June 28th, 2009

4th of July Food Ideas?

Need some food ideas for a fabulous 4th of July celebration? You’ll love this Perfect Pulled Pork with a side of Ultimate Baked Beans. They’re great for holidays, parties with friends, and summer days when you want to have fun with your family and not spend all day in kitchen! :) Like yesterday for example- we hung out by the pool all day and when we got home, the last thing I wanted to do was think about what to fix for dinner. We could’ve stopped for fast food on the way home- but we didn’t have to. :) We had delicious pulled pork sandwiches and hearty, meaty, ultimate baked beans waiting on us. The pulled pork cooked in the crock pot all day and took less than 5 mins to pull apart because it was so tender, juicy and falling off the bone. The baked beans were made ahead and all I had to do was get them out of the fridge and pop ‘em in oven.

You can check out the Ultimate Baked Beans recipe for specifics on how I did the pulled pork in the crock pot. Another reason to check out it out? See that bacon up there? I cooked it in the oven. :D

I’ve been doing it this way for awhile now and it turns out *perfectly* done. Check out the recipe- it tells you exactly how I do it! :)

BTW, have you tried whole wheat hamburger buns? Let me be the first to say, I *hate* whole wheat bread. Okay, hate is a strong word. I really, really dislike whole wheat bread. I love bread, but unfortunately for my bathing suit, I really, really dislike whole wheat bread. :p Maybe it’s the texture, or the color, or the aftertaste, or I don’t know what. But I actually really like whole wheat hamburger buns! I can’t tell the difference! lol. Especially with these pulled pork sandwiches. I got two different kinds the other day, just in case- regular buns and whole wheat buns. I had one of each last night and I couldn’t tell the difference. I’m sold! If you’re a whole wheat bread hater (er, disliker?) like me, give these a try sometime. They might surprise you! :D

We had plenty of leftovers, so I think I’m going to fix myself another sandwich right now. :D

But before I go, I want someone to have this $25 gift certificate to B Johnson Jewelry!

Isn’t it just delightful? So pretty and summery. :) Someone I know should *definitely* have those earrings.

To be entered to win the $25 gift certificate to B Johnson Jewelry, leave a comment on this post- you can…

1. Leave a link to what you’d get! I’d love to see!
2. Tell me about your 4th of July plans- got any great recipes you’re looking forward to making? :)
3. Or you can just say whatever comes to your mind! ;)

One entry per person please! :) The winner will be chosen by his or her comment number, which will be picked by Random.org’s number generator. But hurry! The contest ends MONDAY night, June 29, at 10:00 pm CST.

Thanks so much for looking and GOOD LUCK!!! :)

blog giveaway winner

Congrats to #53 Rachel E.! You won the $25 gift certificate to BJohnsonJewelry! Contact me to claim your prize! :)

122 Comments

June 25th, 2009

And the winner is . . .

blog-giveaway-winner

Congratulations to #113, Kathy F! :) You won the $30 gift certificate to The Polkadot Alley! :) We’re all totally jealous! :D Don’t forget to come back here and tell us what ya got! :D

Everyone else, I don’t want you to go away empty handed! :D Come see these cute pics of Miley and Howie playing on the beach and swimming in the pool. :D

Actually, you’ll have to *go* see them. They’re on Miley and Howie’s blog. :P I just added a ton of pictures and a really fun video of Miley and Howie catching the frisbee on the beach and swimming in the ocean. If you need a vacation, go see their pics- it’ll make ya feel like you were there! :D

Oh, but before you go! I’m selling some of my camera equipment on eBay, and it would be really cool if someone from here got it, right?? :)

One of the items is my very first lens- the Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8. This was my first- and only- lens for a long time. It’s a *great* general purpose lens for a beginner or for someone who only wants one lens. The wide angle makes it great for indoor pics and the 2.8 aperture lets in lot of light so you can get that nice background blur and take low-light pictures without a flash. This lens is in excellent condition. Now that I have a few other lenses in my collection, I’m having to make some room in my bag- but this little lens will make someone very happy! :)

