Malik's First (well, 2nd) Bike!

Last week we were able to take the boys to the park to try out their new bikes they got for Christmas. 

They were so excited and we were too! Until we found out that Malik's bike was way too small for him to ride comfortably. I have no idea how to shop for bikes and things of that nature, so I just picked the cheapest, cutest  bikes I could find on Black Friday and went home. ;)

So after church I took a special trip with just Malik to Walmart to exchange his bike. Soooo glad I kept the paperwork and receipt! He tried about 3 different bikes until he found THE one!!

Oh yes, he is a BIG boy!!

I have to admit that I was stunned that he could even ride a 16" bike, let alone ride it well and comfortably. He was so excited to ride it to the customer service counter. He kept talking about how fast it is and how awesome it was! He rode it all the way to the van and even helped me get it into the trunk. We had to go to another store to return something else and he was so excited talking about how fast and cool his new bike is, people around us could only smile. His face said it all :) 

Here he is patiently waiting for the rain to end

He looks like such a big boy. It warms my heart to think of how much he's grown and what a wonderful little boy he is :*)

Kitchen Island... DONE!

Well, we've finally finished the kitchen island!! We actually ended up with a slightly different plan, but it turned out beautiful!! We started by removing the backing off the dresser.

We bought a 4x8ft panel of wainscoting at Home Depot for about $20 and a can of "Oregano" spray paint. I changed my mind about painting it black, and I'm so glad I did! 

Instead of just doing the back of the dresser, we decided it would tie the whole thing together better if we also added wainscoting to the sides of the dresser, and I think it was a good move!

 I then headed to Hobby Lobby to shop for some knobs. 

 I found the ones I had been drooling over on Ebay for way cheaper and I found exactly six of them!!

A close-up of the pretty knobs! ;) 

We then took the table top off the coffee table and the table top off the dresser and secured the coffee table top onto the dresser. The coffee table already had beautiful rounded edges and a beautiful wood finish, and since it was already the perfect dimensions for an overhang, we also have a little breakfast bar! 

To enhance the look of the island, I bought a set of wooden decorative scroll brackets which I spray painted black and we used liquid nails to attach them to the corners. 

Here's the finished product!! 

 We are SO happy with the new addition to our kitchen! It has really enhanced our kitchen in so many ways. We now have extra storage, extra seating space, extra counter space and it just looks prettier altogether! 

Here's a breakdown of the cost of materials:

Ikea Hemnes dresser from Craigslist:  $50

Coffee table from Craigslist:                $40

Wainscoting panel from Home Depot: $20

2 cans of spray paint:                          $8

Scroll brackets from Home Depot:      $15

Ceramic knobs from Hobby Lobby:    $16

Total Cost:                                         $149

Total savings from the island I actually wanted: $150!!

And the original one I wanted is actually not as cute and does not have a breakfast bar. I would have also missed out on the personal satisfaction of creating something myself ;) 

http://www.lnt.com/product/kitchen-furniture/52109-59244/home-styles-4528-95-island-cart-kitchen-island.html?utm_source=googleproductads&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={keyword}

Making our house a home.

Since the economy has quickly gone south, we've realized that our 3-year plan for our 'investment' house  is no longer a reality. With that comes the realization that not only are we going to be here indefinitely, our house is not really a home to us because we have never invested time or effort into making it so. Clearly, it is time to feel like this place is more permanent for us and that includes re-decorating room by room to suit our style and to make our house more homey.

In the past two months we have worked on our living room and we are now starting the dining room. Here are some photos of our progress so far. 

Before

After

I love how open it is now, we even had space to add in a new chair for an additional little reading nook!! You can kind of see it at the bottom right of this picture. I love the blue and red. It's such a nice change from the light green and it gives the room a much cozier feel. We moved the piano over in front of the window and it's a great way to keep our dog from breaking our blinds every time he hears something outside ;)

So now we are moving on to the dining room. You can see how it looked before in the second picture above, but below you can see our old table. Although it looks really nice, it's actually too big for the space and the square shape made it very difficult to get around it. Additionally, the chairs were so large, we could not have additional seating even if the table allowed for it. 

We gave the table away and bought this one!

This is the finished product. Originally it was the oak color which was ok, except that it had a lot of scuffs and stains on the surface and it smelled weird. Haha!! We painted it to suit our decor and it turned out into a fabulous find for only $25!!

Next on the agenda is our kitchen, which I like, however I don't love it. Things I don't love are the lack of cabinet and counter space (I think everyone has this problem.) I also don't like the look of the cabinets. I eventually would like cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling and that look a little more modern and 'expensive'. However, my immediate need is for space. I'm currently using my dishwasher as a storage cabinet and would like to be able to use it to actually do dishes in. ;) 

This is our kitchen.

It's cute and very open, so it's perfect for an island!! This is what I'm on the hunt for now. I've been looking for an island for about a month. However, they are VERY pricey and don't offer a lot of style or space. So I've decided to make my own :)

I'm using this dresser, which I found on Craigslist for $50. It's the Ikea Hemnes 3-drawer dresser in black and it's actually the perfect dimensions for a kitchen island! I'm removing the top and placing a butcher block top as a counter that I'm getting off of a coffee table I also found on Craigslist for $40.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20067829/#/90159571

Here's a picture of the coffee table. 

To the back of the dresser I'm adding some wainscoting and painting it black. So at the end of this project I should have a wonderful kitchen island, customized and personally created to suit my taste and needs for under $100!!  I can't wait to have it done!