Pantry Madness

This past week has been absolutely crazy! This past weekend Mr. Man finished my new farmhouse table, which I am so absolutely smitten with. Will be posting pictures as soon as I get back around to that project!

So lets rewind a little as to why I haven't been able to pay any much deserved attention to my new table -- So, last Wednesday, I am getting ready to cook dinner, and I pull out a bag of sweet potato chips from the pantry, they were BRAND SPANKIN NEW, literally, I had just bought them the night before. So, open the bag, pull out a chip, and a moth flies it's happy little self out of there. Um, what the shit?! So that, sparked my little mind, because a few days prior I had opened the pantry door and there was a moth crawling along the wall.

So me, being the super paranoid of all types of bugs person that I am, decided to Google "Moths in pantry" .. I mean surely if there was two within a few days of each other, they were coming from somewhere!

WORST. IDEA. EVER. Google is pretty much my best friend and worst enemy rolled into one. After Googling for about 2.5 seconds, I came to the conclusion we had a full on infestation in our pantry (because ya know, TWO moths is classified as an infestation, right?!) So, instead of making dinner, I spent the next three hours taking EVERYTHING out of the pantry and throwing away about $200 worth of groceries.

Was there anything wrong with the stuff I threw away? I'm not really sure, but better to be safe than sorry. Google pretty much told me, it can become a huge problem if you don't take care of it immediately, and if there is one, THERE IS MORE. They can lay up to FOUR FREAKIN HUNDRED eggs at a time. SAY WHAT?! And they are common in items that come in cardboard packaging (i.e. rices, cereals, dog treats, pastas, ect.)

So, after I threw away all the money food that I thought may be contaminated, I had to come up with a plan of what to do next. Well, unfortunately we do not have a gorgeous walk in pantry like I dream of, just a plain jane builder grade pantry ...

Well, thank goodness for Pinterest and all of it's beautiful DIY pantries, because my little wheels in my brain were spinning, I mean.. just look at some of these fabulous pantries ya'll...

 

So I gathered my favorite ideas from each picture I saw and came up for a game plan for our pantry. First step, purchase glass jars/containers for everything that was not individually packaged (which to my surprise, is A LOT.) If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen my daily posts about the project lol.

I started with buying $100 worth of jars and baskets from Hobby Lobby, seriously thank you sweet baby Jesus for their 50% off weeks.

Then, I decided to lable each jar, I would spray paint them with chalkboard paint... talk about time consuming.

So yesterday, I finished up most of the jars, now we are taking all of our builder grade wire shelving out and putting in wood shelves, which makes me so excited because I have wanted wood shelving since we moved in, so no time like the present!

Tonight I hope to get the shelves measured, cut, and painted and hopefully by weekends end, I will have an oh-so-fabulous pantry to show ya'll!

Stay tuned! 

After Christmas.... Decorating?

So I am completely, 100% lost on how to decorate this time of year. So much so, to the point of where I have even Googled it. Seriously, thank God for Google.

Two weekends ago we took down all of our Christmas stuff, and my house is straight up NAKED ya'll! I had no idea how much stuff I had put out for Christmas. Jeez! So two trips later to buy MORE storage bins from Home Depot, all our stuff is safely packed away in the basement until next year!

But in the mean time, I am so lost. It's not spring, and the holidays are over -- So what exactly do I put out? Here is what Pinterest has offered..

 

Fresh greenery! 

 

For the mantle, fresh greens, mercury glass, and rustic elements.

 

Neutrals with pops of color, i.e. red berries, fresh white flowers, pine.

 

This looks warm and cozy, once again using glass, and assortments of neutrals and greens.

 

Love the birch along with the lights and ribbon.

 

And once more, greenery and neutrals.

So basically what Pinterest summed up for me is.. A. I should have kept all of my fresh garland and re-used it else where. B. I should not of packed away all of my 3000 pine cones, and C. I have the perfect excuse for a little retail therapy.

Georgia doesn't really get a "winter" very often.. so decorating with fake snow, and snowmen, and all sorts of "wintery" stuff just doesn't make sense to me.. especially when it was 76 degrees on Sunday.... SAY WHAT? But, maybe it's a good thing it doesn't freeze until March down here, because I don't think I would ever be able to part ways with my Christmas decorations. HA!