I’m also selling my *well loved* Canon Powershot (point and shoot). This little compact camera is great for carrying around in a small purse or pocket and takes *excellent* videos. Kevin and I bought a $200 or so video camera awhile back and ended up taking it back because this camera took videos that were so much better! :)

Anyway. Head over to my ebay page and check it all out if you want! :) Best of all, all of my auctions have FREE shipping if you use Buy It Now! :D

Thanks for looking!! :)

9 Comments

June 23rd, 2009

New Recipe to Share . . .

It’s been awhile, but once you see this recipe, you’ll see it was worth the wait! :D

This fresh, colorful pasta dish is *perfect* for summer.

The sweet, crisp bell peppers add such a wonderful flavor to the chicken and the creamy alfredo sauce. The color and taste really bring this dish to life! :)

Pour over some funky farfalle pasta and top with a little fresh basil (from my garden! :)) - this dish is definitely pasta perfection! :)

Click Here for the full recipe for this Colorful Chicken Alfredo! :)

Speaking of summer- I was browsing The Polkadot Alley the other day and they have the *cutest* new beach and pool accessories! :) Have you seen them?? Run over there and check them out! :)

Aren’t they to die for? :) I thought you’d think so. That’s why I thought a $30 gift certificate to The Polkadot Alley would be the perfect giveaway to kick off the summer here at kevinandamanda.com! ;)

Look at that *cute* terrycloth lounge chair cover! Doesn’t it look so soft and comfy! My regular beach towel never covers the entire chair. This cover would be perfect! Or the beach bag and matching towel!! Wouldn’t I look so hip toting that to the pool? ;) Or that SUPER CUTE cooler!! I love it!!! Oh- and the cupcake tray?? Wait, is it too late to cancel this giveaway and keep the gift certificate all for myself?? :D

No no, rest assured, I want *you* to have it! :) As a way to say thank you for being such a loyal reader! :) And you can tell me what you got and I can live vicariously through you. :D

To be entered to win the $30 gift certificate to The Polkadot Alley, leave a comment on this post- you can tell me what you’d get if you want! (or how delicious my colorful summer pasta looks ;D) The winner will be chosen by his or her comment number, which will be picked by Random.org’s number generator. But hurry! The contest ends Wednesday, June 24, at 11:59 pm CST.

Thanks for looking and GOOD LUCK!!! :)

238 Comments

June 8th, 2009

Where the four hundred live . . .

There’s going to be a giveaway at the end of this post. But first let me show you this beautiful garden we visited this weekend.

Hampton Cove

On our way to a wedding, we drove past this neighborhood and it had this gorgeous garden and waterfall right at the entrance.

Hampton Cove

These colorful flowers lined a walking path that lead around the gardens.

Hampton Cove

After the wedding, we spent a good part of the afternoon just taking in this peaceful place.

Hampton Cove

And since we were all dressed up, I figured I’d better document it. ;)

Hampton Cove

I did have a hard time walking around in those heels though. ;)

Now… about that giveaway! ;) Are you ready to win the June 2009 edition of Crystal Wilkerson’s Project 365 digital scrapbooking kit?? :)

Click here for more info about the kit and to see some super cute layouts she made with the kit! :)

*Times up!* Thanks for playing!! :) Congrats to #108 Rachel L.! :) You’ve won!! Check back next month when we’ll be giving away the July Collection!! :)

For a chance to win Crystal’s June Project 365 Kit, leave a comment on this post. One entry per person, please! The winner will be chosen by his or her comment number, which will be picked by Random.org’s number generator. But hurry! The contest ends TONIGHT, Monday, June 8, at 11:59 pm CST.

Want a SECOND chance to win this kit?? :) Crystal’s running this same contest on her blog, so run over there and enter on her blog too! :)

Thanks for looking and good luck!!! :)

182 Comments

June 4th, 2009

Weekend getaway in the mountains . . .

