers and put on my bed

Maybe if I have some accountability with you all I will get all these tasks accomplished and post pictures at the end of the week about each of them! Anyone have a preference on what they would like to see first?

Paint + Beadboard = A whole New Kitchen

Today these cabinets are going to be transformed from black to white and the green will be replaced with a pale blue. Thanks to the handiwork of my father we will also be putting in a beadboard back splash This will be the most dramatic change in the whole house! So excited I can barely think! I will post pictures in a few weeks once everything finds a new home!

Everett + Thelma= Mary

To say my grandmom was an incredible woman is an understatement. Her death when I was nine was a devastating event as she was one of the people who was always a constant in my life. Her legacy, however, continues as she left her mark of sewing on the world! Here are some of the items in my home that were handmade by Mary Yvonne and are a constant reminder of a woman whom I loved deeply.




This was not actually made by my grandmother, but it was what she used to put her coasters in at her house. It is a sweet reminder of her that I now get to see everday.




She made this coasters for a lot of different people in every shade of the rainbow. I have the white, blue and peach.

P.S. If you look, you can catch a glimpse of our new wall color! More on that once rooms start being put together!

Adam +Khylee +prayer = House

Well, friends it has been a long while since I have posted. I apologize for not being more diligent with writing, however, reporting on weird smells and flee infestation did not sound very appealing to me. I have a very important announcement: we FOUND OUR HOUSE! It's gorgeous, beautiful, homey, what I always thought my first house would look like, ahh.....So, brace yourself for a little bit of a read as I recount the story of how God answered our prayers.
Well, it all started back in November (yes that far back). We went looking at houses and put an offer on this one:



So far nothing new, right? Well, here is "the story" begins. Sunday, the day after we had put an offer in, we went to the youth minister's house, and fell in love with their cute little house. It was exactly what Adam and I was looking for in a house: wood floors, circa 1940's, three bedrooms, character, perfect neighborhood, completely updated, white trim. After we left their house we both thought, independent of one another "what are we doing with that other house?" So when when the counteroffer came back on Monday we said "thanks, but no thanks, and decided we were going to wait for a house like S&G's(youth minster and his wife, names blanked out for privacy).
I preceded to facebook G and ask her if their house had been that nice when they got it or if they had to do a lot of work to get it looking so stinkin' cute. Well, she facebooked me back and told me the various projects they had done on the house and then preceded to tell me that if we were interested they were wanting to sale. I was in shock, flabbergasted, excited, could it really be that easy? We both loved the house, from the moment we walked in the door it had felt like home. So we went to see it that week, to get the grand tour of all the nooks and crannies and fell in love even more. I know your asking, "Then why didn't you get it?" Well, that is where the story takes a turn.

We talked ourselves out of it. Yep, call it scared, call it listening to what other people were saying, call it first time homebuyers jitters, call it not praying for peace. There were several factors that stopped us from giving the big fat yes and going to sign our lives away. So we started the search again, and put offers on the houses already covered in this post. However, nothing was working out and we kept coming to dead ends. So, after the fiasco with house #3 we moved into the rent house and started to pray (both individually and together). It wasn't long after that that individually Adam and I both started thinking about S&G's house once again. So after a month of praying daily we approached S & G and told them if they were still wanting to sale, we wanted to buy!

So over Spring Break we closed on the house and then moved in on April 22, 2010! We are so thankful for this blessing and I come home every day thanking God for such a lovely home. Both Adam and I are excited to see how God uses this place for ministry in the future. Here is the picture Adam took of our beautiful vintage home the day we moved in:


I apologize for not updating the blog more frequently, school has consumed all of what life that existed and therefore I haven't even had time to unpack boxes yet! However, I promise to include as many posts as possible over the summer as we play with our first home and make some drastic changes :) Stay tuned for stories on painting (walls & furniture & cabinets), shopping on craigslist, trips to Ikea, and pictures of our beloved Luna! Make sure to put us in your google READER or bookmark me on your browser!

