New Dishwasher

We got our new dishwasher! Yesterday I shared how we ordered our new dishwasher online and were going to get it delivered, but decided to pick it up instead. It just happened to be raining cats and dogs yesterday with 20 mph winds when we wanted to pick it up, so we had to wait for the rain to clear.

Well, we kept checking the weather, and at around 6:30 pm or so, it looked like the rain was going to slow down. So we loaded the old one up into the truck and got ready to go to town.

After we got a few groceries, we went to Lowe's and got the old one dropped off (They take your old appliance to recycle at no extra charge). Then we loaded up the new one in the truck, and brought it home!

We were lucky that the rain completely stopped when we got to Lowe's, so we were all clear and dry for the drive home.

Trent got it out of the box and brought it inside. It's nothing too fancy, another portable dishwasher, since we don't have a hook-up for one in our kitchen yet.

But, it's brand new and it hasn't leaked at all yet, which is an improvement! It's very similar in style to our old one, but I think it looks a little better since it's new. It's all white, too, so it also makes the kitchen look a little brighter, I think.

I even took Before and After pictures to compare:

Before:

After:

Better, right?

I stayed home today and got some laundry and dishes done, then ran the first full load with the new dishwasher today. So far, so good! 

Eventually we hope to redo the kitchen and get all set up for a built-in one (preferably stainless), but until then this should serve us just fine. We are just glad that's all done, and we don't have to worry about the old one leaking anymore.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Home Renovation Weekend

Since it's been another pretty busy summer for us, we've been lacking a little in the home renovation department. This weekend we wanted to get back into the swing of things and start getting more done around here.

Friday, Trent started in on sanding the hallway floor again, but his hand sander finally "bit the dust", literally and figuratively. That put us on hold for a day or so, and Saturday morning we went into town to get the supplies we needed to finish the hallway, including a new hand sander.

We spent a good deal of time in Menards gathering up all of our supplies, and we also found a good deal on a patio set, and ended up taking one home! Just $380 for the table and chairs - and the chairs are swivel-rocking chairs, so they're super comfy.

The only thing we didn't get yet was a new patio umbrella. Our current one is pretty faded and is getting a little worn out. So we'd like to find a new umbrella that we like, and maybe a few outdoor pillows to brighten things up a little bit.

Saturday after we got home, we had the twins' birthday party across the street, where we cooked out and took a dip in the pool. When we got back home, we put the new patio set together and called it a night. We're pretty excited about it, but we have a lot more that we'd like to do out here eventually.

This morning, we were back at the indoor renovations. Trent's been sanding the hallway floor for a few hours now, finishing it up. We're hoping later this afternoon we can get it all cleaned up and start applying the floor sealer.

I've been cleaning the kitchen - giving the stove and ceiling fan a good deep clean, and I touched up the paint on the cabinets. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do to brighten things up a little bit!

I gave my flowers a little plant food today, but they've been doing pretty well this summer, with the good amount of rain we've gotten.

We've had 100+ degree heat indexes this week though, so we're trying to stick to indoor projects as much as possible. Hopefully by the end of the week, we'll be making good progress on the hallway renovation, which has been years in the making. I love getting stuff done around the house and seeing the fruits of our labor. :)

Stay tuned later in the week for an update (I hope!)!

Kitchen and Living Room Updates

This weekend was pretty relaxing, but productive, too. It felt like fall for the first time, in the 60's and 70's. We had a fire in the backyard and had a few of Trent's family over on Friday night. Saturday we visited my family then went to the lighted parade in Alpha, and today Trent watched the Bears/Packers game with the guys, and I stayed home and cleaned around the house. I also redecorated a little, found some places for the last of the wedding gifts, and watched some movies. It was a nice little Sunday!

I did manage to snap a few photos in the kitchen and living room today of some recent changes around the house. I already posted about our new stove that we got last weekend. We still think it's pretty awesome.

We also got a Keurig 2.0! I've been making the Cafe mocha pretty much every morning. I can't believe how fast it is, and that we haven't gotten one of these sooner.

I washed and put away all of the new dishes, glasses, and mugs we got. I just wish we had more storage! I'll probably have to get rid of a lot of old cups and plates.

