My Mind

is thinking about... counter tops. Pricing out quartz for upstairs, I've probably looked at 5 different places.
is thinking about... painting. I can't do it : (
is thinking about... getting all the paperwork done for the govenment grant we applied for. I just found a lawyer!
is thinking about... our delayed flooring!
is thinking about... the appliances I need to research and decide on.
is thinking about... making sure my two year old is still having a fun summer.
is thinking about... the little details that need to be addressed and how much time they will take! (Lighting in kitchen cabinets, putting on the suite entrance doors, fixing the bulk head so the cabinet trim doesn't go past it, installing our new washing machine and dryer!)
is thinking about... moving upstairs (out of our basement suite) and getting the bedrooms ready.
is think about... when will we get to the outside of our house! Our yard needs to be cleaned of construction stuff, then graded, then window wells, then piles for front and side steps and back deck, then grass! Oh yeah, and the small job of siding our house.
My mind is always thinking!
Did I mention I have about 6 weeks until we are expecting a new baby!

I think one stress blog is allowed: )

My Kitchen Puzzle!

Ok children it's story time. Take a seat, this is a long one!

So almost a year ago I was perusing kijiji, like I do, and I came across this beautiful kitchen for sale. I know this sounds weird, a kitchen... for sale, but that's what it was. It was the cabinets, sinks, faucets, microwave, dishwasher, counter tops, stove-top, range fan and all the hardware. So I made my husband treck out to St. Pauls to take a look at it. He loved it like I did. Apparently the owners (who lived in a large and beautiful home) were part owners of kitchen craft (where my cabinets are from), but they had sold their share and started a new cabinet company and now they were selling their 10 year old kitchen.

These are some picture of the kitchen before we took it out.

So I bought the kitchen with out thinking too much about it. Luckily I have a dad that supports me! My biggest post-purchase dilemma was storage. I was thinking maybe we could pile it all into our shed and a bit into the upstairs of our house. Little did I know how much room cabinets take up when they are not put in place and hanging on walls. In the end we used a trailer (the kind semi truck tow) at my dad's work.

So now that it has been time to install this kitchen I have been working like mad to figure out how to configure a kitchen so that it looks like it was made for our space. (Our two spaces, there was enough cabinetry for the basement suite too) Luckily we don't have to change anything about the gorgeous island!

 I probably have around 15 of these pages

So below is what our kitchen looks like as of today! I love it. The trim is not up yet because we have to pull the bulk head out a few inches. Sort of sad, it'll be a lot of work, framing, drywalling, taping, adding the moulding, priming and painting! But we might as well do it right!

The space with no upper cabinetry is where our stove top is going. This is the one spot where I am looking into getting a piece made. Kitchen craft still sells these cabinets so maybe they can make me something custom that will look fit the space!

I just can't wait to see it all finished!

DIY Maternity Dress

This past weekend I had a wedding to go to and was kind of in a pickle on what to wear.... I went shopping to the one maternity store in the mall and plus all the other stores (hoping to squeeze my little belly into something and not look ridiculous) but found nothing. In the end I decided to make something. I bought a shirt and a skirt from the thrift store and sewed them together. I loved how it turned out... I might just have to try this again!

Teddy Bear Picnic

This past weekend we took a break from working on the house and went to the teddy bears picnic. It was so fun! I loved getting Max's face painted, and crafting with felt, the gymnastics center and meeting the Jet's moose.

This is the felt basket we made at one of the stations. (I sewed it up after we got home) So easy and fun... Max didn't get to cut them out, but he loved choosing which food we made and then feeding them to his bear!
I diffidently want to go back next year!

Feeling Grey

Actually I have been feeling out a lot of greys lately. I have been trying to chose paint colors for our house. I wanted a warm grey, so today I tested out three paint colors.

 (painted in upstairs main living space)

Originally I was really leaning towards balboa Mist... but then when I put it on the walls it looked way too warm... very beige. So I am 99% sure I am going with Barren Plain... it looked the most grey out of the three colors, and then in the basement I compared it to Grey Owl and it looked warmer of the two (which is what I wanted for the basement because it has less light).

 (painted in basement main living space)

I loved the Grey Owl, but it turned out a little bit too green for the whole house, but I am planning to use it for the front living room and the basement bedrooms.
Ok... enough grey talk!

My 3rd Love

My first love is my husband.
My second love is my child.
My third love (barring friends & family) is our new ceilings!

I love the trim work! (This last picture is taken before the molding was added) I think my husband said it best... " this is such an awesome feature and it's only the first one!". Meaning, hopefully, that we will fill the house with more cool ideas.
Anyways, the ceilings and walls are scheduled to be painted as soon as I can make up my mind on paint colors! I am thinking of a warm grey.... I have 5 I want to test out tomorrow. Wish me luck!

It's almost wedding time!

I am so excited for my brother-in-law to get married! We held a little bridal shower for his soon to be wife (and my soon to be sister-in-law) and I was in charge of sweet treats. Here are some photos of the cream cheese iced cup cakes and the sugar cookies I made for the event:

Here is Why....

I know its been so long since I've lasted posted... we've been busy!

Chevron Painting

Merry Belated Christmas everyone! I hope you had a great holiday with your loved ones and family! .... I guess for most of us those are not two separate groups of people : )
I wanted to share a Christmas present I made this year. I made the painting below for my soon to be sister in law. I saw something like it one her pinterest page and thought, "hey I could do that!" I love how it turned out and more importantly so did she!

If you want to make your own follow these four steps:
1. Buy old painting and frame from thrift store.
2. Paint new abstract painting (and paint frame if you want)
3. Cut the thick painter tape around 6 inches long and place each piece in the chevron pattern, leaving a gap.
4. Paint over everything, let the paint dry, then remove the tape!