Our den has been rather neglected since moving in. It is a multi-purpose room that houses our home office and computer, as well as serves as a guest room when we have company. Since we don’t often have overnight guests, it usually just ends up as a catch-all for the odds and ends of projects I am working on. It has never felt like a very cohesive space and in order to make it more finished and homey, I decided to hang some curtains and finally get some artwork up on the bare walls.
You might recall the Mario inspired make-over I gave our basement walls last year before my son’s 5th Birthday Party. His love of Mario is stronger then ever, but some of the paper images I had tacked up were coming down and looking worn so I decided to give the walls an update for his Minecraft themed party. Continue reading “From Mario to Minecraft Basement Makeover”
It is our very first Christmas in this house and I am very excited to share with you pictures of how we have decked our house out for the big day!
Outside my husband spent one very long afternoon up a ridiculously large ladder before the snow hit to get our exterior lights up. It makes me happy when I go out at night and come home to the twinkling lights!
We decided to make the switch from a real Christmas trees to an artificial one this year. I miss the piney smell, but it is sure nice having the tree up early to enjoy and not having to vacuum up pine needles. It only took a few days and my two year old was bee-lining to the tree first thing in the morning to make sure it was lit up!
The tree is upstairs in our bonus room so the kids won’t have far to come down and see if Santa has come. There was some debate over where to put it, but I think this works best. There is lots of room for the 9 foot tree and that room has a soft carpeted floor for the kids to open their gifts on and play Christmas morning.
Two of my favorite new ornaments on are tree this year are this handprint reindeer and snowglobe my little guy made at preschool. He is not big on crafting, so I appreciate when he does actually bring home a craft.
I also was feeling a bit of puppy mommy guilt as we were decorating the tree and I realized Rumbull had no ornaments yet so I got him this one when we were at the mall for our annual visit to Santa. I was very excited to find a personalized one that matches Nova’s!
The kids DIY stocking are new this year and you can read more about how I made them here. They have been hung on the stair railing next to the tree where Santa can easily find them.
I also found some new throw cushions for the couch and a placed a few small Christmas accessories we already owned throughout the room to make it festive. Dontcha just love our giant couch!? It has been perfect to cuddle up on as a family and watch all those great Holiday specials over the last month!
On the main floor, I still haven’t managed to get any pictures hung on the living room walls so I had a blank slate to work with for Christmas decorations. My sister in law pinned these pretty DIY Snowflake Popsicle Ornaments from Fab DIY and when I realized how easy and inexpensive they would be, I decided to make some.
I painted mine white and hung them alongside some wooden snowflakes I found at the Dollar Store. I love the way they pop against the color of our living room wall and the big impact it makes for just the cost of some popsicle sticks and hot glue! And, you can also see my sister in law’s stir stick versions here.
And, of course, I added a couple more Christmassy cushions for the couches in this room!
Our fireplace has a clean, modern look that I really like, but I do miss not having a mantle to decorate. In our old house we had a large corner mantle that I would set my Christmas village out on so this year I had to figure out a new solution. I ended up filling my China cabinet with the village and it turned out pretty well.
My Christmas village is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer themed so I decided to carry that theme through some of the other decorations on our main floor. My DIY Rudolph banner look great hanging over the dining table, and I love the little snowglobe inspired centerpiece I made using with my new ornaments from Target. Hop on over to Moms and Munchkins to get the free printable file I created to make your own flying Rudolph Banner.
We had considered putting the Christmas village up in the niche over the front closet, but the configuration wouldn’t have worked well. I ended up coming up with this cute Rudolph scene after making some simple mountain shapes from foamcore and hot glue. We already had the sleigh and used it as an excuse to buy the Rudolph and Hermey figures from Walmart.
I also put up my small 4′ tree in the living room and put all the Rudolph ornaments I have collected over the last several years on it.
Finally, one simple DIY project I did were these quick snowmen on each of the kids bedroom doors. This is not an original idea, but still one worthy of a share because it is so simple and fun for the little ones. Mine were cut from foam sheets and wrapping paper.
Phew. If you have made it this far I hope you have enjoyed my tour. I think I have made a good start to decorating our new house for the holidays and hopefully I can add to my decorations over the next few years. I would love some Christmas themed accessories and towels for the bathrooms!
The Holiday season is upon us and I want to try and make the most of it with the kids. There are many things we did last year that the kids enjoyed and I want to attempt again, plus a few new things (weather permitting!).
We started things off yesterday with a little “Gingerbread” House decorating. My two year old was drawn to these little wooden piggy bank houses at Dollarama and as I was fighting her to put it back on the shelf, I realized they would make adorable little gingerbread houses for the kids to paint and decorate. After a coat of brown paint, the kids went to town with the glitter glue, foam shapes and pom poms.
They look great and my 4 year old loves the little lock and keys the house came with so he can lock any small treasures inside! Perhaps Santa needs to sneak something inside on Christmas Eve…
Today was bitterly cold so we decided to stay in and decorate the Christmas tree. It is our first time putting up an artificial tree instead of a real one so having it up this early still feels a little strange to me. It is also our first Christmas in this house so there was a bit of debate over where the tree should go. In the end I am happy with it up in our second floor bonus room.
