Low Key Valentine

I decided to keep Logan's Valentine's to his friends low key this year.  I whipped up a quick card in Microsoft Publisher and printed them on pink card stock.  I punched a couple of holes into the card and inserted a heart shaped lollipop.  Logan is eating one right now, so it must be a success!

I Promised

I promised to show our kitchen, too, and I thought that some inspiration might go along with it.  Our kitchen is a bit dated, but has really good bones to it.  I love the wood floor and our appliances were moved from our old place. 

Here are a few photos of the kitchen...

My wish list includes new and updated cabinetry and a solid surface counter top.  Removing the partial height wall and adding an island with fun lighting above it.  Moving the fridge? and expanding the pantry.  I, also, hate the porcelain sink and would love a stainless steel sink. Oh yeah, and paint it a different color.  Detail, details.

Here's my plan for the future and I'm sure it will change as we aren't planning on doing any work in here for a while...

Here are some inspirational photos...

via Apartment Therapy

via NY Times

via Kerf

Go Up-Stirs

When Logan wants to go upstairs he says it like up-stirs.  Funny pronunciation and it's so darn cute, so I thought I would take you on a tour of the up-stirs.

Guest Bedroom

This a is a large bedroom that we haven't remodeled yet.  I like that it's big enough for a small family to stay in while visiting us.

Guest Bathroom

The guest bathroom also happens to be Logan's bathroom.  He's the only one to get his very own jacuzzi bathtub.  Lucky Duck.  We don't expect to make any changes to this room.  It was remodeled recently and has a nice marble counter top and tiled shower.  Fancy digs for a little toddler!

Logan's Room

Logan's bedroom is pink.  He likes it that way and doesn't seem overly concerned about his feminine tinted walls.  We have big plans for his room.  We want to add bead board and trim to his walls as a wainscot and paint the walls in a more neutral, yet masculine color.  We will, also, match the built in seat over the existing ductwork that is locate in one portion of the room.  You can see that his room is actually split into two areas.  His sleeping area and a play area.

Master Bedroom

Our bedroom is more of suite.  We have a bathroom, walk-in closet, and sitting room all attached.

Sitting Room

Messy Master Bathroom

A couple of our bathrooms are like hallways in that they have two doors, a regular door at one end and a pocket door at the other.  We plan on adding pull handles to the pocket doors.  Our Master bathroom needs a bti of work in terms of color and storage.  Right now our towels are piled into a basket on the floor.  Some shelving would help this.

View into Sitting Room

Storage Room

 We have a large storage room off of the sitting room that is over our garage.  It's partially finished and I can't wait to transform it into my craft/ storage room.  It's like a hidden gem that you wouldn't expect to be there.

and lastly...

Bedroom (and Logan's favorite bed to play in)

This bedroom is connected to a hallway and the master bathroom.  It's a perfect room for any future nursery needs.

New House Tour

I can see that my last post was right before we moved into our new house and this is the first chance I have gotten to post some images. I need to show the house in a few posts as there are a lot of images and I don't want to overwhelm you! Exterior pictures will be forthcoming because I need to wait until there isn't 2+ feet of snow on the ground. All that snow makes our new house look really short for some reason.

Our house was originally built in the 1920's but the previous owners built a sizeable addition about 15 years ago.

Foyer at side entrance

We have two front doors.  Isn't that confusing?  We use the side- front door as our main point of greeting and it's adjacent to our garage.  The foyer is quite large and the only room to be wallpapered.  Changes will occur in this room as the wall paper comes down.

 

Closet off of garage

Bathroom

 A 3/4 bath is located right off the foyer and has a shower to make chlorine removal from our pool quick and easy.  We have a pool!

 

Living Room

The living room is a monster of a room with a gas fireplace and a decent expanse of windows.  We painted most of the room a light gray and an accent wall and fireplace two tones of blue.

Fireplace needs a bit of work.  We are thinking about a glass or marble tile to dress it up a bit.

A sunroom/conservatory/playroom is off of the bathroom and living room.  It has a french door to the back deck and pool.

This is a photo from the  living room and I like to think of it as a "choose your own adventure" photo.  You can take stairs up, a hall to the breakfast room, or walk into the dining room.

Dining Room

The dining room is going to be transformed into a music room in the near future as I am having my great-uncles baby grand piano moved in the near future.

Future Dining Room

This is the future dining room off of the kitchen.  I'm going to highlight the kitchen in another post, so you won't see it quite yet here.  We have not painted in this room yet or in the next room which I like to jokingly call the billiards room.

 I like to think that all the random toys in the pictures make the house feel homey and not messy.

Billiards Room

The old living room has our old front door.  It, also, has a wood burning fireplace and a pool table in pieces against the wall.  It's going to be one fancy billiards room when it's done.  The spotlight over our son's picture has a dimmer to it and I like to turn the light on slowly, and dramatically (with angelic noises) to emphasis the photo.  It makes me laugh every time.

Front Door?

Laundry Room

The last room on the first floor is our laundry room.  It used to be a bedroom before the addition was built.  I love it because there is plenty of room and a closet that hides the cat's litter and food.  The size of the room helps a great deal when I have a 2 year old with a  tricycle, dog, and cat "helping" me with the laundry.

Stay tuned for second floor pictures.  Doesn't it look like Logan is really working on the laptop.  He's so advanced for his age.

Christmas Schedule for 2010

You can either click this link- Christmas Schedule 2010

or

Click the button to the right to go to the current Christmas TV Schedule.  I will update the schedule as time permits, but it's pretty complete to get you started on Holiday TV!

Links for 2010!

You might be wondering where I've been.  I've been darn busy!  My husband and I have been casually looking for a new home for a few years now and, all of a sudden, a month ago our dream home came on the market.  We close and move in a week.  Things have been hectic as we navigate packing, a 2-year-old's birthday and my husband's conference in Las Vegas. I will post lots of photos of the new digs and gradually show our after-the-move photos as well.

I have tons of craft ideas for this Christmas that I want to post, but you have to be patient with me.  In the meantime, here are some great ideas and links that I want to pass along.

• Stephmodo's- How to Search Craigslist Tutorial (an option to search via photos only!)- here
• Vista Print- Free Holiday Cards and Address Labels (there are a lot of hurdles to get through for this deal, but you only pay shipping)- here
• Black Friday Ads- One of many great sources for early Black Friday previews- here

I have been really keeping an eye out for gently used furniture on Craigslist and appliances that will be going on sale soon.  So, the above links have really been helping me out.

Layers of Meaning Series

Where have I been?  Busy.  I apologize for my crazy Summer that has left you guys without new posts to peruse.  However, I have been showcased on a series called "Through Her Eyes- 7th Edition" on Layers of Meaning.  You can check out the series here.