My Kitchen - A Love/Hate Relationship

My kitchen - where shall I begin?  What I love most about my kitchen is the space. I have lots of cupboards and countertop space.  What I don't like is the dang green laminate countertops. I want granite and I mean I really, really want it!!  I dream about what my kitchen would look like with granite - wow!  Right now we cannot afford to put in granite - I can only imagine what it would cost to replace all my countertops.  So I am working on a few other things that are much, much cheaper until I can get my granite.  Here are some pictures of my kitchen so you can see what I'm talking about:

Excuse the uneven curtains - I am attempting to make my own and trying to decide which length I like!

See all that green laminate? Yuck!!

This is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen - my desk!

This bar area is my next project. It was the same color as my cabinets and I painted it about a year ago. It looks better but I'm still not happy with it.  So . . . I found some beadboard wallpaper at Lowe's and I'm going to put that up and paint it the same color as the walls.

Paintable Beadboard Wallpaper

Here's what we've updated in the kitchen so far:

New floor

Ceramic Tile Backsplash

New Stainless Steel Appliances

Paint

Hardware on Cabinets

New Light Fixture Above Sink

Ceiling Fan/Light

Replaced Switchplates (they were white, now stainless)

New Sink

Hopefully I can get that wallpaper up and painted soon!  I'll post pics when it's all done!!

I hope you all are enjoying my blog and home decorating journey.  Don't forget to follow my blog - I love my peeps!  Click on "Follow" in the upper left corner.   : )

Get Your Craft On!!

Happy Saturday everyone! I wanted to share a few craft ideas with you all.  I can only take credit for one though - my wonderful mom made the other.


Decorative Binders:
My daughter Taylor needed six 3-ring binders for school. The plain white ones were about $1.60 each and the colorful, decorative ones were almost $4.00 each. Being the cheap and thrifty mom that I am, I refused to spend almost $25 on binders. We got the white ones and decided to decorate them with scrapbook paper that I already had. The binders have a clear pocket on the outside so we inserted the paper in the pocket and they look great! Her friends and teachers even commented on how cute they were.  Score 1 for mom!!

Before -plain, boring binder

After - decorative binder

This next idea is SEW COOL!!!!  My mom is very crafty and loves to stamp and make cards. She has the most awesome craft room that is full of goodies! This is what my mom made me for my birthday.

Sewing box full of supplies

Isn't that just awesome?!!  Just think of all the neat things you could make with a tin like this.  A first aid kit, recipe box, teacher gift . . . what a great gift idea!!

Front Porch Updates - The Black Paint Strikes Again!!

Hello my peeps! I have been working on an outdoor project for several days now and I think it's finally done - well, nothing I do is ever really finished but you know what I mean!

I have wanted to paint my shutters and front door black for over a year now. The problem is my storm door. It's dark green. I cannot understand for the life of me why I picked out all this dark green stuff when we built our house. Green carpet, green front door, green shutters, green & cream kitchen floor, green countertops!! Was there a sale on green stuff that day? Maybe I was temporarily insane or something. Anyway, if I painted the door and shutters black, I would still be stuck with that dang green storm door. I suggested to my handyman hubby that we paint it.  So off to Lowes we went to get some black paint and spray paint. While in the store he suggested that we just look at new storm doors. What? Did I hear him right? I didn't have to beg, whine and give him 100 reasons why buying a new door was a great idea? Wow!! We picked out a new black storm door with satin nickel hardware and thus began our outdoor project. I figured we'd be done in a day - easily. But nothing ever goes the way I plan. The shutters were a pain in the rear to get off - especially the second floor ones! Then some of the plastic screw thingys that hold the shutters on broke off when we were taking them down. It was really humid that day so the shutters took forever to dry. The storm door was not the easiest to put on either - blah, blah, blah. Story of my life. But today, it is all done and I LOVE it!!  Check out the pics!

There's that green again! Green shutters, front door, storm door.

Wowza! Look at what a little paint can do!!

I so love my new door!

Back To School!!!