Our Christmas Countdown activity list:
Hopefully this is enough to help keep us busy for the next little while. I will try to post a full photo tour of all our decorations once they are all up. I have some popsicle stick snowflakes up on my living room walls I can’t wait to share!
What is on your Christmas countdown activity list?
In just a few more days we will finally have the keys to our new home! It has been a painfully long process and the biggest indicator of the time passing for me is remembering that my walking, talking, full-of-attitude little girl was just barely rolling when we signed the deal. I began a whiteboard countdown at the 30 day mark and as each day has passed, my feelings have alternated between stress and excitement, with a little bit of denial throw in there for good measure.
On Wednesday we went for our pre-occupancy walk through and everything looked amazing. After some snags with the granite on the kitchen island, I was so happy to see it turned out exactly the way we wanted. The stainless steel appliances are all coming Friday afternoon and I will have a brand new, fully functional kitchen to work in.
I hate the packing and moving part, but there is a long list of things I am really looking forward to:
We have a busy few weeks ahead of us with lots of packing, moving, painting and assembling. Throw in a birthday party to host next weekend and I am pretty sure I will lose my mind a time or two, but I know it is going to all be worth it in the end.
Now back to the important task of making sure all our most treasured possessions are all packed and ready to move…
Last week was a rough week on my husband’s credit card. As we count down the days until we get possession of our new house, we have been busy ordering big ticket items like blinds and furniture, and shopping for décor items to help turn our new house into a home we can enjoy and be proud of.
My husband got to make the final decision on the new sectional couch for our bonus room so he left it up to me to select the couch and loveseat for the living room. This proved to be a much more overwhelming task then I was expecting. After many shopping trips we felt like we had exhausted all our options (and the kids patience) so we finally settled on and ordered this pair from Ashley Furniture over the weekend.
The shape is clean and modern like I was looking for and the grey should go nicely with the other selections we have made in the house. We weren’t able to view the actual couch in store or see a fabric swatch, so I am really hoping I love the set as much once it is in my home. Fingers crossed.
The other item we ordered through Ashley was this colorful accent rug. Again we weren’t able to see and feel it in person so I really hope it lives up to my expectations.
I did some playing around in Photoshop and this is the overall look and feel I think I am going for in my new living room. The chevron curtains are already bought and I think I have found the right paint color for the accent wall so all that is left will be buying a few throw pillows and finding the right coffee table.
Originally I was wanting something colorful and patterned for an accent chair, but I think I am kind of digging the idea of the Ikea Poang chair in the simple cream color. It is clean and bright and ties in nicely with the cream stripes in the carpet.
For our bedroom, I think I have decided on this green and grey comforter set. I will likely paint the back wall behind our bed in a rich grey color and then will need to find a few green accent pieces to finish it off, like the bench in my picture. I am also considering painting out our walk-in closet in a muted green before my husband installs the Ikea PAX shelving units we have for it.
Finally, the other room I have been focusing on this past week is my soon-to-be 4 year olds room. I really want the move to be fun for him and for him to feel comfortable in his new bedroom. I was hoping for something without characters, but he is insisting on a Ninja Turtle room so that is what he’s going to get. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa are currently in California so we had them pick up a Turtle bedding set I found and liked at Walmart down there. I also ordered a large Michelangelo decal online that will be going on one of his walls.
I have a few other things pinned on my Ninja Turtle Bedroom board and will probably incorporate some more artwork once we are moved in and I get a better feel for the room.
23 more days until we get the house and my vision can start turning into reality. I can’t wait to share the finished rooms with you!
Break out the moving boxes! After months of anticipation, we final got our notice of possession from our home builder today. As of February 20th, our Forever House will be all ours. What once just seemed like a completely unrealistic dream will now be a full fledged reality, and I couldn’t be more excited. Never did I think we would be able to make the move into an amazing house like this!
I posted an update with plumbing fixtures just the other day and my husband was onsite again today and was able to capture this picture of the hickory hardwood going in on our main floor:
It is gorgeous and I can’t wait to see it in person.
And since the packing, organizing and cleaning simply isn’t enough to keep me busy over the next month and a half, we are also counting down the last days of Camden being 3 and will be celebrating his 4th birthday just 3 days after we get possession! I have been pinning ideas for the past year and have a good idea of what I want to do, but it is still going to be a lot all at once.
His actual birthday falls on Sunday, February 23 which also happens to be closing ceremony day of the Sochi Olympics so we are working with a Winter Olympic theme. I have booked the hall, ordered the invites and managed to get the majority of the supplies bought for the DIY projects I am planning so I am still feeling pretty confident I will be able to pull off an awesome party.
I will try my darnest to share some of these projects in the upcoming weeks when I am not packing or dealing with the normal day to day of being a mommy. For now, I will leave you with a sneak peek image from the invite:
Please visit my Olympic Birthday Party Pinterest board to see my inspiration and ideas for the party!
