Bedroom Reveal.. Finally!

So today's blog is more of a picture blog.  When we saw this house for the first time, the "master bedroom" looked like this:

Notice the room color, the 3x3 closet to the left of the bed, and if you look closely, you may see the wood paneling. 

When we moved in the empty room looked like this (different angle):

More wood paneling, old windows, beige carpet.

Now that the bedroom is done, this is what it looks like:

We got new windows installed about a year ago, but the rest just happened in the last month.  Wall color is dramatically different, which I think makes the room look larger.  It also is a good contrast to our darker furniture.  I used a storage bench that I bought in college for underneath our window. 

Mirror was purchased at Marshall's for twenty bucks, the vase in the corner was clearance at TJ Maxx for ten bucks, then got the branches 50% off at AC Moore.  The lamps were twenty-five dollars each at JC Pennys and the nightstands were part of a coffee table/ end table stand that my mom bought at a yard sale for ten bucks and I painted black.

Now, as my husband is trying to show you, my dad and I removed the old closet (it was where hubby is standing).  We then took the closet all the way back to the peak of the roof.  Instead of spending an arm and a leg on custom doors for the closet, I bought a sliding panel curtain system at Ikea for less than one hundred bucks:

I bought a freestanding Elfa closet system at the Container Store and put it on furniture sliders so it can be easily moved around... why do I want to move my closet you may be wondering... 

Behind the closet is our new storage area... it is much, much larger than the picture shows because it is actually L-shaped, so....

It is storage behind this wall too!

When we moved the walls, we had to replace the carpeting, so my new Berber carpet matches very well, not only the bedroom, but the carpet in the hallway:

After all the turmoil involved in the carpet resulting in dramatic money saving, the new carpet for the whole room was $422  (I saved nearly 50%!) and it was money that was left over from the wedding, so it technically didn't cost us anything... even better!

Total cost for the room renovation:  Dramatically cheaper than I expected! (The baseboard was the most expensive thing, I think.) 

Any questions, suggestions?

One of them days... ok, weeks.

I was so excited at the start of this week.  It was mission productivity, and I was Tom Cruise.  Monday was great.  I finished painting the bedroom, refinished the fireplace doors I bought on Craigslist, got laundry done, went to the bank, got the car inspection done, I was on a roll.  Then, I met Tuesday. 

Tuesday was not my friend.  I got absolutely nothing done.  Ok, well not nothing.  I was able to get some of my wedding scrapbook done (it is my plan for the millions of cards we got) while watching tv and being a cranky, uncomfortable girl all day.  So, I watched a shameful array of movies and television (Yogi Bear, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, Fraggle Rock, Muppets Take Manhatten, and a Property Virgins marathon) and didn't even make it to the grocery store for dinner.  I did try to install the freshly refinished fireplace door, but of course couldn't figure out how to do the install.  Forget you Tuesday, I like Wednesday better anyway.

Today made me wish for Tuesday again.  I woke up early, like a little girl on Christmas morning.  I was so excited to see the new carpet installed in the bedroom.  I told myself last night that tomorrow the room would look completely different.  Boy was I right.  My bedroom floor now consists of tack strips and carpet padding, how lovely.  The installers came, pulled out the old carpet, put in the new padding, and called me outside to where they had rolled out the new carpet to measure and cut.  Oh my Lord, they put the wrong measurement tag on my beautiful remnant.  Of course, they did; Wednesday hates me.  My carpet was about four feet smaller than what I paid for and I was told via Rob the salesman on the phone that I had to drive down to the carpet mart in Delaware and pick out a new carpet and reschedule an installation.  I was so mad my drive down was a blur.  I picked out a nicer carpet (by nicer I mean more expensive), but I'm not a fan of the color as much.  In the end, I have a carpet being installed tomorrow morning that would have cost me more than I was willing to spend, but because of the extreme inconvience, I don't have to pay any additional fees. 

