Before pictures found here.
This weekend Doug and my dad were also able to hook up our dishwasher, install a new faucet that makes doing dishes a TON better. Now, I can find my hot water and my sink doesn't look super tiny! This all was a lot more work than it looks like, including building a cabinet around the dishwasher, raising the top of the cabinets so that the counters would reach the edge of the tile, reinforcing the support for the counters (the old ones were falling down). Plus all the plumbing work needed for the dishwasher and new faucet.
Still need to screw in the filler board between the cabinet and oven, touch up paint, and paint new parts of the cabinets added in (not shown in the picture). Eventually, I'd like to find another paint for the room that more closely matches the color of the tiles.
I'm so excited and can't wait to bake Christmas cookies on my *NEW* counters!
The arrangements on my windowsill were made using small vases I had leftover from our wedding (Walmart - less than $1), floral foam, a bag of Cranberries ( .80 at Aldi), and greenery from our yard. I used arborvitae and fir. I cut the foam, placed it in the foam, and filled the edges of the vase with cranberries, enough to cover the foam. Fill the container with water and place greenery in the foam, enough to cover the foam.
Done! These would also look great grouped on a coffee table on a decorative tray or lined down a table as a centerpiece.
Hope things are going well for you and your families as your prepare for Christmas. I still have to finish my shopping (eek!), send out cards (eeek eek!), wrap presents (eek! eek! eek!), and bake my cookies (yum!).