The plumber was in this week and we finally have sinks, toilets and faucets in our bathrooms!
I can’t believe what a difference it has made in how finished the house now feels.
We originally wanted undermount sinks, but that would have required a solid stone material countertop such as granite or quartz. In order to help our already stretched budget we went with a laminate counter in all the bathrooms and had to choose a top mounted sink. Now that it is all in, I can say I am still very happy with our final decisions.
In our ensuite shower, we went with a large shower head and adjustable body sprays on one side and a pull-out spray hose on the other. It is a huge upgrade from the standard tiny shower we have now and will be nice to actually have some room to move and not be smashing my elbows against the walls when washing my hair!
The same pull-out spray hose is installed in our main floor shower to make it easy to hose down dirty dogs (and possibly kids!)
And, of course, we can’t forget the jetted tub in the ensuite. The faucets have been installed for a while, but I thought it was worth including a picture of.
Next week I am looking forward to seeing hardwood installed on the main floor, having the granite back on the kitchen island and hopefully getting our 35 day possession notice!
My husband met with the tile installer early last week to go over the tile layouts throughout our new home. We then had a chance to get into the new house on Friday and on top of the good progress happening on the tile, we were thrilled to see the electrician had been in and begun installation on the majority of our light fixtures.
For our fireplace surround, we chose a dark grey tile that will go floor to ceiling. There will also be a lighter grey accent strip going in the white area in the picture. I lost the battle with my husband for a mantle, but I think the final result will be a nice, clean look. The tile is quite dark, but I think it will balance nicely with our natural colored hardwood.
The front foyer light was one of our splurges and there is a similar styled fixture that is yet to go into the dining nook. They are a bit funky, but it looks good in our big open foyer and adds some interest to the space.
For the downstairs and upstairs landings, we went with a slightly cheaper chandelier that kept with the linear look. They are not as interesting, but they do look good.
I was most excited to see the fixtures in the kids rooms because these were the ones my husband gave full control of over to me. It was hard to tell when picking them out in the lighting store amongst all the other fixtures, but they turned out pretty awesome if I do say so myself!
Camden was very excited to see the airplane flying high in his room:
And I absolutely adore the way the light reflects from my little girls chandelier. I think this was the light selection my husband and I were most unsure about, but it is one of my favorites in the house.
Back to the tile work, we were happy to see our back entry way complete and the custom granite for the dog dishes in place. We just need to select some coat hooks to install above the benches and I think it is going to be a great space for keeping all our coats, shoes and dog gear organized.
In our ensuite, the tile work has started but there is still the accent strip and the full shower to hopefully get done this week. So far it looks good and is fitting with the vision we had in our heads.
And, finally, in the other two bathrooms and the laundry room we went with a basic square tile in the same dark grey used on the fireplace and in our ensuite. It is not nearly as exciting as some of the other stuff happening in the house, but it still looks great!
We are still awaiting our 30 day possession notice, but we are happy to see stuff going in and the house getting closer to completion. Hopefully it will all be worth the wait in the end.
It has been awhile since I shared any photos or updated on the progress of our new house. I am enjoying seeing all the pieces come together and so far we are really happy with our selections, but it is certainly an exercise in patience waiting to see the completed product. Unfortunately on our last visit the painters were just starting to tape and prepare for painting so I wasn’t able to get many great photos, but I figured it was still worth posting.
The finisher seems to have completed his work installing the baseboards, molding, doors and closet shelving. My husband picked the baseboards and doors and I think he did pretty good. For the molding and headers, we went very simple and clean.
I was hoping to get some better shots of our interior door style, but they had been removed by the painters along with the shelving the finisher built out in several of our closets.
Speaking of closet shelving, we ended up drastically reducing the finishers work in that area by making the decision to install some of the closet systems on our own. We looked at different solutions, but in the end settled on the Ikea PAX system because we liked the way it looked and it seemed to be the most economical. It was all 15% off in September so we decided to pick it up then and store it in the in-laws garage until our house is ready. It was a long shopping trip that involved pushing 4 heavy cartloads through Ikea, juggling two overtired kids, putting thousands of dollars on the credit card and then needing two full sized SUV’s to move it all. Hopefully the pretty walk-in closet will make it all worth it in the end.
Elsewhere in the house, the glass panels have also been installed in the railings. The maple railing is finished beautifully and I love the sleek, modern look with the glass. I know I will curse the decision everytime I have to clean little fingerpints off the glass, but since we plan to be in the house long term, I won’t always be cleaning off toddler handprints.
The countertop has finally gone in in my laundry room and I should be more excited to tell you that the granite is in in my kitchen. The granite is beautiful, but we are currently struggling with some issues on the kitchen island that are overshadowing my feelings of excitement I should have for the granite. The builder is working with us to find a good solution so I will devote an entire picture filled post to the granite and my kitchen island once we have it that way we want it. We figure if we are going to be stuck looking at it for the next 30 years, we really want to get it right now!
So now to wait for the painting to get done and then hopefully we will get to start seeing some of the other fun stuff like hardwood, tile and lighting going into the house!
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