THE kitchen

yes, that is  THE in all caps. Because if you dont know me personally Ill let you know that there is a long history with our kitchen (you can read a long drawn out story about it here). I wont get into all the boring details now, Ill just join in with the Lindsey from the Bargain Blonde and her home tour series to show you what im currently working with in my kitchen.

Now, when we bought the home the kitchen was something we knew we would eventually have to renovate. The cabinets are old (some dont even have doors) there was no refrigerator (i ended up getting an awesome deal on Black Friday on my dream refrig!), and of course the hubs being an ex-tile apprentice wanted to put granite and such in our kitchen. We also put it on our list as a top priority before we officially started trying for a baby.

This was the best pic I could get of the whole kitchen. Its very small, and as i mentioned before there originally was no refrig and Ill admit I didnt really measure anything when I bought the new one. So since I was away on my honeymoon when the new one got delivered my mom and the delivery guy had to figure out where to put the ginormous new one. Ending result? Only place to put it was in the middle of the room.

Since were constantly changing our minds on the design of the new kitchen, my father thought it would be a good idea to use blue painters tape to tape out where everything woulkd go on the floor. So not only do I have terrazzo flooring but I also have blue tape as decoration (FML). Oh and yes, my husband refuses to let me take the plastic wrapping off the refrig, god forbid it get any scratches or nicks on it before we have the new kitchen. I was actually ok with this when I thought the kitchen would be done in January, ITS.BEEN.7.MONTHS!

Moving on....

I realized while taking this pics, that if one of you were to come into my home and actually observe my kitchen, you would think i was a drunk alcoholic fine spirits connoisseur.

and really, i promise we dont drink that much .........

anywho. the next thing you would probably question is all the unopened boxes of kitchen appliances, silverware, plates, etc in the top shelves.

This is another one of hubbys "great" ideas. Like the refrig, he refuses to let us open and use all the wonderful kitchen utensils we got as gifts from my bridal shower. (Literally hubs freaked out when he realized i took the toaster out of the box to put in the bottom cabinet, because it wouldnt fit while inside the box. I had to promise to not "use" it) Now hear this one, the timeline is even further back than the plastic wrap. My shower was last September. That means everything has been in boxes for a good 9 months. :( maybe one day Ill get to use them. But thanks everyone for the wonderful gifts, they all get used alot, work great, are way better than our old ones, collect dust.

Some other random pics of the kitchen. You may see party invitations, thank you notes, arts & crafts made by my neice and nephew, pics, halloween decorations, pantry items, martini glasses, panini press, weight watcher snacks, etc, etc, etc... 

Now on to the fun stuff. Im not going to give away all my inspiration for our new kitchen (because that will be an entire post in itself), but I will leave you with this, 3 possible options we were given from the cabinet guy.

Guess youll have to keep coming back to find out which we ended up choosing.
Wanna share your kitchen? Id love to see different ideas to get inspiration from! Link up with Lindseys Home Tour Series!
 

the salon (aka living room)

Its that time again (although I guess technically it was that time yesterday, but you know me, i procrastinate) Linking up for the Home Tour Series with the oh so wonderful Miss Lindsey over at The Bargain Blonde (and Raven from A Momma's Desires & Pacifiers of course!) .

(Did you miss any previous posts: my boudoir and my stinky old bathroom?)

I wouldnt say my living room has any kind of theme or organization (unfortunately). Hubs and I decided to not decorate it too much because for 1) our living room is also our dinning room right now and 2) when we redo the kitchen its going to make the entire living room look like a construction site. So here goes nothing . . .

As you can see, everything is a bit cramped right now. Eventually the dining room table we go into my office the dinning room once we enclose the carport as a an office 3rd bedroom. The couch is my sisters old one. It has 2 recliners and is a pull out bed. We never use it, but its nice to have if we need it. Both dog crates are in the living room, since we have no where else to put them. :( The bookshelf and mirror are actually going to be torn out to extend the kitchen by 1.5ft with a bar top. But currently it holds everything from paint and paintbrushes to picture frames and my flower girl basket.
Lets take a look at the shelf as a whole:

We could actually even play the "I Spy Game"! Lets see how many you can find :)

1. I spy 2 wine glasses still in their boxes (got from bridal shower, they are the same but from 2 different friends)
2. I spy a ring bearer pillow (yep from our wedding, what are we supposed to do with it now?)
3. I spy an unopened set of pots and pans (another bridal shower gift Im not allowed to use yet)
4. I spy 2 deer (hubs stuff, no explanation)
5. I spy a half used bag of thinset mortar (b/c dont all of you keep this stored in your living room?)
6. I spy a friends picture frame (me and one of my besties at my bachelorette party, cowgirl style!)
7. I spy a basket (random storage)
8. I spy scategories (one of my all time fav board games!!!)
9. I spy a giant fishing lure (xmas gift to the hubs from my sis, it should hang on the wall eventually) 

The list could go on, but Ill leave it to just that. Here are a couple closeups for you.

