Before & After Pictures

When we moved into our house this is what the kitchen looked like to start!!

 

I can't believe how much we have done in under a month!

First thing we did is.....we got a refrigerator!

 When I went looking on websites for fridges, this one caught my eye and I couldn't find any other any better!!

I don't want to brag, but it's AMAZING! 

Ya, its a tad bit to big for our kitchen area.... but we don't mind!! 

Then the next steps where modernizing the rest of the appliances.

Chaz and I took out the old Whirlpool dishwasher and put in a stainless steel one that I found off craigslist.

The Whirpool one was 15 years old and sounded like a tornado whenever it was on!

The lady never used it but to STORE things! 

I swear I have never heard of someone who has something and uses it just to store!

Next:

The thermostat.

Man that old Honeywell box was OLD!! 

I love my new set up! 

It takes care of everything for me! :)

Next:

Before... yellow/brown and ugly

After... white and matches ceiling color

These were the most difficult to buy! 

I measured the outside of these and completely bought the wrong sizes.

You have to take them out and measure the whole that was cut!

For future references!

I think Lowe's knew us by name because we had to exchange a lot of times!

Then:

Before

After! Love it!

 

The sprayer is in the faucet! 

I LOVE this feature!!! 

The only issue I have with this sink is the water pressure.

When we wrote up a contract we asked that they get the lines checked.

The business came in and said they saw nothing wrong.

I guess it just sprays lightly!

And:

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After

I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do in the dining room.

My kitchen is Americana themed and the dining room was just kind of blah.

So finally I realized I wanted to do white!!

I will eventually add white curtains with Americana valances over the top.

Then I found this on Pinterest that I want to do on the wall to the right:

The House of Smiths

Along with some pictures and more Americana :)

Then the work in progress:

Stove before

Stove during...

We have a over the stove microwave that we got off of craigslist but it didn't come with a bracket.

So we still need to hang that! It matches the stove.

So as you can see...We have been very busy updating and fixing up our home!

We absolutely LOVE our house!!!

That is all for tonight!

Much love from Chaz & Dani

Fixer-Uper Dani: Showerhead

I saw someone pin this on Pinterest (here).

When we moved into our place they had showerheads already installed.
We were going to buy new ones but I decided against it when I saw that website.

I wanted to try it but I was going to do things differently than this blogger.

Here was my shower head when we moved in.
It's all hard water and calcium stains.

Side view

So then I went under my sink and I found... CLR for the bathroom!

I grabbed a baggie and went back to the bathroom!

I took off the spray part and poured a good amount into the baggie.

 

I put the bag all around the spray head.

Used a hair tie as a rubber band.

You could instantly see the foaming action of the CLR taking place!

Then I walked away and forgot about it for about an hour.

 

An hour later I came back to take it off! 

Just by looking into the bag, I could see a difference.

And the liquid had a yellow tint to it.

 

So then I took it off and TA DA!!

When I turned on the water it took a few seconds to spray all the CLR out.

So I let it run for a minute.

Looks good right!?

 

Pinterest: The BAD :(

I always find great things on Pinterest to try at home and one of them was a way to help get heat stains off of your table. 

You can see her directions here. 

I have a small stain on my coffee table that drives me nuts every time I clean it.

So I decided to try it.

Here is what my stain looked like on my coffee table:

Not very big but it still drove me crazy

So off I went to try it out.

I did not have a linen cloth so I thought a washrag might do the same.

I only spritz a small amount on the cloth. 

Then I couldn't figure out which side the sprayed part was supposed to go. 

I assumed not on the table because it was the part we were trying to get the stain out of.

I moved it quickly for 15 seconds.

So when I took the cloth off this is what I got!!!! OMG it got worse!!

 

So I tried it the opposite way with the wet cloth down... 

Nothing changed.

Then I tried it with a thicker towel.

 

And it did not get better.

It's now a bigger mark and its not very noticeable.

But it's there and I know it's there.

I went back to the blog and read the comments.

I wasn't the only one who had the same results.

Lesson learned. 

Read comments before you try something. 

Not everything works for everyone!

House Dillemas

I have been anxiously waiting the day when we are done with all the paperwork, phone calls, questions, credit scanning, and over all anxiety of purchasing a house. All the stress doesn't seem to overpower the feeling of EXCITEMENT!! I dream about the signing day and the moment we get the keys and walk into our first home! I have so many great plans for this house and can't wait to open another chapter in my life there. Not only for myself but I know Chaz is just as excited as I am. I am so blessed to share in the experience together!

We are planning on taking a picture near our sold sign!

It has been a long road since the day we told the realtor, "THIS IS IT!" You can't do ANY major purchases, open credit cards, have any late payments or outstanding payments. They check your credit at the beginning and then RIGHT before the signing. Not only that, but everything you tell them they go and triple check it. A crazy story to share. My dad has an American Express credit card and while I was nearing the end of college he made me an authorized user for "emergency use only" or for trips to Texas to see them. Well, apparently, it counts on my credit and is considered part of the assets that I owed. I had to ask my dad to write the bank a letter letting them know that I do not have any ties to the credit card and he was the one who payed all the payments. So crazy!

Other than the stress of credit and feeling like "big brother" is watching your every penny, we had problems with the house. The seller had already planned on putting a new roof on the house due to hail damage. Whenever we went to look at the house they had all the paperwork written up to let the buyer know it was already in the works. Well they were working on the house and we had a surprise storm sneak up on us. I think we hadn't had rain in over 150 days. They did not seal a part of the roof and it leaked all over the kitchen and dining room area. The seller had to claim in on insurance and began the process of getting things fixed. They had to remove all the ceiling and insulation to put all new stuff. This did not cause any problems for us because we knew we wold be getting updated insulation (we were told we would need some probably in the next year anyways) and new paint in the kitchen and living room. However, I guess the company that they seller hired were moving at a slower pace than she wanted. They didn't show up to work for 2 days and the seller and her agent tried calling. They never could get a hold of them and had to go with ANOTHER company to complete the job. We had to move the signing date back 2 days.

My favorite people

I know I am very antsy about moving into our home. Not only that, but we already turned in an "intent to vacate" at our rental for the 31st. So we have pressure coming from them to get out of here. After having a phone conversation with my parents, aka my voices of reason, they told me not to rush anything. Give them all the time they need to do the job correctly and accurately.  They recommended that if all else fails to put our stuff in storage and stay with them until it's ready. Even when I feel my anxiety take control, I have my parents to remind me that there is ALWAYS a way to make things work. It may not be the way "I" wanted it to go, but it's in the way "HE" wants it to go. I have to remind myself of that often.

Hopefully next Wednesday after 4pm, we will have keys to our new house!! If for some reason it isn't that day... the day will come!!! :D

Love,
Dani