Upgraded Boot Tray

A couple weeks ago my BFF, Katie, introduced me to Pinterest.  OMG! It is my new obsession!  There are sooooo many good ideas out there!  I was a little resistant at first when she told me that I just HAD to join because it was so cool.  Well, I am so super glad that I did.  I have been inspired in so many different ways.


I have boards for foods that I want to try once I'm done with my diet, ideas for my home, things to do with Luke, etc, etc.  I have gotten so many good ideas to do in my house.  One of them was the pebble-filled boot tray.  The original link was to Martha Stewart.


Now, my old boot tray was nothing to write home about.  It served its purpose, but wasn't much to look at.  It kept the melting snow from ruining the laminate flooring in the entry, but it looked dirty and gross.   And I never did like the way it looked with the way the rest of the entry is decorated.

Then along comes Martha!  

Small Changes, BIG Results!

I swear that whoever picked out the hardware for the kitchen and downstairs bathroom was an 80 year old woman at heart.  I mean really, white porcelain handles and knobs with flowers painted on.  Simple horrible.  They weren't our taste at all.  I really wanted something sleek and modern in both rooms. 

The Kitchen

Here's the hardware the came with the house when we first bought it.  See what I mean by not our style! 

Kitchen

An Unusual Impulse Buy And Other Adventures

Our adventures begin with a honey-do list that had steadily been growing.  Grant, for whatever reason, decided that he was ready to cross a few things off.  Now, I'm not a girl to discourage sudden ambition, so go right ahead honey!



He started with replacing the old thermostat.  We had one of those old dial ones and it didn't seem to give an accurate temp reading.

Key To The City

Once the entry was done, it was time to decorate.  I've been scouring the interwebs for decorating ideas and came across this vintage keys post on another blog.  I thought it was such a cute idea for the entry!



So we set out in search of vintage looking keys and other decor stuff at the Goodwill.  Instead of finding a few smaller keys, Grant found a GIANT key!

The Great Paintathon

You know, I started this blog so family and friends could follow along as we transform our house into our home.  I admit, I haven't been very good about keeping up with it.  It's constantly in the back of my mind; but, by the time I actually have time to do it, I never remember!  Or I'm too tired.  So, here we go.  I'll try to keep the posts coming a little more frequently.

Clean, Clean, Clean

Thank goodness for good friends!  When we were first about to move in after we bought our house, it was an absolute disaster.  If it wasn't for our fantabulous friends, we'd still be cleaning up after the previous owners!  

Bestie, Melissa, helped out with the upstairs built-ins.  She also brought a whole mess of cleaning supplies.  

First Thing's First .... New Floors!

When we first looked at our house with the Realtor, we knew that if we got it, we would have to replace the floors ASAP.  Especially in the kitchen where parts of the parkay flooring were just simply missing!  How does part of a floor go missing?

Here's my friend, Jenelle, sweeping up the last of the old flooring.  Wish I had a picture of what the old stuff looked like.  Oh, well.