Budget Gift Idea

Jason's birthday was earlier this month.  He's a map guy.  And a family guy.  And a frugal guy.  So, when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one for the guy.

Here's mine:




You should be able to click on it to see it larger, I believe.

Tour of Our Not So New Anymore House. . .Finally!

Oh man, we've been in this "new" house for nearly a year and a half now but never have I shared any of our "after" pics.  It's not like I'm a big decorator...not at all.  That's probably part of my hesitation to finally do this, there's just not much to show off.

But it's home all the same. 

So, for those who wondered what we did with the blank canvas you saw here.  Well, here goes nuthin'! 

So, I guess we'll go from where a guest would walk in to our house. Here's the living dining area before...

And now:

And once you're in the living room a little better, here's the before:

And here's now:

And the front door area, before:

And now:

The dining area before (that fixture! ew!):

The dining area now, as seen from the kitchen:

My kitchen comes next... here's the before:

And after:

Kitchen sink before:

And now... maybe just a little less clutter:

The eat in area before:

After:

Here's the laundry room before:

And my laundry room now...

Look at my tall cabinets!  And that armoire/wardrobe there on the right.  We use that as a "hall closet" for our coats and shoes because that's where we actually enter the house, not the front door where the actual coat closet is.  :)

The other side of the room before:

And after:

Identical to the old house. We had just redone it before we decided to move.

Heading upstairs, here's the master bedroom before:

Before:

And now:

Master bath before:

And now:

Still now:

More now:

The sinks as seen from the throne room:

Leaving the master bedroom, you next hit the kids' bathroom. Here is before:

Shower curtain:

The towels before:

Here is after:

Next up around the hall is Autumn's bedroom. Here's her room before:

And now (well, last Christmas):

Before:

And after:

A closer look:

From the corner by the closet and window:

Inside one half of her closet:

We hit E's room in the middle. Here's before:

And last Christmas:

Different part of the room before:

And again last Christmas:

At the end of the upstairs hallway is Dalton's room. The before:

And last Christmas (Autumn's carriage CD player is back in her own room):

And now (from roughly the same angle near the door):

Standing in Dalton's closet:

This was how it was last Christmas, you can see the little table near the door:

This is how it is now, with the black Expedit bins and a silver CD player:

This is on the wall right when you walk in, the opposite view if you were laying in Dalton's bed, a fish tank now instead of the humidifier we saw last Christmas:

And on the outside, I indeed had a garden.  We grew bunches of zucchini and tomatoes (cherry and regular sized ones).  We grew spinach, cilantro, green onion, and leeks.  Snap peas, a few cukes and carrots (none of those did real well).  I tried strawberries (too late in the season).  Bell peppers both red and green. I forget what else.  But here was my garden and the gnome I so wanted:

And the porch swing happened as well:

We love this house. We have lots more we'd like to do, we just ran into budgetary issues. But that's how it is here now. Come see it for yourself, if you like!