We’re back! :) Last weekend we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and spent the weekend tucked away in a cozy cabin in Helen, Geogia. The town of Helen is the re-creation of a German alpine village- complete with cobblestone alleys, quaint village shoppes, authentic bakeries and restaurants, and old-world towers. Its quiet location on the Chattahoochee River, nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains, was the perfect spot for our long weekend getaway. :)

I took 2 cameras with me on this trip- my Canon XTi with the 24-70 2.8 L lens and a Sony DSC-H20, a small point a shoot for when I wanted to snap a quick pic and didn’t want to drag out the big camera.

If you’re interested in seeing more information about any of the pics below, like which camera I used, you can click on any of the pictures and it’ll tell you what camera I used and, if it was the Canon, which settings I used, like aperture, shutter speed, etc.

On to the pics! :)

The cabin we stayed in had a waterfall in the jacuzzi! And also a waterfall into the hot tub on the porch- my favorite. :D

One of the peaceful views near our cabin.

On our first morning in Helen, we went to Anna Ruby Falls.

The path to the falls was very pretty, and a nice, easy walk.

One of the twin falls- this is the one on the right. I’m not sure if this is Anna or Ruby. ;)

That afternoon we took the puppies on a hike around the lake at Unicoi State Park. It was a beautiful 2.5 mile hike, and there were lots of places to stop and take in the scenery.

Within 5 seconds of being on the trail, Howie finds a mud puddle. And what does he do? Of course he has to lay down in it! :p

Oh, Howie.

Fortunately, later in the trail, there was a creek for the puppies to play in (and wash off in!!)

See? This is a little bit later on the hike. All clean! :)

The lake was gorgeous! :) I kept wanting to rent one of the paddle boats, but we ran out of time. :p

“Smile shutter” at work on the Sony camera! :) (more on that later! :))

The next day was Helton Creek Falls- it was a very short path to get down to the falls, and it had these cute little stairs that took you right down to the base of the falls. :)

We spent the morning just lounging by the creek, throwing sticks for the dogs to fetch, and watching the cascades of Helton Creek falls. It was nice and warm later that afternoon, so we rented some tubes and went tubing down the Chattahoochee river!! :) I really wanted to take my camera so I could get a pic of us tubing, but I’m glad I didn’t now- we got SOAKED!! :) I’m not sure the camera would’ve made it. :p But we had fun. :)

On our last full day in Helen, we did a longer 5 mile hike up the Raven Cliffs Falls Trail. Early in the hike we came across this heart tree and had to stop for a pic! :)

This was one of the falls we came across on the trail. You could get down the base and wade around in the water and also get up to the top and sit on the rocks atop the falls.

The Raven Cliffs Falls is a beautiful trail- lots of these little bridges to cross.

And Lots of rocks and gnarled roots to maneuver too.

Howie bravely crosses the Dodd Creek along the trail.

But Miley refuses to come down until someone comes and gets her. ;)

One of the upper falls along the trail.

This was a very peaceful, tucked away hiding place. We took a break here before going back! :)

On our last day before leaving Helen, we took the puppies down to the Chattahoochee River and let them play in the water, fetch sticks, and try to catch the passing tubers. ;)

See more pics from our trip here!

This trip was my first chance to really get to use the Sony DSC-H20 and overall I was pretty pleased with it. Macro mode wasn’t all that impressive- it had a hard time focusing on close up subjects and didn’t really blur the background all that much. The HD video is awesome though. Another cool feature was smile shutter. I could turn it on, set the camera on a rock or something, get in the pic, and when we both smiled, it automatically took the pic. And if we blinked, I didn’t even have to set it up again. If we smiled again, it took another pic without me having to get up and mess with the camera again. Sweet! We used that a *lot*! :) Of course it wasn’t perfect… It had a hard time detecting smiles in low light and from far away, and sometimes even in perfect lighting and perfect closeness to the camera we’d smile… and smile…. and smile really, really, big… And nothing. Then as soon as we’d give up… It snapped the pic. LOL. Of course. But overall it did work really well. :) It has a decent zoom (10x optical), but the camera was still small enough for Kevin to carry around in his pocket while we were hiking. Probably my favorite thing about the camera was “Easy” mode. In Easy mode, it automatically detects whether you’re taking a picture of a landscape, a portrait, macro, back lit, and probably some other modes that I didn’t notice, and it adjusts the settings for that particular pic. It worked great- I kept it on Easy almost the whole time (except when the puppies were playing in the creek, then I put it on Sport/Action). Oh, one more thing- I like how it snapped the pic really fast- not a huge lag like on some digital point and shoots.

