Happy New Year & A Look Back

Before moving on to a new year, I wanted to share with you some of the transformations that have occured here at our house in 2010.

We bought this little house in 2007.
Here is what it looked like when we first saw it - For Sale sign and all.

We had looked around for a while and were finding nothing in our price range that we liked. This little cottage house came on the market and we were the first to look at it. Every - and I do mean EVERY - room needed redone. We decided to take the plunge knowing that we could fix it up ourselves. (You see I married someone who knows how to do stuff...I ain't no dummy!)

That first summer we redid the dining room, living room, and bedrooms so that we could move in and live here while finishing up the rest.

Here are some of the cool things that happened this year.

Bookshelf Project

The previous owners had removed the fireplace that was originally on this wall and then covered the entire wall - windows included - with drywall and a painted mural.

When we first looked at this house I didn't even realize there were windows in this wall until later when we were driving by the house and I saw them from outside!

We ripped down the mural, put up new drywall, uncovered and redid the windows and added wood trim.

Above picture taken 2007 - after drywall is put up.

Armed with a Lowe's gift card (thank you Lee & Frannie) and Mark's skills we built this bookshelf in a weekend.

Finished!

New Windows in Our Bedroom

This is what our bedroom windows looked like before:

Not bad, but you couldn't open 2 out of the 3 windows for fresh air.

We decided to replace them and here is the finished look.

New Roof & Siding

July came with a total home transformation, thanks to a new roof and new siding.

Here is a pic of this poor little house before:

People laughed at us when we told them we wanted yellow siding.

I think it turned out nice.

The finished result.

We decided to remove the porch railings and I love how it looks.

The year before we removed the garage door and driveway, filled it in, and we now have a large front yard.

Playhouse

For years now Mark and I have wanted to give the girls a playhouse. 

Mark put alot of thought and preparation into this project, wanting to make it just right for his two princesses.

Here is how it looked the first day as the walls went up.

The finished product - lights & all!

This year we hope to finish our kitchen and do some work to the basement to turn it into another living area.

We hope you will come along with us on our journey by visiting here often.

I wanted to leave you with this picture of Hannah, Gaby & friends playing a game called Hedbanz.

 If you are planning a fun family night this New Year's Eve (or anytime), get this game. It is a blast! The kids and I giggled the entire time we were playing it
(Thanks to Naomi - Hedbanz ringer!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year

Love,

Katie