Today's Before and After: The Fireplace

So, after months of begging Brandon to paint the fireplace screen (we were only waiting on him to remember to bring home a fan from work) he finally did it!

First, we read a tutorial on Centsational Girl (which is an AMAZING and addicting blog!) and followed her instructions that you can view here. However, we went with using spray paint instead of brush paint because Brandon said it would be easier and would dry faster with less chance of our new psycho-kitten Skip messing it up... plus Brandon is known for always being right... ;-)

Then on he went and here are the wonderful results:

1.) Our ORIGINAL fireplace (in case you have forgotten just how bad it was)

2.) Our updated, yet not painted over brass fireplace

3.) Our finished new black fireplace screen!

Doesn't it just clean everything up?!

The Tear Down!

So, after months of anticipation and excitement to be decorating our first home for Christmas, I was surprised to find myself excited to tear it all down!

For those who know me, know I am a pretty messy person; however, deep down inside, I have a total neat freak, and today, she spoke to me... So, I started taking down all the Christmas decor and organizing it away in the many new storage boxes I got from Target (which was PACKED with people with the exact same idea!) and I was having way too much fun.

Honestly, I nearly skipped down the aisles at Target upon seeing all the spring cleaning items they had on display, but thankfully I was able to contain my excitement and save it for my living room...

ENTER: The Tornado




Our fireplace looks so naked!


Then on I went, sorting and storing, and I realized I wasn't quite ready to put it ALL away, so a few pieces were incorporated into our "everyday" decor...

For example, for our mantle our ordinary $15 swap meet mirror stayed, but I added my .75 cent wreath with a hint of sparkle (later this year it might get a makeover involving feathers and pine cones!) and I kept out the mercury glass hurricane and votives that I LOVED from Marshall's. just another way to switch up our decor to keep our house feeling "new" and satisfying my need for creativity.




On our side table, I decided to switch it up a little as well by moving my orchids over there and line the entire piece with tea lights for a warm glow.

Christmas Photos

We took our very first Christmas photo this year! Although we didn't get them mailed out, they are still fun share with our friends and family online!

We decided in November when we saw these footed PJ's we HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!!

So, we crammed our big ol' bodies (I'm 5'9", Bran is 5''11") into them and had some hysterical laughs pointing at one another and trying to get all three kids into the picture while managing to use a self-timer...what a fun night!

Decking the halls!

Yippee! It's finally Christmas time! As if I wouldn't already be excited, knowing that this would be the first year Bran and I would have our own tree and our own house to decorate made me EVEN more excited!

I spent every drop of my birthday money on Christmas decorations and loved every minute of it!

So lets start the tour:

1.) Our green, red, and gold trimmed tree with ribbon and sparkly peacock feather accents.

2.) Our mantle-scape with our stockings from Target
(I'd love to still add two tall candles on either side of the mirror!)



3.) Our dining room

I made a super easy centerpiece with leftover ornaments, ribbon, a charger, and a $10 trifle from Pier 1.

4.) Our side table--I bought all this at Marshall's and spent under $30 for everything including the candles inside, but I still want something else on there to tie it together like a table runner or a Christmas swag to weave through it.

5.) Our entry way with my yarn trees:
I bought some inexpensive Styrofoam trees, green yarn, and 2 ornaments, and I hot glued the yarn around the trees to make these cute little accents. Super easy and affordable!

Home Goods provided the super sparkly and fun filler for my bowl in the entryway for only $12.99!

6.) My homemade wreath from Michael's:
I bought a $5.99 wreath, six 50 cent pics, some ribbon and an owl ornament ($3) and weaved it all together to make this affordable wreath for our front door!

Today's Before and After: Our living room

So our living room started out a nasty carpenter's beige like the rest of the house riddled with hooks, staples, nasty carpet, and acoustic ceiling, but things have changed.

We bought new carpet before moving in and painted the room Valspar's "Nutria" green...for months, there it stayed, with blankets as our sofa and a TV we barely used.

You see, I had conned my neighbors and friends (who I used to babysit for) into selling us their big burnt orange sofa that I loved so dearly, but what we thought was going to be a short exchange turned into a five month ordeal (not that we're complaining, we were just excited to get this awesome and comfy couch). Our poor neighbors had one hell of a time finding a sofa as well as trouble finding a reliable place to ship it from/pick it up, but finally, the day came where Dana called and said we could come and get it! We were so excited to no longer watch movies on the floor and to finally be able to set up the living room! As an added bonus, our awesome old neighbors gave us the couch for free instead of the original agreement of $300 for having us wait so long.

A special thanks to Anthony and Dana for their generosity and hard work!

So here is the before and "working after" (we're not quite done):






Dana also hooked me up with a $150 Pottery Barn gift card a while back where I bought three yards of Serafina floral print fabric and made these awesome pillows (along with $2 a yard sale fabric (Hancock Fabrics) for the green)... another thanks to Dana and Anthony.
I'm telling you, they spoil us!

We'd still like to add crown molding, paint the little bookshelf white/ find things to put on it, add something else over the back of the sofa (maybe a wood frame around the 3 pieces to make it appear larger?), and probably raise the window dressing up a few inches...

Today's Before and After: The Eat In Kitchen

I have been going on and on for months about how I need to revamp our eat in kitchen. So, I did it!

