Cool Running and Running and running

It's really warming up here, and we found out that our AC unit would just run and run and run.  It was getting really cold in the house, but once it hit the temperature, it would keep running.  While brainstorming we had a couple of options- we could get someone out here to check it all out- but that would mean spending some big bucks! We decided to try a new thermastat, that maybe our old one wasn't registering the correct temparatures. 

We picked our thermastat out from Lowes, and Michael decided on our specific one, which is a Hunter Energy Saver for mainly one reason- when it's turned onto cold it turns blue, when it's warm, it turns red! 

It makes the wall look a lot more updated as well! Have you made any simple tweaks to fix something you thought may be a big problem?

Just Breezy...

My Mom and Dad came down this past weekend! We always get so much accomplished when they visit and this time was no different! Michael and my Dad worked so hard on Saturday and installed a ceiling fan into our living room! It helps the circulation so much, and there wasn't a light in there before, so this makes things a lot brighter too!

here's the room without the fan:

Here's my Dad and Michael trying to work, but I had to get a picture!

And here's the living room with the fan (sorry bad quality- taken with my Mom's iphone!)

My Dad and Michael did such a great job and it is going to save us a ton on electricity!

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

After having this huge mirror sit on the floor in our hallway for the longest time (really it's been sitting there since we moved in- in December) I decided that we were going to do something about it.  (this is how most of our projects get started!)

Michael had to get some special hooks/nails for the wall- we carefully measured it and finally got it onto the wall!

We decided for this wall because it's directly across from a window- adding the light from the window into the mirror.

haha, and I didn't notice the abs on the tv until I just posted this!

Since I took this, I've actually made some additions to the walls! Pictures to come soon!

Good bye pink polka-dots!

When we were home for Christmas, a lot of people were asking for updates on the house with our furniture in it! Remember that all of our furniture is still at the hand me down stage, and of course we have a lot of work still to do... but I will show you what we have gotten done so far.






Let's take a stroll down memory lane... to the awful two-toned pink sponge painted walls, and the nasty ugly rug!




























































We got that rug out of the house and far far away from our house, took the curtains down, and painted over that awful paint job!

 And now! The walls a a dark brown, not really chocolate, but close. I drew the colors from 2 pictures that I have yet to hang up. And, please don't mind the Christmas tree that is still up. Would anyone like to come over and take it down for me?

Also, don't mind my husband. He hasn't moved from that spot since we brought the new tv and the x-box games home for Christmas!

I say we have made a lot of progress! I am loving my house and loving seeing all the changes.

What do you guys think?

Have you been working on anything special?

Progress!

I promised you progress pictures of the house- and you are actually going to be able to tell that progress was made these past 2 days! The small things are finally finished up, and now the part that I love, which is the painting the large walls! Makes such a huge difference!



The is the master bedroom The color is still wet here, so it will most likely be a couple shades different. I'm really love it. Michael is still a little hesitant about it. He will learn to love it too!










Another shot of the master. I love the white trim with this color. See I knew all those coats of paint and back aches would be worth it!
















The color looks so different here, but this shot is taken from the hallway.

















The hallway, with the brown coming in from the living room.


















The living room from the front door. Notice the dining room from hell in the background...













more shots of the living room! I love it!!














The big window in the living room. I love this color in this room, and the white trim!













Next, I will be working on the hallway and the guest room! Hopefully that will be completed tomorrow!

Preparation

A lot of the preparation work is now completed- which is great :) I find that stuff so tedious and anxious to get the good painting going. Here are some pictures of our ups and downs of the process...






This is a nightmare! I tried to start peeling off the border for the dining room, and found that it was on wallpaper that has been painted over! This right here is the very reason that I will never ever use wallpaper!! Turns out this wallpaper is realllllllly old, and is made of fabric. It is coming off in sheets, but leaving the walls looking AWFUL! This is going to have to be a project for when the parents come to visit! Oh yeah, they are coming this weekend, perfect timing guys :)

We have the first coat of black on the frames of the cabinets. We took all of the doors off and they are in the basement for the time being. it looks so much better already!

 

We had to put 2 coats of primer on the cabinets to make sure the black paint would stick!

The hallway trim is all painted! Looks so good!

 AND the trim in the living room is all done! yay! Now on to the fun painting.... See the next post for the after pictures!!

Closing Day!

We did it!

We closed on our first house today! The closing process was pretty easy, just signing our names a billion times, and then they handed over the keys! After a yummy lunch at La Carretta, we went to Lowes and spent a TON of money on paint and other necessities. We then got to work! We cleaned the kitchen and started painting the windows. Here's some of our progress so far...

Guest Room window- we started taping the windows and realizing that that was a pain in the you-know-what, we decided to just paint.





Both windows done in the guest room

Michael happy to be painting away!




I, on the other hand, was happy to get rid of these ugly curtains!

















































And, a little sneak peak into our Master Bedroom... I'm so excited for this room to be finished!





















I will continue to try and make updates as frequently as possible! We are having a painting party tomorrow evening and hopefully we will have a lot more progress to show!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! We (meaning Ashley), decided that this would be a great way to share with everyone about things going on in our lives! I will try to update this regularly with pictures and details on what is going on withus!


So, enough with the intro, and on with the good stuff!




As many of you already know, Michael and I are in the process of buying our first house! We will officially be closing Thursday, November 19th at 10:00am! We are really excited to get into the house and start making some updates! We will be doing A LOT of painting when we first move in: kitchen cabinets, window panes, trim, walls, you name it! We are also planning on updating the light fixtures, fridge, oven, and the washer and dryer when we first move in.


Here are some pictures of the house when we went in for the inspection:


The front of our house! We are planning on getting new, black shutters, taking down the white overhangs, and painting the front door red! (I just love red front doors!)

The back of our house. So excited to get our table and chairs on the deck!









Bathroom... Taking down the border, and painting the walls white. Planning on keeping this teal tile for a few months. Going to go with the brown, teal, and hints of bright orange in here.









Dinning Room. Again, replacing the light fixture, and painting the trim and the walls. Thinking about painting this room a moss green. Cabinets will most likely be painted black for the time being. And... there's hardwood floors under that ugly rug!







Guest Room! We will put the queen sized bed in here for anyone who wants to come and visit! :)
This room will most likely be painted tan and go with a clean beach look.









Office/Bedroom #3. Thinking this will be a deep gray color. Black furniture, white and yellow accessories?

Kitchen. A remodel will be coming in a few months, but for the time being we will paint the cabinets (thinking black, I can't decide) Switch out the fixtures, and put in a new fridge and oven.

Living Room! I'm loving the pink sponge painted walls here, maybe keeping them. haha NOT! I retired my pink sponge painting in middle school (I know you remember that awful room Mom and Dad!) We have tan furniture and will probably paint these walls a latte color.

And finally, the master bedroom! I have had a difficult time trying to decide what to do in here, but I think I have finally decided! I saw this awesome picture of HGTV that had a deep teal color with a burnt orange- beautiful! So, three walls tan, one wall deep teal, with a burnt orange duvet! This idea really scares Michael, but it's just paint, so why not experiment!

As you can see, we have a lot of work to be done! We are having our final walk through tomorrow before closing! I will make sure to include pictures as we work on everything and ideas that we have! Please feel free to share ideas and opinions with us!