old + new = our office

Howdy! It has been a while since I have posted due to the overtake of my schooling. These snow days came at a great time. I am getting ahead with school and have time to update the blog. What a treat! Although there was a request for the kitchen, my camera needs batteries, so that post will come soon. So for now, I will show you all the office because I already took pictures of it. There isn't much to it, but just enough to keep me organized and provide me with a work space for studying. Adam doesn't use it much except for sitting on the coach while I work. So without further ado, here she is:The coach is from Ikea, and we bought it originally for our first rent house. We lived on the second story of a house and we couldn't have a normal couch so we bought this little beauty! The desk is from Target and I bought it during college. The chair is a garage sale find. I bought for a $1 and painted it as well as recovered the seat. I will document that process later.

Where I spend a lot of my time!


Some of my textbooks. All but one of those books is for ONE of my classes! That's right eight books for one class! So there you have it! Our humble little office. Stay safe everyone in the snow and ice. Enjoy time with your family, and from what I can tell enjoy all the food everyone is making! Yummy!

table + 5 chairs = one great craigslist deal

Here is the one sneak peak of our dining room table/chairs that will be shown before I sand, paint, and refinish my $200 steal of a deal! Not to mention it came with two surprise leafs underneath. Instead of seating four, this little beauty will be able to seat 8 comfortably! Go us!

Furniture + Love = Living Room

Tomorrow begins my second semester in graduate school and I'm not sure that I am ready for the stress, lack of sleep, and lack of free time that is about to take place. Although the break was extremely relaxing it wasn't until this last week that we have finally settled into our new town, had our things all in one location, and had running water each morning! Well, I will begin the tour of our rent house with the living room. I decided that I would only unpack one box of living room decorations and this is the box that got opened first. When you open the front door this is the scene that greets you. (Luna will probably more than likely be jumping on you and barking to get your attention).


I noticed that once all my things were put together I have a lot more modern pieces of furniture than I realized. The coffee table will be going shortly (it is too high) and I would like to get more white pillows on the coach to replace the blue ones(which will eventually find their way back into the office where they belong). I want more of a cottage feel throughout my house and seeing these pictures actually helped me realize only pieces of my furniture fit this bill. The majority of these things (excluding the coach) were bought on clearance, from an antique store or from a garage sale. So I don't have a lot of moo-lah invested into then.



This sofa table is from Target and I got it for $30 on clearance! Originally it is $129.99. When I saw that red clearance sticker I just knew I could not leave the store without this little baby. The candles are from my wedding and the wire thingy is from an antique store.

This elephant is from Africa and makes me think of my 6th grade years when I collected all sorts of elephants.



This coat rack was purchased at Ikea for $29 buck-a-roos. It has been perfect because we don't have to nail in a coat rack at each rent house we move into. It is coming in handy at this house because it blocks our TV from anyone who looks into our house from the front door.


This little beauty is probably one of my favorite pieces in my whole house. It has served as a "welcome center" (aka, where Adam would put his keys when he came home), as a magazine holder, and now is being used as an end table. I bought it at one of my favorite antique stores in Fort Worth.



Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures. I will show a new room next week!

one candle + oil burner = no more stink

Moving day ensued yesterday and all of our precious belongings have landed in the rent house with little to no incident. It is fun to see our coaches, table,bed and various other garage sale finds in new surroundings. It has been like rediscovering and falling in love with my furniture all over again. However, despite seeing the beauty of the furniture, the house (due to not being lived in for a while) has a funky odor! So I have burning a lot of candles and an essential oil burner from The Body Shop with Lemon Basil scent(thanks Juliana) to help rid the house of its' musty odor. If it wasn't the dead of winter I would open up all the windows and let the house air out.

I did spend the greater part of Wednesday cleaning all the baseboards and blinds in the rooms we will be living in (the house is 3 bedroom, 2 bath which is way to much space for the three of us). As always my faithful companion kept watch at the window for any intruders. Not only that, but she helps me keep my sanity when I have to spend days alone. (Doesn't she look so cute with her new hair cut. Sorry boys she is already taken!)


