My House Before it was a Home...

(PLEASE DISREGARD THE DATES ON THE PHOTOS, IT WAS REALLY SEPTEMBER, 2007)

While decluttering my laundry room, I found my first

digital camera.  It is a Kodak EasyShare.

I had to plug it into the computer to charge on a special

docking station.  Over time, the thing quit working...the

docking station that is.

 I decided to see what was in it.

To my surprise, it has an SD card.

I don't know if I even knew it had a card in it

back when I used the camera.

 Now, I have a Targus Media Reader, which means

I can just plug the little thing into my computer

and pop my card into it....I used to use

a cord and plug camera to the computer.

I could HUG whomever invented this little $20 thing.

 Here is our patio....we got the staining and scoring for FREE

because the cement had a crack in it...a cosmetic crack.

The company did this as a disguise, so I could enjoy

my patio and not focus on the CRACK.

It isn't in the picture, but right in the middle of the patio

is an Oklahoma Centennial Coin....it was the year we

built the house as well as our 20th year of marriage.

 Here is the livingroom.

You can see Regan's bedroom.

 Panning to the right, here is our woodstove.

The wall to the right is a chocolate brown and

the wall to the left is a lighter tan.

The window looks out to the patio.

 This is Regan's room.

She has a huge room.

Her room can eventually be a den and/or

large office.

Her angled closet door was David's idea.

He wanted it to reflect her entrance door, which

is also angled.

Great idea sweetie!

 Looking down the hallway.

Regan's room on the left.

Carly and Sydni shared a large room on the right.

The other doors are storage closets.

At the far end, is the powder room.

 Carly and Sydni's room.

Yah, blinders are needed.

After three year, I've come to enjoy this sunshiny

yellow.

 This is their dressing room.

To the left is the private bath/toilet area.

To the right is a large walk-in closet.

 Here is the powder room at the end of the hallway.

 Walking back into the livingroom, you can see the kitchen.

For whatever reason, I didn't take pictures of the office.

That is the room I am currently renovating.

It was just an empty room, with no closet or built-in

shelving.

 Now we are looking into the kitchen from the dining area.

You can see the laundry room to the back.

The door goes to the garage.

 Here is our bedroom...technically, our house has two

master bedrooms.

This bedroom is off the dining room.

 Here is our HUGE closet...I mean larger than

my office closet.  I think it is 12 x 12, but not sure.

I am still trying to decide exactly how I want to work this

space.

 When walking out of my bedroom, you look at

the pantry.  In the original plan, this is an extra

closet in our bedroom.  I changed it to a

pantry and am I ever glad I did.  It now

has a red screen door!  It slams....I. Love. It.

 A better look at the hall doors.

All of our bedrooms have doors from our old farmhouse.

Five generations on my husband's side have touched those doors.

I was afraid we weren't going to get them for the new house.

Praise God, we were able to get them.

I happened to go to Mill Creek for something and found

NEW doors with the same pattern as the OLD doors.

Guess what?  They were cheaper than the standard six panel

doors found in most homes.  To say I was tickled would be an

understatement!  I just might have "squeed" a bit.

Here is our entrance.

Regan's room is there to the right.

The old farmhouse did not have an entrance...you would just

walk straight into the livingroom.

Most people entered through the mud porch and the

front door was never used.

One of our "splurges" was for the door....

I wanted LIGHT to enter.

I love art deco, and I think this door reflects that era.

For some odd reason, I didn't take a picture of the outside....

it is just a simple rectangle home.

I had pipe dreams of a HUGE wrap around porch which was

quickly squashed when I found out it added 20% to the cost of the house.

We contracted out to build this house which meant we were the

builders.

We did all the flooring ourselves.  My step-dad, Paul, did the

amazing tile work.  He worked so hard at it and I feel I still

haven't thanked him enough.

We also did the painting....All. The. Painting.

I still get a little nauseous when I smell paint.

The average builder cost was around $110/sq. ft.

We built this for $47.50/sq. ft.

It has been 3 years, and I am finally feeling like it is a home.....sigh.....

15 Minutes (Days 35 - 46) Office/Studio Makeover

 Well, I can finally see the the light at the end of the tunnel.

I had a free day, so I spent it doing 15 minutes at a time.

I would work for 15 minutes, then I would take a 15 minute break

and either do something else like work with daughter on

her schoolwork or chat in the Flylady Chatroom.

 I had a tiny small annoying urge to paint the upper

cabinets a buttery yellow.  Most people agreed with

me and thought it would look great.

Being the budget-type, I just couldn't justify

buying another gallon of pain when I already

had the turquoise.....2 gallons to be exact.

These cabinets on took 1/2 a gallon.....WOW,

did I overestimate on that one.

Lowe's VALSPAR Gentle Wave is the color.

I still might eventually make the upper cabinet

doors into blackboards....still thinking though.

Remember that the days are really 15 minute time slots.

So,  from beginning of this project to this exact moment,

I've spent a total of 11 1/2 hours!

This would have been a bear to try to accomplish in even one

weekend.  I would have become depressed and decided to

not even touch this junk room.

By taking it in short spurts, I was able to stop and think about it

and just do SOMETHING for 15 minutes.

It is now an enjoyable room and I can still spend 15 minutes

filling the cabinets with USABLE things instead

of creating piles all over the room.

