Kitchen Reveal Part 1

I say part one because there's still a bit more to do, but that won't be done for awhile so until then... here's the NEW(ish) kitchen! 

First let's look at what we were dealing with just 3 short weeks ago... 

Here is what the kitchen looks like today: 

First I tackled painting everything white. Then we did the ardex countertops on the main sink/prep area. Next we tackled the buffet area. Lastly, we hired someone to do the subway tile and Ritchie put on the hardware. The whole process took about 3.5 weeks and we still have a few things left to do. We need to replace the island countertops with butcher block, get different dining chairs and hang a bamboo shade for the window. 

The transformation is HUGE in this space. I can't even believe that a month ago the kitchen was an ugly oak kitchen with blue laminate counters. I'm thrilled with the change and the kitchen is definitely my favorite room in the house now! 

House Tour: Kitchen

Our kitchen was my least and most favorite thing about this house when we bought it. I hated it for everything it was.... maple cabinets, gross smells coming from the cabinets, hideous blue laminate countertops (Are they laminate? I don't even know - they're just ugly). BUT, I LOVED it for its potential. The layout is great and there's lots of storage. Plus, I could totally picture it all white with new countertops and some subway tile etc.. We just had to move in, clean it up and redo the whole kitchen! Easy, right?

Ha!

Here's where we're at now, about 6 months after moving in:


Here's the view from the playroom.

Pros: Lots of light, easy access to the kids, and open floor plan!

Cons: Everything else.


We have this eat-in dining area with a lot of extra storage. Don't mind those seedlings we're working on for our garden. They're not usually up there. This extra counter space and cabinetry we wouldn't be able to function without. It's awesome!


Our pots and pans also hang over there. I've always loved displaying these and our cookbooks up top there.


This is the far end of the kitchen towards the formal dining room.


This is standing back by the fridge.


Lots of lovely blue counter space! The space is great! The counters... not so much.


Here is standing back the other way. In the past 6 months we've done a few things. The dishwasher and cooktop are new, the island has been painted this green color and given some amazing hardware. That's it though! SO much more to do!

Some of my favorite things:




This little area is just really decorated and colorful and I love it.



That's it for the kitchen! I'm HOPING to start the white paint this weekend so fingers crossed I'll have a good "after" shot soon-ish.

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics. Life, you know?

Our Master Bedroom

I feel like our room is done enough (as done as it will be for awhile now) to show you all!

When we bought our house this room was a lovely pale pink color. Which matched the rosy pink carpet quite well. The bathroom is also pink, with a pink countertop to boot! So, while I don't mind some pink accents, this room was clearly taking pink to a whole new level. I painted in a creamy white shade and did a gray/blue (shocking right? I mean, I never use this color!) accent wall behind the bed.












I know the photos are too big. Sorry! We still need to do some (a lot) of things to this space. Aside from new carpet (or hardwood? We can't decide) we also need new baseboards, doors and casing. I'll show off the bathroom another time. Perhaps while we're redoing it as a before/after. I'd also like to do a few smaller things. I'd love a gold frame around my book wreath and I'd love some frames surrounding the window for our black and white family photos. The dresser needs some decorating love as well.

My favorites about this space are the bedding and the large window and our walk in closet. The space feels the perfect combo of warm and light to me. But the carpet is disgusting and needs to go. And the brown doors are not my fav either. Baby steps!

More of the house to come soon I hope!

The Last Nursery

Back when we began the adoption process, I started planning a space for a little girl. It was all pinks and whites and golds. Once we found out that this darling babe was indeed another BOY we began to wonder what to do with our extra space. Adoption is tricky in that we weren't (still aren't!) sure of timing. We weren't sure if she'd be home when this baby was still young enough to be in our room... did we even need a nursery?

Anyway, long story... but basically when we moved to Washington we also found out that baby girl Lincoln probably wouldn't be home until closer to Finn's first birthday. And so we decided to give this little dude a nursery all his own. I think putting a space together for him helped me to bond a bit more. This is by far my favorite space I've created for the kids yet (and I really love the boys' room too, so that's saying a lot!) Here are a few pictures of the space!













So much of the room is "repurposed". The crib was actually picked up for our daughter a long time ago used and for a steal! The dresser is from Max's nursery over 4 years ago now. The rocking chair was the one thing I bought after finding out I was pregnant. I wanted a comfy place to nurse at night that still was charming and had character.

Many of the little elements, like the gumball machine, book (another one is on the way!), goat stuffed animal, star, toys, chair pillow etc were all things we had lying around that I had used in other spaces. Even the fox canvas that I painted for him was a canvas left over from another project. I just had to buy a few colors of paint.