Tomorrow can't be as mean to me as Tuesday and Wednesday have been (I say as I type this with one eye swollen shut from allergies).  Ok, it can be, I am just hoping that it isn't.  I actually work tomorrow for a few hours, and then I am going to attempt to put some of the finishing touches on the bedroom.  Hopefully when this room is done I will like it so much that I decide to enjoy it for a while before starting another big project.  I'm sure my husband is thinking the same thing. 

Hope Wednesday likes you more than it likes me!

Another Baseball Birthday

It was a pretty fun weekend with the husband, as we celebrated his birthday pretty much the whole time.  Saturday we went to the Phillies game, which has come to be something we look forward to every summer.  We have been on a streak this year, seeing a win every time we go.  To keep the baseball birthday going, we had friends over on Sunday to celebrate.  I always love playing hostess, so I made meatballs, pasta salad, and a baseball birthday cake.  It worked out well, even though it was originally planned to be a birthday cookout.  Man, it sure has been raining like crazy the past few days.

When we weren't partying, my dad was up helping get the bedroom closet done.  I am so excited because it is finally time to sand, paint, and call to get the carpet installed!  I will be sure to show you all the before and after transformation of the bedroom.  I am so excited, mainly because I picture in my head how something is going to look, but usually do a terrible job explaining it, so when it is finished, I just hope that it looks like it does in my mind.  It was pretty much the same thing with my wedding reception, and that turned out just like I pictured. :-)

Along the same lines, I have decided that I am going to attempt a "project of the week".  This weeks project is going to be painting the bedroom, and next weeks project is going to be a new fireplace screen for under $30 (Thank you Craigs List). Also on the project list is a job... I need one, and preferably before my next car payment is due.  I had a third interview with a company today, and now I am just crossing my fingers. 

Hopefully I will get one more post up before the impromtu trip to Disney World.  We leave Thursday.  I am pretty excited, mixed with wish my mom and my hubby were going too.  Regardless, Disney is always a good time!

What's your name again?

Today I embarked on the extreme adventure of changing my last name (as far as the government paperwork is concerned).  As if having to sit at the DMV isn't enough of a test of any ones patience, I had to start at the Social Security office, then proceed to the DMV.  After a very pleasant woman there told me I needed my birth certificate, when indeed I did not, I just went to a different DMV; one that said woman was not at, and one that I did not need my birth certificate at. 

After spending most of my day changing who I am, I decided to get everything done while I was out and visit the grocery store.  Since last nights dinner of shrimp tacos with homemade guacamole was such a success (and really good! Let me know if you want the recipe), I decided to try something different.  . . . I spent nearly an hour standing in the middle of Acme trying to think of something "Weight Watcher friendly" that my husband would eat.  We are going all American tonight!  Mushroom and swiss turkey burgers with Mac & Cheese and a cucumber salad (ok, and guacamole again... love that stuff!)  Of course, as I sit here I am eating the equivalent of an entire watermelon, but it's zero points, so I'm diving in!

I came home to a wagging dog in a quite house, like I usually do.  I think if my dog could talk he would say, "Ah, I am so glad you are home!! And, now I am going to go lay back down."  I think he needs a girlfriend.

Determined to be super-productive, like a good at home wife should be (I'm being sarcastic), I decided to finish painting the guest room.  I don't know why we have a guest room... it's looking really nice... maybe we will have to have some guests over sometime.  Anyone? I get so excited to start new projects, or to change little details to make the house completely our design, but then as soon as the paint brush is in my hand and I have put just enough on the wall that there is no turning back, I think "this is never as much fun as I think it will be".  Yet, the end result is pretty awesome every time.  Sunday when I was painting, the scary thought went through my head "why am I painting over the blue... what if we have a boy in a few years, I don't want to paint this room again!"  I guess if that were to happen I could always use pregnancy as an excuse to get someone else to paint it.

Now, I am just waiting for the paint to dry.