Town House Tour!

When we first moved to this house, I posted pictures and promised that I would continue to post pictures once I completed each room so you could see how we were making it ours.  Well...I'm pretty sure I haven't posted any house pictures since then, probably because I haven't felt like any room has been ready to be labelled "done!"  But we have made some changes in the two years we've lived here so I figured I'd share pictures of the house as it was when we listed it!

Dining Area - beautiful south facing windows in dining room and living room, possibly my favourite part of our house!  They let in the most beautiful light!

Kitchen - new white cabinets - love it!

More of the kitchen

Living room - this is only half of it!  But there's not much on the other half.  It's just a long, rectangular room...so hard to put furniture in but nice to have extra space for toys!

Main floor bathroom - teeny tiny...but it works :)

Main floor laundry...I will miss this! :)  We also painted these cabinets when we were doing the kitchen.

Master bedroom - we did the least to this room, I think.  We finally printed some pictures this summer to hang, but realized as soon as we hung them that it still needed something to make it look "finished."

Master bedroom

Kids' Room

I decided to do Dick and Jane pictures on their walls.  Kayden's walls have pictures of little sister Sally.

Levi's walls have pictures of big brother Dick.

Love the rocking horse my dad built for Levi's second birthday!

Screened deck off main floor

Back yard

Perennial Garden I dug and planted this summer

Basement guest bedroom - we did the least with this room, though after 8 years of having guests, we've FINALLY gotten an actual box spring for our mattress!  Next up?  Maybe a bed frame??

Basement Pantry/Storage room OR potential bedroom

Basement

Other side of basement

Basement hallway (bedrooms at end, stairs to right of this picture, bathroom through door to left)

Basement Bathroom

And that's our house!  Lovely isn't it?  We're sad to leave it but SO excited about the next place we're going that it's a small price to pay for 10 beautiful acres of Saskatchewan back country! :D  I'll be sure to introduce you to the next house just as soon as it's officially ours...

Levi's Room!

I got the fabric for Levi's room last week and put the finishing touches in today!  It still feels a tad bit bare, though.  I guess a few more toys will gradually make their way in there as he starts to enjoy playing on his own a bit more. : )

This is what it looked like before:

 Because I forgot to take pictures truly before I started, here are some picture of what the skeleton rocking chair looked like...and just for fun, I included a picture of what it looked like before I recovered it the first time, back in January of 2009!

And this is his room after!

I ordered 7 yards of fabric and with that I made:
-  2 book slings (I've only put one up)
-  duvet
-  recovered the rocking chair and foot stool
-  valance for window
-  covered 3 canvases for the wall
-  one white crib sheet

There has been overwhelming interest in the book sling that I made.  Unfortunately it was not my own awesome idea.  I followed the tutorial HERE.

Blog more?

Man, I really think I need to blog more!  It's been almost two weeks since I've written anything!

Guess what?!  Yesterday afternoon, while my boy blissfully slept the afternoon away (a whole 1.5 hours of it, which was an unusually long nap for him), I scoured the world wide web for fabric to decorate his room with.  And boy, did I find the perfect stuff!

It's kinda...uncolourful, but I think it'll go perfectly with his very green walls!  And, I think it'll grow up with him pretty well too.  I mean, eventually he's gonna not want giraffes and elephants, but by then I think it'll be time to re-do it anyway!  I'm so excited to get this package in the mail and then to do some sewing and finally, to show you all what I've done!  Hopefully I'll be posting before and after pictures of Levi's room in the next month or so!  Stay tuned!

I should add that I ordered the fabric from fabric.com.  The shipping prices were exorbitantly high, but I found a coupon code online for 15% off and I knew I wouldn't be able to find this fabric at a shop for less. : )

Kitchen Re-Organization...part 2!

Well, the past two days have been spent primarily in my kitchen, emptying cabinets, reorganizing the contents, and putting everything back.  Though if I'm going to be completely honest, Monday was spent doing what I just said, Tuesday was spent wondering why I tore my kitchen apart and sitting there staring at it, lacking motivation to finish the job, and today I kicked my butt and quickly whipped things together and took pictures so I could show you some of what I've come up with!

It hasn't been the amazing transformation that I dreamed it would be, but, on a very limited budget and when working with less than ideal cabinets, I'd say that is certainly better than it was!  Some cabinets really didn't change much at all, so I'll just share with you some of the highlights : )  Enjoy!

Baking utensil drawer.  I found these great clear plastic containers at the local Bargain Shop!  They were only $2 so I bought them out.  Literally.  I'm on their "call list" for when they get more!  These originally had lids attached but the ones with separate lids were $5 and I didn't want to pay that much so I just cut the lids off!  I didn't want the lids anyway!

Spice/knife drawer.  So, this drawer isn't completely finished yet.  When I get more of those containers, the spices will go into one of those and then I'll be able to see what they are more easily.

My lazy Susan has become my baking supply cupboard.  So far Levi hasn't figured out how to get into this one, so these things are safe for a while longer...  Also, as many things as possible went into canisters.  Little items (like food colouring, etc) are grouped in bowls or containers so they're not floating around aimlessly.

