A Great Deal & Kitchen Table Makeover

Jake and I heard about a local furniture and accessory sale that was happening yesterday. A neighborhood builder was selling the furniture and decor from a model home. We decided to check it out with our friends Kim and Dave since Jake and I are in the market for a coffee table and tv stand. We all jumped in their car and headed to the sale and got there 10 minutes early.

We didn't find a tv stand or coffee table, BUT we did find...

• 4 dining room table chairs
• A bamboo sushi platter (Now I guess I need to try to make sushi!)
• A set of 4 tea plates (I didn't really want to buy these, but I dropped one of the plates and it broke...whoops!)
• A set of 6 white porcelain serving platters (they match my white serving bowls)
• 6 clothe napkins and cute napkin rings
• 6 woven round chargers (I've been wanting these!)
• 2 artificial hydrangea bouquets with vases (cute centerpieces)
• A set of 3 topiary decorations
• Set of 6 12"x12" square wrought iron wall hangings
• A gallon size Ball hermetic jar, which is great for dry goods or beverages
• A set of 2 floor-height candle holders
• AND a real foods cookbook!

Wow! That's a lot of stuff! My kitchen has definitely received a little makeover! 

The BEST part is that we only spent $60.00! Yes, sixty dollars.

Here is a picture of all of our treasures: I still can't believe that we bought everything in this picture for sixty dollars (excluding the table...that was already ours, but INCLUDING the chairs)! You don't find a deal like this everyday!

The chairs are perfect! I love the fabrics and they match our kitchen so well.

The floor-height candle holders also go with our kitchen.

I like these topiary decorations. I think they would look really great on a bookshelf!

These are the wall hangings we got. They also match our kitchen decor. I don't know where I will hang them, but I think they are great!

The chairs we got are great, but they have arm rests that didn't quite fit underneath our table, which is an antique and is lower than most kitchen tables. Whenever we entertain and have people sitting at both ends of the table, their legs touch the table when sitting in our chairs, which are also antiques. I've never been crazy about our current wooden chairs because they are very straight-back and not comfy. So, Jake decided to raise the table top so the new chairs fit nicely tucked underneath.

Kitchen table BEFORE with old chairs:

Kitchen table AFTER Jake lifted tabletop with wonderful new chairs:

The chairs are comfy which is great for enjoying a meal with great company or playing board games and cards!

Alice testing out the new chairs...

She likes them!

Home Improvements: The Kitchen!!

I love our updated kitchen. Jake did an amazing job ripping out cabinets and counters; building a pantry; and installing new lights, appliances, a sink, cabinet hardware, and countertops. We also ripped off the nasty wall paper and painted the walls.

Before:

After:

 Before:

After:

The three hanging lights below are in place of a row of cabinets (see the first picture above). These cabinets were blocking all of the natural light and making the kitchen closed off. Removing the cabinets has opened up our kitchen so much!

This is the breakfast nook attached to the kitchen. I love the built in china hutch! 

Home Improvements: Master Bath

The master bath was not nearly as big of a project as the main bath. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do! For this project, we took down the ugly wall paper, painted, changed out the hardware on the cabinets, updated the light fixtures and mirror, and got new towel holders and toilet paper holder.


Before:

After:

Home Improvements: Main Bath

My husband, Jake, is such a handyman! I couldn't brag on him more. He just has a wealth of knowledge on how to fix/update our house...from plumbing to dry-walling to electric! I love seeing him in action, and it is great on our budget. Slowly but surely we are updating our house that was built in the 50's. This winter our big project was the main bathroom. The project has been finished for a while now, but the before and after pictures are definitely worthy of posting!! The only salvageable piece of this bathroom was the porceline bath tub. It sits on the right wall, but because of the angle it is not in the picture.

Before..

After!

Since this picture was taken I have also done a little decorating.

 Now that Spring is here (today is the first full day of Spring! YAY!), we are hoping to get busy on the house! I can't wait to do the master bath and the kitchen! Jake has also been working on the yard (front and back). More details and pictures of projects to come!