Dining Room Redo

Ok, this is the Dining room redo, really the cheapest room redo, the only money spent here was on the table cloth, for $5.00 and that was a thrift store find as well, brand new to boot! Woo HOO!  Here is the before....

Pretty much just dated, so I updated... here is the after...

So, I just painted, turned the table the other way, put up some different curtains, and added the picture above, which I already owned, I used the bowl and pitcher that my mom had that I love and added that to the middle of the table...also to the left, you can't see it, but I hung 2 plates that my mom had in her collection..you see the light in the top photo?  I love that, its a wagon wheel, I was thinking of painting it...what fo you think? I was thinking maybe red or oil rubbed bronze to match my kitchen cabinet handels?  What would you do? I also have a new floor going down as soon as hubby can get time to put down.

 

So what are your thoughts on my dining room?  Right now in the left corner is a rocking chair, but eventually it will have a table there to hold my microwave.

Thanks for looking and following :)

1st room of Remodel-Kitchen

Hi all! Hope everyone is happy, healthy and having a great week.  Sure your looking forward to the weekend!  I'm not, I have to work...but hey, thats life. 
  So, I wanted to share with you a couple of pics of my kitchen that I have done so far.  Remember, I said my budget for the WHOLE home redo is $2000 right, well I have most of the kitchen done and I have only spent approximatly $300.00.  The appliances were still in great shape ( I do not like stainless steel so those wont be in my kitchen) and rather than replacing the counters, which would'nt have been much, I just redid them.  The cabinets were dark and dated, so I painted them white, and even though the floor isn't down yet I only paid $180 for 18 boxes of medium oak laminate wood planks, on clearance at Big Lots (LOVE THAT STORE) The kitchen flows into the Dining room so I have to do the dining room before I can put the flooring down. 
Here are some pictures of what I have going so far.....

This is my kitchen before what I have done(The dark Dungeon, 70s retro gotta hate it..lol)

This is my kitchen after.. Big difference huh? 

Here is a run down of total spent so far:
Primer- $25.00(Zinser, so i wouldn't have to strip, sand...blah,blah, this saved ALOT of time, a little hard to use cause its sticky but it worked well covering up the dark cabinets)
Paint- $15.00 ( Antique White Cabinets, and Beige wall)
Boarder- $10.00
Backsplash-$10.00 (found at Collections ect..14 in a box...need 2 more boxes and I would suggest getting something stronger to hold them up rather than the stickies they come with, they will fall down)
The Refrigerator magnet- $10.00 (Collectionsect.com) they have others to choose from, probably get the snowman one for Christmas ;))
Flooring-$180.00 (18 boxes, not shown yet)
Time- To many hours to count but soooo worth it!

Here is a closer look at the counter tops-

Any idea what that is? Here is a hint....its used inside cabinets...yep you got it, its contact paper!  I seent his idea on another website and thought I would try it..well...I like the look of it and today I put polyurithan on it to help it hold up to the wear and tair of kitchen chaos...I will let you know how it works for me.


So what do you think so far? I love the French country, Country decor, so that is what will be flowing throughout my home.   This home sits out in the country so I thought it was fitting. (Did I mention this is Mobile Home, think I forgot that part, but it is)

I would like to be able to find a dishwasher and fit that into the design as well, but haven't got that far to look for one yet, plus I will be adding an island in as well so there is more counter space to work with. The big door to the right of the pic was where my parents stored the garbage can, but I will be adding shelves in there to make it a pantry.

SO that is my kitchen so far, what are your thoughts?  I would appreciate any and all comments, good or bad...we are here to help each other, right? I will be posting more pics and projects on here soon, so please follow and like my blog so you don't miss anything.  I will even post my blunders...its all part of learning. :)  God Bless! And have a great week!

Total Home Remodel on a Budget

This is going to be a little different than the other blogs I have done in the past...I lost my mom in June of 2012 and my dad passed away in December 2012 and I was left the family home. My parents wishes were that I would live in it to help me get out from underneath the house payment I have now.  The place is paid for,sits on 2 acres of land but totally stuck in the 70's with the decor.  Now, with much thought, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle living back where I grew up and have so many memories of my parents in, it is a hard thing to get use to but I knew this was their wishes and this house payment is just to much. So I put my feelings aside one day, went over, and started packing things away...Now it has only been 2 months since dad passed, but this process has been a healing one for me. Everyone grieves in there own way, my dad lived a healthy 89 years, and my mom lived in a nursing home the last 2 years of her life, nothing but suffering...Now I know they are in heaven together, just as they wanted and I knew I had to figure a way to go on without them, so I threw myself into this project, wanting to make the place "Mine" and start some new memories. My one and only daughter graduates high school this year and still unsure of what she is going to do, so if she moves on it will only be my husband and I and this home project will help me with the "empty nest" syndrom, I hope as well.
We are still living in our home until my daughter graduates, so I take my days off and also go over after work to work on my childhood home. My goal is to have the kitchen, bathroom, dining room and living room done before moving in. The rest can wait until we get in there. 
The purspose of this blog is to show you the before and after pics of each room that I redo and the amount I spend.  It is not impossible to have a beautiful home and spend a ton of money.  I have allowed myself a $2000.00 budget for 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, dining room, family room , a laundry room and a craft room.  Most of which is just an update in decorating except for the bathroom.  The bathroom houses an UGLY avacado green bathtub and 2 small sinks that have either got to go, be covered, something...haven't decided what I am doing with that yet.  My goal to save the money on this remodel is to repurpose things I already have, thrift stores, clearance, and stores like the Dollar Store and Big Lots, then in the spring I will hit yard sales...I have also been checking out Craigslist and plan a trip to the Repurpose store where I am hoping to find something that will work in our bathroom. Now, much of this work will be done by ME...no contractors, decorators, just me and my hubs when he has the time.(I work part time he is full time)
So if you have a remodel in your future, either a whole home(like me) or just a room, I hope you follow me on my journey and we can learn together how to save as much money as we can and have a beautiful home to show for it. It will take lots of work and a lot of effort but in the end it will be all worth it.