Snow Day

As promised, here are some photos of the snow we got yesterday and today. I love snow days; I spent the day cooking, baking, cleaning, and relaxing, relaxing, relaxing. My hubby on the other hand, got the lovely job of digging our cars and walkways out...Not as fun for him I presume. I probably...definately...should've thrown these pumpkins out last month but I waited until after this picture to toss them.
Rhodo-dead-rons...and lots of snow.

Hubby's jeep with only a little snow?

Covered porch with snow. Sigh.

Backyard.

My less than enthused husband and dog.

Exterior Photos from a Warmer Time

Tomorrow we are expected to get a foot of snow so, why not post photos from the fall & spring? =P Let's begin with how our home looked when we bought it...

Frightening, I know.

Hubby being goofy.

Our 'sold' photo with our realtor, my sister-in-law.



Now time for some during photos. We used Paint & Primer In One Exterior flat paint by Behr. Labor, of course, was free as we made this into a DIY project.

The screen door will eventually be replaced with a more energy efficient glass door. All of my potted flowering lilies fell off before this picture =(

A bit dusty, but this is our deck after painting. Bench from ROSS:$29.99 (A real steal considering it was originally $118!)

Riverstones from a local company: $50/ton. My rhododendrons that are now dead! I don't know how to keep anything alive.

Side of our home.

There is still much more to be done outside, like new window trim and new windows eventually, but there you have it! I will take more photos with the snowy lanscape tomorrow =)

Bedroom:After

And here are the AFTER photos:

I mentioned that we are very much budget renovators, so..

Labor: FREE + Kilz Primer: $30/gal + Satin paint from Walmart (Would not recommend): $18/gal + Butterfly pictures: $9.99/ea + Reused window treatments from apartment + IKEA curtains: $14.99/2 panels

IKEA Children's Wardrobe: $40 (Mother sewed new fabric panels)

Lantern from ROSS: $12.99


Hamper from HomeGoods: $16.99 + gifted jewelry armoir + picture frame from WalMart: $8.00 (We exchanged standard wedding vows at our wedding, but wrote our own to exchange that night. Printed them and used them in the frame)

Nightstand/Plantstand from HomeGoods: $14.99 + Butterfly Candleholder: $3.99

Bedding from Walmart: $50 online/$64 in store

Trunk I've had forever, gifted candle, and souvenir from Florida

As you may have noticed, we don't exactly have a bedframe but that is in the works =) This room is still not completely finished, but it is getting there!

Our Bedroom: Before & During Photographs

Alrighty folks. as promised I'm sharing some photos. These photos are of the BEFORE; how the house looked when we first moved in. I'm having a hard time working with the picture uploader =/ It seems I upload them in order and then it is reversed once in the post. Hmph. But anyway here goes:Wall panels and d-i-r-t-y drapery
There were so many nails used as coat hooks it seems. Worked for my purse during cleaning =)

Another view

Yes, our bedroom is small.

Underneath the wall panels, there were two layers of wallpaper.

Dizzy.

My hubby =)

Mess.

Apologies for the lull

Getting pictures off one computer and onto another is proving to be a pain in me' butt. I have switched laptops and camera software in the middle of our renovation. Regretting that now...

This weekend I plan to do some more uploading and picture-taking of current progress to share with you all. Until then, bear with me =)

This week has been hectic as I may be facing a lay-off and, since I am technically self-employed, unemployment benefits will not be available for me to use. Goody. Having faith and saying prayers!

Bye-bye for now =)

Give Me an A+

Welcome to my blog! I have decided to keep record of our home renovation via this blogging platform. I previously made photos available through facebook for friends to browse, but have since gotten away from FB. I still would like to keep my own personal record of our progress, but I also figured I would share this with all of you out in the blogosphere. I will catch you all up to speed through a series of pictures and then I will periodically blog about whatever project we are into currently. But first, a little background:

This is the first house my husband (Who we can nickname C) and I have purchased. It is a 1913-1919 bungalow in a small working-class town in southern new jersey. C has some previous experience working on house projects when he lived with his parents, but everything...and I mean everything...is new to me. We have made significant progress, I would say. We bought this house on October 16th, 2009 and were able to make good use of the $8,000 tax credit.


Something that has always frustrated me is the outlandish budgets you see on decorating shows; some 32k for a bathroom remodel. Well, maybe that works for some people but for us, it's all about making a little bit go along way.

I hope you will follow along and give feedback!