Our New Home!

So we moved in 6 weeks ago, and time had FLOWN by! I've been meaning to publish this post for a LONG time, but we keep adding changes so I keep waiting to take pictures. We have done A LOT of work and are very happy/ proud of our home!!! And I know alot of you wanted to see some "before" photos but I was sooo busy I forgot most of the time. SORRY!

Front Yard

 I just LOVE this photo! It's bright and colorful and "welcoming!"  I even like the ivy creeping up the sides. Unfortunately soon after this photo, we chopped the ivy out!

 The oh so HAPPY family who lives here!

This flower bed was COVERED in weeds, and ivy! I had a BLAST picking out flowers and getting a little dirty! You can't tell but I choose pink and yellow flowers! I seriously LOVE it!

Back Yard

 Probably the ONLY time I remembered to take a "before" photo! It was WORSE on the other side of our stairs! I don't have a photo, so you're just gonna have to trust me! ;)

 AFTER! Looks so GREAT! Darren did a fantastic job! The right side (checkered) is for the boy's outdoor toys, power wheel, and other ride on toys!

The neighbor liked Darren's work so much that she paid him to do her side! Now it looks even better AND our neighbor is gone ALL the time so she said we could buy an outdoor table set and put it on her side! So we scored double patio space!!!

Living Room

Our luxurious living room! I won't lie, the hardwood floors aren't in the best of conditions, but the other day we bought some product to "renew" our floors and now they look AMAZING! Now to explain what we (Darren) did! We painted walls, ceiling, trim, replaced old outlets, added the lighting and added the lighting fixture above the window! We also added all new lighting fixtures in the entry way and 2 in the hallway upstairs!

 The paint I chose to use throughout the house is a cream color. Since we have a small townhome, we wanted a nice light, neutral color to make the rooms look bigger. And it worked! (At least our neighbor has told us that we made it look a ton bigger than the last owner!)

These stairs were COVERED in wallpaper! Yuck! And not cute wallpaper like I've seen on pinterest but wallpaper I'd imagine a 70 year old psychiatrist would have in his office! We scraped it all of and painted the stairs white!

The Boys Playroom

 What we did: Painted! The basement was entirely painted the dark brown color, which we thought was too dark for a basement, even though we really liked the color. So we painted most of the walls cream and left a few brown accent walls! We painted the door white, it was a natural wood color. We replaced all the outlets with kid proof ones! There was an outlet way below the t.v., but Darren moved it all the way up so he could hide it behind the t.v. He also designed the t.v. wires to go through the wall so the kids couldn't play in them! It's a 100% Kid Friendly Room!

 I love how big and open it is for the boys to play...... or make a GIANT mess of! lol On the other side of the door is the "unfinished" side of the basement. I saved your eyes from the messiness of it all! It's mostly storage, my craft room and the laundry room!

 I still havent hung any pictures on the wall, but it's coming soon! We found a great deal on this "click clack" couch via my fave store, Target!

I really wanted BRIGHT colors in this basement, even though there is lots of natural light coming through that small window! Ic an't wait to finally get things hung on the walls!

Kaiden's Room

Kaiden's room will be redecorated in a Monster Theme soon! So his walls and everything are pretty bare, but I wanted you to get the idea! I didn't get a picture of Jaxton's room, but it's a little smaller and Dalmatian themed right now, but I may turn it into a Fireman theme soon! That way I can still use the Dalmatian bedding I made!
What we did to both boy's rooms: Painted the ceiling, walls, trim, door, closets and closet door.

Bathroom

We only have 1 bathroom in our whole 3 bedrrom house! It actually hasn't been a problem, but then again we haven't had any overnight visitors yet either! We are considering installing a half bath on the unfinished side of the basement. It would be amazing but isn't a top priority right now.

We will be tiling the floor probably sometime this week!! What we did: Painted ceiling, walls, trim and door. Replaced the moulding around the mirror.

Our Room

I just LOVE my Tiffany Blue wall! It's so fun and bright! We only did the 1 accent wall.

What we did: Painted the walls, ceiling, trim, door, closet door and accent wall.

A PERFECT match!!!

The Kitchen

I purposely saved the kitchen for last! I'm so in love with it! Yesterday Darren tiled my kitchen flooe and it has completley changed it! I'll show you a few pictures of the old floor and then the new flooring!

Notice the old white tile you remember seeing in your school as a kid! Oh yes, this is the original 1970 flooring! And if you couldn't guess, white is incredibly HARD to keep clean. 

 Ta Da!!! Our new flooring! Doesn't it make a HUGE difference!? It's soooo beautiful!

This kitchen ahd been remodeled by the previous owner 2 years ago. And she installed the island!! What we did: Painted ceiling, walls, trim, shelves, cupboards, pantry, island (was bright red and we painted it cream. I'm thinking I'd prefer it the brown color so I'll probably paint it soon!) and shelves (you'll see them in a pic in a minute!) Darren added oak trim above the cabinets and along the pantry. (Previously there were just BIG gaps between the wall and cupboards.) The only other project Darren has left is to install a new light fixture!

And now for a brief "before and after" picture montage!!!

Didn't the floors just change it so much!? I just LOOOOOOOVE IT!

A fun project idea I got from pinterest! It's my kitchen command center! It inclides my menu board, key holders, a white board for notes and a mail holder! Now, maybe my island won't get so junked up all the time!

 I have the damask pattern throughout my kitchen and even on my plates so I wanted to incorporate it a little more. So I bought some fabric ($3) and hot glued it around a piece of cardboard that fit snuggly in the cubby! So easy, so cheap and sooooo fun! My mother in law surprised me with the vinyl decal above. You can't really see it from the glare but it says "Chelsea's Cupcake Cafe"! How awesome is that!?

 These shelves were originally red and I wanted them to be put in the basement for movies, but Darren talked me out of it and I'm soooo glad he did! I just love these shelves now! The glass jars hold my flour and sugar and have pink vinyl decals that label them! (My favorite part has to be the spirnkles stored in the small glass jars!!!! Too cute!)

 Our unit is at an AWESOME location! We have a nice BIG tree in our front yard that gives shade to our cars, our front yard and our home. I imagine our home is easier to keep cool than others because of our beloved tree! Also in the back we a forest! Of course it's gated so the kids can't go out there but it's so nice to have the privacy. The way most of these townhomes are laid out, people can just see into each others homes! We got lucky!!!

Another fun feature in my kitchen is the pull out drawers!!! Jaxton loves them too! And when he's not in THIS drawer, he's in the drawer under my stove! lol
Whew! We did some MAJOR work! But it was ALLworth it. For some reason on paper it doesn't sound like we did much but trust me, we DID! Okay, Darren did most of it while I played with the kids at the zoo! lol. I just love having a handy man for a husband!!!
Our home is soooo beautiful!!! I feel truly blessed to live here! I'm also having a great time meeting all the neighbors! Our townhome community is 75% LDS families! It's also divided into 3 different wards, so I still have PLANTY of people to meet! Kaiden especially loves our new home because of the playroom downstairs and the fact that I play with him outside for the majority of the day!
Well, now that you've had the tour, ya'll need to come out and visit us!!!!!!!!
See ya soon!!!