Spring Cleaning - Freezers and Baby Clothes (free printable!)

Time for spring cleaning! I can't say I've ever done legitimate "spring cleaning" before. I'm generally more of a clean-it-when-it-gets-dirty person and having my whole house deep cleaned at one time just doesn't happen. But I think the season has combined with my pre-baby nesting to create the perfect storm! I'm ready to tackle all the forgotten corners of this house! Since this is my first time jumping in, I decided to get a little guidance in the form of a free printable checklist (you can print a list here, and check out all their other free organization printables here. It's a gold mine. And I made my own printable freezer inventory sheet - we'll get to that in a minute.)

print your own spring cleaning schedule at Life Your Way

TWO

This week kind of blew my mind. Our sweet little baby boy...

turned TWO.

Of course my sentimental pregnant self has spent more than a few weepy moments looking back to his first few days with us.

Who knew time could pass so quickly? Just like that he went from tiny newborn to chunky baby.

Kitchen Revamp on a Budget

You guys know we've been slowly working on our kitchen remodel for over 2 years. But you probably don't know that before B came into the picture I worked for a kitchen & bath design firm. I was an assistant (not an actual designer) but I put together my fair share of estimates. So I have a pretty good understanding of just how much a full kitchen remodel can cost. And holy moly, it can cost a lot. Even the lower end remodels start at thousands of dollars. When we bought our home, we knew that was something we just wouldn't be able to do. Probably not ever. :) Which is why we've been doing so much DIY work in our kitchen. We still want to end up with a space we love, but on a much more reasonable budget! Today I just wanted to share a couple simple tricks that have saved us a load of $$$ on this project.

Work with what you have. We kept as much existing cabinetry as possible. The floors were almost new and in great shape so they stayed. We kept the layout of the major appliances so we didn't have to rework all the plumbing and gas lines.

Used is cheaper than new. We've bought quite a few things second-hand to cut down costs. Our dishwasher was from Craigslist, the fridge was an estate sale in town, even the bamboo blinds came from a yard sale! We've also had good luck shopping sales and clearance racks (which is how we got our $300 farmhouse sink for $40)

Don't rush things. Going slowly, as painfully tedious as it is at times, has actually helped us keep things affordable. We wait until we find things for a good price. If we don't have the money to buy something outright, we we wait until we do so we don't have to go into any debt for the project.

DIY as much as you can. Of course, doing something yourself will generally be cheaper than hiring a contractor to help! We've done everything from building new cabinets, to pouring concrete countertops, to painting, to installing our dishwasher. Just keep in mind that some things are better left to the professionals. Things like electrical work and plumbing can be a big mess (and plain old dangerous!) if you don't know what you're doing. We've been fortunate enough to have friends and family who are contractors who have been able to help us out with all these things, and even teach us to do them ourselves in the future!

Here's a (very) rough breakdown of what we've spent so far. There is some guestimating involved - I'm not up for receipt hunting today. :)

• $240 - building the new base cabinets
• $35 - adding trim to all the cabinet doors
• $305 - concrete countertops
• $25 - wall paint
• $125 - painting the cabinets
• $80 - sink & faucet
• $66 - new hardware (they were about $3/each)
• $1000 - stainless appliances (the stove & microwave were bought new because we needed them ASAP, the fridge and dishwasher were used)
• $45 - open shelving from Ikea
• $250 - very rough estimate of extra stuff we've used throughout the process (plumbing, wiring, painting supplies, etc.)

 Total(ish) - $2,171

It's certainly not pocket change (and part of the reason it's taken us so long) but it's been doable. And we are so close to having an amazing kitchen! So how about you guys? Anybody else tackled a kitchen remodel on a budget?

When Pinterest is For the Birds

B turns two this week. I know, I can't believe it either. N and I have tossed a lot of ideas around over the last couple weeks about what to do - party or no party, go out or stay home, and what kinds of decorations, foods, and gifts we want to do. Now, I normally love pinterest and all the creative ideas, but there can definitely be too much of a good thing. This was one of those times. I started feeling like we needed a big party with perfect appetizers and hand crafted decorations and, frankly, didn't know how I would get it all done. We had a party last year and I made a few little decorations (like a mini garland) and it was a fun time, but we just didn't feel like that was the right route to go this year. And so, we have officially opted to ditch pinterest in favor of a super awesome, super simple birthday at home with just the family. A day that is all about our boy. We have a couple goals for the festivities:

Easy - We have packaged decorations and streamers. No hassle to make anything ahead of time. And B picked them out himself which makes it even more special! "What's that, bub? You want monkey cups with balloon plates? Sure thing. And Elmo wrapping paper? Sounds perfect!" No sweat to be all coordinated, just a little guys favorite things. :)

Cheap - A few decorations from Dollar Tree, some favorite homemade treats, and just a couple gifts. Plus some of his favorite free activities - a trip to the park, playing with trains, maybe some digging in the garden.

Small - We would love for family to celebrate with us too, but with them being so far away we just want to soak up our boy and not have to worry about anyone else. Selfish? Maybe a little. But seriously, this kid is growing up way to fast. And he only turns 2 once. :)

So B and I headed out today to get a few things for our little birthday extravaganza! I picked up some of his favorite foods like berries and the ingredients for apple muffins, then headed to Dollar Tree to pick out some cheap (and super easy) party supplies. Here's what we brought home:

• streamers
• cups & plates
• a banner
• table cloth and grass skirt (why not, right?)
• candles
• wrapping paper and a bow for his big gift
• we're picking up some helium balloons later - it's a surprise!

I'm going to decorate after he goes to bed the night before his big day. Seriously, guys, it's going to look like a birthday explosion in here when he wakes up. And yes, it's a little kitschy and over-the-top and totally not pinterest worthy. But who cares? I just want B to walk out and know it's a special day. Just for him.With no stress for the parents so we can just enjoy the birthday boy!

Sometimes pinterest is for the birds. :)