Kitchen Hutch Re-Do

I bought this gorgeous 2 piece hutch in August.....of 2012.

It's been half done for a few months now except for the doors.  They have just sat in my garage ready to get broken and there was a little voice nagging at me in my head to get the project finished already. 

The problem is, I've discovered that I love painted furniture, but I really dislike painting.  I'm more of a quick project kind of girl.  Get it done and move on.

Or in this case, find a really nice girl named Erin, pay her some cash and in four days she will call you to come pick up your completed hutch! 

I used Olympia paint from Lowe's in Gypsum.  It's not my favorite brand of paint, but this time color won out.  And it's too iffy to have the store copy white paint formulas, so I stuck with the Olympia brand this time around and it looks great!

New knobs were out of the question - I started to search for some but the holes were going to be a problem to match.  I really liked the original ones anyhow so I went to Lowe's and picked up a metallic finish spray paint and that did the trick.  

I am LOVING how this turned out, and I love even more that it is done and out of my garage!

Have you ever had a project that just sat - did you end up finishing it?  Or did you ditch it all together?

Linking up to Coastal Charm
Cozy Little House 

Model Home Tour #2

Second on our stop yesterday was Candlelight Homes.  

They have a few here and there lots to build on where we were at. 

This was their Sun Valley model

 First stop...living/dining/kitchen combo.  

I have this in my house and I'm sort of over it.  I wish things were slightly more divided up. 

 All I could see when I saw this table was fingerprints.  Glass tables and kids just aren't a smart mix.  Unless you are the CEO of Windex.

 Right off the kitchen was the mudroom/garage door.  Again, open cubbies = mess for everyone to see.  No thanks. 

 Lauren loved the living room chairs and pretended to be the queen.  Who are we kidding, she IS the queen.

 Living room with the ugliest fireplace ever. 

I do love the couch and chairs though. 

View walking into the living room of the loft upstairs.  You could turn this into another small bedroom if needed. 

Master bedroom.  It was a nice size but my mom didn't like that you could see right into the master bedroom when you walked into the front door.   It was pretty odd.

The master bath was very large as was the walk in closet. 

So master on the main, 3 bedrooms + loft upstairs, and office.  4041 square feet total (including the basement) 

Price of this place was $389,000 I believe.  

For that much I would rather find my own lot/builder and go to town with a floor plan I really loved.  This one did not seem worth the money at all.

Model Home Tour #1

It's not a secret I LOVE going to look at model homes.  Maybe because they are all new and shiny with zero clutter?  It's fun to see how they are decorated and maybe get some fresh ideas on what to do with my little home.  

So Lauren, my mom and I took a little drive yesterday and found this model by Fieldstone Homes.  Hate to say it, but this builder was around when Dan and I were house hunting and their floorplans were AWFUL.  

Looks like they've done some major re-vamping in that department and they are really cute houses!  Not sure on the quality though? 

This model was3156 sq ft
As is was $265,000 - not too bad with all the upgrades they had.

Anyhow..here's a few rooms I thought were cute! Not my best photos, but you'll get the idea!

 This kitchen was such a great size...sigh.  And the pale blue wall color was just perfect.

   Quartz countertops.  Look at all that workspace!  

I am loving these putty colored cabinets with the white subway tile backsplash!  

Cute green hutch.  I love the dark wood floors but geesh these were dirty.  I know they look good when clean, but you must have to clean these things 100 times a day. 

 It was a really nice sized family room.  Better space than mine to be sure.  At least there is more than one place to put the couch, unlike in my house. I really loved the couch.  It was this neutral nubby woven fabric that would hold up well with my rough and tumble kids.  I'll never buy a cotton couch again, lesson learned.

 Pretty blue tiled fireplace.  I'm not a huge fan of using color for things like this.  But if you are good at re-tiling when you are sick of blue in 5 years, then I guess it's not a big deal?

 Decent sized mud room going out to the garage. I think I like cabinets better that hide all the clutter.  I've never seen a "normal" mudroom that looks like this. 