I can't wait until we can redo the kitchen and get all new cabinets! Ever since the foundation got worked on, the cabinets have been split apart and away from the wall. The foundation still needs work, unfortunately!

I did put my dishes back up on the wall after we used them in our wedding centerpieces. I just changed out a few of them.

In the living room, I changed up a few frames - Our guest book frame that all of our guests signed at the wedding is now in the center of the room on our floating shelf.

It replaces the picture of Trent and his mom that his sister gave him a few years back. I moved it to the side table though, so it's still in the room. It's just nice to change things up a little, but still have something else meaningful in its place.

It is probably one of the coolest mementos from the wedding. A nice alternative to a guest book, which would probably never be seen again for several years!

In the China hutch, I put the rest of my dishes away, along with the champagne flutes from our wedding, and our cake server and knife.

I think it's safe to say the hutch is completely full now!

My gallery wall got switched around, too. Though I think I need Trent to get home so he can move a couple of nails for me! We got that LOVE print on the right for a wedding gift, but it needs moved over a little bit to be centered. 

I put one photo from the wedding in one of the frames, but think I'll wait to switch the others out until we get our professional photos back. The little "From this day forward" sign was also a wedding gift. Isn't it cute?

Of course I already shared a little about our new Mr. and Mrs. pillows. They're still sitting pretty on the couch for now.

I cleaned and straightened up quite a bit today, folded towels and put them away, and ran the dishwasher, along with redecorating a little bit. So I think I had a pretty productive Sunday. I like my blogging and movie watching view a little better now I think. :)

That's all for now! I think I'll work on putting together that wedding link post...All of my wedding projects on one page. Hope to have that done this week!

New Stove for Labor Day

Guess who picked up a new stove this past Labor Day weekend? *Points thumbs in toward chest* Yep, we finally bit the bullet and got ourselves a brand new stove. I love it. It's so pretty, I may have petted it a few times.

I am making Trent teaching me how to use it. (I'm more of a microwave gal myself) Yes it's true, I've never been one for cooking; however, we have already boiled water on it in the tea kettle, and have cooked a pizza and some stirfry vegetables. I picked up some brownie and cookie mixes, too (since that's how I bake). I'm excited to learn how to bake desserts in this thang!

Isn't she a beaut? We decided to go Labor Day weekend, because every appliance store had them on sale. We checked out Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Sears to compare. In nearly every one, this is the stove that we went to. We wanted stainless steel, gas, and convection, and this one had all three and was a good deal. We decided to use our wedding money for it, since we've been wanting a new one for a long time now.

We ended up getting it at Lowe's. We also liked a Frigidaire stove there that was very similar, but we have a Samsung washer and dryer and love them, and the Samsung stoves got really good ratings.

It's so fancy, and I'm slowly learning how to use it (baby steps). Seriously though, it was about time we got a new one. When you have to kick the appliance multiple times to get it to turn on, it's safe to say it has about bit the dust. Plus, it was time for a stainless steel upgrade to the twenty-first century.

Here's what the old stove looked like to refresh your memory - it was pretty much an antique! I guess it used to be Trent's grandma and grandpa's, then got passed down to their family.

Needless to say, we don't miss that one much, and are already loving our new appliance. :) Next, it's time to upgrade the others!

Holiday Table for Two

This little table setting for two is my Dare to DIY Challenge post for this week. I didn't DIY any specific thing for the table (I was going to gold-glitter some pine cones, but I wanted to use them in more versatile ways in the future). I did, however, put together my first tablescape ever using some things I had on hand and a few new things I picked up. And, being that we are not formal people and never really set the table, I actually had fun putting together this little centerpiece and dreaming up a little elegant kitchen table for us!

This week's theme was "Dare to Entertain," and I'll be linking my post up to Decor and the Dog. Last week's challenge was "Be Thankful"- you can see that post of mine here.

Since it's just us two in the house, and we don't have a dining room, I just used our kitchen table and put together a centerpiece and two place settings.

The elements I used for the centerpiece include my milk glass cake stand I had (from an antique shop), some red tinsel I had on hand, gold decorator balls from Michaels, some scented pine cones and a ceramic bowl from Wal-Mart, some berry and pine pieces from Michaels, and a couple of gold candle holders, also from Michaels. 

The little candy bowl is another milk glass item from an antique shop, and it's filled with Reese's Bells. Yum!

