New Before and After!

So life has been pretty crazy over here but thats just how i like it ;0) We just recently got new carpet installed in our house (by recently i mean a couple days ago ;0) which is great considering how nasty/frightening the old stuff was! The front room was all tile...that looked like cheap bathroom tile.Nice. So we my husband and his dad had fun ripping all of that out for the carpet! Thanks guys! Anywho, so you get the full experience i will show you a few before and after pics ;0) These first ones are how we 'inherited' the front room..warning: these might
hurt your eyes a little! ;0)
BEFORE



This is what it looks like NOW...after we removed wallpaper, painted the walls and the fireplace, built a mantel and got new carpet! The room isnt completely finished yet (almost) but its lookin a little better than it did ;0)
AFTER




What do you think?! We also tiled a little 5ft by 7ft entryway by the front door. It was my first attempt at tiling and i love how it turned out! Matt and i layed the tiles and i grouted it all by myself while he was at work! I will just show you a few close ups of the tile...you can see the whole thing after we get new baseboards..cause the picture will look better ;0)


Matt and i enjoy fixing up our place..we like to call it 'sweat equity.'

Nursery Progress!

So Matt and i are SO EXCITED that we are having a baby boy ♥ The ultrasound was an awesome experience and it was so cool to see our little guy moving around in there! Here are some pics from the ultrasound...sorry about the quality though..our scanner is a piece of junk old :0)

(Click pics for bigger image)

i can already tell that he's going to be handsome ♥

Its a boy...heres the proof ;0)

In fact, we are so excited about our new addition that weve been working on the nursery.. alot! Its not finished yet but i LOVE it so far! here is a nasty 'before' picture of the room...
and the much improved Afters!

Here is the crib we bought..

We installed a cool light fixture with a dimmer switch..so the baby wont be wide awake (blinded by light) when i come in to feed him at 2am..which i am stoked about :0)

I found this awesome/supernice changing table for only $60 on craigsligt...love it! P.S..im so glad i went with white furniture ♥

Some cute things. Note: that little bear was Matts when he was a baby :0)

I know a girl that makes these..now i am determined to learn how..SO cute ♥

i found these cute abc flash cards at target.com...

i ♥ sock monkeys ;0)

So that is our nursery progress..i think its coming along quite nicely :0) Now...all we need is a baby ♥

Baby Stuff!

SO i am a little over 3 months now and im feeling pretty good. Im officially past the first trimester and I think ive been pretty lucky with my pregnancy so far because im not sick all the time..i get sick sometimes but not enough to slow me down....that much anyway ;0) However, I must admit that while pregnant, its harder to find the energy or motivation to tackle the home improvement projects that need to be done around here..i guess Matt will have to do all the work ;0) jk So the doc said that i will be able to find out if we are having a boy or girl in a couple of weeks...we are SUPER excited about that! Alot of people keep telling me that 'you should wait and let it be a surprise' but.....wheres the fun in that?! It would be more like torture! Patience is definitely not one of my virtues :0) What do YOU think i will have? ;0) Anywho, i know we dont know what we are having yet, but ive been dying to start on the nursrey!!! I have found quite a few cute ideas online but cant quite decide...i might just combine a bunch of these cute ideas into one room :0)








Tell me which ideas you liked the best! ♥

Another Kitchen Update!

So we installed a new backsplash a while ago and it looks great! i just havent posted about it because my kitchen has been too messy to take a picture of it...until today that is ;0) Here are some befores...This first one is how we inherited our kitchen...

After we painted the cabinets and installed new hardware...
..Check out that hideous tile backsplash...Scary!

and some new and improved afters!...(With our new DIY backsplash!)




I also made a chalkboard out of an antique mirror i bought at a thrift store for $2...heres the before pic of that..

...and after ♥

Here is our sink area (Matt installed a new faucet.)
My silly kitty...i ♥ her


Thats all folks!

Id like you to meet...

..the newest member of the Gates family! We love our new (much needed) truck :0)


And heres a peek at what we've been up to ;0)


I will show you the rest when we clean up the livingroom/warzone its done ;0)
Even LuLu got in on the fun (note the paint on her little paw)...bad kitty! ;0)

Thats all folks!

Our Kitchen Re-do!

I must say all of our hard work is starting to pay off...i like our kitchen alot more now ;0) Here are the before pictures...





Drum roll please..................................


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AFTER! ♥






Isnt it amazing what i little paint, elbow grease and determination will do? ;0) We arent completely done with it though...we need to replace that abomination backsplash and put in some baseboards SO there will be more pictures... Let me know what you think so far!

Thats all folks!