Hope you liked the pics! :D Thanks so much for looking!! :)

58 Comments

May 31st, 2009

Seven

In 7 years…

{ We did this }

{ We got these }

{ We moved here }

{ We survived this! }

{ We got her… }

{ and had to have him }

{ You gave me lots of these }

In 7 years.

*Thank you so much to Leslie at Mayken Memories for making this video possible! :)

Happy Anniversary, Honey! :)

39 Comments

May 27th, 2009

Ask and ye shall receive ;)

A couple of days ago, I got a very compelling comment from Christine on the Fonts for Peas blog:

Christine, your persuasive plea was just what I needed to get in font-posting gear! So sorry to have kept these fonts from you, but let me make it up to you! :) In honor of your request, I just posted 20 new handwriting fonts on the Fonts for Peas blog!

Included in the new fonts are 4 new doodle fonts! There are some really cute doodles- just look at this little moo cow from Pea Tisha’s Doodles:

Isn’t she cute? ;)

And there are tons more where she came from. Check out all the new fonts here, and if you like them, you can now download all the new fonts in one download. Just look for the “Download New” button at the bottom of all the new fonts. :)

Wouldn’t that little moo cow make a really cute mini stamp? Did you know you can get a stamp made out of any of the fonts- including the doodle fonts? If you can design an image of it, you can get it made into a stamp! :) I got a return address stamp made using Pea Heather’s Handwriting and it turned out so cute! I can’t wait to use it on my Christmas cards next year. :)

pea heather's doodle phrases font stamp

And wouldn’t some of Pea Heather’s Doodle Phrases make some *awesome* stamps for cards??

Anna-Mae, from Design Your Own Stamps at Village Impressions, has come up with a really awesome stamping prize giveaway just for you guys, since ya’ll love the fonts as much as we do!! :)

The winner of this giveaway will get……….

1. One alphabet stamp of any alphabet font from Fonts for Peas or Free Scrapbook Fonts - The entire alphabet- your choice!!! :)
2. One 1″ mini-stamp of any doodle from the Fonts for Peas doodle fonts- Pick your favorite doodle and get it as a stamp! :)

Holy moly roly poly, isn’t that exciting? :)

To be entered to win this awesome stamp set giveaway from Village Impressions, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. One entry per person, please! The winner will be chosen by his or her comment number, which will be picked by Random.org’s number generator. Contest will run until 11:59 pm CST on Friday, May 29th, 2009.

Thanks for looking, I hope you like the new fonts- and GOOD LUCK!!! :)

*** Edited Saturday, May 30th, 2009 ***

{ We have a winner!!! }

Congratulations #8 Jenney! You won! You get to pick any alphabet and any doodle of your choice to be turned into a stamp! :) Contact me to claim your prize! :D

154 Comments

May 14th, 2009

My Herb Garden

I have an herb garden! My first one! :) Every summer my lovely neighbor Michele always has a huuuuuuuuuge, absolutely gorgeous and LUSH vegetable and herb garden. Right out her back door! She has really gotten me hooked on cooking with fresh herbs. This year, the weather has just been so nice and I’ve been looking for an excuse to spend more time outside- I decided I wanted to give it a try myself! :) We have a front flower bed that looked *pathetic*. See, here’s a pic..

