House Tour

Back when I showed you a tutorial of how to easily create privacy in a window while still allowing in light, I promised you a tour of my sister's new house. Well, here you go! She bought a house in a new development from a couple who had lived there for about five years, but barely used the house. In fact, you can see from the photos (all taken with the previous owners' things) that several of the rooms were staged.

This is the exterior, with a nice, big two car garage.

I didn't get a shot of the formal living room, but that's the first room you see when you walk into the house. The bay window on the right is where the living room is. You then walk up about four steps onto the main level of the house which has the dining room...

Kitchen...

Family room...

And through the French doors on the left, is the office.

There's also a powder room on that level which I didn't take a picture of. Upstairs are three bedrooms, a bathroom, linen closet, laundry room and a master suite, which includes a sitting room and huge bathroom.

Guest room...

Bedroom...

Another bedroom staged as a music room...

Hall bathroom...

Laundry room...

Huge walk-in linen closet...

Master suite...

Sitting room, adjacent to the master bedroom...

As you can see, the house has good bones but my sister and her family definitely have their work cut out for them to make it their own. They are working on finishing the basement now to include a playroom, guest room and bathroom, plus lots of storage. You can be sure I'll be sharing with you all the little updates along the way!

Linking up:
A Bowl Full of Lemons | House on the Way |

Bringing in the New Year! (Or is it Ringing in the New Year?)

After Christmas Matt and Caitlin visited us!
We talked about their wedding and did some taste testing at a local "food made in Mn" restaurant!
The food was fantastic!
It was so much fun!

Their wedding will be completely different than Katie and Andrew's wedding.
Less formal (in fact probably very casual), probably outside, only 1-2 attendants for each of them.
They are just beginning the planning process. We look forward to hearing more and more of their decisions as they are made!

We had a New Years Eve Party and we invited some very rowdy guests!

They stayed up to 10pm, it was a big deal to them!
(Shhhhh, don't anyone tell them they are supposed to stay up to 12:00)

We had party hats and blowers!

We made lots of noise to bring in the New Year!

Then we toasted 2013 with sparkly apple juice!

Everyone loved the party!

And they loved their juice!

And they loved making lots of noise!

And they loved their party hats!

I love this happy picture of Emma!

And they love the festive atmosphere!

And sweetie, you have reason to celebrate!
Praise God for he has been so good to us!

Truly 2012 was miraculous!
Praying for a blessed 2013!

And then they cheered to each other!

again...

and again...

and again!

Then they digressed and 

and played with their plastic glasses!

One was as cute as the next!

 Until their Momma made them go outside and yell...

HAPPY

NEW

YEAR!

And it was so cold on their little feet that some of the children did not like it one single bit!
(Sorry Luke)

So we quickly went inside!!

And then it was bed time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to YOU!

Updated Bathroom Light Fixture

Hey guys! Thanks so much for being patient with me for these past couple months while I've taken a little break. It's been so relaxing spending time with my family over the holidays and focusing my time on them instead of blogging. But just the same, it feels great to be back and having the chance to re-connect with all of my readers. My stats have surprisingly been pretty steady thanks to pinterest and other bloggers referring readers here so thank you so much - I've missed you all!

Here's a super easy project that I completed back in November. This was the light fixture in the hall bathroom that came with our house (minus one light bulb). Silly me thought those big globes were the light bulb coverings and that there was an actual bulb inside. Fast forward five years and one of them burnt out, only for us to discover the reality! Not your standard size to say the least... I didn't cry too hard about it and was happy to have an excuse to replace the fixture.

I picked out this fixture from Lowe's and my dad helped me installed it. It was definitely an upgrade but the brassy trim along the medicine cabinet mirrors was not working for me. I know there's all the talk now of mixed metals, but the proximity of the two made them clash.

Remember when I used this amazing little crafting invention back when I painted the front door? This time I got it in a silver leaf and rubbed and buffed away!

Here's an in-progress shot so you can see the difference:

And here's the finished mirror!

So much better! And for my favorite - a before and after picture:

The rub and buff part took about 10 minutes and it makes such a difference. What projects have you used rub and buff with?

Linking up: 
Serenity Now | Today's Creative Blog | twelveOeight | Home Stories A to Z | Not Just a Housewife |