Dining Room Before/during

The curtains in the dining room must

have been about as old as the 

mustard yellow oven

we had in the kitchen....

My son Shiloh started playing 

in them when we first moved in, and within 

about 3 mins was covered in hives.

They were so dusty,

they had to be removed immediately

(even if that meant living in a "fishbowl" until I found new curtains)

You can see how dirty they are in the pics!

besides them being full of dust,

they were also too "heavy" for the room,

(and a tad outdated)

look at the difference between the pics

of the room when the curtains are still up, 

and compare them to the ones when they are removed

dusty old curtains

before the curtains were removed

before the curtains were removed

before the curtains were removed

old school!

curtains gone!

curtains gone!

Now for some decorating and a table!

Vintage is not always cool!

The lighting of these pics is not that great,

but the color of that oven is

fairly close to what you see!

It was a vintage mustard yellow,

and although that isnt a bad color for certain other things....

it is a horrible color for an oven.

And that thing above the range that looks

like a microwave is actually another smaller

oven....and they are connected, so that is ALL.ONE.PIECE

It was probably 50 years old 

and probably had a few good stories to tell of the 

hippy years!

We had to have an electrician replace the outlet that

it was plugged into, because it was so old school...it was what 

you call a tombstone outlet

it could boil water in about 2 mins (not too shabby!)

but it would

cook a frozen pizza in about an hour (not so good)

We were going to buy a new oven, but did not 

want to pay $600+ for a smooth top range

So we did what we do best and bought it used....

Shaun found a stainless steel range on craigslist

and asked a friend who has a truck

to come with him to pick

up the oven,

(in exchange for a tank of gas and dinner at cafe rio)

We paid $75 for the oven.....and I spent about an hour scrubbing the nastiness off it, 

but check it out!! 

It baked our Christmas cookies beautifully!!

The fence fiasco!

When we bought this house, we wanted the fence to be

the first project that was started and completed....because we have 2 dogs that need a yard with a fence!

So we got a few estimates from local companies,

We also asked for a specific timeline 

(knowing that contractors will wait as long as possible before starting the work)

We decided to go with Lowes because they gave us the lowest estimate and they also gave us the shortest timeline, with the soonest start date......

Well, that timeline they gave us, has come and gone....

and yes, they sent us the bill and required it be paid about a month ago!

The posts have yet to be dug or set!

Last week they came to drill the holes for the wrought iron gate that would go across

the porch....it took them over and hour to drill 2 little holes , 4 inches deep (using our electricity and water, which ran the whole time).

Later that evening I went to get the laundry form the basement, to find that the basement corner of the home closest to the parts where they drilled, now had standing water (only about an inch, but still)

I than spent the next few hours trying to find someone I could complain to about this nightmare process, that was supposed to be over "by about the 2nd week of November"-Lowes Contractor

I spoke with the Lowes Manager, and the Lowes Fence Contractor....Neither one was sure why this happened.

They also had to custom build the wrought iron gate because they did not listen the first time

they came out....when I said we had a 5 lb dog that can squeeze threw tiny gates.

When they came to remeasure for that new "custom gate", I said the gate needed to be less than 2 inches off the ground....his reply "you have a 2 inch dog?"

They than called us a few days later to tell us we would have to pay a few more hundred dollars because the gate was going to be "custom",  we than told them that this fence was supposed to be installed weeks ago, and that it was their fault for not telling us that from the beginning...etc etc,

ps-we ended up not having to pay that extra amount!!

Lesson learned....always add more $ and time to the original quote you are given by a contractor!

There will be a fence dividing the driveway from the yard

There will be a fence with a gate here

They will reset the post in this corner because it is leaning

our messy yard...it was 80% garden when we moved in, but we ripped out everything except the raspberry bushes

This is where the wrought iron gate will be set, across the top step of the porch

cannot wait to clean up the yard this Spring

The fence will also be placed in part of the front yard so we can use as much grass for "play area"

Merry Christmas 2014

With a large roll of ribbon (bought at 75% off),

oversized Christmas ornaments (from my grandma),

and some push pins...me and the boys decorated the front porch!

This is the "side porch", and we didn't have enough oversized ornaments

to do the same thing we did to the Front porch....so we used garland and bows instead!

The Christmas Tree we found on the side of the road with a "free" sign 2 years ago!

We put this one in the dining room, because that is where the largest bay window is located.

The fireplace doesnt have a mantel...so we hung all the stockings together

on a screw that was already there....I like it, it's different!

The wreath was from my Grandma, she had it above her fireplace last Christmas,

She was diagnosed with cancer last Christmas Eve, and 

passed January 15th.

Miss her everyday, but I am happy I have so many memories

and things like this Christmas wreath to keep

her Joyful feeling around us, especially this time of year!

The christmas trees in the living room...

Caden decorated the little one all by himself!!

The kiddos got to see Santa at USU...

They wore their matching sweaters that I got at H&M

last year on Clearance!

I paid 2.50 for each sweater!

May your Holidays be Merry and Bright....Healthy and Happy....full of laughter and Joy!

(And lots of good food!)

Hallway Makeover...the "before"

This is the 1st floor main hallway in our home...

It has a yellow/cream color paint and a tiny little light on the ceiling.

The ceilings are 9 feet tall, and the wood trim is huge (as for most old homes).

The color, and lighting are all WRONG 

for this hallway!

So I have electrician coming out to install a larger light that

I picked out at Lowes,

and I am still deciding on a color that make the large trim "POP" (aka become more noticeable).

The color will be from the blue/gray family....and I will buy it as soon as Sherwin Williams

has another sale.

They have the best quality paint, 

and we have had a lot of experience with paint in our last home,

where every single wall needed to be painted!

Anyway, here is the before......

looking west down the hallway

looking East down the hallway

Welcome to our Home!

We have been in our new home in Logan, Utah for 3 weeks now...

sometimes it feels like a lot longer than that,

and than other times it feels like we got here yesterday.

The town we now live in has about 50,000 people,

which is a huge difference from Denver.

But the people we have met have been amazing!

I won't lie,

I was having nightmares about what the people

were going to be like.

I had heard horror stories of what people in Utah

are like...and we were basically given

a pat on the shoulder and a good luck wish from a lot of 

people before we moved.  

It was as if

we were headed off to war....

and I was scared to death,

but I knew this was "right"

for our family.

It has been quite different than everyone had described to us,

We have never been more welcomed

or given an extended hand of friendship like this ever before.

Several Neighbors brought over cookies

and introduced themselves...

friends came over and helped us rake the leaves in our yard for HOURS..

more neighbors came over and helped us prep the garden for winter....

The church members came over and helped shaun unload the tuck....

We are slowly making the home "ours",

but here are the before pics of almost everything:

Front of our home (West Side)

Side of our home (north side)

Dining room

Family room

Dining Room

Main Level Hallway

Main floor Bathroom

2 nd floor hallway

Shiloh's room

Shiloh's Room

Caden's Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Stairwell

Stairwell

the view from upstairs window

Master Bedroom

Master bedroom

Playroom

Playroom

Living Room

Disclaimer:

to all our colorado friends comparing this to colorado prices....it is much cheaper to live

in Utah than Colorado!  We were able to cut our home buying budget by about 40%