The window to the Wooooorld!

a starbucks drink on me to anyone who can name what movie Jennifer Lopez said that in ;)

And in the meantime, we have a new window in our kitchen!
Here is our before


Isn't that strange how high the window is? Makes no sense. (note that the A-frame ladder is a 6 foot ladder)

First we uninstalled the other window, then we cut down a larger opening, framed it out, sealed it with all the necessary goop and crap, and installed the new window.









Soon we'll be able to finish the dry wall and re-attach the windowsill, then finish painting around it ;)

Another way to raise money for breast cancer...

As most of you know, I'm participating in the breast cancer 3Day in November. I have to raise $2,300 in order to participate.
You can help me from the comfort of you own home now!
Click the link below, join the fundraiser and submit a few reviews on your favorite local businesses! Each review will pay money towards my fundraising! IF you're the first person to review a business, it'll pay $1.50. If you're the 2nd-4th,it'll pay 50c. Be sure to look under the business header b/c some will not count towards the fundraiser (chains and certain categories)
http://www.insiderpages.com/fundraisers/Breast-Cancer-3-Day-J-Reitz-0910

Thanks!!

if you can't REALLY do it...

atleast you can pretend to. ;)

This was our island before hand.

It was "FREE OR SALVATION ARMY" on the side of the road.
It used to be a hutch, it appears. Now it's going to be my island for my kitchen ;)

First I took the drawer and doors off


Then I dismembered it. LOL. I removed the counter top, the trim on the bottom, and all the hardware. I also scrubbed the crap out of it.


Then I set it up in my kitchen to see what measurements I wanted to take with me when I bought the wood for the counter top.


I showed this photo to a friend who immediately claimed "I don't get it". LOL.
I'm a very visual person too, so i knew what she meant. So I hopped in photoshop and got... well, a little carried away.
Here is my kitchen before we moved in

Here is my completed kitchen... according to photoshop ;)



Now lets see how close we can get to that...

i'm seeing green!

our previously lifeless living room and kitchen has undergone a small makeover, in the form of GREEN paint. :)
The color is Wheat Grass by Sherwin Williams, and while it's more green than the paint sample shoes, it isn't anywhere near as limey-yellow as it looks in these photos.
And since there is still so much more to do on it, I'm not posting big photos ;) Just close ups.
Enjoy!

Another trouble spot

Have you ever heard of three Potato four?
If not, don't click the above link. I'm serious. Don't. If you don't want to spend your entire paycheck on freaking adorable vintage home decor... if you don't want to lose 3+ hours of your day, scouring through their online shop. If you don't want to end up renovating your entire kitchen to accomodate the the things they sell that you simply CAN NOT live without.... then don't visit their store.
Or if you're like me, and you're cool with losing hours of your day and having money flood from your bank account (whether it's there or not), then go for it ;)

We are painting our living room and kitchen this weekend... it's an awesome shade of green called Wheat Grass by Sherwin Williams. It's kind of a lime/sagey green... it's calming but also spunky and fun at the same time.

After that, our kitchen cabinets are getting a full makeover including bead board insets, 2 coats of cream ("biscuit") paint, and the addition of hardware. We'll also be finishing our island and placing that in the kitchen as well.

It'll be a while before we can rip out the linoleum and replace it with wood, or take out the laminate counter top and replace it with something prettier, but it'll atleast be a decent head start into our renovation for the time being :)

With my new look to my kitchen, I'm finding all of these things at three Potato four that I'm not entirely certain I can live without. Check them out below.

More Green Kitchen - from La Maison Boheme

With our green and cream kitchen renovation getting underway, Sarah from La Maison Boheme sweetly agreed to do an inspiration post showing other green farm style kitchens. There are lots of photos of fun farm kitchens with a modern twist.
Love it! Thanks Sarah!
(Click the image below to see her post!)

