Kitchen Makeover on a Budget

Want to makeover your kitchen but don't have the money?  There are some simple ways to update your kitchen for pennies on the dollar!

See how outdated our kitchen was?  It made me crazy.  When we moved in we learned there had been one home insurance claim previously on our home, it was for the countertops.  The previous owners got insurance money and used it for small white tile countertops with white grout.  Seriously?  Who does that?  Word of advice - never get small tile countertops especially with white grout if you have children.  You will waste your life away scrubbing your countertops.  

Not only did I hate the countertops but I hate the builders grade oak cabinets - they just look so average to me and the white paint had been around too long.  I love having color, not just white in my house!  To top it all off see those two dining room windows?  The lack of trim around them just made them look ----  naked, boring, blah.  Our floor was also something I had wanted to replace as whoever previously installed it made sure there were gaps all through out so we would always have dirt built up in the gaps.

I finally convinced my husband we should buy a stainless steel dishwasher and microwave and that is where the kitchen model began.  After installing these we noticed the hose under the dishwasher must not be on tight because our kitchen flooded, and ruined the floor, which meant I also got to replace the flooring - luckily there was linoleum under the laminate so it didn't ruin the subfloors but the water wasn't very nice to our old laminate floor so it had to be replaced.

After replacing the laminate it was too "yellow" with those builder grade cabinets, so we refinished the cabinets with General Finishes Gel Stain (you can buy that on amazon here or if you don't want to use my affiliate link just go to Amazon and search for the product) and then we added some fairly basic cabinet hardware.

I was already liking it better but those countertops really had to go.  They had always been my least favorite part of my house.  So I convinced my husband that Granite Countertops were a necessity.

Yes, I know that all my photos have laundry baskets in the kitchen - another pet peeve with my house.  The laundry room is right by the kitchen, and not very big.  All the bedrooms are upstairs and we usually end up with laundry baskets sitting right by the kitchen - one day I will come up with a project to fix that....  but for now an updated kitchen will do!

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OneKingsLane.com Coupon Code

Starting Tuesday, August 22nd One Kings Lane will be running an awesome 2-day sale. To save 20% site wide just use coupon code OKLSHARE20 - there are some exclusions but once you enter the code the items on the site that are eligible will show the discounted price. Happy Shopping!


* Post contains affiliate links

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Current Sweepstakes & Giveaways

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Amazons New Fire Tablet and Coupon Code (bringing price down to $41.66 each)

Amazon has released a new Fire Tablet. I've already received my order and tested it out, they seem like they will work quite well for the kids! We currently have a Kindle Fire HDX that was closer to $150-200 that they all fight over but at $49.99 each we decided to get each of the kids their own tablet for Christmas (yes, I know it's kind of sad that I'm already Christmas shopping).

If you are in the market for a tablet - especially if you don't need one with a ton of memory, etc. I would highly recommend the new Fire tablet, other than the size being a tad smaller I think it is very comparable to my Kindle Fire HDX.

Right now if you Buy 5 tablets you get the 6th one free with code FIRE6PACK - making it $249.95 total for 6 tablets - or - $41.66 each! The first tablet we bought our kids was close to this price and it was worthless. To get a tablet that works as great as this one does, allows them to watch movies, use the kindle app, etc for under $50 is quite the deal! We plan on giving some to our Sub for Santa families this year too! So if you are as crazy as me and already starting your Christmas shopping now might be a good time to grab these while you can get a free one!

You can also buy 4 cases and get 2 free right now with code CASES6PACK - on these eligible cases.

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Women can use power tools too

I was talking to a neighbor the other day about some home improvements I was doing and she was convinced she could not do something like that.

Wake up women! We give birth, we raise children, we work, we stay home, we are STRONG and I promise you women are very capable of using power tools! Especially with the internet around, we can figure out how to do almost anything we want done and can most likely do it! I will be posting some of my recent home makeovers soon and how easy they are to do.

My husband usually has no desire to do a honey-to-do list by the time he gets home so most of the improvements I have started doing myself (and save more difficult things, or tasks with heavy items for his honey-to-do list).

We have remodeled our kitchen, bathrooms, trimmed out the windows, built-in closet organizers just to name a few. I really want to try some DIY Beadboard or DIY Wainscotting soon. Not to mention we bought a cabin that needs an AMAZING amount of work (probably enough to last a lifetime) so look for more posts to come and know that you all can do any of them and much much more!

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Don't worry I will be back........

I hate to say I am putting blogging on hold for a minute....  or I guess not a minute - for an undetermined amount of time. 
I will be back but it won't be for a little while, with some family issues right now I am needed else where.  I love all of my great readers but family comes first - be assured I will be back but have some other things that need my attention for the time being!