More posts to follow on the simple decorating that will be taking place. Leave a comment on which room of the rent house you would like to see first! For now I leave you with one small sneak peak:

(Pictures are courtesy of me and my new camera that my sweet husband bought me for Christmas)

frozen pipes + extreme cold weather = homelessness

As mentioned previously, our adventures in searching for a house has been anything but calm, cool or collective. We are currently homeless! Our sweet cabin in the woods has had frozen pipes for the last 5 days and will hopefully be thawed out today or tomorrow with the warming of the weather. Over the course of living a gypsy lifestyle we decided at the end of last week that we will rent from our pastor a little rent house that is in the hub of this thriving metropolis. The carpets are getting cleaned today and moving is slated for one week night sometime this week. This does not mean our house search is over though dear friends, quite the contrary! By renting from the pastor we do not have to sign a lease. God has even blessed us with appliances (stove and refrigerator) for free since the rent house did not have either. Both Adam and I feel so blessed that so many people within our church family have taken us in and made us feel at home during this unique period in our lives. Thank you all! Once we have moved I will post pictures of our humble abode and the minimal decorating that will be taking place. Plus you will be able to see my sweet Craigslist Finds!

1 + 2 = 3 i don't think so

Well, everybody, I am sad to say that the beautiful 194o's casa did not meet the bill of inspection. Many of you maybe wondering "why? it is so cute!" well...don't be deceived by its antique, alluring exterior. You will only end up getting hurt! Here is a list of all that is wrong with it that the inspector found last night. Remember, this is on top of all the aesthetic work (refinishing all the floors, redoing two bathrooms, tiling and redoing all the cabinets in the kitchen, painting every nook and crany both inside and outside, new windows, reframing outside windows due to rot, guttering and possible bracing of the house due to settling).

• None of the outlets were grounded except those used for appliances and some of the electrical was circa 1940
  
• The floors under both bathrooms were rotted
  
• The rot in one of the bathrooms had reached a jost and thus that part of the house was starting to collapse
• All the electric in the attic was not up to code meaning FIRE hazard
  
• Their was a moisture point found by one of the bathrooms (not sure why, but not good)
• Woodfloor by one of the back doors was rotted and needed to be replaced

Although we were going to get the house for a phenomenal deal, all the work and money we would put into the house would be well over what the house is worth. So, I bid you ado sweet house #3. So for now the bunkhouse (cabin in the woods, little red barn) is where we will call home!

one chai tea + one nap = I cannot sleep

Tomorrow marks moving day and Adam and I only have a few things left to pack up! Seeing as how we will be residing far from any thriving metropolis I have been making my last minute Craigslist purchases. Not only did I score a complete queen size bed frame, for $50 smack-a-roos, I also purchased a dining room table with 5 chairs for $200! I will post pictures soon of my incredible finds! I am still searching for a lot more pieces, but realized that I want to refinish anything I purchase so I better slow down on the buying or I might just start to feel overwhelmed! I also managed to sell my previous glass dining room table, that although nice, just wasn't meant for entertaining. Here are some of my favorite, current inspirational pictures from some of the blogs I love to read. Enjoy the eye-candy and Happy New Year!

Source: Life in the Fun Lane

Source: A Lettered Cottage

Source: A Beach Cottage

Source: A Beach Cottage

Source: A Beach Cottage

Does anyone have a favorite design photo they have used as inspiration in a room or have a blog (home or food) that they love to read. Leave me a comment with the link!

one TP roll + spray paint = wall art

Hello All! We are officially moving January 2nd! Our stuff will be temporarily going into storage and we will be living in a little cabin in the woods thanks to one of the guys that works with Adam. I have posted all my unwanted furniture on Craigslist, packed all rooms except the master bedroom, and started cleaning up our little casa. Inspection on the new house will hopefully be done by the end of this week and then we can move forward and I can get to work re-doing the new, old house.

I leave you today with a little recyclable wall art that can be made with toilet paper rolls, some spray paint and a little glue. I cannot wait to make it!

To see step by step instructions click here!

Source: Design Sponge