Today was back to school for my kids - yeah!! They were both ready to go back - I was too!!  My oldest daughter, Taylor, is a Freshman in High School this year.  Wow - I'm feeling really old! The bus picks her up at 6:45 am so she has to get up really early.  : (

My "baby" Hannah is in the 4th grade this year and is excited because there is a pet Guinea Pig in her classroom.  She also has a lot of friends in her class so that helps.

I always take a picture of my kids on the front step of our porch on the first day of school. I've done this since they started Kindergarten. It's so fun to look back and see how much they have grown since the year before.

I've been working on a big outdoor project - almost done - pictures coming soon!

Well, I'm off to get some things done today without any whining or hearing "I'm bored, can we go shopping at the mall".

1st day of 4th Grade!!

1st day of High School!

I See The Light!!

Happy Friday everyone!  A big hello to my new followers - welcome to The Thrifty Decor Mom!!  I hope you like what you see and are inspired to beautify (is that a word?) your own home on a budget.

So, I have been wanting to replace the can light above my kitchen sink with a nice pendant light. I cashed in some of my points from My Points (more on that below) and waited and waited and waited. . . then finally my $25 Lowes gift card came in the mail.  I purchased a can light conversion kit and a shade then very nicely asked my handyman hubby to install it for me.  : )  He's always so thrilled when I have a project for him.  I love the way the light looks but now I have a new problem - those valances in my kitchen windows.  They have been there for a looooong time and are faded and well, I want new ones.  So now I'm on a mission to find something new for my windows.  I can not sew AT ALL therefore I need to find some already made or try to do a no-sew treatment. This could get interesting. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

Before - ugly, boring can light  : (

My handyman hubby working away!

All done - looks so much better!

Here is a picture with the light on!

This is what I purchased along with the glass shade

Can light conversion kit $19.97

Glass Pendant Shade $15.38

Total: $35.35 less $25.00 FREE gift card = $12.91(includes tax)

OK, about My Points:  Go to www.mypoints.com and sign up. It's free and you'll start receiving emails to click on and earn points. I never buy or sign up for anything - just click on the email to get my points then I delete the email. Very easy and did I mention FREE?  You can cash in your points for products or gift cards and they are FREE!!  Another easy way to earn some extra cash for those never-ending home decorating projects.

Family Room & Dining Room

Hello everyone! I am sharing pictures of my family room and dining room today. My family room is mostly finished - just want to add some crown molding at some point. The dining room looks ok for now. I'm not sure if I want to start a huge project and paint the table and hutch. I don't even know what color I'd paint them. Black? White?  Let me know what you think.

OK, so here is what my family room looked like when we first moved in (back in 1997). I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I picked out the dark green carpet and that crazy sofa!  Isn't it funny how your taste changes over the years?

This is what the family room looks like now.  Much better!  No more Southwest decor for me!!

We replaced the carpet, painted and bought some new furniture. It took a while but I'm happy with it now - except for the crown molding I want!  : )

A few more pictures -

Oops! I should have closed the doors on my TV armoire. Pardon the dog crate too. I know it doesn't go with the decor but my doggie needs his own space so it has to stay.  Here is a picture of my "baby".  His name is Jake and he's a Maltese. Isn't he the cutest?!!

Now back to decorating - Here is my dining room:

I always wanted a red room and when I found the window treatments at Target I decided to paint the dining room red. (Never painted a color this dark before and it was a royal pain in the you-know-what!) This is the first room you see when you walk in my front door so I wanted something bold - I think I achieved that don't you?

Have a happy Wednesday!  School starts in 1 week - yeah!!

Linking up to:

Kids Bathroom

Hello everyone!  Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  I've been trying to finish up a few projects - it seems like I have a project going in every room of my house!!

I painted my girls bathroom about 6 weeks ago and I love the way it turned out. Being a forgetful person (getting old is NOT fun)  I didn't take a before picture. It was all purple and pink and ready for a change.  Here is what their bathroom looks like now.

The best part was that I spent under $50.00!  I used a lot of what I already had and only needed to purchase a few items. The new shower curtain is from Target (luv my Target!) and was $25.00.  I normally wouldn't spend that much on a stinkin shower curtain but I looked everywhere for something I liked and this is what I ended up with.  I also purchased a gallon of paint (got a $5 rebate back!) and a few hand towels. Everything else was from my decorating "stash" in the basement.  The only thing I would want to change is the sink & countertop - granite would be nice but I don't see it happening anytime soon.  So for now, I am happy with how it looks.