Change in plans

Sadly, my kitchen will not be receiving a new window today. It will have to wait until next week as my Dad (who will be helping install said window) has to work today. Check back next weekend for photos of our mini renovation ;)

Hanging a much prettier Flat Screen (aka: How to watch TV without having to look at a mess of cords)

We hung our flat screen tv awhile back, and while we love that it's mounted, we didn't love all the nasty, ugly cords hanging down.
Before we mounted, our Flat Screen was a safety hazard, just waiting to topple over onto an unsuspecting house guest. Not to mention, it took up a lot of space since it had to be on an angle b/c of the large TV stand and the fireplace.


After we hung the TV, all the cables necessary for the TV to function draped down our fireplace. Not a pretty sight.


So we ran the cables along the mantle over to the shelf where the Cable Box and DVD player are.


Then we took down the TV and drilled a large hole in the wall in an area that we knew would be hidden by the TV (have the vacuum handy, b/c there will be lots of paint and drywall dust)


Do the same on the side wall of the fireplace (over by our brown shelf) or whereever you want the cords to come back out.

Straighten a wire hanger and make a hook on the end of it. Grab a skein of yarn and a heavy bolt. tie the end of the yarn into the bolt (do not cut the yarn off the skein, just leave it all attached), chuck the bolt through the hole by the tv. It will hang down into the wall. Going in through the other hole, use your wire hook to snag the bolt and pull it back out the other end.

When you are ready to thread the cables through, you might want to consider doing them in sets of 2-3 at a time. Tie the skein end of the yarn to the ends of the cords and carefully pull the bolt end until the cords come through the other side.
Untie the cords, plug them in, pull on the skein side of the yarn to thread some of the slack back up towards the TV and start again with the next set.

You can purchase outlet covers that are basically a big circle so that it'll look nicer. That's what we did :)

Here's our after, and no, we had not yet dealt with the cables of the left of the fireplace yet ;)

CORRECTION: Tutorials

I went to the Tutorials page today and saw that some of the images weren't working. So just so you know, they are all back up and running ;)

TUTORIALS PAGE

This weekend brings a new window

As much as we love our new house, there are certain things about it that we can't help but look at and go "really?"
Like our kitchen window. It makes NO sense. None at all.
You're standing in front of the sink doing dishes, kids are in the backyard (the kitchen window points to the backyard) and you look at the window, watching the play. That's the goal, right?
Well, apparently our builder missed the memo, b/c our window starts like 2 feet above our sink. Why there is even a window there if you can't look out it, i'll never know.
So we're going to take out the window, cut the hole down longer and put in a new window so that we are able to watch the kids play from the kitchen (and get more natural light in).
Here is the before


And here is where we cut a line down to be sure there were no wires or anything that made the builder HAVE to put in a tiny window (no, there weren't... they did it for no logical reason. LOL) then taped over it until the window gets here.



The window is being placed on saturday, So i'm sure I'll have more pics for you then, and a total cost of project :)

Oh, and btw, I added a pic of Mia to the previous post, so check it out. There was supposed to be one, so i have no idea what happened to it. LOL

Meet the newest memeber of the Floozie Family

This is Mia, she is the newest member of our family!
We have wanted a 2nd, small dog (a girl) since we got Duke nearly 7 years ago, so we decided that now that we have our own house and a big yard, it’s about dang time!
Mia is a 9.5 week old Yorkiepoo (Yorkie-Poodle Mix). I would guess she weighs about 3 lbs but will probably get up to around 10-12 lbs full grown.
She is just the sweetest girl ever and the kids ADORE her. Duke and Mia have met twice so far... he does okay, although I think he's afraid of her ;)
Mind you, he's like 75 lbs, and she's 4 lbs.... but whatever LOL

Oh nooooo, this is bad. Very very bad.

While blog surfing today, I can across a link to this site and I think I may very well be in a heap of trouble.
Farmhouse Wares

Check out these things, which I'm sure you'll soon see in my kitchen. LOL

Featured in the DIY Showoff!

Well I just woke up to an AWESOME email saying that Lily's room is being featured on the DIY Showoff today. Be sure to check it out, and bookmark her blog too, b/c there's always awesome stuff on there.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE BlOG POST NOW

How to make a Personalized Toddler Growth Chart!

Here is a great new tutorial posted on ehow for you to enjoy!