From Gross to Gorgeous!

Our previous home owner didn't do much to the house.  This house was stuck in the 70's ... and I mean stuck!  Once Derek and I moved in, we knew we wanted to update all the doors. It was something that we wanted to do in the semi, but never did, so when we got the house and saw that it too had the plain old doors and plastic handles, we knew it was something that needed to be changed.

I did a lot of searching those couple of months before we moved, looking at Home Depot flyer's and Rona flyer's. And it just so happened that before we actually moved, Home Depot had a sale on doors (6 panel) for $29. Ummmm yes I will take 6, thank you.  We were sooooo happy, and immediately drove there with my parents SUV to pick them up. They were the ones where you could just pop the other door off and then set this one in right away. The hinges needed to be chiseled out and screwed on, the handle needed to be drilled out ... all of this I knew my husband could handle. He did a great job, and it did take him some time.  But then it was my turn to find the hardware. I definitely wanted to stay away from the old plastic handles, and I am not keen on brass ... but I have always wanted the black handles. I love the way they look, and to me at least, say "hello I'm expensive" (even though the particular ones we got were anything but expensive.

Again we looked around, and I finally found some I liked at Rona.  They were a mere $12 each, so we picked up 4 privacy ones and 2 that had locks for the bathrooms.  Derek installed them once again, and I am in love with them! I love the way the look with the floors, and once I paint the doors a crisp white, I think they are really going to pop!  They also have a tinge of brown/brass look but its not the shiny brass, its deeper and it really accentuates the floor colouring.

There is also the business of the hallway wall ... I want to do something there so bad. I'm thinking black and white photos in different sized frames in a pattern or all symmetrical. I don't know, we will see what creative thing I can come up with! I will update with another picture as soon as I'm done painting them white.  I think they might be up next before painting of the main bathroom takes place. Thanks for looking!

Room Crashing: Little Ladies Room

Here are some pictures of Lexi's room at the new house.  When we first moved in the room was a lovely shade of peachy-rose ...ummm not quite our "style". So I picked a lilac colour, I wanted it to be noticeable but not in.your.face.

I hung the tissue paper pom pom's (thank you Martha Stewart) that I made for her first birthday above her crib, and added small glittery clip on butterflies for some pizazz. Lexi always points to them when we put her in her crib for a nap or bed time. And I mean every.single.time. lol.

I also picked up this alphabet canvas artwork from none other than Home Sense to hang above her change table. But for now, it sits on the floor until I put it up on the wall.

Then here are some other random picture of the room. The carpet is from IKEA, and small cupboard is from Home Sense.

Thanks for looking!

Have you ever been looking on other blogs and come across a store that they are sponsoring and fall in love with all of their stuff??? I have! This past weekend, Friday night to be exact, I was surfing one of the many blogs that I follow faithfully and came across a sponsor store for them called the Z Gallerie.  Based in the States - it has AMAZING accessories for your house.  As I was browsing them I noticed that many of the fashionable things they were selling (for a ridiculous amount might I add) I've seen the last couple times I've ventured into Home Sense (ahhhhhh how I love my Home Sense).

Take for example this beauty! I LOVE the pattern and colour of these ...

and with a $99.95 price tag ... my version that I was able to pick up at Home Sense for $19.99 is looking pretty fancy! I loved them so much I bought two! One is in our bathroom holding some beautifully smelling potpourri and the other sits on the fireplace mantel downstairs .... llloooovvveee!

And this coloured coral on the Z Gallerie website that goes between $19.95-$44.95

I was able to score both of mine for around $12.00 each at a local farmers market ... and I love them.  They add so much texture to a mantel or shelf!

Oh and this metallic plant vase ... ya those go on the website go for $99.98 (granted those are 20" tall)

Mine ... call me frugal but I found it at the dollar store for $2 ... and I quite fond of it!

But seriously this is just a small amount of things that I've found at much cheaper store, where you can get the same style of accessories.  Definitely hit up Home Sense for lots of deals, and don't forget your local dollar store ... its like an un-tapped resource sometimes of little goodies just waiting for someone to snatch them up! Happy hunting!

Smile.

We had the opportunity at Alexis' daycare to have pictures taken of her for a fundraiser by the amazing Sophie.  As you all know I'm sure, Sophie has taken pictures of Alexis since she was 3.5 months old.  The pictures turned out great, and clearly show Alexis haha ... by this I mean all of her numerous faces that we see on a day to day basis! Here are some of the pictures Sophie was able to capture, and all of these were taken in the playground at her daycare!

Summer

Inspirational

I love this video because it is about an amazing lady named Stephanie who's blog I follow called the nie nie dialogues. This is a short video on what she has gone through - and although we are not Mormons, I think her story is inspiring and reminds me to cherish moments with my family and friends and those who are close to me. Because anything can happen.

Listen and Watch her Story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E&feature=player_embedded#!

%$&*!!!

I have to let you know that I was really eager to post some more pictures on here the last couple of days, but have misplaced my camera battery charger somewhere in this house.  This really peeves me off as I'm usually pretty good at keeping all my stuff in the same place (hello OCD, organizational freak), but for some reason, it has gone missing.  I will continue to look for it, and hopefully there will be another post on here with pictures of the completed kitchen hallway!

U.G.L.Y. ... you ain't got no alibi you UGLY!

Oh yes, what lies behind this door, is truly grotesque and hideous!

That's what I would definitely call our main bathroom! Light sea foam green ... grayish floor ... dark grey/black counter ... seriously what was this lady thinking?

Yes its true, our bathroom is hideous! I can't stand it! Hence the reason I want to finish the kitchen so badly ... I need to get rid of the green! It drives me crazy every time I walk in there!

So here is my plan.  Paint a light airy gray (we already have this colour, however I haven't tested it on the wall ... its definitely going to take a couple coats), and I think this colour will go really well with the flooring.  We already have a new mirror and I heart it! Soooo nice and very glamorous!  Awhile back I got Derek to install the medicine cabinet because I love it as well (in fact we took it from the house because I couldn't bare leaving it there) and it looks sooo good in there. I also llllloooovvveee my shower curtain.  It took me awhile to find one that had a nice pattern and the right colour, but the Superstore pulled through and found this beauty!  

I am so eager and to get this room done. But anyways, here are some other random pictures I took ... Enjoy!!

Another House Crashing Post ...

So here is another - overdue - house crashing post on our newish house.  Can you guess what room I will be showing you today?

Bet you can guess now ???

That's right ... its our "pretty much" completed master bedroom. This room was another great space, that we were excited to have when we bought the house. Its much bigger than our last master bedroom, although it need some TLC, shall we take a look at a before picture?

Nice eh? It wasn't exactly errrr our "style" so we slapped a couple coats of a blue/grey paint on the walls.  The same colour that we had in our old master bedroom since the bedding matches the colour perfectly, and might I add how in LOVE I am with my bedding.  I have a serious bedding problem! I LOVE bedding ... it always makes me wish I just had a white room and could switch my bedding and shams on a whim and get a totally different feeling in the room.  Anyways, moving on to more pictures of our new master bedroom.  So new paint, new espresso bamboo flooring, new blind and we moved in our furniture, and the room is somewhat complete.

... and should we talk about my love for white accents? Love anything white against a lovely coloured wall!

So that's it in a nut shell ... of course there are still some things we want to do in the room, hang a mirror, get a rug to go under our bed ... all of which we have, but haven't found the time to actually get it together and put them in there.  So ... once the room is totally done, I'm sure I will do another blog post to show the complete and finished room.  Thanks for "crashing" on our master bedroom ... till next time!