Tales of remodeling and polishing

 So I am hoping that 2012 will be the year I get or almost get my new kitchen.  We decided in the fall that instead of moving our family of four we were going to try to make our 1600 square foot house work for us.  The house we both LOVED when we went looking was older, had an iffy foundation, a tiny hard to get into basement but it was very finished and very homey with a lot of character.  Our house has character!  Our house is homey!  Our house is also solid with steel beams and has a finished basement good for spending hours in during tornado season.  (Once a tornado warning lasted 1.5 hrs.)  Sooooo we decided to stay in our house and do the finishing it needed.

Our plan:

1. Repaint and update the living room (easy)
2. Put in an egrass window and walk in closet in the basement bedroom for mom and dad (which is huge BTW).  (medium)
3.  Gut and redo the orginal kitchen (1941-difficult)

I'm not sure when 2 or 3 will be finished but 1 is done. The only thing missing is a flat screen TV.  We had one but upon bringing it upstairs, the cat got curious and knocked it over.  I was hoping Santa would bring one but due to the very expensive canvas that I love, it was a sacrifice so here a few of our new purchases!

After pinning a bunch of these on Pinterest I walked into a Hallmark store and found this one!

My new TV stand/fireplace, with my new blinds and insulated curtains keeps this drafty home comfy/cozy!! That baby was going full blast last night!  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

My new couch.  It was hubby's first choice, not mine (I wanted a soft one with a lounge on the side).  Ultimately I couldn't resist one that would wipe clean. 

Our splurge and I LOVE IT!!!! I wanted to capture the girls at a young age, before they fought.  Truth is they still don't fight much.  They were 18 months and 6 in this picture. 

It is HUGE!

And my busy rug (no the Christmas tree is not still up but this is the only picture I could find.  My mom hates the rug BTW.  I don't know if that makes me love it more but I LOVE it!

 And my new collection of thirty-one bags.  The pink and blue ones are for the girls Kindles and the I love the St. Andrews Tartan pattern.  It coordinates perfectly with the living room but the discontinued it. :(  Dear thirty-one.  Please bring back brown, red and turquoise!  Thank you.