Let the makeovers begin...

Hi all! If you're still here reading my blog I really appreciate it. It's no secret we've been trying to sell our house. It's been going on for 2 1/2 years. We've worked with several different realtors and we've tried to sell by owner. Nothing is working and things in the housing market are just getting worse in our area and there is no end in sight. We have put so much money into this house on things like the roof, furnace, water heater, sump pump, well pump and tank not to mention all of the general fixing around the house that we just can't sell the house for $50,000 like the realtors want us to like the foreclosures are going for.
So, what's next? I'm on a painting/redecorating kick trying to make it our own again, trying to make us a little more comfortable. I am done living out of boxes and if it doesn't fit in this tiny house then I guess it's time to get rid of it.

First up is getting rid of the 2004 bathroom. This is the first thing we touched when we moved into this house in the summer of 2004. I have been digging and digging trying to find a picture of the bathroom from when we first moved in but I haven't found one yet. So this is what it looks like today and what it has looked like since 2004... Don't you love my yellow sponged walls? Hey, it was better than the ivy wall paper that was there before.

I even got Lidia to willingly help take down the fishing wall paper border. A little hot water in a spray bottle and a lot of peeling and it was off in no time.

And this is where I'm headed. Something bright and clean. Lots of white and some classic bead board for this 1946 house.

Budget Kitchen Makeover

It's no secret that I hate our kitchen. I know hate is a strong word but it has just never worked for me. Two major appliances randomly on walls by themselves is the biggest problem on top of no counter space. Over the weekend we made one of these worse and one better.

My kitchen on Sunday:

My kitchen on Monday night: 

Oh my gosh, despite losing half of my counter space, I am in love!! It feels more like a kitchen already. The fridge is opening the wrong way which has been very annoying but it's not randomly off on a wall by itself anymore!

Here are another before and after shot, real life dishes, messes, Elephant & Piggie posters and all....
Before:

and after:

Our table is temporarily in the living room and the big brown cabinet we borrowed from another room to hold what was in the cabinets we took out until we work everything out.

Name Change

There is a name change in progress...

I started doing craft shows a couple months ago and finally settled on a name and it's gotten such a warm response and has a lot of versatility that I'm bringing it over to the blog which I hope to have more to post about as soon as we move and I'm able to start decorating and gardening again. Things are just so boring when you have to keep a spotless clean house and half your things are in storage.

In the meantime you can find me on Facebook as Clara & Grace going to local shows and waiting for our tiny little starter house to sell.

Happy Spring!

Happy first day of spring! Our first day of spring was bitter cold and windy and forecasts of snow all around the area so the only thing that feels like spring around here is sitting on top of my microwave. The seed trays are already steamed up and will hopefully be sprouting soon. I'm a couple weeks behind but with the cold weather still in full force I think I'm going to be okay. Round one is the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.

Rotisserie Chicken

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday season. We traveled 3 hours to spend Thanksgiving with part of my side of the family then we spent Christmas here with my husband's family. A baby's first Christmas is always such a special thing seeing them explore all of these new sights and sounds. Evie enjoyed the wrapping paper the most and then got her first tooth the day after Christmas. Our New years was spent camping out on the living room floor with the girls with every pillow we could find in the house watching the ball drop on tv.  Times like that are the most fun and more special.

I've been looking for some new crock pot recipes to make my life easier but don't involve more soup or stew or covering a piece of meat in liquid. I'm trying out the Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken from Semi Homemade Mom today. We get these great little chickens from a local meat market that have been tasty no matter how you cook them but I'll let you know how it turns out. Do you have any favorite crock pot recipes?