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ABC Favors - Get Great Party Favors

When it comes to finding a good selection of baby shower favors, you won't be able to find a better place than ABC Favors. They offer a huge amount of the type of party favors and paper goods that you will need to throw a memorable and yet still affordable baby shower for yourself or your loved ones. The customization options available at ABC Favors are some of the best around. You make changes to colors and fonts as well as choosing the designs you like best for your favors, candy bar wrappers and assorted baby shower decoration items. The amount of different baby shower favors available is great. There are items that almost every shop carries, like water bottle labels and candy wrappers. But ABC Favors also carries a good amount of unique items like cans of lip balm and bookmarks that can be customized as well. Shipping times are great, especially if you are in a hurry. Many of the custom and personalized items available at ABC Favors can be shipped out from their warehouse in 1-2 business days. One of the unique baby shower favors at ABCFavors.com is the collection of different cookies. These sweet treats are a neat way to show your guests that you care while still giving them something they will be talking about for years to come. The cookies come in both large and small sizes, so that they can be a gift to the mother-to-be or just for the guests of the baby shower.

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Men's Leather Jackets

If you are in the market for a leather jacket, luxurylane.com is the one and only website you need to visit. This particular website has everything you could ever want in a site that sells leather jackets. Once you make a purchase from luxurylane.com, you will immediately see why it is such a great website and will wonder to yourself why you have not been shopping there all along. The best reason why luxurylane.com is such a great place to shop for a leather jacket is the wide selection of jackets they carry. Not only does this website carry a large selection of jackets, it carries them in a wide variety of styles, colors and models. If you are looking for leather motorcycle jackets for men, then luxurylane.com is the website for you. In addition to offering an outstanding selection of leather jackets, luxurylane.com also offers free shipping every day of the week. This really cuts down on the costs associated with buying leather jackets online as you do not need to factor in the costs of shipping into your final price like you would if you were to shop at another online store. Offering free shipping makes luxurylane.com a very convenient shopping option. Also, the online retailer offers free returns as well, making it extremely easy to return your leather jacket if you do not like the way it looks or fits when you receive it at home. Free returns makes shopping at luxurylane.com a risk free venture, which is why so many people love shopping at this online retailer.

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A Step Above the Rest - Kolcraft MLB Step Stool Review

I am sure all of you huge baseball fans that read my Kolcraft MLB Stroller Review have already run out and got one to show of your favorite team!  Well I have great news Kolcraft is now offering some other fun MLB Products.  Such as the MLB Potty Seats & MLB Step Stools!

We got our MLB Boston Red Sox Step Stool last week & despite how much daddy & brother love the Red Sox my daughter was a little hesitant.  She has her Dora the Explorer Step Stool but I assured her we could try this one out for a day or two & then get Dora back out. 

The winner was the MLB Step Stool!  No matter how much my daugher loves Dora this one is just so much more functional (plus Daddy & Brother telling her how cool it was might have helped a little bit.)  The major factor that made this step stool a definite keeper was the fact it has two steps.  Our sink is rather tall & normal step stools make my daughter barely reach with much to be desired.  Kolcraft has solved that problem & put their MLB Step Stools a step above the rest!  I love it because now when she brushes her teeth there isn't tooth paste all over the edge of the sink, she loves it because she can reach so much better (and actually see in the mirror now), and Dad & Brother love it because it represents the best team in Baseball - The Boston Red Sox!

If you are looking for a step stool that will last forever which amazing quality, an extra step, and your favorite team displayed then the Kolcraft MLB Step Stools are most definitely the only way to go!

Step Stools are available in the for the following MLB Teams:
New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers,  Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, & San Francisco Giants!

GO RED SOX!

Disclosure:  I was not paid for this review.  I received the above step stool to facilitate my review & all opinions are still my 100% honest opinion! 

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Do NOT Surrender Your Life Insurance Policy

With the struggles of the economy right now many people are allowing their life insurance policies to lapse or surrendering their policies.  This is a horrible option!  You have paid into your life insurance policy and there is no reason to surrender your policy and receive no benefit from it.

I love Dave Ramsey, I swear by the Dave Ramsey plan (or common sense plan as we sometimes call it at my house).  As such a firm believer in what Dave Ramsey teaches I absolutely recommend to any of you to have a life insurance policy and to keep this policy.  For quite a small fee you can know that should the unthinkable happen your family will still be taken care of.  I would hate to think about how I will make ends meet if something happened to my husband and vise versa & am very thankful we have invested in life insurance policies for our family (though not nearly as large as I would like them).  It definitely gives us peace of mind knowing that if something did happen (god forbid) that the other would still be able to pay the house payment, put the kids in piano lessons, etc.

However, although I highly recommend to always have a life insurance policy I know there are times when this may not be possible and someone may let their policy lapse or surrender the policy.  Many people do not know they can receive A Life Settlement for their policy.  A life settlement is a simple option where a broker will sell your policy to an investor or a company and you get paid!  If for some reason you cannot pay for your policy this should be something you definitely look in to.  Like I said I would highly recommend having a policy and keeping it but if your situation prevents this do not just surrender your policy & get nothing, definitely look into life insurance settlements & get something for all that money you have put in!

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