Walking in our home for the first time with our realtor was definitely a moment to remember.  We knew the house needed work – but for some reason, even with a few preview picture online – they did not do the space justice.

Oddly enough, this turned us on.  We see a nasty space, covered in paint colors we would never chose and our minds start racing with the very thought of erasing the damage.  Ever watch Fixer Upper on HGTV? We have been loving this show since the very first episode – Joanna is a home decor goddess, who has an eye for it all. And  Chip, well, I am married to a real life Chip myself so he really tickles my fancy.  I cannot help but hope that one day Dan and I will get the opportunity to fix up someone elses house for them.

DREAM #1 – Do it professionally.

(Following the write it down/say it out loud method.  Make it happen)

Speaking of inspiration, you should follow me on Pinterest! I am constantly pinning away my favorite looks! Scroll to the side of our page for the link to follow me 🙂 

While Chip can get a little carried away with the project at hand (just as Dan) – always finding more to do and shooting for the stars, I much like Joanna, have an eye for what a space can be and get slap happy over the smallest of accomplishments.

I know that being “DIY” and fixing up houses is all the rage lately.  Seriously it seems as if everyone is doing it or wants to do it.  Every single show revolves around it – anyone sick of it? Not I, Dan and I like to claim that we were way ahead of the game in dorkville being obsessed with fixer uppers.  But, I think whether you are late to the game or just jumping on the crazy fad  you should embrace it.  A little elbow grease goes a long way and can save you SO much money! (If done correctly, ha.)

Back to our entry way.  We wanted an entry way that not only had a bit of breathing room for guests to get settled in, but a staircase located right in front of the door.  I just love that feeling of opening a door and seeing a bit of everything – I do not know why.

This entry way hit it out of the park for us.  Ample closet space – room for decor + a staircase staring right back at us.  Our view from the front door for the first few weeks of renovation was much less than desirable, but we had to keep the end in sight.

I wish your computer screen had a scratch and sniff.  The smell in here was intoxicating.  We started by ripping up the carpet, to see what lied beneath.  Thankfully we found about 7 real wood stairs + the rest needed covering.  A complete overhaul was in order!

Ha.  I love how my green tea lattes follow me where ever I go.  I have been doing SO good on giving them up — down to about 2 a week, which deserves a round of applause in my books.

So after numerous layers of paint, new stairs and some decor this entry way is one you would all love walking into!

(BEFORE)

 (AFTER)

(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

See what I mean? I love that we rolled up our sleeves and embraced this house regardless of its appearance.  Gosh, if we all could get past the imperfections and give everything a bit of TLC there are so many more houses that could be swooped up.

The big brother – little brother effect is in full swing over here.  There are many of things I said that I would never do before I had kids.  99% of that went straight out the window the second that they were both born.  One of those items on my list of “Oh god please – I will never be one of those moms, dressing my children alike!”  I would see pictures of friends and family dressed in matching outfits – no matter the sex of the child.  It would make me squirm.  Now, here I am buying two of nearly everything, literally.

Great sweater on sale? I buy one for Owen + one for Brody.  Why not? If Owen looks adorable in it, he is in luck – he’ll have another one to wear a few years from now too.  This has spilled into their toys as well.  Double of everything please, or at least extremely similar.  They are best of buds, which also comes with a battle territory.   Future mommas of siblings – just get two.  Save yourself the drama.  Yes, I believe in sharing is caring – and teaching them to let things go nicely.  But they truly want to match – to be equal in a sense.

I knew this would continue to roll into their rooms.  Owen’s bedroom looks much like Brody’s.  Until we figure out what direction we are going into with in their rooms – we did not want to spend $$ only to see tears that either brother does not have what the other one does.

Oh brother is right.

Want to see Owen’s room before we got our hands on it?

I could smack whoever painted the trim in the house – and I am not a violent person.  But mustard and ketchup is only good on burgers.  And this is coming from a girl whose husbands says to her “want some burger with that ketchup”  Love it on my meat, not on my trim.

Same technique applied here – carpet removal, stain/odor sealant, fresh paint and decor added –

and here we are ….

Same curtains, same rug, same wall decor – and you know what? They love it just as so.

We need to get a bed frame for this munchkin + some wall decor.

Keepin’ it real with these cubes.  I’m telling you – it’s impossiblet to keep them together.  Baskets are broken, woven baskets from the living room end up here – I do not care, so long as they clean it up!

 Let the boys be boys.  ya know?