I got the table desk from Craigslist for $50.00.

I originally thought it would replace the current dining

table I have, but when I got there and saw

that it is a wee bit tiny for our dining area,

I decided it would make an awesome desk.

I've been waiting more than a year to use the grapefruit

bowls in this office....before, I couldn't even see the

top of my desk much less find ROOM on the desk

for this bowls.

Please make sure you look to the right of my blog and click the

15 Minutes link to see all my posts related to this

project.  I am not done and will continue to update as

I do more organizing and decorating.

Please let this be a motivator for you if you, too, have a JUNK ROOM.

A View of My Bedroom....

This is the door way...the one with the 1950's prom dress on it.

Yes, my bathroom is sherbet orange....soon to be a creamy country white.
My side of the bed.
I got the table for $10.00 at a garage sale...it was short, so I added the blue suitcase to it.
The lamp is a thrifted makeover lamp that can be seen somewhere on this blog.
All of the pictures have been thrifted for $5.00 or less.
I want more.



I got this picture for $2.00 at a thrift store....it just called my name! Look at the pink in it.
The pillows are a hodge podge...left is an adorable sweater that I made into a pillow. The middle pillows are from a local flea market for $1.00 each.
The pom-pon pillow is my husband's grandmother's handmade pillow.


This is David's side of the bed...the manly man side....
All thrifted or given to me.
The top one is new, from Big Lots when my daughters remodeled their room...yep, I stole it.
The stand is just a vintage camp seat.
My window...sigh....
I have a wonderful shelf to put above it....just have to get busy painting.
The "curtain" is actually a head wrap....
The lights create a wonderful glow at night.



Vintage tray...thrifted...$1.00.
I plan to hang my necklaces from it on magnetic hooks.
Birdhouse is from a garage sale...$.50.
There is a very vintage 1940s wedding cake topper in the birdcage.
I got it for $1.50...yes, $1.50!!!
I found out it was glass when I accidentally dropped it....and the groom's head fell off....akkkkkk.
Notice my tricked out name tag laying beside it....I love my tricked out name tag.



I found this article in a vintage magazine and have had it hanging for several months.....

This week, I got creative with the numerous vintage hats I've scored over the years.

I made a collage....

Above my mirror are more hats and a wonderful GIFT from a dear friend who is very talented with floral decorations. THANKS KIM!

The wall color looks different in each picture...the closest to the real color would be the last picture.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment, I try to visit blogs of people who comment....I like snooping. :)

So...Exactly How Does a Homeschooler "Graduate"?

First, we start by finding a really pretty dress!

Then we borrow a cap and gown from a public school kid....we especially score big when that public schooled kid has an honor sash....

Hopefully, you realize I am just kidding....

The sash is for National Technical Honor Society.

We buy our own gowns and caps and tassels.

We are in a homeschool group and all the parents of seniors work an entire school year planning the graduation.

All seniors design a special display of their life for all the guests to "ohhh" and "ahhhh" over.

Sydni's has the pizza hat at hers because she has been employed in the pizza industry since she was fourteen.

There is a girl, Sprite, yes that is her name...so, she used SPRITE cans in her theme.

Here they all are looking pretty for their OFFICIAL picture as a class.

Then we take a goofy pictures wearing 2010 glasses....

The seniors made a banner for the reception area...

each grad had their own section to decorate as they chose.

Sydni likes PINK.

Reception table....for some reason, I didn't take pictures of the reception area.

Believe me when I tell you it looked spectacular!

Sydni gave the opening prayer.

Since this is a Christian homeschool group, we can do things like that....

A 5 picture slide show is shown of each graduate....here is Sydni's baby picture.

While the pictures are showing, Mom and Dad pre-recorded a love letter to their graduate. Yep, it is a true snot slinger!

Here is her Senior picture....my how time flies!

Another special moment is when Dad gets to hand the diploma to his daughter.

Sydni gave me a rose.....

We even had a great speaker, Joe McGee.

All in all, the ceremony lasts almost 2 hours for our 18 graduates.

Then we head home for the PARTY!!

My sister, Terri, is ready to TAKE CHARGE on the pink bike....MY PINK BIKE.

For some reason, she kept getting it confused with her NO BIKE.....yah, she has NO BIKE.

The manly men use a mother of all grills to cook up about 100+ hamburgers.....

We have a special cake made...well, this is really the 2nd special cake SINCE THE LADY GAVE OUR CAKE TO SOMEONE ELSE!!

Yah...seriously...so, she gave us a smaller cake to go with the big cake in hopes that it would smooth everything over.

It did not.....but it sure tasted good.

We got the yard decorated and prepped for the visitors....

We lit the fire pit....and made s'mores!

The kids played FREEZE TAG....yah, I loved it. We didn't have to wonder if they were sneaking off and drinking or doing things they weren't supposed to do....they just played a mean game of FREEZE TAG....LOL.

The adults and little bitties...enjoyed the FIRE PIT!

The night ended with a special dance for Sydni and Ryan...her fwiend. Did I mention he is her 'pecial fwiend?

Everyone was gone by 11:15 and we took some time to just go sit by the fire before retiring to bed.

We couldn't have been blessed with a more beautiful day and turnout....thank you to all who helped make Sydni's day very special indeed.