Friday, April 22, 2011

Overwhelmed

We closed on the house. I went to see it today for the first time since Febuary 8th when we put our offer in. It is smaller than I remembered it. It is dirtier than I remembered. I didn't remember the main bathroom having a magenta countertop. I didn't remember everything that needed to be done. I had built it up in my head.

Don't get me wrong, I am still very excited. I just have a ton of projects rolling around in my head and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I thought about not posting this, but right now I would love to read a post like this from someone feeling what I'm feeling. So, I wanted to put it out there.

We have SO much we want to do to this house, but it's going to be one day at a time. I am going to be taking pictures tomorrow before we start cleaning and pulling wallpaper down. I want to do a post on each room and tell everything that we are thinking for that room. I'm looking forward to it. I know after we just clean, get the wallpaper out, and paint it is going to look like a different house.

Oh, and I bought our first house related thing today. A door knob. LOL

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tomorrow's the day!

Tomorrow is closing day! We thought this day would never come. Also, tonight I am getting my new camera (poor thing has no idea what's coming). So that means that there will be pictures of our new place coming really soon - probably Friday.

Then, Saturday we are having a fun filled day of stripping wallpaper. We have a border in the kitchen and bedroom. Both bathrooms are wall to wall paper. And the kitchen has the bottom half of the wall papered. But, our wonderful parents are coming to help us, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

The next Saturday we are having a painting party. Also during these 2 weekends or sometime in between we need/hope to: replace the garage door motor, repair our gate, pressure wash the outside of the house, trim up some wild folage, and do lots of caulking. I will be reporting back with pictures of everything! We haven't done most of this stuff before.

I have already started packing and we will be moving boxes over everytime we go over there. The next Saturday we plan to move the rest of our stuff from the in-law's house. Eventually we have a lot of stuff to get out of storage.

Then, we will probably rest for a weekend....maybe. So, check back for lots of pictures and work!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Holly's Cameras: A History

I guess it all started in 11th grade when I borrowed my parents new state of the art digital camera. This was when digital was still really new and they had paid a lot of money for this camera. I dropped it on a tile floor. OOPS! But it worked fine once I picked it up, so I didn't tell them. About a week later it started messing up, so I had to tell them what happened. They had to take it to be repaired.


Then for my senior gift my parents bought me a really nice camera. A film camera because I was determined digital would not last- I mean the pictures looked horrible! This camera was awesome. I took it to prom and graduation. Then, it quit working for no reason. My dad had lost the receipt, so we couldn't get it fixed on warranty. The repair shop said there was no repairing it.


My mom gave me her old digital camera when she got a new one. It hasn't worked since she gave it to me. She said it worked fine for her.


My husband has a DSLR camera that he got for an awesome deal when our local Circuit City closed. He bought a nice bag for it that said it would protect it from a 10 foot drop! I had the camera with me in his truck one day and while going around a curve it leaned up against the passenger's door. I forgot, opened the door, and the camera (inside the bag) hit the road. It broke the lens and we had to buy a new one. Luckily the camera body wasn't damaged.


So I didn't want to use the DSLR ever again after that. My husband loves that camera and we were starting to see a pattern with me and cameras. So for my birthday last year DH bought me a $100 Kodak point and shoot camera. We had a snow day in January and I put the camera in my hoodie pocket, then had a jacket over the hoodie that was zipped up. While doing a snow angel the camera somehow slide out of that pocket and past the jacket, then I stepped on it when I got up. The screen is shattered.


So, as you can imagine, it took me a lot of time to talk my husband into letting me get another camera. But with having a toddler and getting a house, there is a lot I want to take pictures of. So this week we are going to H.H. Gregg to get a cheap-o camera they have on sale for $50! I can finally start putting pictures on the blog! Just in time for closing day. I'm sure they will be crappy quality, but please understand I cannot be trusted with a nice camera!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My First Mood Board

First off, we are closing on our house next week- Finally! We are super excited and ready to start working. I can also start posting as I'll have something to show!
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For whatever reason, I don't like the phrase mood board. From now on I will call them inspiration boards. Hows that!


So for my first inspiration board I decided to use Mydeco. I was so suprised by how easy it was! The only problem I had was trying to get it to the blog, but it didn't take too long to figure that out either (after you save the board you have to go to your profile and there is the option to embed). You can use your own pictures or they have a TON to choose from.


So as you can probably tell, this inspiration board is for our future eat in kitchen. I am going for a country farmhouse look, with a little touch of modern and a pop of color.


Starting in the top left corner and going clockwise:



  1. The walls will be painted in Sherwin Williams Bungalow Beige

  2. I would like to make curtains in a fun geometric pattern kind of like this one.

  3. If I can find one for the right price, I really want a farmhouse sink. I have a couple of ideas where I might can find a discounted one, so we will see.

  4. The backsplash will be in a green subway tile like this one.

  5. We are going to keep our existing cabinets because they are in good shape. We are going to use Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations to re-do our cabinets in white with glaze around the indentions and edges. I haven't made a final choice, but Quilter's White looks like what I'm going for.

  6. Butcher block countertops will be installed. We will probably go with Numerar from Ikea.

  7. I am in love with this dining set from World Market. I need to do some measuring though. Whatever set we go with, the wide plank top is a must for me. We also would like a table with a leaf. Since our kitchen is small, we need a small table for everyday use. But on special occasions it we be okay for it to be tighter in there and seat more people.

What do you think? These changes won't all take place at once or right away, but this is what I'm aiming towards.


Have you ever done an inspiration board?