A Few of My Favorite Things

Since we got moved into our new house, I've had a few people ask how we are liking the house. 

Things I'm loving...

• Having my husband home by 4:30
• Being able to quickly run to school, to Walmart, to church, etc..
• The open layout which makes us feel more connected especially at meal time as I'm preparing food in the kitchen

Things I am not loving...

• The fly invasion, apparently from open doors from the builders and during the move
• The muddy yard which is a bit of an oddity since it has not rained all summer long; it's really due to us watering plants, hitting the grassless yard with the sprinklers, and then the kids, the grown ups and the dog tracking it in

I also have a few diy projects that I'm really thankful we did in the new house, things that I love because they are functional or just because they make me smile.

Kitchen-I really like our penny tile which ordered from Overstock.com.  (2.95 shipping made it completely affordable.)  I love our grey black laminate counter tops.  And I love the barstool which we ordered online from a school supply catalog.

Kitchen-if you could take the above picture and turn to the right, this is what you would see.  It's actually a large black stripe of chalkboard paint with cream on the top and the bottom.  The frames are Goodwill finds which we painted and distressed.  I love having my calendar right in front of me.  I have been putting our verse for the week on it plus a prayer chart.  And, it's also handy for writing up consequences when you don't have time to enforce the consequence right away.

Kids bathroom-I used some old pieces of molding to make these towel hooks.  The vertical one has a Mason jar attached with wire to hold the toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Love these prints that I found on Zulily.

Love the light fixture which is actually from a farm supply catalog.

Living room-perhaps the item I am most excited about...our entertainment center.  We made it from our old dresser and two old doors.  I think it maybe cost us $50.  The oil can on the bottom left shelf is from D's grandpa's gas station.

Dining room-This bookshelf makes me smile.  I bought it many years ago at an auction.  It was painted a reddish orange.  I added the gingerbread brown and distressed it.  The sign we found this summer at an antique mall.  I actually spent $50 on it which my mom thought was crazy.  The painting is from Haiti.  The top shelf has Jadite from Derek's mom and grandma, Derek's grandma's nut chopper, my granny's rolling pin, and a few other bright bowls.  The second shelf has a display of marbles, dominos and blocks with the first two being from Derek's grandma. 

Entryway-The chalkboard was Derek's mom's when she was little.  The hooks are from an auction and are wonderfully chippy.  The cubbies are a bookshelf I found at my grandma's.  I painted it and had Derek cut part of it off so I could turn it sideways to use for shoes.  The handprints were a gift from Derek to me and each clipboard below the handprint is for the kids to hang their favorite pieces.  I'm hoping to get the words "Our Gallery" to put above the handprints.