a lot of color...and a bit of organization

June 5, 2012 Teresa Swanstrom Anderson

After months {and months} of renovation...we've finally moved!

Ben & I have lived in 6 houses in the 6 years of our marriage. Crazy. I know.

We found out on our honeymoon that we were moving from Seattle to San Antonio and since then, every home we've lived in has been with a goal of investment.

Therefore, neither of our personalities have really been shown in them. It's been mostly for resale.

{so...2005 Ezekiel was born. 2006 we were married & moved to San Antonio. 2007 Anton was born. 2008 Laith was born. 2009 was apparently a boring year. 2010 Imani was born & came home to us. 2011 Ezekiel came home to us & we moved to Denver. 2012 we're in love. and tired}

This is house #6...and I have NO desire to move for a long, l.o.n.g time.

As you may recall, we've been renting a house 3 doors down from the home we've been remodeling.

{I'm sure our neighbors stood at their windows and laughed as we moved our things down the street}

Here's a reminder of what it looked like before. Ugh.

Still wondering what's up with that random island in the middle of the breakfast area.

Did they not sit down to eat?

There are lots of questions lingering in this house.

For example, why are there 20 security cameras on the exterior of the house?

Paranoid? Doing something illegal? Creepy. Did a lot of praying in the house before signing all those papers.

Ahhhh.....after.

What an amazing transformation, right? Can you believe these are Ikea cabinets?

Our budget for the entire interior of the house was $30K. It may sound like a lot, but anyone who has done any remodeling knows it's nothing. A kitchen alone can be that much.

I'm proud & excited to say due to a TON of research and creativity to stay within budget

and because my incredibly talented husband did almost all of the work, we did it.

{and I still got my Viking fridge}

{Oh and please ignore the h.u.g.e Mac screen in the corner. Like I said, we moved only a week or so ago and most of our house is still full of boxes. Our beloved computer doesn't have a desk yet}

I desperately wanted all glass front upper cabinets. Crazy? Some thought so.

"It will show all your clutter!" Some told me. "Who wants to see your plates??" Others asked.

Well...if Anthropologie can make plates & cups look cute, why can't I?

I so wish you could see this in person. I'm just not the most talented photographer.

It doesn't even remotely show how cute this looks.

{totally off subject but do you have this book? If you have kids, you need it. today.}

I mentioned in a previous post that I had looked everywhere for a white porcelain {single basin} farmhouse sink. I could NOT find one for less than like $900. No. That's insane.

So, I found this stainless one on clearance. New. In box. From $1500, marked down to $400.

And it's the biggest sink I have ever seen. I can wash party platters, with room to spare.

Sigh. What silly things I get excited about these days