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5 Years Later (What’s Changed)

24 Oct

Today marks 5 years since we closed on 12 Oaks, so I thought we should recap everything we’ve been able to accomplish since October 2012.

Here we go, starting with the driveway which was just gravel and so overgrown.

Here is the same view now:

The front of the house was in need of some major TLC. Overgrown weeds, old broken windows, chipped paint, etc., etc.

Front Oaks Exterior Before

After A TON of work including a new roof, windows, landscaping, door, and paint, here she is now:

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Moving to the back of the house and pool, we had this mess:

12 Oaks Before 387

And now after a deck, pergola, small addition (left side of the pergola), pool fence, garbage enclosure, landscaping, etc. (More on the backyard transformation here.)

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Here was the entryway/stairs 5 years ago:

12 Oaks Before 156

And now after removing the closet, putting in french doors to the now playroom, new hardwood floors, stain, paint, etc.:

See more about our stair and entryway makeover here.

Here was the living room 5 years ago which was closed off from the kitchen:

Living Room on Closing Day

And now its all one big open space with barn wood beams, new built ins, and more:

living-room-new

Here was the kitchen 5 years ago:

Kitchen

And here it is now after a full gut and kitchen remodel:img_6052

This was the dining room before:

12 Oaks Before 137

And now after opening it up to the kitchen, installing french doors to the deck, new stain, paint, lighting, etc.:

There was a weird den on the other side of the stairs:

We turned it into a fun & functional playroom:

right corner good

And built a mudroom on the other side of the playroom off of the garage:

mudroom-whole-view

There used to be a powder room/laundry room combo on the first floor:

We incorporated that space into the kitchen and walk-in pantry:

And then built a separate powder room and laundry room as part of the addition:

(There’s a cameo by our new kitten, Simon!)

Moving upstairs, we have the old guest bathroom:

Pink bathroom before

Which turned into what I affectionately call the “Pinterest bathroom,” after it got really popular on there, ha! (See more after pictures/sources of the bathroom here.)

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This was what our master bedroom looked like 5 years ago (Go Maria Sharapova! lol)

And here it is now:

Connected to our master is the upstairs part of the addition which includes a new walk-in closet and master bathroom:

There was another Sharapova bedroom 5 years ago:

Spare Bed 1 Before

This turned into our nursery:

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Another upstairs bedroom 5 years ago:

Is now our daughter’s “big girl” room:

The former master bathroom, which is now a guest bathroom, looked like this 5 years ago:

Master Bathroom

And here is the renovated guest bath now:

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Lastly, here is our current guest room, which admittedly is a catch-all for old furniture. I will re-do it hopefully soon.

Whew! I’m super proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish at our home over the past 5 years, not to mention the 3 flips/income property houses we also renovated during that time, plus welcoming 2 amazing kiddos!

There’s still plenty left on our to-do list, particularly on the outside/pool area, the garage, basement, and maybe even building a barn. Thanks for following along on our journey!

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Kate’s Big Girl Room

23 May

A few months ago we moved Kate from her nursery into her new big girl room. Here is a look at the finished space!

Here’s a throwback to the room when we bought it:

We turned it into an office and then spare bedroom until now.

My inspiration/color palette for the room started from these ice cream cone decals which we put on one wall.

The walls were painted a light teal color called Raindance from Benjamin Moore. Kate enjoyed helping!

We of course got her a “big girl” bed which is a twin mattress from Mattress Firm and then we found the bed itself off Cragistlist for $50.

We DIY’d the side guardrail based off of this Pottery Barn Kids one. We put brackets on the bottom that slide over the side, so it can be easily removed.

The quilt is from Pottery Barn Kids, and the accent pillows are from Target’s Pillowfort line.

The nightstand was a hand-me-down from some friends, and the lamp is also from Target’s Pillowfort line.

I love that it is touch sensor so Kate can easily turn it on and off.

We DIY’d the heart art above the bed using old barnwood and then painting on the stripes using colors drawn from the ice cream cones. It was super easy; Kate loves it and always says that Mommy made it for her and that hearts mean love.

On the other side of the room is a sweet, little reading nook with a narrow bookshelf (similar here) and a dip-dyed canopy from Target.

I got a faux sheep skin for under the canopy from Etsy and then filled it with pillows. The watermelon pillow is from Land of Nod and the others are from Target and World Market.

The last side of the room has her dresser (from Walter E Smithe) and closet.

On top of the dresser is a gold unicorn lamp (from Target) that we use as a toddler “alarm clock.” We put a green light bulb in it and put it on a timer to turn on at 6:30 am every morning. So she knows she can’t get out of bed until the “green light comes on.” It works surprisingly well!

Lastly, here is a close up of the rug we got from Pottery Barn. It is the Addison Rug (8 x 10) in Blush. I just love the combo of the blue walls and pink rug.

I’ve really enjoyed doing kids spaces in our home and this one was especially fun. Kate absolutely loves her new big girl room and has no problem giving her old nursery to her baby brother arriving in roughly 10 weeks!

Holiday Gift Ideas: 2-3 Year Olds

27 Nov

Now that the holiday shopping season is in full swing I thought I’d share some gift ideas I’ve been gathering for our two (almost three) year old daughter, Kate. If you have any little girls (or boys) in your lives, maybe this will provide some inspiration!

