Welcome Home Wednesday: Munch's Cave: After

A little late tonight, but I'm finally getting my post up! 

I found a WAY before picture of Munch's room. This is the room as we first saw it. It looks so small. (You can see more before pictures and read more about it HERE.)

Here are the after shots. It's pretty close to his rooms in our other homes, but it's still a big change from what it was and the blue is a little lighter and less bright than what we had previously gone with.
Munch loves to sit on his book case and look out the window.

 Hubby made the art board for all Munch's projects. We haven't switched them out for a while, because Munch remembers doing those particular ones with his Gigi and he LOVES them.

The window looks so dirty in this picture. It's clean, but old. One of the big things on our list of things to do one day.

Had to show a close up of Munch's bed. We started having trouble with him going down for naps, so we would give him a book to read until he fell asleep. At some point he started placing them next to his mattress. He knows exactly what books are there and EXACTLY where he has put them. Don't try to move them...he'll notice.

I'm pretty pleased with how the room turned out. Munch likes it and really that is all that matters.

Welcome Home Wednesday: Munch's Cave

Please excuse the mess while Angie of My So Called Chaos and Health Not to Health Nut works on revamping my blog. Super excited about it!!

This week I'm sharing Munch's room, before he moved into it. 

 (above: view from doorway. window looks over front yard)

 (above: view from right corner)

(above: view from left corner. you can just see the patch of flooring that wasn't completed in the closet. note: there is an extremely tiny opening (about house elf size) leading to the attic in Munch's closet, if we ever have the money it would be really nice to make a human size opening maybe in the hall outside the boys rooms.)



Munch's Cave To Do List:

• Finish flooring in closet.  Thanks, Honey!!
• Paint Thanks, Honey!
• Get and install more sturdy curtain rod.  Completed today!! Thanks, Honey!!
• Get Munch's fan from Mum's and install here
• Hang pictures/artwork

Next week I'll share the after pictures!

Welcome Home Wednesday: Nox's Pad - After

Another before of what the room looked at when we first saw it. I still wish we had managed to get a good shot of what the warped linoleum flooring looked like. To see more pictures and read more about the before of Nox's Pad go HERE.

Here is a quick, during picture. This is the room right after Hubby finished the flooring. It's the first room he's ever done flooring in and I'm so proud of him.

Hubby made a little art board for Nox too using an old guitar neck, Papa had given us. The pictures on the wall need updating, but at least they are where they need to be. The fan really makes a big difference. The original one was SO tiny and wobbled so much I thought it might fall at any second.

I really love his room.

I made his blankets myself and revamped some store bought curtains.

It is never this neat. The baby gate has become less and less used lately and the boys love to run upstairs and play. We are working on the clean up part.  

This past weekend we finally converted Nox's crib to a toddler bed. He's going to be 3 in 3 months, so I figured it was time. With Munch we waited until he could climb out. Nox is FULLY capable of climbing Mount Everest if he wanted to, but never showed any interest. It's much easier to just yell "Mama! Mama!", until I come get him. Part of me is going to miss that, but I kinda love having him run into our bedroom in the morning for snuggles. 

Welcome Home Wednesday: Nox's Pad

The kitchen is currently in hold status for now and I'm getting really far behind on posts...so I'm moving on to  sharing other rooms.

This is Nox's bedroom. I really REALLY wish these pictures did the flooring justice. It was a HUGE piece of linoleum, that was extremely warped and kinda felt like a strange sponge when you walked on it. The pictures are way beyond deceiving.

 (above: view from doorway. window looks out over front.)

 (above: view from left corner)

(above: view of doorway and closet. note that closet does not actually have flooring.) 

(above: view from closet)

Nox's Pad To Do List:

• Paint Thanks, Love!
• Install new, non-crazy warping, flooring. Thanks, Love!
• Install sturdier curtain rod and hang awesome guitar theme curtains. Thanks, Love!
• Purchase and install new ceiling fan
• Hang pictures/artwork

I'll share the after pictures next week!

Welcome Home Wednesday: Kitchen Before

When we were originally looking at homes online, I skipped over this one.
One of the reasons were these cabinets. The color threw me off.  

 I still don't like it. The maroon seems an odd color for cabinets...possibly a good color for a barn though. The walls are sort of a creamy yellow. It is actually kind of a pretty color, but not my style and just painted really badly....and recently we discovered that it's the EXACT same yellow as the house AND the master bath....AND the color that our dining room was. (Is it just me that thinks that is bizarre?)

 It's possible that the microwave and oven were original to the house...I think that's the last time the oven had been cleaned too.

 The dishwasher was pretty old too and the rust stains at the base told of a leak...

 I love the granite counter tops and the huge sink with the beautiful window overlooking the deck outside. At our last house I was looking at an old air conditioner while I did the dishes.

The fridge was missing parts, so we planned on replacing it with my mother's old fridge. When that didn't work we went ahead and replaced all the old appliances with new white ones. 

Above is the set up the previous owners had. That's a curtain chilling out in the middle of the window, held up by a shower curtain rod and a bunch of strings looped through hooks around the window. I have no idea what was going on there. The window does get some insane morning sun, so we will need to put blinds up.

To Do:

Replace Appliances

Repair problem with cabinet wall housing the Dishwasher (VERY soon I hope)

HOPEFULLY repaint cabinets - (I was leaning towards a light gray, but our bedroom is gray and so is our dining room...opinions?)

Paint walls - really depends on if we CAN repaint the cabinets

Purchase and hang blinds in window

Repair/replace light fixtures

Ultimately I would like a new backsplash, but that probably won't be anytime soon.

