Throwback to our Bahamas vacation

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Well, I am only about 6 months behind on sharing some of our vacation photos. In May we visited the Atlantis in the Bahamas and had the absolute best time. Traveling with a toddler is obviously way different than traveling alone with your husband... But the resort was perfect for a toddler and I wouldn't have had it any other way. 















Nap times are just not the same without a piƱa colada... I'm ready to go back! 


After photos of our kitchen update!

It's been awhile since I last posted, but I wanted to share some of the "after" photos of our kitchen update. 



First let me refresh your memory. Our house is only 5 years old, however the builder used all base level products many of which haven't held up as you would hope. We love our house and its location, but knew when purchasing that we would want to tackle a lot of projects to make it more our style. Here are a few before pictures. Yes, WE chose that awful green paint. Woof. 




In January, I painted the whole first floor white. (Excluding the playroom, powder room and dining room.) It really brightened up the space making it feel larger and more airy. In retrospect, I would have used more of a marshmallow color or something not quite as... White white. We used Behr paint from Home Depot, paint and primer in one in the shade decorator white. It covered the green surprisingly easy.... Only requiring 2 coats which I think is amazing. 



I then moved on to the cabinets. This was such a terrifying project. As much as I hated the builder grade oak... I was so scared I was going to completely ruin them. Our house has a ton of cabinets which is great for storage but it would also be a small fortune to replace... Something not in our budget right now. They are also still in pretty good condition (again, only 5 years old.) After a ton of research, I settled on painting them. I will include the full directions in a separate post incase it is something any of you are considering. We painted them the same shade as the walls. 



After painting the cabinets, I noticed I hated the countertops a lot less. We were originally considering installing ikea wood countertops but our laminate is surprisingly durable and since we plan on doing a full kitchen demo in 5 years or so... We decided against switching them out. 

Finally the backsplash. This project ended up being much more simple than expected and I managed to do it in 3 days (including dry time) all during Romans nap time. I went with clear glass tiles on a white background from Home Depot. They were on clearance at $5.50 a sheet and we only needed 24 sheets which means this project was under $150 to complete since we had all of the tools already. I also forgot to take step by step photos of this project since I was in the mode of getting it done while Roman was asleep. The instructions on the mastic were extremely clear though as well as with the grout. I highly suggest getting the tile nippers made specially for glass tiles if you go that route. I started out using normal tile nippers and they were so difficult compared to these. $10 made the project a breeze. 





We finished off the room with the rug from Urban Outfitters and the table from ikea paired with RAR replica chairs from amazon. The table and chairs easily wipe clean which is an absolute must now that Roman is no longer in a high chair. 

The last thing we plan on completing are the floors this winter. We installed plank laminate in our basement and LOVE it.... So as soon as our bank account recovers from the finished basement (completely finished by Michael... Can you tell how proud I am?) we plan on warming the space up with them. 

The living room is also just about finished. After Romans birthday party, we are going to build a mantle for our fireplace and it will be complete too... But here is a little peek at a couple of my favorite spots in there. 







Overall I am loving the update. And for costing us under $500 to do both rooms including a few new pieces of furniture, you just can't beat it. 
 

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