Entry Closet to Mini Mudroom!

We were not a huge fan of all the closets and doors in the house had the same doors.  We are going to one by one shut them out!  Mmhmmm pun totally inserted there!  So the idea of having a nice little mudroom always seemed to be on my 'must haves list.'  I feel like when I get home from work it's a tornado of coats, smocks, shoes, bags flying..so I wanted to make sure they went sailing into something nice that can hide away!  Unfortunately this house did not have a mudroom but it did have a nice entry closet.  I want around looking for some nice mudroom pictures and found a few we liked and Joe and I had an Idea of what we wanted.  Here is the closet before...

It's very plain and we know we were going to take the doors off.  We didn't know if we were going to add wainscoting for a new texture, or if we would pull the shelf down.  It also had a small dip in the wall (you can see it in the picture below, we figured since we are new to the DIY world if we want to do the wainscoting we can do that a little later down the road.

Here is a little mock up design in Microsoft Paint of what I wanted it to look like.

So we got to work one Saturday.  It took us about 5 hours of work including building the bench.  Here was our To Do list.

•  Take out Bar, Shelf’s, Boards
• Sand and Spackle 2X
• Paint Benjamin Moores Moonshine
• Paint Trim and Ceiling
• Replace Light
• Add Coat Rack
• Add Art
• Shelf for coats
• Bench
• Pillows

Here is a bit of the process....we didn't take as many pictures as we though we would but I am sure from looking at the To Do list you know what we did.

After all the sanding an painting...here is the result!

Here a list of everything we used, bought and the price!

• Paint is Moonshine (Already had)
• Trim Olympus High Gloss (Already had)
• Bench - Target $219.00 ($30 coupon)
• Hangers - Bed Bath and Beyond $25 (20% off)
• Shelf - (from another closet in the house)
•  Pillows – Marshals $10, $20 ($15 off Coupon)
•  Art- Urban Outfitters  (Already Had) 
• Coat Hanger – Lowes (from before we bought the house)

Total $222.75

Yey!  Our first big project!  

We Bought A House!

My fiance seven years have bought a house after looking for a year.  We went through over 90 houses to find what we wanted but here it is.  We did find two other houses that we put offers in on but the owners did not want to negotiate on the price at all.  Third time was a charm for us.  Also we found an amazing Realtor who made things understandable.  If I had any advice for future home owners it would be the following:

TAAA-DAAAA!!!

*Find a Realtor   Do your homework on your Realtor. Try to get a Realtor that is in the area so you can drive to their office that's not to out of the way.  Make sure they set a day and time aside to drive you to the houses you want to see.  Realtor can't give you their opinion but they can tell you wants good and not great.
Our Realtor was very informative when it came to house hunting we had no questions because she already told us everything we needed to know.  Make sure when they print out paper work make sure they also print out the Sellers Dis closer to you can read it on the way to the houses.

*Get Pre-Qualified.  Most Realtor's have a mortgage company that they work with.  Since they know each other they will work as a good team to help you get your house.  With the pre qualification the broker will take you Social Security Number and check your credit score.  After they check they can give you an idea on where you can start looking.  I rec-amend not doing your max qualification

*Location!  Yes you want to find a good house but it needs to be a great neighborhood.  Make sure the schools in the are are in good shape.  Even if you don't want to have children future buyers of that house might want them!  I even use the Google Maps Street view if I don't know the neighborhood!  It helped me a lot to decide if the house of worth driving out to see!

*Money!  When buying a house (even in a buyers market) you need a down payment PLUS an additional pile of loot for the closing cost!  Closing cost include: Inspection, Radon Test, Lawyer (if your state requires it), taxes, etc.  It usually cost between 4 and 4 percent of the purchase price of the house.

*Keep an open mind when looking at houses.  Don't fret over some grape vine boarder or older appliances. The main focus is making sure the house has good bones.  I make sure the roof is good, the HVAC is newer and inspected, no structural damage, newer electrical (3 prong), and maybe better windows.

Look at this before and after picture of Sherry and Johns house

from Young House Love

*Wants list.  Joe (my fiance) and I had a small 'wants list'  it included hardwood floors even if the carpet was covering them, a single family home and Central air.  I didn't mind the central air to much but my Realtor Jane said it would only improve the value of the house for the next buyer.  Houses with out central air are hard to sell, especially in the Summer time!

*HUNT!  Search the internet  the newspaper, drive around on Sundays and look at open houses!

*Be patent.  It's not like buying a car.  This is one the biggest investments of your life.  No need to rush!  Your house is out there just waiting to be purchased!


Here are a few more pictures of our new house!  It's in great condition and only needs a few things here and there fixed up to make it our own!

HAUL!

Naked 2

Betsy Jonson It's My PInk

Per*Fekt Luminous

Tarte 500 Point

Nars Gaiety & Angelika Blushes

Mac Lip Sticks Girl About Town, Nikki, Force of Love

(Love these Blushes!)

Even Rachel Wood wore both of the blushes to the 2012 Golden Globes

Beautiful!

She's one of the few actresses who goes beyond the neutral look! 

(even though she's not wearing any in the picture haha)

Make up of the Day!

Used a bunch of mac stuff...Meneralize Eye Shadow Play on Plums

Before & After Foundation

I used...
Mac Moisture Blend Concealer Nw15 and NC 15
Mac Face & Body
Nars Flesh Powder
Estee Lauder Shell Highlight
Mac Tender Baby Blush

Eyes....a bunch of browns and blacks haha

Easy Neutral Pop

Just going out with the Fiancee and doing some errands.

Just wanted to do something fast but a lil fun!

Since I started doing my blog sale I have been coming across stuff that I have not seen in quite a long time so I wanted to jump on playing with it again.  Love that Smashbox quad...so smooth and creamy haha!

Products Used

SmashBox Bright Eyed Quad

Ulta Liner in Teal Blue

Stila Sting Ray

Mac Gem of Roses

NYX Lip Liner Auburn 

SugarPill Starling

SmashBox Cream Blush Speed Racer

Giving me some LIP!

I had a slight eye infection in my right eye so I could'nt play too much with eye makeup...So I played a little bit with my wonderful Sugar Pill Pigments and Sally Girl Glitters!  Hope you enjoy!  I like the Pink and the Black & Silver!

Blue

*Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Electric

*MUFE Aqua Cream Turquoise & Bright Blue (mixed)

*Sugar Pill Royal Sugar

Glitter

* Sally Girl Sparkle Effects (Blue)

Green

*MAC Color Matters Liner

*MUFE Aqua Cream Leaf Green & Turquosie (mixed)

*Surar Pill Absinthe

Purple

*Black Liner

*Mac Violetta

*Sugar Pill Hysteric

Ruby Red

*MAC Lip Liner in Cherry

Mac Russin Red

*Sally Girl Glitter (Red)

Pink

(I was trying to show the glitter....not do a duck face!)

*MAC Lip Liner in Process Magenta

*OCC Trollop

*LASplash Glitter in Coy

Black & Silver

(I love the dramatic difference of my pale skin and black lips!)

*MAC Creme Colored Base (Black)

*Sugar Pill Stella

*Sally Girl Glitter (Silver)

*All Sugar Pill pigments were mixed with a clear gloss.