Remodeling This Life

Well, it’s that time. Election Day. Please, go vote.

Want a little incentive?

List of Voter’s Incentives. Even though I voted last week, I plan to head out and get myself a free coffee at Starbucks today!

November 4th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (3)

I fleetingly showed my son’s room a couple weeks ago when I shared a tour of my house. This room has been a long time coming. For a while, we only had two livable bedrooms while the other two sat waiting to be remodeled. A year ago, this room was where hubby and I had our queen bed crammed in and shared with my son’s crib. Then we finished our now bedroom and moved in there while we continue to work on what will eventually be our master bedroom on the other side of the house.

Just for fun, I dug up this old post that shows what this bedroom looked like with no walls when hubby was really rebuilding what was there. Photos that prove we are insane remodelers.

When we moved out of our son’s room, it became less of his room and more of an office and playroom. We knew it needed a lot of work to get it how we wanted it for him but it was functional. There was carpet that we’d put down but it was not kid friendly and dirty and got gross fast. I hated the wall color hubby had put up quickly to get us moved in.

So, it looked like this

I am considerably embarrassed to post those photos because it’s just so, oh I don’t know. Vomit inducing.

But it was what it was.

Over the summer, hubby did this

And now…finally, it looks like this.

This makeover, materials and furniture included cost us about $450.

$140 for the tile
Paint (Sherwin Williams Jardin) was free - my parents bought two gallons for a room in their house and didn’t like it so gave it to us.
Trim, baseboards and closet door - $100
Captains bed with bookshelf and two drawers with a new mattress - $200 on craigslist
I used accessories I already had for the walls and we made some of our own wall art. The artwork on the wall next to the armoire is a family tree my daughter made in school. The elephant tapestry was a birthday gift. As you can see, I am staying true to myself and not ironing just for photos for you. I hate ironing.

So what do you think? Better? Please don’t tell me you like how it was before better! I am not too worried

November 3rd, 2008 | Category: Remodeled Home | Comments (9)

What a week! Between my birthday (thank you for all the birthday wishes!) and Halloween, this family has overdosed on sugary goodness. I have a major sweet teeth and am not ashamed to admit that I have probably eaten 5 times as much candy this week than the kids.

photo credit: rochelle, et. al.

Here are some yummylicious links to some awesome content from my reader this week.

• Make Your Own Wrapping Paper - I love the huge rolls of Ikea paper and love this idea for the coming holiday season.

• Natural Cures You Can Find in Your Kitchen - great timing for this. The sickies made their way through our house this week. There was lots of lemon and honey consumed in addition to candy.

• How I’m Going to Outsmart Old Man Winter - it got cold enough this week in Florida (36 one morning!) for me to turn on the heat! Here are tips for those of you that get a lot colder than we do for a lot longer.

• Frugality Means Taking Care of You - If you don’t know it yet, the awesome voice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already is a contributor at Frugal hacks. I loved this post by her over there this week.

• Applesauce Cookies: A Fall Favorite. Um…Yum.

• Teach Your Children The Four Pillars of Money Management. I especially like the part about teaching children to spend based on value, not just price. Check out all the excellent wisdom there.

A few random things I’d like to share. Check out my left sidebar to see that I have added a few buttons to other sites and ditched sitemeter because it was taking up space and I wasn’t really using it anyway.

It is now November so I’d like to share the top referrers to Remodeling This Life for the month of October.

1. Simple Mom
2. Hooked on Houses
3. The Inspired Room
4. On Simplicity
5. I’ve Paid For This Twice Already
6. Marc and Angel Hack Life
7. Almost Frugal
8. My Two Dollars
9. Frugal Hacks
10. Blissfully Domestic

Thank you to everyone who has sent traffic to my site. I really truly appreciate everyone who reads here, comments here, links here and shares my content with others. Thank you!

November 2nd, 2008 | Category: Weekly Roundup | Comments (6)

Today, I am 30.

30 on the 30th.

Seems appropriate to make a list of 30 things that I am grateful for on my 30th birthday on the 30th.

I am thankful for being able to drink my coffee while it’s still hot. My health. Spell check. I am thankful for our tankless hot water heater that lets me take the longest hottest shower I want on a cold morning. I am thankful for crisp autumn air and turtlenecks. I am thankful that I don’t know everything people say about me behind my back. I am thankful for unconditional love from friends and family. I am thankful for hope, maybe, someday, dreams, and tomorrow. I am thankful for mint chocolate chip ice cream. I am thankful for a sink full of dishes at the end of the day because it means we eat well. I am thankful for my dishwasher. I am thankful for little curious sticky fingers. I am thankful for vinegar because it cleans up all the messes from those little fingers. I am thankful for spontaneous phone calls to say “Hi, I was thinking of you”. I am thankful for handmade cards and homemade dinners by someone other than me. I am thankful for cell phones, email and the internet that keep me connected to those I love. I am thankful for knowing when to turn them all off and step back into my real life. I am thankful for toast with peanut butter. I am thankful for the honor of being “mama”. I am thankful for the beach. I am thankful for flip flops. I am thankful for 30 years of experiences that have made me who I am today.

October 30th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (42)