Here are a few things that we are hoping to get our daughter this year:

1. Trolls Boombox. Kate loves to sing and dance and is always asking for a “dance party” so I think she will love this boombox that she can control herself. She is a big fan of Trolls (it was her first movie in the theater) and the music is SO good. Currently $25 from Walmart.

trolls-boom-box

2. Balance Bike. Her big gift from Santa this year will be a balance bike to help get her ready for a regular bike. These are supposed to replace the need for training wheels and tricycles. This one from Schwinn is reasonably priced and got great reviews on Amazon. It comes in four colors.

balance-bike

3. Mermaid Blanket. Kate is obsessed with mermaids right now and I know she will get a kick out of this mermaid tail blanket. It comes in a variety of sizes from baby to adult and 30+ color combinations, so I plan to order one that matches the teal and pink colors in her big girl room. Starting at $26 off Etsy.

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4. Play-Doh. Kate and her friends love to play with Play-Doh and as a result all of ours is all dried out and mixed together. So I’m planning to toss the old stuff and start fresh with this 24-pack from Amazon for less than $20. Hours of fun.

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5. Christmas PJs. Every kid needs a special pair of Christmas “jammies” to wear to bed on Christmas Eve and open presents in Christmas morning. Each year I let Kate open up her Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve, along with a Christmas book. These organic pajamas by Burt’s Bees are adorable and less than $12 right now at Target. They come in sizes for the whole family too (if that’s your jam). There is another more masculine gray version that is super cute too.

xmas-jammies-new

6.  Dress-up shoes. Kate is really getting into dress-up play and when a vacation house we stayed in over the summer had some of these, she wore them non-stop.  This set of 4 pairs from Melissa & Doug is $15 right now on Amazon.

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7. Toy Dyson Vacuum. Kate is all about helping with tasks around the house so I think she would love this Dyson replica toy vacuum. It even has real suction so her play time can be productive, too! $30 right now on Amazon.

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8. Jewelry Box. What little girl wouldn’t love a jewelry box with a turning ballerina in it? This one from Pottery Barn is sure to be treasured for many years to come. They come in various sizes and colors starting at $39.img17o

If you are like me and do almost all of your shopping online, here are a couple quick tips I use to save some extra cash.

  1. Ebates– This site gives you a percentage back on almost every online purchase you make. I installed the plug in, so you don’t have to remember to shop through Ebates, it pops up every time you visit a retailer that offers an Ebates reward. They send you a check each quarter and I’ve earned more than $200 since I signed up about a year ago. They also provide you with the best and latest promo codes for the retailers.
  2. Raise– This site/app allows you to purchase gift cards at a discount. So for example if you are about to spend $100 at Sephora, see what $100 gift cards are selling for on Raise (they are $95 right now) and save a few bucks. You can choose for it to be delivered by mail or electronically— in which case it sends the code directly to your phone.  I started using Raise in January and have saved more than $100. You can sell your unwanted gift cards too. Use this link to get a free $5 toward your first gift card purchase.

You can also find my gift ideas from last year here for 1-2 year olds.

Happy Holidays and happy shopping everyone!

This post contains affiliate links

Kate’s Sprinkle-Themed 2nd Birthday Party

24 Feb

Over the weekend we threw Kate a sprinkle-themed birthday party to celebrate her turning 2! I had so much fun planning her “Cute as a Button” 1st Birthday, so when her 2nd birthday was approaching I scoured Pinterest to find another fun theme and fell in love with the sprinkles idea. I figured this would be the last year I would get to pick the theme myself.

To welcome our guests, I set out this chalkboard at the front door. I used this genius method to transfer the letters, and then taped on some paper sprinkles, and tied on some clear balloons filled with confetti.

chalkboard

The main focal area was a sweets table covered with tons of sprinkle-covered desserts.

dessert wall

The Happy Birthday banner (which matched her invites and thank-you cards) was from Etsy. The wall sprinkles I just cut out from cardstock and taped on the wall. The circle garlands on the table are from Target.

The balloons I filled with homemade confetti I made from punching holes in tissue paper. I buy my own helium tanks from Target so I can do them myself at home the day of the party.

balloons

Here’s a closer look at the sweets table.

sweets table

I made this spinkle-covered number 2 for the sweets table by gluing sprinkles onto a paper mache number using mod podge. Here’s the tutorial I used. Warning: It’s messy. I bought these bulk sprinkles off of Amazon- 7 pounds! I ended up using about half of the jar.

sprinkle 2

I filled a couple of candle holders with sprinkles for an easy, little touch.

candle

The cake I made myself using 2 boxes of Funfetti cake mix, and then I decorated it with store-bought frosting dyed light pink, and sprinkles. I used a “2” cookie cutter as an outline to make the 2 in the center of the cake. I also learned this genius tip to make sure your cakes stay flat during baking using these.

cake

I made cupcake puppy chow, birthday cake batter popcorn (this was so good!), funfetti rice crispy treats, and then I dipped pretzel rods, oreos and strawberry wafers in white chocolate and sprinkles. I used this method of melting the chocolate in the crock pot and it worked like a charm. I also put some animal cookies in a jar.
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puppy chow

oreos

A few other little decorations I had were a tissue paper garland over the fireplace from Target (I combined two colors), and a jumbo gold #2 balloon from Party City. The polka dot paper plates and napkins also came from Party City.

fireplace

jumbo gold

Lastly, I got Kate a cute “two” outfit from Lola and Darla, and a sprinkle hair bow from Etsy. She looked so cute, and good thing she won’t be wearing this dress again, because toddlers and white don’t exactly mix.

kate 2

We made some good progress on the mudroom, so I’ll be sharing an update on that soon!