It’s the one on the right, under the window. Ok, it doesn’t look that pathetic in this pic. But you’ll have to use your imagination here with me. See how it has those 5 bushes? Well, we moved two of them- I can’t remember why now, leaving only 3. And it looked really sad and empty. Then one of the remaining three bushes died. Like two years ago. And we never dug it up. Pathetic. I know.

My lovely neighbor Michele has rosemary and lavender bushes in her backyard and they stay evergreen. I thought it’d be cool to replace those standard boxwood bushes we had (that everyone else in the neighborhood has too) with rosemary bushes- It would smell great and I would have fresh rosemary year round right out my front door! :) I asked Michele what she thought and she agreed and gave me the idea to use lavender bushes as well- she suggested doing 5 bushes like this: rosemary, lavender, rosemary, lavender, rosemary. Then in the front I could fill in with some other herbs. So this past weekend, that’s what we did! :) Kevin dug up the old bushes, then tilled the bed. We put some good soil on top and tilled it again. Then I got to work planting my herbs! :)

{ Rosemary Herb Landscaping Bush }

Here’s one of my little rosemary bushes. It’s tiny now, but I really hope it thrives and grows. Michele’s has *doubled* in size since last summer and it is huge! (It’ll be 3 years old at the end of this summer)

{ Lavender Herb Landscaping Bush }

And here’s one of the lavender plants. They smell so good! :)

{ Italian Flat Leaf Parsley }

The herb closest to the house is parsley (Italian or flat-leaf)

Sweet basil

Then there’s the sweet basil…

Oregano

And Oregano…

Thyme

Thyme…

Stevia

And Stevia. Ok. I admit. This was a complete impulse buy. The salesman totally sold me on this and got me to buy it. :D Since this was my first trip to the nursery, I had someone walk around with me and hold my hand the entire way. ;) In the herb greenhouse, he picked off a leaf of practically every plant and was like, “Here! Eat this! Here! Try this one!” He even cut off a little baby asparagus head and was like “Here! Eat this!” LOL. When we got to the stevia plant, he was like, “Here, you really have to try this one!!” I did and OMG. It’s so SWEET! Eating one of the leaves tastes like eating a spoonful of sugar!! He said you can dry the leaves and crush them into a powder (I’m going to try it in the blender) and use it as a sweetener! Freaky! I totally have to give it a try. :)

And here’s a view of the whole bed:

{ My Herb Garden }

That’s the rosemary and lavender you see in the back row, and in the front row, starting in the bottom left-hand corner and going to the top right-hand corner, that out of focus plant is parsley, then basil (the only one in focus! :P), then oregano, then thyme, then the stevia. Got that? ;)

I also got two more plants to sit in pots on my front steps.

spearmint

This is spearmint. Pop one of these leaves into your mouth and it tastes better than spearmint gum! :) It also works better as a breath-freshener than those Listerine strips. ;)

lemon thyme

And lemon thyme. I’ve never cooked with lemon thyme before, but this stuff just smells soooooooooo good. I just couldn’t pass it up. :) And I bet it’d be great on chicken!

So that’s it! I hope all my little plants thrive and grow- and I especially hope the rosemary and lavender fill in and grow up to be nice landscape bushes. Keep an eye out over the summer and I’ll keep you updated with how they’re doing- and any yummy recipes I’ve made using them! :D

And if you’ve never grown herbs before, let me encourage you try it! :) Now’s the time to bring them home from the nursery and get them planted. Even if you don’t have a bed to put them in, you can pick up a one gallon pot and sit them outside somewhere where they’ll get plenty of sun. (Ask the friendly folks at the nursery how much they need to be watered.) At least get you some parsley and basil! :) (If I could only have 2, those are the two I’d get :)) And if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as best as I can! :)

And before I go, I have a winner to announce! :) The winner of the Scrapista 2009 mega scrapbooking prize pack is #4 Megan! :)

Congratulations, Megan! Your suggestion of a color class was a very popular one!! :)

Thank you so much to everyone who commented, I had a wonderful time reading through all of your excellent suggestions!!! I will have a hard time narrowing it down!! :)

Thanks for looking! :)

47 Comments

May 11th, 2009

I’m teaching at the Scrapista 2009 event!