But, I do have to say.. the longer I let my house go "naked".. the more content I am becoming with it. This time of year it's always nice to purge a little, and that is exactly what I have been doing. Every day I am finding something else to clean or organize, I guess I am just getting all my spring cleaning done early this year? Ha.

So how does everyone else decorate in between seasons?

2012 In Review/Jumpstarting 2013!

Wow, I literally cannot believe it is 2013! The saying "the older you get, the faster time flies" is becoming more true every day! It feels like just yesterday I was putting up my Christmas decorations, and now it's time to take them down! (Which I am ridiculously sad about .. why can't they just stay up a few more months?)

Anyways, we had a fantastic Christmas with our families and were so incredibly blessed again this year! It is always such a treat to have both of our families together, laughing, exchanging gifts, and eating delicious food! We continued our tradition we started last year and had both of our families over to our house for Christmas morning together. We sat around and drank coffee and mimosa's, enjoyed an incredible breakfast with so many different breakfast foods, and then opened presents. Such a fantastic morning. Unfortunately, my camera was dead, and I didn't get to snap any pictures.. but, thank goodness Cody's mom was able to get a few shots, and probably my favorite picture of all time!

 

 I just love it!

Sadly enough, Christmas did come to an end and it was back to reality on Thursday and Friday! Saturday was our last holiday party of the season, and a tacky sweater one at that! 

 

And then before you know it, it was NYE! I think this was the first year we didn't have a big party, or do anything crazy! We went down to our neighbors house, and just had a nice relaxing evening with them! Nothing fancy, but a good time!

New Years day, it literally rained the entire day, and I am actually kind of glad, I don't think I left the couch the entire day. HA!

UGA won their bowl game, which was still a hard pill to swallow, considering they should be in the national championship! Still a little bitter about that, obviously!

But, now that it is a new year, it is time to start fresh! Looking back on 2012, we got so much accomplished with our home, and I can't wait to get started with our 2013 projects!

In March of this year, we had our house painted, which completely changed the entire look of our home!

Then in May, we had our drain lines run from our front yard, to a creek near our property. This has made the biggest difference for our yard! It was pretty pricey, ecspecially since you can't exactly see anything, but it has been worth every penny!

*Since this picture, we have since had pine straw laid, as well as low growing plants, so it looks much nicer than just dirt!

Then also in May, we ripped up all the old crappy landscape edging the previous owners had put in, and we put down rocks..

Then I did a few indoor projects.. 

Like painting our front door!

And making a small gallery wall..

 

I also refinished my dining room table..

*Sorry I don't have a better after picture on my computer right now, but I absolutely love this outcome. It lightened the entire dining room up, and I am so glad I took eight hours of my life to redo this! HA!

But, then, in October, we started the biggest change of all.. which will be a work in progress through the spring of this year.. We began our backyard renovations! Anyone who knows us, knows how terrible our backyard was beforehand.. but, we absolutely LOVE it now!

*In 2013, I promise to be better at picture taking, because I still do not have a picture of the completed project, but it is so fabulous ya'll!

We also did other projects here and there to increase the value of our house, and also to continue to work towards our goal of turning a house into a home! In 2013, we have vowed to focus more on actual home improvement projects, rather than decorating (I'm really bad about this) 

So, in 2013 here is a list of what we hope to accomplish..

1.Redo Kitchen;

• Paint/Glaze cabinets
• Change out all the hardware
• Paint Walls
• Build new kitchen table/sell current one
• Buy new barstools
• Update island w/ finials & add more trim
• Large DIY Chalkboard on wall facing living room 

 2. Finish backyard 

• Landscaping
• Finish deck addition on bottom deck
• Walkway from bottom deck to patio

3. Wrought Iron Railings in foyer

4. Update all door handles/hinges to ORB fixtures

5.Start finishing the basement

6. Re-tile our master bathroom/shower/tub

7. Paint doors in master bathroom

8.Repaint interior front door

9.Crown Molding upstairs hallway

10. Finish my craft room

• New Rug
• Curtains
• DIY Cork Boards
• Chair for current desk
• Purchase IKEA Expedit Bookshelf
• Paint Ceiling/Add Crown Moulding
• Chandelier 

And I am sure along the way I will add many more things to the list, but this is a pretty good start for 2013! Wish us luck! And check back tomorrow for our goals on a healthy 2013!