I sanded down our kitchen cabinet and painted it the same color as the trim (Valspar's Churchill Hotel Lace) and I finally figured out a window treatment for our small window that has been uncovered for nearly 6 months so every time we ate dinner we could feel on display for the whole neighborhood.

The cabinet is pretty self-explanatory and here's the before,during, and after:








Now, for the window dressing I had a little fun with my tight budget and wound up spending under $55 on the ENTIRE window.

I originally saw some curtains I liked at World Market for around $60, but when I found out they had been discontinued I walked my pouting self down the corner to "Home Fabrics" which was going out of business. Inside I found AWESOME fabrics, most on sale between $3-7 a yard. I scored this funky blue, green, and cream fabric for only $3 a yard and bought 5 yards. I also scored a 2 for 1 deal ($12.99) on the brown drapes as well as curtain hooks for only $2.99 for a set fo 6!

After a quick stop at JoAnn's fabrics to buy some seam tape (the kind you iron to make the seams stay in place before sewing), I headed home to make my curtains the day before my housewarming party.

I was pretty wary considering I had never done this before, but I just started going and things were working out well. I laid out the fabric upside down on the floor and heated my iron on the setting for wool. Then I rolled out strips of the seam tape and followed the package instructions on how to steam the tape so it would adhere to the fabric. Next I whipped out my old sewing machine and sewed the straightest lines I could (I was very proud of this considering I am a very inexperienced seamstress!). Once all four seams were sewn on each curtain I attached the clip on curtain rings and slid them onto the rod I bought at Ross for $12.99.

---If you haven't checked out Ross for curtain rods and are looking for some, I HIGHLY recommended it!




As an added bit of advice to make your windows look even larger, we hung the curtain as high as we could with the vaulted ceiling and we extended the curtain rod beyond the window edges around a foot on each side to make the small window seem wider (the actual window is only as wide as the printed curtains). The effect was a window that looks much larger and helps balance the entire room and keep our dining table from looking massive in the small area.

So there you have it! My breakdown:

Two brown curtain panels: $12.99 (for for 1 special)
5 Yards of Fabric: $15.00 ($3 a yard)
Clip on curtain rings: $5.98
Curtain Rod: $12.99
Seam tape: $4.89

Grand total: $51.85 + tax!


Now I'm just thinking some artwork or photos would look nice on the far wall... what do you think?

Our New Addition

So, if you cannot tell, Brandon and I both total animal lovers who treat our pets as our own children. In fact, for years we have discussed how we plan to get a Saint Bernard puppy after we get married and he will be our big 200lb drooling oaf who we will affectionately name "Moe"... yes, we have an imaginary dog.

But right now I shouldn't be talking about dogs, I should be talking about cats.

I grew up with a single cat who was my baby from the age of four until her passing my senior year in high school. I was absolutely heartbroken at the loss of my beloved cat Beetlejuice. Brandon endured the many tears (even four years later I have trouble talking about her without getting choked up) but I am thankful for the wonderful years I spent with my childhood pet and friend.

Beetlejuice (1992-2006):



We had 3 other cats after Beetlejuice, but none of them lasted more than a year in the country at my parents' house, leaving less time to form a lifetime bond like I did with Beetlejuice. Beezy, Judas, and Elphaba (my mom thinks cats are evil and need evil names) were all pretty cool cats, but unfortunately only the strong and smart survive in the country and somehow Beetlejuice was the record holder in the neighborhood where my parents have lived for the last 20 years.

Ok, I'm sure by now you're wondering how this fits in with our current life in town right? Well, for months I had been BEGGING Brandon to let me bring home a cat from my work named Schezuan, who is super sweet and needs a home (contact me if you want more info!). However, he strongly said "No, we don't need a cat, and we don't need a litter-box" and so I had just about given up on the idea of getting a cat when a good friend of ours walked into my parents' shop holding a small gray kitten with a skinned up chin.



Our friend explained that the truck in front of him had pitched the little kitten out of the window while driving and that he almost hit her so he stopped and picked her up. She was so sweet even though she was shook up. He asked if we wanted her since otherwise he was just gonna leave her outside at his house, so my mom and I agreed we'd take her to the vet and get her checked out and find her a good home.



Inside I was jumping for joy, but at the same time I figured Brandon would still say "No". I told him her story, showing him her picture where she looks like a wolf with her bushy face and skinned up chin, and after finding a legitimate place for the litter-box (under the staircase), he said "I guess you can't turn down a cat that is part wolf"! It wasn't a yes, but it was all I needed!

The kitty-door leading into Skip's "fort":


Inside the "fort" (the clothes were waiting to be donated):


So, in late November we brought home our little 3 month old kitten named "Skip" after the way she skipped off the pavement. She's psycho, but sometimes we love her....


She's a bad kitty.

I've been a bad bad blogger

I apologize for any followers who have been disappointed by my "missing" posts. I have been very busy over the last month and a half with school, work, and travel. To catch you up to date, Brandon and I have gone to Hawaii, the desert, had our housewarming party, celebrated his 22nd birthday as well as my 21st, added a new member to our family, and we have decked the halls for Christmas and done some much needed remodeling around the house as well. Hopefully I can make up for what I've missed with a day packed full of fun posts!

Thanks,
Caitlin