Welcome Winter

I really try not to buy any new decorations until we unpack everything from the years prior.  This year it was really hard, I think maybe because I am feeling the Christmas Spirit earlier then usual.  This will be our 3rd Christmas in our home, but our first as a married couple.  We have accumulated some decorations in the 3 years, I really try to stick with snowmen and the winter theme instead of Santas, reindeer, and Christmas trees.  I feel that this makes the decorations last longer as in I don't get tired of them as fast and they can stay up until the snow is leaving. 

Here is a close up of our tree, I added ice cover sticks to give the tree more character. 

I just used a 50% off at Michael's and bought a small bunch of the sticks and then broke them up and placed them in the tree randomly. 

The star was a Good Will find, it was gold, we just spray painted it to match our home better.
The tree skirt is just burlap, it's about a 7ft by 3ft and I just wrapped it around the stand.  Easy and very inexpensive!!

The snowmen on the shelf are a Good Will find that I just cleaned up and add some fabric for their scarves.
Adding a little greenery around a candle gives the winter look without adding too much to the foyer table, same with in the floor vase, I just added some holiday berries. 

Good Bye Fall.....

It's kinda sad putting all this fall stuff away, but I guess it's that time.  I am excited for winter decorations though, maybe it's because it has been so nice out lately, I think I'm actually looking forward to snow (did I just say that???)

"I'd better were a mask for this one"

This was the only time through the whole re-do that Ryan wore a mask.  That wasn't the smartest thing to do, I am just glad I didn't have to nag at him about it during this part.  There was so much mold, the drywall was just falling apart.  We are thinking there was a leak that wasn't taken care of.  Anything that has to do with water needs to be fixed right away, water spreads so quickly and quietly.

We should have bought stock in white trim paint.  We used it EVERYWHERE!!  It made a big difference and it was light on our pocketbook:) 

Here is an after of the painted cabinet.  We added new updated hardware and tada!  You can kind of see my mosaic mirror I made in college.  It was made from a baby's mirror that was my brother's over 20 years ago.  I'll show more mosaic furniture soon.

Here is the bathroom now:)

~Crafty Hearts, Warm Home~: Carpet in the bathroom....are you kidding me?

~Crafty Hearts, Warm Home~: Carpet in the bathroom....are you kidding me?: " We have 2 full baths in our house and both were in no way ready to use when we bought our house.   Here are some BEFORE pictures of the upsta..."

Do you see the blue carpet?







Here is our bathroom as of right now.  The floor is a laminate that is one piece and was a great price.  The mirror was originally gold, it was a Good Will find for $3.   I just put some cardboard in the middle and taped it down and sprayed it with espresso spray paint, let it dry and peeled off the tape.  You can use a carpenter's knife if any paint spreads onto the mirror.





The candles on the toilet are from our wedding centerpieces.  I just put them in a basket that I had.  Easy and didn't cost anything.



Stickin with the downstairs

 I'm a little embarrased showing this picture, due to the nasty stains that came with this lovely brown/green carpet but I can assure you those CAME WITH THE HOUSE!  I was right behind the camera saying "I can't believe you are doing that with no gloves!!"  That was just the beginning of the nasty smell....

But we were sure to get rid of it, little by little that is.  Here are some DURING pictures so you can see the process:)



This is the beginning of the hardwood.  We went with hardwood because honestly my dad said he would help if we put hardwood in (he is not a fan of anything but).  So we said "OK!"  We were not in a rush so we were able to wait for it to go on sale at good ol' Home Depot and open up a 0% for 1 year credit card and saved another 10%.  With this savings and Ryan and my dad installing it, is really the only reason we were able to afford beautiful hardwood.  But it is true, once you go hardwood you never go back!! We love it!



Here is my amazing dad, working like a 25 year old!



It was a lot of hardwood!  (That's or fridge we got from a builder who was going out of business, we had to store it there until our kitchen was done)

Before the decorating began
This table was actually Ryan's in college, it was a light colored wood.  I believe this is when I truly fell in love with spray paint.  I wish I had before pictures....It was a really easy project a little sand paper to rough the table and chairs up and then we literally spray painted the whole thing.  We spray painted the bottom white last, but separately (the table comes apart)  I like the white because it goes with our cabinets, which ties the casual dining area to the kitchen.



And a little love for all his hard work (don't pay attention to the ugly chandelier behind us, that is long gone)







The finished product, it really is always a work in progress.  More like "as of right now".





And how about the kitchen

Yep, Ryan walked right out of this house as soon as the realtor opened the door and let us in, it took some convincing on my part to get him to see the open floor plan and the great room size, not to mention the price!!!

This is the night we closed, we went and celebrated with a beer and then went to our "new" really old and gross house.  I remember looking at him and saying "What did we just do?" 

You can kind of see the huge stove vent that we did away with (thank goodness)

And here it is now Dalila and all!

Anyone can go and buy....but why not reuse and create something better? LET'S START WITH THE FOYER

It's not the best "before"  picture, but you can kind of see they foyer, we had to rip up the 70's light blue laminate flooring ( Yuk)

Ahhh, my 20 dollar table.  It was a child's desk transformed.  Ryan was not too excited when I showed up at our house with this bright blue nasty looking piece of furniture, but like always he took my word for it and we worked together to transform it to our practical foyer table.  I promise I will get better at taking before pictures:)

And yet another reason I love espresso paint, or any spray paint for that matter.  This shelf/table was another goodwill find.  It is amazing what some spray paint, baskets and hardware can do to a pathetic looking piece of furniture!!

Coffee

Yep, coffee my inspiration.  Maybe it's the smell, or the comfort of holding a warm cup...actually I know what it is!  It's the color!!!!  I love the different shades of browns you can get depending on how much cinnamon (that's my favorite flavor) cream you put in your cup.  I have used coffee for my inspiration in almost our whole home.  It started with the paint colors and moved on to part of our theme in our kitchen.  Let me stress that it is so important to have little touches of a theme, not in your face themes!

I know I love coffee not just for the warm relaxing feeling that comes from it, but also because you can put any color along with it and it looks fabulous!  Here are some things I have used "coffee" for in my kitchen. 

 



This was just a piece of wood, that I took a wood burner to and carved in the word CAFE, I then white washed it and went over the letters with a paper towel and some silver acrylic paint.  So easy and inexpensive, you could do this with any word (Love, Family, Your last name, etc.)





 

This was actually just a old piece of wood, that I white washed and added some "coffee/tea" themed hooks!  Walla!

Found this at HomeGoods, yep one of my favorite stores!! It was only 10 bucks and looks so cute above my kitchen pantry:)

Sorry for the odd view.  We did the whole cafe theme in our kitchen, so when I came across these at Hobby Lobby, I was in love.

The iron tea pot and cup came from the flea market, at first I just wanted the tea pot, but the seller talked me into the cut too for only 1 dollar more.  I'm glad he did, because where I have it is wasted space and looks perfect there.