1. Hubs and I when I was still in high school, we took a roadtrip to NJ in my dads truck with my parents to see my family up north

2. Our wedding invite (that I designed) and us cutting our cake (it was DELISH!)

3. Beagle stuffed animal my niece gave us as a gift

4. Beagle figurine my nephew got us as a gift

5. Hubs and I on my birthday in Cozumel, MX at 1/2 Senor Frogs the day after he proposed

6. Wedding photo

7. Grandparents on my fathers side wedding photo

1. Painting project from college

2. Lanterns (when you live in a place that has hurricanes you stock up on these)

3. Pic from Valentines Day

4. 1/2 empty paint buckets

5. Fishing Lure

6. Bridal shower gifts (candles, wine glasses)

7. Board games (Scrabble, Rummikub, scategories, oh and PS2)

8. Pic from my bachlorette party

9. Flower girl basket and ring bearer pillow

10. All hubs random hunting and fishing figurines (the bass fish mount is actually the first bass fish he ever caught, his dad was a taxidermist and mounted it for him when he was young)

Our end coffee table, some reads for you: Saltwater Fishing, Kitchen & Bath, and of course the latest VS catalog (i spend way too much money there)

Our DVD collection (age appropriate, although there may be a few inappropriate in the armoir, sorry mom) includes titles like:

• Swat
• Bruce Almighty
• Friends Seasons (yes im an addict of the TV show Friends)
• Waiting (hilarious, if anyone is in the restaurant biz you gotta rent this)
• Blow
• Super Troopers
• You, Me, and Dupree
• Fight Club
• The Patriot
• Catch me if You Can
• Meet the Parents & Meet the Fockers (i should prob go buy the 3rd)
• and plenty more

Since we had decided to not decorate this room and focus on the other rooms in the house, I havent really figured out what I want this room to be like. Here are a couple things Ive seen that I  liked for inspiration (i know theyre all over the place, but common theme = no light colored couches, dogs would destroy them)

If any of you have small living rooms and wanna link up to share some ideas with me go here and join the rest of us. Next weeks room is Guest Room/Office, crap I better go clean up my office :(

my boudoir

just a fancy way of saying my bedroom hehe

Linking up with Lindsey over at The Bargain Blonde again this week for part 2 of her home tour series.

Ill start off with a pic of what our bedroom originally looked like when we first moved in. (you can see our "works in progress" and before/afters of all our home renovations here)

Yes, the previous owners painted 2 walls one color and the other 2 walls another color. There was terrazzo flooring (unfortunately this is all through the house), and the closet had pocket doors. So, onto what it looks like now...

Fiji King Comforter Set: Bed Bath & Beyond

5 Piece Furniture Set: Rooms To Go

Lamps: Furniture Power

We ended up knocking out the closet doors and making the opening bigger. We havent agreed on what kind of doors were going to put there yet, so for now its just wide open and I try to keep it clean. We also put in carpet thats a light brown tannish color.

Mirror on Hubs nightstand: Ikea (hubs will be putting it on the wall behind the bedroom door eventually)
Closet System: Home Depot

So, now on to the good stuff...

Closet Division = 75% my stuff + 25% hubs stuff
(and yes, there are 7, let me repeat 7, pairs of jeans on my side, not including the 2 in the wash, what can i say? Im a jeans, tank, and flip flops kinda girl)
Hubs contribution to bedroom design = bass pro shops fish charm for fan chain

Inappropriate Armoir Note: at our old apartment the TV was inside the armoir, but it was an old tube tv, and at the new house it just stuck out into the walk way too much, so we decided to get a flat screen instead. But due to the angle the bed and armoir sit at, the TV has to go on top or my view gets cut in half. Therefore, it now houses anything inappropriate for parents, family, some friends guests to see......

1.  Watercolor paintings by yours truly :) 1 is of the restaurant I work at on the beach, the other is a popular street on Fort Lauderdale beach, Las Olas Blvd
2. Rugers chair - yes our dog has his own chair in our bedroom, i know it is horrible, but i would much rather him sleep there than on the bed with us (which he prefers)
3. Jewelry box hubs got me one christmas from Bombay Co
4. Feather Boa from another themed bachlorette party (yes, we like to PARTY!)
5. random pics from wedding and concert
6. my garter from our wedding around my absolute favorite yankee candle: Christmas Cookie
7. 2 jars for change- one has only pennies the other has all the silver. The moon one i actually painted at a Joe Picasso's back when I had money to spend on whatever lol
8. One of many cowgirl hats I have. this one I made the hubs best friend buy me (and another one of my friends one too) at a country concert.

And since my closet has no doors and is already packed to the brim in as much organize chaos as can be expected, the small cabinet in my dresser is filled with purses (oh yeah did i neglect to mention that i am a shoe and purse freak) they range from target, avon, coach, old navy, you name it...
Oh and thats Ruger sitting in his chair. :)

My inspiration board for this room is really just things I might want to add to the room considering the majority of the room is complete already. Just need to decide on closet doors (I want mirrored, hubs doesnt), maybe a few more wall decorations, crown molding, and window treatments.

