Living Room Gallery Wall

So after two years of living in our house, I have finally finished our gallery wall.  I wouldn't say it has definitely been a work in progress because that would be a lie.  We attempted to hang stuff once and after needing to patch some nail holes and not being able to find the correct paint color (the wall was painted before we moved in) we put things on hold.

Last August we decided to try again by changing the color of the wall.  We went to our local Ace and picked out a wonderful yellow and my dream living room was starting to come to life.  We hung a few items, but it wasn't until last Friday that my mom and I finally finished the gallery wall.

Most of the wall is permanent except for the items in the picture frames, two.  The large black picture frame with our family photo in it and the white picture frame with Caleb's photo in it are going to be changing each year.  I decided that I wanted a space to update our pictures and as much as I love canvases, you can't keep redoing them each year without being wasteful.  I plan on printing out our newest family photo each year and we will get a picture of each boy to do the same with so that our momentous events are on canvases and the ever changing life we live will be in the 2, soon to be 3, frames hanging on the wall.

There are two items missing, a frame for Baby E and a canvas that I am creating.  Both of those will be up within the next month, but until then, it is complete and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!

Items: (Left to Right)
Wooden Number 4: Michael's spray painted black - $7.99
Baby E Maternity Canvas: Sam's Club photo, Hobby Lobby Canvas - $11.50
Picture Frame of Caleb: Michael's painted white, Sam's Club Photo - $12.97
Plate Holder: Gifted from mom, spray painted black
California Print: Gifted Frame, Sam's Club photo - $0.13
Caleb Canvas: Gifted from JC Penny
Wooden H Monogram: Michael's painted white - $2.99
Black Shelf: Wedding Gift
Caleb Maternity Canvas: Sam's Club photo, Hobby Lobby Canvas - $11.50
Mirror: Gifted and painted white
Family Photo: Michael's Frame painted black, Sam's Club photo - $24.96
Heart String Art: Won from Sometimes Sweet Studio
Plate Holder: Gifted from mom, spray painted black
"Count Your Blessings" Print: Gifted Frame, Sam's Club photo - $0.13
Wedding Day Canvas: Sam's Club photo, Hobby Lobby Canvas - $11.50
Trio Tree Canvas: Target (had for years and can't remember the price)
Missing: 
Baby E frame and photo - $12.97
Wedding Canvas - $1.50

Total Gallery Wall Price:
$98.14!

Pricing Disclosure:

We already had all of the paint, mod podge and 

paint brushes so I didn't include those prices into this project.

I also didn't include the cost of painting the wall from

 grey to yellow because we were going to paint it either way.

I was able to keep this gallery wall under $100 because of coupons and DIY.  I bought all the frames on clearance and painted them to the colors I wanted instead of finding frames the colors I wanted and potentially spending more money.  I printed the pictures all at once saving myself multiple trips to the store and depending on where you buy your prints from it could be cheaper the more you order at one time.  I created all of the canvases, except for the one of Caleb, myself to lower the cost of each to $11.50 instead of $30+ using my DIY Canvas technique.

Creating a happy space in your home doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg, but you will have to put the time in to save the money where you can.  I am so happy with how this project turned out and I can't wait until Baby E is here so that we can add his picture up on the wall as well.

Hughes Home - Interior Edition

Hello lovelies.

I know that I have been somewhat absent lately, but life is busy and seems to be flying by.  My job apparently wants me to actually work while they are paying me so blogging has taken a backseat during this time.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I told you all about the things we want to do to our backyard?  Well I thought that it would be fun to make a list of the interior projects we would also like to accomplish.  Some of these we have already completed - I will act as if I wrote this a while ago - and some are longer-term goals for around the house.

Shall we begin?

HUGHES HOME - INTERIOR EDITION

• Paint Nursery  Completed by my wonderful Father-In-Law before we moved in
• Paint hallway  Completed by my wonderful Father-In-Law last week while we were at work
• Buy a new couch  Completed!  We bought a new couch the day we moved in.  A little crazy?  Yes, but we love it and couldn't be happier
• Replace kitchen counter tops - This is a long time goal.  This will be completed within the next 5 years.
• Buy knobs/pulls for all kitchen cabinets/drawers - Needs to happen sooner than later.  I cannot stand cabinets without pulls/knobs
• Buy a new TV for our bedroom  Completed.  We went to the BX and bought one last week and had Comcast already come out and set us up.  Now to just get our old tube TV off our floor and into the garage for the hubs
• Organize the garage
• New kitchen sink - Another long time goal.  Will most likely happen with the counter tops.
• Clean hard water spots off of master shower doors - the previous owners never cleaned them and it is obviously 10 years of built up hard water stains on the doors.  It drives me crazy, but it will be handled.
• Decorate master bathroom
• Decorate guest bathroom
• Organize the office-mancave-craft room
• Hang all of our pictures around the house
• Get canvases made - or make them myself - for the walls
• Buy a screen door for back slider - Will be happening very soon!  I need a back screen door.
• Buy a screen door for front door - I don't understand how houses don't come with screen doors?  I need to get a breeze going through my house without letting every bug in with it.
• Replace the gold doors on the fireplace - they are outdated and I would love newer modern doors one day

We have quite the list - which I love - and can't wait to tackle.  Nothing needs to be done right now in order for us to live, but it is a nice starting point of what we want done inside.

