Pictures

So we moved into our house back in April-ish, May-ish. Can't quite remember exactly. After the previous owners moved out in February we knew we needed to do some work before moving in. The main thing was strip wallpaper and paint. We ended up painting the entire top floor, ceilings included. And we I say "we" I mean "we" wrote a check after an awesome painter lady painted everything. "We" did strip the wallpaper though and might I just add that it was a pain in the.... I have stripped A LOT of wallpaper in my day and this was the WORST stuff I have EVER encountered. Ever. So anyway, this first picture is what the kitchen looked like right after the previous owners moved out.

Very monochromatic. The counter tops needed replaced and once we did that, the new one's made the back splash look even worse. So we ended up re-doing that as well. And that ended up being my favorite part. Here it is and no, I don't know why it is so dark in the picture.

The paint I chose was called Stony Creek from Pittsburgh Paints and it was a grey/greenish color. I needed something a little on the darker side to contrast with the cupboards. Now, this next picture should show you why I was willing to shed blood, sweat and tears in order to get that wallpaper down. As bad as it looks in the picture, believe me, it was worse in person. It was like having our very own circus in our dining room. Well we have four small children, that's plenty of circus for me.

And here is what it looks like today. The picture is still darker than it should be though. But the whole "busyness" has been toned down just a tad, don't you think?

Here is the main family room that is just off the dining area above. Only this is was it looked like after they "moved out." Yeah, none of that stuff was ours. They did come and get it. Eventually.

And here is what it looks like today. It is the same stony creek color. Aahhhh, much more my style. Notice "The Cougar's" 42 inch baby on the wall. The salesman (a 20 year old tech-savvy boy almost croaked when we told him our TV was a 27 incher. With a built in VCR and DVD. I'm pretty sure he had never even heard of such an antique before.) Yes, The Cougar's baby is 42 inches wide. My baby is about 42 inches tall and wears a diaper.

For the rest of the house minus the kids bedrooms, I chose a lighter color called spiced vinegar also from Pittsburgh paints. With oak trim to contend with all throughout the house, choosing paint colors was a little challenging, but I'm happy with the results. The pictures you see on the wall were taken by my sister Cindy who is a photographer in Logan, Utah. Her website is Cindylynnphotography.com And she is awesome!! These pictures were taken about a year ago and I love them! I'm having a hard time wanting to up-date them because I love them. Love them. A lot.

Here are some family pictures she took this summer. I love these as well. Love, love, love them.

So you can get an idea how big they are on my wall, here is a picture with Morgan standing by them. They are a size 12x20 mounted on gator board. And yes, Travin is being held upside-down. When you are a 20 month little boy, you do not want to stand still for pictures. So upside-down was about the only option.

And here is a wall in my hallway that I finally did something with. We have lived here how long? And I just now got these up. I have all these awesome pictures from Cindy over the years so I finally just randomly put some of them in frames of various sizes and stuck them on the wall. Morgan was sure she needed to be in the picture again. That's okay, she's cute.

All done. I didn't take before pictures of the rest of the house, but I really like everything we did. And just for your information. There may or may not be some picture of some 30-ish year old brides who have been married for over 10 years placed on this blog in the near future. IF these alleged pictures are ever to appear on this blog, I will explain. Until then, I had better go see if I can zip that alleged wedding dress up. Wish me luck!