The festive table cloth is from Target, and the burlap runner is from Wal-Mart.

The woven chargers are from IKEA a few years back, the bronze chargers are from Target, and the plates and napkins are also from Target.

The champagne bottle is one that Trent's family gave us when we got engaged, and the vase and flowers I've had for probably four years now...I think they were from Michaels.

And that completes my first tablescape! I know I didn't include silverware or glasses or anything, but you get the idea! (We don't have formal silverware anyway)

We normally don't even really eat at the table, but now I think we need to have a formal dinner, just the two of us. This holiday table setting needs to be put to good use, don't you think? :)

Also Linked to: The Pin Junkie, Say G'Day Party

Home Decor Finds from the Chicago Burbs

Last weekend, Trent and I took a trip up to the Chicago suburbs to visit Haley and Dan. It was the first time seeing their apartment in Batavia, and we had a little time while we were up there to shop, and go to all the stores we only get to go to maybe once a year, like IKEA, World Market, Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel, and HomeGoods.

I made out pretty well, I have to say. We had quite the trunk full. Today I'm sharing my loot with you all! (And the links to where you can find them online for yourself).

First up, I picked up this fun frame from IKEA (in Bolingbrook) - the KVILL frame. I am hoping to put this one somewhere in the living room, but I am not sure of the exact location yet, so it's still sitting its wrapping on the side table. I think I may print one of our engagement photos to put in here....

You can find it online here for $4.99. I love how super cheap IKEA frames are! I also picked up two gold frames (also from IKEA) to flank the TV, since my Robin's egg blue ones are more for spring/summer. These gold ones are super stylish and perfect for the fall and winter months. These are the VIRSERUM frame, also $4.99 - here's the link.

I'm starting to bring some gold into my living room color scheme. I've been loving the gold, antiquey look lately. In the photo below, you can see that I finally found something to hang on my YHL Bee hook! Some pretty brass keys from World Market.

 

Love them. Haley picked up the same ones to hang in her apartment. I knew I had a random hook on the wall for something. Here's the online link, although I think online it's selling all three finishes - I just got the gold keys and they were $7.99.

My third new gold living room decor item is also from World Market. I was super excited about this one, and I LOVE it:

It's a gold mirrored coffee table tray! It looks super expensive, but was only $29.99. That's like the cost of a Target pillow.

I've been looking for a tray for my coffee table for quite a while now. I'm probably going to rearrange some books and all that jazz, but for now, I plopped it on here, and I'm pretty happy with how it's looking for the time being.

What's funny is that at the store, there was a little sticker by it that said "One of the Top Pinned on Pinterest." Of course I was curious and had to look up this tray on Pinterest to see what I found...

It was quite a popular pin! This one is my favorite:

Haha. Love it. Here's the online link to buy it. I also picked up a little giraffe jewelry holder at World Market, which I forgot to take a picture of, but if you search it on Pinterest, there is a set of the giraffe and an elephant one, which are both super cute.

One of my favorite stores that we got to visit is Anthropologie. We went to the new one in downtown Naperville. I just love that store, even though a lot of things in there are so out of my budget. We don't have one around here, so every time I go there I feel like I should splurge on a few things. Their home decor items are just so unique!

I picked up a few kitchen decor items - first, a couple of monogram mugs, which I have seen before online, and love!

And perhaps my favorite item that I picked up from Anthropologie is this plate, which I've had on my wish list for a very long time!

I just love the design. It looks so vintage and hand painted, and I love the colors together in this one.

Another unique Anthro item is this "K," which is actually made from an old book. Each letter is handmade, and it is an actual Readers Digest book:

You can get them online here.

Finally, at IKEA we also got plenty of practical items, like always. Baking pans and cookie sheets...and a new full-length mirror for the bedroom!

Not sure if I have a picture of our old one, but it was smaller than this one and leaned against the wall. We had to bend down to actually see our heads in that one, and it was definitely time for a new mirror up in here! It's simple and clear, and I love it. Trent hung it up this week. Its IKEA name is STAVE, but we like to call him Steve. You can get Steve online here - it was $40 in the store.

So that's most of my home decor loot from last weekend! I left HomeGoods and Crate & Barrel empty handed. I think I did pretty good though, right?