This is my weird corner cupboard.  I find it far more useful now though : )  The top shelf is placemats (rarely used).  I've made use of the depth of the cupboard with those long, flat margarine containers.  They act like drawers so that I can just pull out the container to find what I want instead of digging to the back of the cabinet.  Eventually I'd like to have two more of the Bargain Shop containers, one for the middle of each shelf, and then two additional margarine containers for the other side. 

Baking central.  I moved my beaters to be with the rest of the baking stuff (they used to be top shelf in the cupboard with all the plates and bowls).  Also, I bought grippy shelf/drawer lining so that I can stand everything up.  The lining is also helpful in my one drawer that has a hole right through the bottom.  Did I mention I would love some new cabinets?!  Eventually my dream may come true...

Casserole dishes/slow cooker.  The slow cooker used to be in my "random cabinet" which had my blender, slow cooker, mixing bowls, strainer, and pitcher.  I think this placement makes a little more sense.  I also added two nails into the cabinet door to hang my oven mitts and hot pads.

The fridge hasn't been touched yet, but my freezer is getting better.  I abhor plastic bags in the freezer.  They are nuts.  When trying to find something in the freezer, I've often just gotten so frustrated that I'll just shove everything in with disgust and slam the door, only to be greeted by my overzealous ziploc bags of bread, chicken breasts, and peas the next time I open the door.  Unfortunately, bags are just the easiest way to store things in the freezer...they take up the least amount of space.  Well, remember those Bargain Shop containers that I mentioned?  Three more in here!  I've labeled them "meat," "bread," and "veggies" so that I can easily pull out the container that I need and find what I'm looking for without half the freezer landing at my feet.  Brilliant.  The freezer still has a ways to go, but I do think I'm well on my way to actually enjoying a good ol' freezer dive every now and again.

Pantry.  Top shelf - least used appliances.  Second shelf - cereals and snack foods (also corralled by boxes/containers to sort types of snacks).  Third shelf - pastas, soups, baby food, etc.  Fourth shelf - bulk spices, graters (this is a no-play zone for Levi so I don't need to worry about the graters being within reach...I just make sure the door is closed at all times), baking stone (because it's the only cupboard where it fits), Levi's bibs and wash cloths (again, in a container of their own).  Floor - bags of flour, sugar and oatmeal to re-stock the canisters, and a larger appliance.

These little containers were also $2 at Bargain Shop.  (The woman working there knew me well after 3 separate visits to buy containers in the span of just a few hours!)  It helps so much when everything has it's own place : )  I think I could be a great salesperson at The Container Store...

Cleaned this up a bit...

And voila!  That's my kitchen, on its way to being organized.  I spent a total of $25 on containers and drawer/cupboard lining.  I'd call it well worth the investment.  Now, which room should I tackle next?  Levi's bedroom, perhaps???

Kitchen Re-Organization...part 1

So...pinterest*.  Who's with me?  How many home renos and redecorating stories can be blamed on pinterest, really?  TONS, I'm sure.  Having just bought a house and being in the "making it our own" stage, I have been stalking pinterest faithfully, looking for ideas for each room of the house.  Last night it was kitchen pictures that were catching my eye.  Now, I would LOVE to have a brand new kitchen with custom cabinets and... ... ... drool.  But that said, I am positive that I can make these cabinets last for a few years yet and even be happy with them.  All it'll take is some re-organization and beautifying.  As I combed through the pictures, a picture of a fridge stuck out to me.  My first thought was, "why would someone pin a picture of a fridge?"  And then I looked closer.  And then I went to the website behind the picture.  And before I knew it, I had explored the kitchen of a perfect stranger.  And right then and there, I was inspired to revamp my poor kitchen into a thing a beauty.  A work of art, per se.  Ok, maybe not that far, but indeed, it could be much more functional and organized than it is right now.  Everything has merely been brought out of boxes and thrown into the nearest available cupboard.  Time for an organizational overhaul!  And since I was inspired online by someone doing this very thing, I thought I would share what I hope will be a transformational moment right here on my blog.  So today is part 1.  BEFORE pictures!  I am slightly embarrassed, but as with every messy spot in my home right now, I just push the embarrassment aside and explain to myself and others that a month ago we weren't even living here yet.  So there.  Messes aside, this is what my kitchen looks like now:

"back" of kitchen, opposite sink

right side of u-shaped kitchen

left side of u-shaped kitchen

pantry

fridge (yes, I hope to organize this as well!)

below microwave

below microwave, right side

below microwave, left side

above microwave

above fridge

oop!  Levi!  How did you get in here?

above stove

double door cabinet on left side of kitchen

corner cabinet - pretty useless design if you ask me...tiny opening but great depths of cabinet space beyond!  Any suggestions???

single door cabinet on right side of kitchen

drawer on right side of kitchen, right side of dishwasher

drawer on right side of kitchen, left side of dishwasher

drawer on left side of kitchen, beside stove

left side of kitchen, beside stove

lazy susan on left side of kitchen sink

under sink

right side of kitchen, right side of dishwasher

right side of kitchen, left side of dishwasher

There.  Now that I've posted these pictures, I'd better get to work!  I hope to have some "after" pictures for you all by the end of the week.  Is it terrible that the thought of this makes me giddy??  Wish me luck!


*Pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing website where users can create and manage theme-based image collections. - Wikipedia