My First House

I just bought a house. It is a bungalow and I LOVE it!!! It needs some cosmetic love, but I don't mind it at all. I am all about the before and afters! Here are the befores:

Front of house - definately needs some help with curb appeal...

Living Room: the carpet is SICK! Not to mention the nasty paint color.

Le Kitchen....

I do like how the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. They are original with the house which was built in 1943.

The "Den"

Master bedroom.

All the rooms in the house have a least 2 window in them - which I love.

El baño...

I already ripped off the shower door and it looks ten times better already.

The backyard. Lucky for me they left an old trampoline and a randomly placed pad of cement in the middle of the yard. Oh....but I have BIG plans for them. :)

Awesome Deck

I love this deck. I would love to have something like that to be able to cozy up on and relax.

my house before and afters

So much work has been done to our house since David bought it in November of 06. I wish I'd taken pictures of the inside before we painted and stuff. So much work is still being done so I'll update as we go.

Before of our little bathroom:

After:

This is one of the few pictures I have of our house before David attached the shed at the back of our carport onto the house and made it the laundry room/mudroom.

Before - detached:

After - attached:

As you can see these are some befores. The first picture below is before I had done any landscaping in the front yard. Although it still isn't where I want it to be it is a little better.

I still want to paint our front door a different color besides blue. Our house is a gray/light light blue, but our roof and shutters are now black.

During:

Afters:

Front yard

I need some front yard landscaping ideas. I want to rip out the front bushes and the tree on the side (you can't really see it from the these pics) and get rid of the stump. This is a project for next year. I might just try and prune the bushes down really small and make them look more round and small. Or maybe i'll just rip them out. What else should I do? Small willow tree, ground cover? hmm.

The bushes are barberry bushes like these below.

WINDOWS!

Above picture from here.

I want new energy efficient (and easy to close and open) windows throughout our house. We have some that are new and some that are old. The old ones are CRAP, and there is a draft constantly coming in. They are impossible to open and close. I think they are original to the home i.e. from 1960. Maybe one day!

Farmhouse sink

I love these sinks! Want one. With a whole new kitchen surrounding it, of course.

image from: http://lindseycheney.blogspot.com/2009/04/whats-cookin.html

Does Anyone Know

where I can find a light like this?


Image from www.kellyandolive.blogspot.com

Porches

I love enclosed porches and wrap-around porches. I would love to live in a home with one or both. I think we could add a nice front porch to our home - but that is way down on the bottom of our list of things to do.

This home I found on a real estate website here.

and this one here.

This photo below is from a bed and breakfast at martha's vineyard. I've always wanted to visit Martha's vineyard, and used to think it belonged to Martha Stewart.

Click on the pictures below and it will take you to their original websites. So pretty!

Chandelier

I've been looking at this chandelier for 2 years. Its at World Market for $80. I LOVE it. Its gorgeous.

Curio

I like this corner bookshelf type thing to use as a curio cabinet. I like the thought of curio cabinets, but they all look so old-fashioned. I like this one because it is more modern.

Probably not the most practical for those with babies.... :)

Heaven

A tub similar to this, would be absolute heaven.

Fire pit, outdoor

I also want a fire pit, preferably one that my kids won't fall into and get maimed. This one is only $48.00 from WalMart!

Outdoor Improvements

Since I have a hard time keeping up with my three small kids inside the home (I clean one surface only to turn around and see it's been messed up again), I am focusing on improving the outside of my house. Or at least imagining improving it.

I really want Jon to make me a garage pergola similar to these ones:

(minus the fake looking ivy) (image from remodelingcenter.com)

I also really want a tall cedar fence all the way around my yard, or at least in the back, to keep out the crazies.

Love this.

If I had a house. One of the rooms would be painted this color.

Bathroom Ideas

I like the idea that they have of putting the towels in that wall hanging. I always see things like that and never know what to do. Its cute.

I think this is cute too, it could also be a way of showing off cute decorations.

I really liked this idea. You could use it anywhere - but in the kitchen or bathroom would be cutest....

Pottery Barn

I love most everything Pottery Barn, but they are just waaayy too expensive. So I look at their catalog all the time. This is from one of them and I would LOVE this living room....