Outside looking in

The outside of our house needs some work and we are just beginning to scratch the surface with a little bit of landscaping.  Here is what we are looking at from the outside looking in...

Before

 We started by ripping out all the current bushes, and planted some new ones.   (Landscaping like spelling is not exactly my thing so I'm not too good with the names of all our bushes) 

After

Before

After

Clearly after....just landscaping and boozing. Talk about LIFE IN THE BURBS...

Before

A new garage door was not one of the things we had planned on fixing right away, but unfortunately about a month after moving in the springs broke and we were left with no choice.  Definitely not a issue we had to worry about in the city.  However parking was one of our main issues, so I will take the new garage door. :) 

 

After

Before 

A much needed new mailbox.  I had to do some wheeling and dealing with my husband to get the one with the monogram, but the fact that everyone who drives by your house sees your mailbox was worth the extra money.

After

Speaking of mail, feel free to email me with any questions you have House and a Handyman...carrigan2@gmail.com 

Another Day, Another Desk

So this little gem was found at a Habitat for Humanity Restore.  I must say I had my doubts when Kev brought this bad boy home, but for $50 he said if we didn't like we could always resell it.  Not to mention it is a big desk to fill up that empty living room of ours.  

Kev first removed the handles.  Then he and his Dad sanded down the desk and took off all the black paint.   I was at the beach for a bachelorette party (totally bummed to miss that :) ).  When I called home to see what he was doin he told me he was "stripping."  Luckily he meant stripping the paint!   He then painted the desk and sanded the edges, and off course shellacked the top.   Now you know where I will be blogging from in the future...well once we find a chair.

Trash to our Treasures

One of the problems when moving from a 2 bedroom house in the city to a 4 bedroom house in he burbs is you have a lot more rooms to fill out, and little furniture to do so.   Whenever I tell Kev I found a nice piece of furniture at pottery barn or crate and barrel.  His famous words back to me are, "I can make that."   Well the truth is in most cases he can.  Here is what we have done so far with making some one's trash our new treasures. 

Bench

This bench was given to me for free from a co-worker who was planning on taking it to good will.   

Before

We took off the fabrics and bought some new foam padding.  I went to Joann's Fabric and bought a new pattern and...

After

Vanity

Kev and I had a little debate of the master bedroom closet.  Yes who would have thought I would have been fighting my husband for space in the master closet.  Needless to say we ended in a comprise.  I agreed to make one of our spare bedrooms my "getting ready room" If Kev agreed to get me a new vanity.   Kev said well I will agree to make you a new vanity...which was good enough for me.  

Kevin found this desk at a consignment store for $25. 

Before

Kev sanded down the desk and painted it with some off-white paint he bought from Lowe's.  I then bought some new knobs from antropologie and...

After

(Kev makes fun of me cause I spend more on the knobs then he did on the desk...but all in I think it was worth it.) 

Coffee Table

Our living room is our biggest room, and we had absolutely no furniture to put in it.  So here was a start. Kev found another treasure in a consignment shop.  $25 for a wood table.  Nothing a little paint and sanding couldn't help. 

Before

Kev sanded the top of the table and shellacked it.   He then painted the bottom in white paint.  After painting it and letting it dry, he lightly sandy around the corners and edges to give it a distressed look.   The living room is one piece closer to be being done. 

After

First things First

So before we even moved in we decided we needed to do something with this awful wood paneling.   We talked about removing it completely but after doing some pinteresting of course.  And being inspired by the Young House Love Blog.  We decided to paint our paneling.  

Before

After