The bedding and crib pillows are Land of Nod. Same with the changing pad cover and floor basket. The curtains are ikea and Ritchie built the shelf and I painted it.









And, while this little guy might have his own space, I'm sure he'll never be alone....





His brothers like to hang out in there, so he'll always have company :)

5 Weeks In

We've been living in CO for five weeks now. It seems like it's been much longer as we've quickly gotten to know our new town. There's so much I love about where we live, so let me start there.

Our house. I'll do a house tour soon. This space has proven to be so perfect for us. We (FINALLY) have a huge play space for the boys and they each have their own room. Our kitchen is dreamy and I love cooking AND cleaning it (shocking, I know!). We have a fireplace that I can turn on with a switch (which means I can operate it) and a separate dining and living area. All for less significantly less than we would pay in San Jose. Like, A TON less.  I'm loving decorating and making this awesome space our own. Here's a little sneak peak:











I can't wait to show you more! Soon, soon...

I also ADORE our town. Well, our neighborhood I guess they're called here. We live in the city of Denver, but the neighborhood of Stapleton. It's a new development that is flooded with families and small children. There are 3 elementary schools alone in our somewhat small community because there are SO many children here. We're walking distance to a huge park where I go and participate in Stroller Strides (a mommy workout) and Max will be joining soccer that practices at that park in a few weeks. We can also walk out our front door and access several walking trails. We have a town center with restaurants and a huge lawn area where they have weekly farmer's markets, movies on Friday nights, pony rides, and monthly antique fairs. I haven't a clue what the winters are like in this neighborhood, but I cannot wait to find out!


Max enjoying the Farmer's Market


Max playing in the water fountains at the Town Center


Ben and me hanging by the fountain


Town center pony ride


Out for an evening walk



Also, we're about 20 minutes (surface streets) to downtown Denver and Ritchie works right in LoDo (lower downtown) which is about as charming as it comes. It's the perfect location for date nights and even eating out with the kids. There's a darling bookstore right down the street from Ritchie's building. I'm just in LOVE with LoDo, and all of downtown is pretty great.




Behind those two goofballs (just kidding!) is Larimer street. A quaint hot spot in LoDo. It's one of my favorites.

Something else I love about Denver so far is the FOOD. Oh yeah. Now, I LOVED food in my old hometown also so I was a bit worried about leaving all the deliciousness behind and having to find new favorites. But, Denver delivers.


Behold, the Denver Biscuit Bus. Yes, bus. It drives around to Farmer's Markets (and who knows where else) delivering AMAZING biscuits topped with so much yumminess it's almost too much to handle. This one? The Dahlia. It's a biscuit, sausage, egg, apple butter and it's smothered in MAPLE SYRUP. I mean, really. There are no words.


On a somewhat healthier note, we get milk delivered to our door every Thursday morning. It's delicious AND convenient. AND we have a milkman whom we've actually met. Interesting, huh?


Plus, the delivery box that resides on our front porch is ADORABLE.


We can also get pie delivered weekly. We don't, but we CAN. That's pretty exciting in our world.

'
And, it took several attempts, but we finally found some GOOD pizza! Hurray!

The great news is that most good (and bad for you) food is a bit of a hassle to get to or you have to drive a ways, so we eat at home more often and our waistlines (and bank accounts) are pretty happy about that.

So, with all these great things I should balance out with a few things I'm not appreciate of.

1. The altitude. I feel like each leg weighs about 200 pounds when I try to run. That could be because, you know, I NEVER used to run and now I'm attempting it. Or it could be the altitude.


Also, for about a week the altitude did this to my face. Chapped, dry and SO sore. Plus, it was uber attractive. Ritchie couldn't keep his hands off of me.

I miss our play date group and having some momma time with the girls that I've raised my sons with thus far. I miss Max's preschool and all his little buddies from there. Max starts a new preschool next week, but I know it won't be the same. I'm nervous. It's not Miss Tanya and I'm scared that he'll feel overwhelmed. Sometimes change is hard and I feel guilty about making Max face some of the hard changes.

Also, I miss my family. A lot. Both sets of parents will be visiting next week and I'm really excited, but I'm dreading them leaving already. That's hard stuff.

We have an exciting week ahead and I'm going to focus on that. Ben turns ONE on Tuesday. My mom arrives on Thursday and my Dad on Sunday. Good things ahead this week. I'll have lots to tell you about.


To end, just a cute picture of the boys sharing pudding.