Before and After (this post could also be called "Ode to Noah")

These last few weeks, Noah and I have been going crazy trying to get everything on our house finished (i.e. Noah has been working like a mad man on the kitchen and I re-painted the orange in Alex's room and have been doing some serious deep cleaning).

So now I'm going to go a little HGTV on you by showing you the before and afters . . .

Living Room Before:
Side note: the furniture in the before pictures belongs to the previous owners.
Living Room After: I painted the walls in Candle Bark from Kwall, Noah put up knotty Alder molding, refinished the floors and banister, took down that awful light fixture and replaced it with a ceiling fan. I faux finished the doors to match the dark stain. The curtains and zebra print pillow are from Target, the other two throw pillows are from IKEA.
Kitchen Before:
Dining Room (adjacent to kitchen) Before:
Kitchen/ Dining Room After: Noah made my kitchen dreams come true--he ripped out that weird dividing wall, put in an island, replaced the oak cabinets with posh knotty Alder (yes they're supposed to be two-toned), replaced all the appliances with stainless, installed a chimney hood vent (from IKEA), tiled the back splash, tiled the counter top with granite, and put cute nobs and handles on all the cabinets. Yeah, Noah pretty much wins the best husband award (Noah, you just won yourself a $239 toaster!)
Master Bedroom Before: I don't think they used it as a master bedroom before though. . .

Master Bedroom After: By the way, that duvet cover was $35, and the shams were $1 a piece (I didn't realize until after that one is Euro sized and one is standard) all from Downeast home. The lamps are from Target.

Bathroom Before:
Bathroom after: Noah put in new black and white tile on the floor, replaced the cabinet and sink, replaced the moldy bathtub, replaced the toilet (we like the kind that can handle 20 golf balls in one flusk), re-sheetrocked and tiled a new surround around the bath tub, and replaced the ugly shelves with new ones (and got rid of that ugly metal thing that held them up). I bought cute baskets and the shower curtain from Target, and found the awesome red trash can at TJ Max. My job can be so hard some times.
Boy's Room Before:

Boy's Room After: I painted the top with a khaki color, and the green is "providence olive" from Kwall. The crib bedding is from Pottery Barn (couldn't find a deal on it, but some things are worth forking out the dough and I loved those monkeys enough to do it). The hanging chair is from IKEA (the kids absolutely love it, though I think it is probably the world's most uncomfortable chair for an adult)
Gabby's Room Before:
Gabby's Room After: I've already blogged about Gabby's room here so I won't go into much detail. I painted her room 3 times--if you're ever painting a room pink, pick a pink that looks almost white or you'll have to close your eyes every time you enter the room.
And there you have it folks.