The Nest Diaries

New Before and After!

2010-04-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-12-17T15:58:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-11-19T17:58:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-10-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

..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!

2009-09-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

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..................................

...............................................................

..............................................................

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!

Home Sweet Home

2009-09-04T20:56:00.001-07:00

Its official!

We have been in our new home for a few weeks now and we couldnt be ~~busier~~ happier :0) First id like to say that being a homeowner is ALOT of work! I knew there would be alot to do but.....wow! The first thing we decided to tackle so to speak is the kitchen and i must say that its coming together quite nicely :0) We have stripped the wallpaper (which was a ~~pain in the butt~~ tedious task) and painted the ceiling, walls and cabinets (which look fabulous by the way ;0) I also took the liberty of ripping out all of the crusty/ugly baseboards! Here we are ~~making a mess~~ working ;0)

One wall done(almost)...six more to go! ;0)

~~Matt~~ We decided to buy this really ~~expensive~~ handy paint sprayer ;0) It turned out to be worth it because it made the job alot easier. Here is matt in action!

and here are some pictures of the warzone ;0)

After we painted, we added some new fixtures and of course our new stainless steel refrigerator and dish washer! Matt and i were SO excited to get our very own fridge..its fabulous! All we need to do now is get rid of the backsplash ~~what were they thinking~~ and replace the baseboards and we should be good. Dont worry, I will post before and after pictures soon ;0) I cant wail til its done so i can start decorating it! SPEAKING of decorating i went antiquing/ thrifting today and made out like a bandit i tell you! Here are my finds!

First i found this cool antique coffee table that just needs a new coat of paint for just $35..THEN i found my new favorite thrift store! Do you see all of the things on my new coffee table and that super awesome antique mirror?! You will be so jealous amazed at how much i spent for it....wait for it.....

a whopping $2.98! Isnt that fabulous?! I think the ~~crazy~~ nice lady at the thrift store is my new best friend! :0)

Thats all folks! ♥

WE ARE MOVING...FINALLY!

2009-08-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

SO the time has come..our escrow closes this Tuesday so the moving festivities are soon to begin! I will post more after were 'in' :0) Wish us luck! ♥

My decorating style

2009-07-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

So ive been collecting decor ideas that i love for quite some time now...and here are some of my faves! Matt and i both decided that we want a 'happy house'... A place that is bright, cozy and welcoming :0) Hopefully i can fit all of these cute ideas into our home...♥

..Any Suggestions?

2009-07-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

So i have been looking EVERYWHERE for cute design ideas..mostly online. I bought this decorating book and its pretty dang awesome :0)

If you have a favorite place to find design ideas online or a magazine that you like etc..im open to suggestions! :0)

To Paint...or not to paint...

2009-07-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

So im planning on doing ALOT of painting when we move in to our place and I REALLY want to paint the fireplace..now, before you think im crazy here me out :0) I think all of the brick in the living room makes the room feel darker and by painting the fireplace i think it will really lighten up the room and make it a little more modern...ive attached some pictures of painted fireplaces...tell me what you think! Have you had any good/bad experiences painting brick? Here is the fireplace i want to attack with paint...Am a crazy or do the white fireplaces look MUCH nicer?!

Painted fireplaces:

Our First House ♥

2009-07-07T15:05:00.001-07:00

So heres the story. We decided earlier this year that we are sick and tired of wasting money on rent SO we began the hunt for our first house..Weve been looking for months now and have learned A LOT along the way. This whole 'bying a house' thing isnt as easy as it sounds! While we were looking for homes we fell in love with a little mountain town called Paradise which is about 15 minutes from chico (where i work) and 20 minutes from Oroville (where Matt works). We also like the fact that it is very pretty and in the mountains :0) We have been interested and made offers on other homes that didnt quite work out. At the time we didnt understand but now its obvious that everything happens for a reason. We are now in escrow with this house in Paradise... its a pretty good-sized home with alot of character! We have plans to update and decorate the place and i will document what we do here (after we move in and get around to it that is) :0) So here are some pictures of the house we are buying!
Heres the front of the house.

It has a circle driveway.

Front room.

Dining room.

Kitchen

Out of embarrassment, I may not show you the other rooms until i make them pretty..unless you REEEALLY want to see them ;0)
Our street.

The church is right down the road...we could walk there! There is also a nice park with a fishing pond and a baseball field in walking distance :0) Were scheduled to move in next month..Let me know what you think!