I really hope we are able to focus on this area soon...I love this kitchen, but really have yet to make it mine. 

Welcome Home Wednesday: Master Bedroom After

Last week I posted what our Master looked like when we moved in. I am so happy with the way it looks now. It looks kinda sparse in these pictures, but it's my peaceful place...my haven. Exactly what I wanted it to be. 

We went with a gray and yellow theme, which may be over done, but it works so nicely in this bright and airy room. Our last home the room always kinda seemed a little like a cave. John pulled the old icky carpet and put in new gorgeous laminate. 

The boys painted the art work above our bed for Father's Day a couple years ago. I was worried that they may look a little small, but I think they are perfect. 

In the Spring and Summer the Balding Cypress and the Texas Pecan shade our back yard. I love laying on the bed, reading and looking out that window at the green in the trees and wildlife. 

This is the corner where I usually set up a card table and sew. The natural light in here is just amazing. 

Here is a better view of our gallery wall. It took me FOREVER to make my mind up on placement. 

I just recently finished the heart embroidery below. I bought the pattern over at Urban Threads. The yellows and metallics don't show up against the gray background as much as I would like, but I still really love the piece. 

This piece was created using a crochet doily that was passed down to us from John's Mimmie. I believe that she made it, but I'm not positive of that. Either way it's a little piece of her that we can keep near to us. 

I thought it might be fun to include a couple side by side, before and after shots. 

I found a picture of what the house looked like when we first looked at it. Thought it was interesting to see our different styles paired up. 

So that's the pretty much finished Master. I want to get a piece of art to go above the desk and I have some pretty vintage fabric that needs to be made into throw pillows, but other than that I think it's complete. 

Welcome Home Wednesday: Master Bedroom Before

I love this room. The high ceilings make it seem huge and so much natural light flows into it. I wish these pictures showed just how insanely green this room was and how gross the carpet looked.

 (above: view from doorway. windows look out on the back yard)

 (above: view from the right window.)

(above: view from the left window)

Master Sanctuary To Do List

• Paint 
• Replace carpet with laminate. 
• Replace curtain rods and curtains 
• Hang art work
• Replace light covers on fan. I actually like the fan, but wouldn't mind something less builder grady...yep...I know grady isn't a word.
• Make some yellow pillows for bed - have some beautiful vintage material I bought - just need to get to work!

Finally got some after pictures this week. Should have an after post for this room next week. I love how it looks now!

Welcome Home Wednesday: Out Back

Our backyard! Photos taken November 2011

(above: back gate)

(above: view of our deck from back gate) 

 (above: our loverly, spacious shed) 

 (above: view of back yard from deck. note: poor, brown cedar...)

 (above: view of yard and little magnolia from left fence. LOVE the magnolia)

 (above: view from rear fence)

(above: view of side patio off dining room)



Out Back To Do List

• Pray that our beautiful big cedar is still alive - pretty please? Turns out it was NOT a cedar as we were told, but a balding cypress. Yay!
• Remove dead limbs from magnolia
• Clear rocks/pebbles from flower bed near rear gate Mostly...from our veggie garden anyway.
• Plant some veggies in bed by rear gate. We planted tomatoes and jalapeno last year. 
• Repair loose panels along rear fence
• Attempt to remove old fencework from rear left corner flower bed What we could anyway.
• Get soil  and fill holes in beds/yard
• Clean out rear flower beds completely
• Repair sprinkler system
• Clean out gutters (on neighboring house)
• Install lattice work to cover the underneath of shed and deck
• Sand and repaint deck
• Plant drought/butterfly/Texas friendly plants in flower bed (did this last year and we got an awful caterpillar infestation...so we need to do it again. SIGH)
• Remove large hooks from rear fence (What the heck are those for anyway?)
• Get a smaller smoker to replace our insanely huge one. Went with a propane grill instead, cause smoker flames make me nervous with our houses so close together.
• Have BBQ and Enjoy (lots)

Welcome Home Wednesday: Home Front

Not so long ago, I had a dream of starting a second blog, one to write about my home and family...and then I was going to just keep this one for crafts. It wasn't very long before I gave that idea up and moved back to Craft Cherry. I have been thinking lately that it would be nice to move the posts about our home over here, but I didn't want to flood my blog with posts that I wrote last year...or bore anyone that might have already seen those posts....SO Wednesday will be dedicated to my home. Hopefully, this will help me stay on top of some of the projects we need to work on and make me take some pictures of the projects we have completed!

Here is our lovely little home as of November 2011:

 (above: general front of house and yard)


 (above: far right front: notice all that ivy...eek)

 (above: front entry: note pebbled walkway with TEENIE pebbles, also drainspout it hanging on to gutter for dear life.)

(above: view from front door. notice the sad state of flower beds?)

Home Front To Do List:

• PRIORITY: Clear out insane amount of ivy in flowerbeds (Taken care of by our new lawn guys!!)
• Clear out dead plants from flower beds
• Remove awful red wood chips that is at least 10 feet thick.
• Remove or clean up pebble path in the middle of flower bed directly in front of front door: (in progress.)
• Clean out rain gutters
• Repair rain gutters
• Plant new Texas friendly plants
• Repair right side of driveway
• Repair sprinkler system  (turns out it wasn't actually broken in the front.)
• Put together pretty blue rocking bench for entryway
• Paint back gate white to match with house. 
• Take current photos in the Spring. Right now, everything still looks dead and sad.