Do you have any tips for new homeowners and completing tasks around the house?

Things To Change When Moving

Earlier this week we announced that we bought our first home!  We couldn't be more excited and ready for this next step in our lives.

I have moved A LOT in my short quarter-of-a-century life and it never gets easier - at least for me.

I am the girl who has boxes and tubs of junk stuff that I "will go through and decide what to do with it"

My mother hated that part of moving with me and now my husband does as well.

So instead of dwelling on the fact that I am completely borderline hoarder status, I thought I would share a fun little list of all the things you need to make sure you change when you move to a new place.

These little tips are easy things that look great on a "TO-DO list"

[1]  Change utilities
       - I put each one as a separate to-do ::since you have to call each one separately::
       - Cable/Internet
       - Water/Sewer/Garbage
       - Gas
       - Electric

[2]  Change banking information
       - Make sure that you change all of your debit and credit cards to your new billing address.  It will make online shopping so much easier :)
       - I would include any investment accounts you have in this category as well.  401Ks or IRAs.  Make sure you update your address with these companies as you will need the correct information for tax season.

[3]  Change your address with DMV
       - We have not done this yet, but it is still on the list of things to do.  Currently both of our driver's licenses have each of our parents' addresses on them because we didn't want to change anything until we bought a house.

[4]  Change cell phone bill
      - Our cell phone bill is still under my maiden name so along with our address change, I will hopefully be updating that little piece of information as well. :)

[5]  Change information at work
       - My work has a lovely online system that is super easy to change any personal information on.  I need to make sure that my husband does the same since he puts everything to his parents' house.

[6]  Change address on pet information
       - Our handsome Hanky-Poo is chipped so we need to go onto the website and update our address so that if he ever wanted to give me a heart attack and run away went on an unaccompanied adventure they would know where we live.

[7]  Change mailing address
       - They make this really easy now.  You can do it online and it only costs $1!  Super convenient!

[8]  Change insurance information
       - Now this doesn't mean to change the insurance that you currently have sillies!  This means, make sure that they have your new address.  I will need to update my health, vision and dental.

*******************************

I know that they seem pretty basic, but in all the hustle and bustle of moving, even the littlest things might slip your memory.

I hope these will help someone and just remember to always make a list and watch those check marks take over the page!  It is so rewarding!

Dream Home - Pinterest Addition

Since we are once again trying to buy our dream home, I thought that it would be fun to show you a little bit of what I dream of.

Of course, none of this would be possible without Pinterest! :)

Take a look, let me know what you think :)

I can't wait to use some of these trips, tips and DIYs :)

Devastated, A Little Defeated, But Not Destroyed

A little bit of a dramatic title?

Well in about 2.7 seconds you will understand why...

So you remember last week when I wrote all excitedly about us buying a house?  Well Monday while we were at the house for the home inspection - that we had to pay for - the deal fell through!

Cue disgusting tears, yelling and quite a bit of cursing.  I have never been one to hold back my emotions and as soon as we heard about this I was beyond upset and devastated!

I had just finished picking out the paint colors to cover up the hideous blue and orange everywhere!  I had just measured the insert for the fridge!  I had just measured the insert for the television!  I was ready!  I had already planned on when we hubby would paint and move our stuff in!  I had already decided that we would have a gender reveal party and host it at our new house!

I had done all of this stuff and the deal?  Well the deal didn't give a flying eff and screwed us!  Now we are out of our "dream home" and have to start over again at square one.

I felt defeated.  My husband felt defeated.  I hate seeing him in pain or angry and to say that he was a little of both is an understatement.  I feel as though things were going too good to be true.  I know that we are good people and do good things and have good karma and in return feel as though we deserve certain things, but they don't always work out.

I sit here looking through Facebook and IG and ask my husband often, "How do they afford all of that?  We both work full time and have very little debt and there is no way we could do all of that!"  He simply always reminds me that they probably live life on credit and we do not.  I am reminded that it is most likely true and I shouldn't judge our lives based on what others have.