So thats where all the magic happens (am i allowed to say that?) Your turn, link up with the rest of us here.

Stinky ol' bathroom

So after touring some amazing bathrooms, and being so completely jealous of how nice they look. Ive decided to link up with Lindsey from The Bargain Blonde with her Apartment Tour Seriers and let you in on the reality of most my bathroom. Im a little late in posting, I think were supposed to do a tour of a room in our house every Monday, so Ill make sure to be on time next week. (I know, after this post, youre probably thinking "Yeah...Right....")

Please, lets all remember, that when we bought our house back in November, it was in "as-is" condition as a foreclosure. Basically, that means every room in the house needed work in some way or another. (great potential, long progress schedule)

Yep. Thats it. Unfortunately it is the size of basically a small walk-in closet. :( Currently its our only bathroom. Our plan is to eventually close in the carport for a third bedroom, office, master suite with the addition of a master bathroom.  And yes, if youre actually paying attention and know anything about bathroom layouts, you would realize that the sink/vanity and the toilet are in the wrong spot. They should be flipped. But because they are positioned like this, there is literally like 2 inches between the cabinet and the bathtub. Which makes this scary dark hole that never gets cleaned (i know eeewww) Im quite hesitant to even look down there. Specially since I dont like roaches and in my mind this seems like the best hide out for them.

I wont lie. I did clean up before I took the pics. But figured since the bathroom is already horrendous I didnt want to scare you guys away too much.

1. Bath and body works foaming antibacterial soap. I think Im the only one who actually uses it, considering its been next to the sink since before we moved into this house
2.  Glade candle - to make the bathroom smell pretty
3. Febreeze air freshner - again to make the bathroom smell pretty (no need to go into details but a girl needs backup after the hubs uses the bathroom, specially with no vent in the worlds smallest bathroom)
4. contact stuff - Dr. says Im going blind :(

Moving on.... the medicine cabinet (sorry ladies, no crazy pills for me, at least not yet, check back with me in a few months years)

1. tweezers
2. tweezers
3. tweezers (yeah.. ask me why I need three pairs? dunno)
4. smashbox photo finish - foundation primer, got this from a close friend, absolutely love it. it makes your skin feel soooo soft. i normally put it on before i apply makeup
5. biore strips - hubs actually asked if he could try one the other night, wish i wouldve gotten a pic of that
6. mark "get a tint" tinted moisturizer lotion - my sis sells avon (order online here) and i use this instead of foundation. I dont like the feel of foundation on my face, it gets itchy. so i actually take a dab of this and mix a little lotion so it goes on smoothly
7. more avon stuff - lotus shielf frizz control - if you straighten your hair (and if you dont) i highly recommend using this. I use just a small dab after the straightener to get the frizzes down and make my hair shine (be careful tho, too much and your hair looks oily)
8. Melting Pot Lotion - who knew my fav restuarant had lotion? not me. got it in the little goodie bag when we went for valentines day
9. nailtiques - makes my nails strong :)
10. not 1, but 2 additional contact cases on top of the one you saw lying on the countertop

 The shower/tub isnt something to be proud of. I guess the whole bathrooom is that way tho. Note to everyone: the bathroom will be demolished. The yucky yellow and green/blue tile will be replaced. (kitchen first though people!) And yes, i do separate my shampoos, condidtions, and body wash from hubs'. If not then he tends to try and use mine, which obviously are more expensive, and i dont want him using up all the good stuff (sorry babe). Oh and the hair brush sitting in the shower? usually filled with hair. anyone else have this problem? Hubs says i shed worse than our dogs. every couple of months he has to unclog the shower drain due to my hair. (again sorry babe, but you know i love you!)

1. 1/2 wall cabinet - i hate this thing. when we redo the bathroom it will be closed up so that the other lower 1/2 wall cabinet in the hallway can become a full linen closet
2. turbie twist - anyone with long hair should go buy this PRONTO, you'll thank me later ;)
3. yet to be unpacked toiletry bag from my new york trip
4. again not 1, but 2 nail polish removers (i think im trying to do the whole extreme couponing thing where you stock up, it just doesnt seem to be working that well for me)
5. playboy indoor tanning lotion (yes, i fake bake, and i live 5 mins from the beach, its sad)
6. hawaiian tropics outdoor tanning spray (for the few trips i make to the beach when i actually have time)
7. makeup box full of makeup, unfortunately since its such a large box and no where to put it except in the back of the stupid 1/2 wall closet, i dont use much of whats in there)
8. multiple hair styleing tools (blow dryer, straightener, curler, mens shaver)
9. hubs' hair styling products (i dont like putting anything in my hair except for the frizz control, but my hubby can go through bottles of hairspray)

And last but not least, Im going to add to Lindseys series idea, and try to include my inspiration board for how i want all the rooms to turn out once were done with renovations. So here is the stuff for this bathroom. (we actually already have alot of the stuff, except for the cabinets, but hubs wont let me use them until we redo the bathroom)

So now that you know way too much about my bathroom, how bout sharing yours? Link up with the rest of us here.