My Thrifty Finds

I just had to share my thrifty deals from today. I hit the Goodwill Store and Target and found some amazing deals!!

Goodwill Store:

2 Finials (they will be seeing some black spray paint soon!) $1.50 each

1 Bag of Glass Gems (for my daughter's room - more on that later) $1.00

    Total spent:  $4.00 + tax

Target:

2 Pillows - On sale for $2.18, used $1.00 Target coupon, paid $1.18 per pillow!!

Kids Shorts - On clearance for $6.98, used $2.00 Target coupon, paid $4.98!!

Flip Flops - On clearance for $3.24 (regular price was $12.99!!!) , used $3.00 Target coupon, paid .24 cents!!!

Total spent:  $7.58 + tax

I love the Target coupons because you can stack them with a manufacturer's coupon and save even more!  Go to the Target.com website and scroll all the way to the bottom and click on coupons.  You can usually print 2 of each coupon per computer.

I know I'm kinda weird for getting excited about flip flops for 24 cents but come on people!  That is so awesome!!  I love my Target store!!  

                          

Laundry Room Reveal!!!

Well, my laundry room is done and I love the way it turned out!  I almost forget how small the room is - um, well no,  not really - but I think it looks really nice for a laundry room!  Before we get to the pictures, let me explain how my laundry room is set up.  It is right off the corner of my kitchen (which I love because it's very convenient) but really, really small. I would say it's more like a laundry closet than a room.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I got really creative and made my own artwork.  My wonderful handyman hubby put up my new shelf and I am ready to go!  I love the tray with my laundry soap and dryer sheets right where I can reach them. You all know that I'm "vertically challenged" and need a step-stool to reach the shelf so that tray is really handy!!

Here is what I did and how much I spent:

* MDF Board for shelf $9.54 (they cut it to size at Home Depot)
* 3 Black Shelf Brackets ($6.87 each) $20.61 at Home Depot
* Green Metal Trash Can $2.50 (Target)
* Small Green Metal Container $1.00 (Target)
* Small Boxwood Plant $5.99 (Michaels)
* Pocket Folders (made artwork with these) $2.00 on clearance at Walmart

        Total spent:  $41.64 + tax

I already had the frames, basket, tray and black decorative boxes. See below how I made the artwork. So easy and so inexpensive!!!

This is what the frames looked like before I painted them
black.

I used the pocket folders to make my artwork and
finished it off with some ribbon.

This is how they look now! It only cost me $2 for the
folders and I still have 2 more folders for another
project!!







The inspiration for this room came from my favorite decorating blog - www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com
Be sure to check out her blog and her laundry room!  She has some of the best ideas!!

Well, I guess it's time to do some laundry  : (

Linking up to:

Sneak Peak at my next project

Here is the next project that I'm working on - The World's Smallest Laundry Room!! Seriously, it really is small. I get claustrophobic every time I'm in there! Even though it is teeny tiny, I want it to look nice and function well so I'm working on some projects to liven it up a bit. I keep telling my hubby to knock out a wall and give me the laundry room of my dreams but for some reason he won't do it!!

As soon as it's done I'll post an "after" picture.

Don't forget to follow my blog - click on the "Follow" link on the right side of the page.

Can we say boring?

My Guest Bath Redo

I wanted to share my guest bath pictures with you all.  I wish I had pictures of what it looked like before - those of you who have been to my house know what I'm talking about. Picture this: dark navy wallpaper with gold stars (what was I thinking?) and lots of red, white & blue accessories. Gag!! I swear I'll never wallpaper again!!

Guest Bath - above the potty (toilet sounds so gross!)

It took a while to strip all that wallpaper off but once it was gone I couldn't believe the difference! The room was so much brighter and seemed bigger.  The paint color I chose is called Homestead Resort Gold (American Tradition). I added some black accessories and a new mirror from Kirklands.  This redo was not expensive at all - a gallon of paint, a few accessories and I was done!!

Guest Bath - new mirror & accessories