We have a lot. A lot!  We have a great marriage and unconditional love.  We have a baby on the way who will have the very best life we can provide for him or her.  We have a puppy dog that acts like we are his Saviors everyday when we come home.  We have family that supports us no matter what.  I have to remind myself that even though I am devastated and defeated that I am not destroyed!

I know that I loved that house and the idea of the community and neighborhood.  But I also know, that we will find the perfect place for us to live and raise our family.  Maybe it really wasn't meant to be?  Maybe that 15 minute drive from my work plus the 40 minutes extra each way it would take me to drop off the little at my mom's house wasn't meant to be?  Maybe we will find an even better house where we don't have to paint the entire thing, but only the rooms we want?

Until that day we will continue to be a strong and happy couple.  We will continue to live our lives the way we have for the past 5 years and continue to build our relationship and savings account :)

So We Are Buying A House!

EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have put in an offer and are actually in escrow!

Now I say actually because this is the THIRD house that we have put an offer in on.  The first one we loved but they had Mello-Roos that were going to be almost half as much as our property taxes.  I just couldn't handle that especially since there were things about the property that weren't necessarily loved items.  The second house we put an offer in on was somewhat perfect.  It was the neighborhood we wanted, school district we wanted, close to the Air Force Base (even though we are Army we still enjoy the perks of the closest commissary for groceries).  We started imagining where we would put things and what colors we would paint the inside...well they were shitty and gave it to their friends after we had put an offer in on it.  I was highly upset but looking back now, I know that it wouldn't have been the most perfect house for us.

Now this house!  I am thoroughly excited about!  It is closer to my work and still in a nice neighborhood.  Best thing!?  Still in the school district we want for our littles!!! :)  It has a big backyard for the pup pups and already has garden beds built in.  Has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a huge living room and open concept with the kitchen.  It is the perfect size and I think it will fit out family nicely.  We put an offer in and heard back less than a week later that it was accepted.  We have started escrow and are hoping that we can be in there in less than two weeks! :)

Now while this house is perfect there are cosmetic things that need to be fixed...

The entire kitchen, living room and hallways are blue!  I don't just mean one shade of blue either.  As you can see from the picture above the kitchen is a deep blue and then the rest of the above mentioned are a shade of powder blue.  I like blue as much as the next girl but not in these big amounts.  The blue walls are going!

The master bedroom.  Oh goodness.  Probably the thing I am most sad about is what they did to it.  Nothing major...just cosmetic...but take a look!

ORANGE!!!!  And lots of it!!!  And not only is it all FOUR walls but they also painted the entire master en suite also!!!!  My poor husband and father-in-law.  They have their work cut out for them with this little baby.  

So overall, we are extremely pleased and can't wait to move into our first home!

Any good makeover tips for our new abode?

So You Want to Buy a House But Are Super Picky???

So as you know we are in the process of trying to buy our first home...  

Well this is a lot easier said than done.

I asked our relator if I was being too picky when looking.... he responded with "No!  You have to choose 5 things that the house must have and if it doesn't match those, then we keep on looking."

It was seriously the best thing to hear.  We have made our list and I really don't think that we are asking too much.  We are getting closer, but still haven't found it yet.

Here is our list:

1.  NO front facing bedroom windows

I know that most people won't understand this, but I do not want my kids or myself in a bedroom with a window facing the front yard.  I don't feel as though it is the safest and I know that I wouldn't feel comfortable there while Ryan is out of town.

Source

2.  Open floor plan

I want to be able to see my kids play in the living room while I make dinner or do dishes.  I don't want every room closed off from each other.  Also, an open floor plan allows for more light to travel through the house.

Source

3.  In a developed neighborhood

We want to live in a neighborhood that is already established with kind people around.  Now I know that I cannot interview our neighbors before we offer on a house, but when we look at a house and there are kids playing in the street and neighbors talk to one another, we feel very warm and welcome.  That is where we want to live and raise our kids.  Also, we do not want to live on the outside of the community or a busy street.  The quieter the better for us.

Source

4.  Fireplace

Now this probably isn't a "make it or break it" for us, but I would really prefer one.  I always loved having one growing up and haven't had one in the last 3 years.  I prefer wood burning, but gas is nice also.  Just as long as it provides us with heat I will be happy.

Source

5.  Big backyard

This is an absolute must!  With two dogs and babies on the way (just one for now - don't freak out!) we want plenty of room for everyone outside.  We want grass for the dogs and kids and then a big enough side yard for the toys and yard stuff.

Source

With all of that said, I have fully decided that we aren't being too picky.  There are plenty of houses out there and we just have to have patience and wait for the perfect one to come to us.

I know we will find it, although we thought we did twice already, but I am working on being more patient.  

Any house hunting tips??  I'd love to hear them!