The curtains make my heart skip a beat.  What do you think? Still trying to figure out the end goal here, but it will come! For now, two by two we will go.

So you know those questions I answered for you guys? Or at least I did and never posted it – turns out we have to pay extra $$ to post larger videos on this space.  blah.  Unless I upload them to YouTube … so watch out YouTube, this momma will be taking over this weekend – I’ll be re-doing the video and posting it there to link here.  In other words, it’s coming!

Yesterday I showed you guys some of the window treatments we recently purchased – you can read about it here.  Now here is the fun part, showing you the pictures!

I’ll start first with Brody’s room, which is a complete work in progress – trying to find the direction we want to go!

Remember Brody’s room before?

The fabulous walls covered in teal and lavender.  The carpet that was so graciously peed and pooped on so many times you could hardly take a step without gagging.  It was a room made in nightmares.

This room took a lot of prep work.  Ripping up the carpets, tac strips + sealing off the floors with an odor protector, in hopes of keeping the cat smell at bay.  Oh, to think about doing this and cursing out cats across america – and now here we are with Olive Oil.  So ridiculous.

New flooring, lighting, paint head to toe and a few pieces of decor …

We know we are shooting for a red/white/blue theme here.  Obviously.  It works well with is love for Ohio State and the Blue Jackets.  Plus, keeps the room neutral enough we can change it as he grows! Can you believe the difference already? night and day!

The curtains are from Wayfair.  We purchased the same ones for Owens room too!

I love the addition of the stars on the wall from Pottery Barn Kids + the board in between to add his artwork to.   They are no longer available, but always check out the site – constantly adding amazing wall decor!

I’d say he is a pretty lucky boy – or at least we are lucky to have gotten this room from unlivable to a room any of us would be happy to hang in!

I’ll be posting Owen’s room later this afternoon! So keep checking in!

For the wiiiindows, on our wall –

sorry, had to.

Even though we have less windows in this house than we did at our old house – dressing up our current windows seems to be a much greater task!

You see, in our old house we were totally satisfied with the majority of our windows being covered with $3 blinds, and a few roman shades here and there.  We made the classic selling mistake (aftermath) of leaving all window treatments with the new buyers, including the curtains we invested in a few rooms.  It really did help sell our house – nothing beats buying a house that already has window treatments, but it left us with starting at scratch in our new home.

Immediately upon moving in we had to make a decision as to what to cover our windows with.  We LOVE roman shades, but we wanted a window treatment that could be all the way down to the window sill, and still be opened or closed without having to be rolled up.

We found our solution at the one and only Home Depot  – the Home Decorators Collection Premium Faux Wood Blind, in white.

The width is 2 1/2 inches and these are easy to clean with a duster or even the correct vacuum attachment! It was a little over $50 a window – we purchased 14 to cover the living room, family room, dining room, all bedrooms + and office.

We love the privacy they provide, and that it gives the entire front of our house a cohesive look from the outside.  Still leaving us with a few windows to find coverings for, but after spending over $700 on blinds – we decided to feel out the spaces more before we dropped more dough.

And then we stumbled across an amazing deal! Which you can snag now too! We found this gorgeous gray Sonoma life curtains from Kohls – and with our Kohls member discount, we ended up getting each panel for around $15 instead of $40! We jumped on it! 10 panels and rods later, we now have curtains in our living room, dining room and family room.  SO glad we purchased these.  Curtains really do take a room from “eh” to something to look at!

You to can snag these very curtains for $19 a panel right now!

Last but definitely not least, I have been craving thick striped navy curtains for our boys rooms for ages.  Once I found the perfect and most affordable pair I gobbled them up.

Hello Wayfair! I loved Wayfair long before I was given the opportunity to be a Wayfair Homemaker.  These Nautica Cabana Stripe Drape Panel  are AMAZING in their rooms! I counted down the days of shipping and put them up immediately in their rooms.  I love not only how they look, but how they feel.  A nice thick cotton and keeps the warmth in and the majority of the sun out (great for bedtime!) Plus, two panels for $60! I’ll take it!

I know, I know, Abby where are the pictures of the rooms?!

They are coming! Tomorrow – today I have to take Brody to another follow-up appointment for his Ulcervative Colitis + that takes up a heck of a lot of time.  Send a prayer our way that all goes well!

 I will be photographing the rooms after I get a chance to clean! In the mean time, if your windows are begging to be dressed I highly recommend checking these out!