 Upstairs was the master bedroom.  Huge space with a lot of light!

 Master Bath vanity.  I love all that counter space! I still hate cleaning two sinks.  I know everyone thinks master baths should have two sinks, I just think it's one more to clean. 

 Hall bathroom

They had this bedroom staged as a craft room.  There was an office downstairs in the entry but it was a cluttered mess so I didn't take pictures of that.

Boys room.  I still love the simple board and batten look.  

There was another girls room upstairs but it was pretty boring.

 Upstairs laundry with cute red cabinets

Nice loft space...

So a 4 bedroom/2.5 bath with loft & office. 

You know, like what I have now pretty much.  It's hard to think of moving when the space you have is the same and on a bigger lot.  But I am getting itchy to do some painting now, love that blue!

We went and saw 2 others...I will post those tomorrow!  

Christmas Vignettes

I'm excited to show you my Christmas vignettes from the perspective of my bleh point and shoot camera - at night.  With no flash.

No one tells you when you sign up for this blog business that you should also be a professional photographer, right?  

I'm telling you - how I got pictures tonight I have NO idea.  But tomorrow is such a busy day, it was now or never!

PS...It's my blogiversary today!!  Go HERE to leave a comment if you want a shot (Get it?  Ha!) at winning a $10 giftcard to Starbucks or leave a comment here!  Easy!

On with the show!

 My entry table....pretend you don't see the cord that I haven't hidden yet. 

 I just tucked in some ornaments to a light wrapped garland.  So easy Greg even helped me.  Not kidding!

 I made this last January and it has sat on my dresser all year.  I will be glad to pack this away January 1st!  But this is fun for the kids and keeps them from asking me "Mom...how many more days till..."

 My kitchen buffet....

 I just got this little glittered church at Wal-Mart for $1.00 (!!) on Monday.  I think it is so sweet!

 Same for the Merry Christmas ornament...I might have to go back and pick up some more.

 Part of my Christmas village.  I spent hours painting these and I have so many that I usually don't even put them all out every year.  They look so cute all lit up at night and the boys love putting their Star Wars figures in the village.  

R2 likes to hang out at the gas station.

 

I might have to redo this picture in the morning.  This is my Ballard chandy that I just love.  I cut a wreath in half and then re-tie it onto the chandelier.  Everything is stuck in there precariously...should be fine unless we get an earthquake during dinnertime. 

 Lots of little crystal beads, poinsettias and sprays from Hob Lob.

 I love love love these white wooden snowflakes!  I got these years ago at Target and every year I hope that they will have more.  No luck yet!

This was my chandelier last year.  I have changed out from gold to silver this year all over the house for a little something different without spending any money!

  Thanks for stopping by!  

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else is decorating over at Rhoda's Christmas Vignette party!
You can also go to Julia's to see more great homes decorated for the holidays! 
Also linking up to the Open House at Coastal Charm and the party at No Minimalist Here! Fun!

Simple Red Christmas Mantle

Eeek!  

I don't want to be late for Layla's mantle party so I am going to post quick!

My tree is really, really red this year so I wanted to keep the mantle (right next to it) not as fussy.  Just clean and simple. 

After looking at this empty wreath for the last year in my garage (I bought a larger one after Christmas last year) I finally got around to decorating this one.  

About an hour ago. 

 I love the Nutcracker standing guard over children who try to take down their stockings to play with.  Not that that ever happens here.

 Shopped the house for these trees to balance the look.

 I love these large metal glittered snowflakes!

 Decided duct tape was NOT chic for hanging stockings so I broke down to buy some holders this year.   

Off to work on the rest of the rooms to get ready for Rhoda's Vignette Party on the 2nd!  I'll also be doing a Starbucks giveaway for my blogiversary that day!

Thanks for stopping by!   

Go by The Lettered Cottage to see more holiday mantles
or Julia's , No Minimalist Here and  Coastal Charm for some more Christmas decorating ideas!