That’s right! I’m super-excited to announce that come this fall (September 26 and 27th to be exact!) I will be in Atlanta, Georgia teaching at the fabulous Scrapista 2009 event! :)

Scrapista is a weekend scrapbooking retreat, open to any and all scrapbookers who want to get away for some food, fun, classes, prizes and most importantly, relaxing and uninterrupted scrapbooking time!

Did you see the part where they’re going to have a *massage therapist* on site?? Oh. I. am. so. there.

Now here’s where I need your help- and there’s a giveaway involved! Of course there’s a giveaway! :) But that’s not all-

You guys get to pick what I am going to teach at the Scrapista event!!

I have a few ideas, BUT- I really want to teach a class that you would really be excited about taking. And what better way to find out than to just come right out and ask, huh? ;)

Here’s a picture of the awesome Scrapista 2009 giveaway prize pack:

Scrapista 2009 Giveaway

It includes………

Heidi Swapp Chipboard Alphabet - Center of Attention
Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Vintage Mix Letters
Thickers Shoebox Chipboard Stickers
Luxe Designs Double Sided Paper in Simple Dot, Simple Pinstripe, Capris Oregano, Capris Rosemary, Simple Lined, Simple Calico, and Simple Grid
Hambly Screen Prints Mini Chandelier Transparency
Heidi Swapp Moments Clock Overlay
Big Black Rick Rack
Green Dotted Grograin
Green and Blue Fancy Ribbon

To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post answering the following question:

What should I teach at the Scrapista 2009 event?

Just throw out some ideas of what kind of class you’d be super excited about taking and you’re automatically entered to win!

One entry per person, please! The winner will be chosen by his or her comment number, which will be picked by Random.org’s number generator. Contest will run until 11:59 pm CST on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009.

Thanks so much for all your support- I can’t wait to hear your ideas!! And good luck!!! :)

108 Comments

May 5th, 2009

Laundry Room Makeover

I really, really wish I had a picture of our laundry room {before}. It was bad. It was really, really bad. It was so bad, I didn’t even want to take a picture of it when we first moved into the house. I looked through all my old pics, all my old backup CDs and external hard drives and nothing. I couldn’t bear to take one single picture of the laundry room! I took pictures (and posted them right here on this webpage) of our bathrooms & toilets for cryin’ out loud and I wouldn’t even post pics of the laundry room. Apparently I had to draw the line somewhere. :p

But! I do have do have a picture of our laundry room from the apartment. And it looks really similar. Same plain wall color. Same washer/dryer we had before. Same wire shelving. Same small space. (Although actually I think the apartment laundry room was bigger…) But you get the idea. So for the sake of this laundry room before and after makeover, let’s pretend this is my laundry room before…

The Laundry Room { BEFORE }
laundry room makeover before

Can you see it? Are you visualizin’? Okay and now…

The *real* laundry room…

The Laundry Room { AFTER }
laundry room makeover after

The Washer / Dryer
We got this LG washer and the matching dryer from HHGregg. We were on our way to Lowes & Home Depot to look at washer/dryers and someone suggested HHGregg to us. It was right on the way, so we decided to pop in and look. And I am so glad we did! :) It was a Saturday afternoon, but someone was immediately available to help us. And let me tell you. That guy knew every single thing about every single washer and dryer they sold. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted, so I told him what features I thought I needed, what my current machines didn’t do that I really wish they did, and stuff like that. He made some suggestions for us and we walked around the store looking at the machines. I had never owned a front-loading washer before so I had to ask him practically what every single button did! LOL. He answered every single question and didn’t even have to stop and think.

lg steam washer LG wm2801hwa

After tons of questions and looking at all the different models, we were pretty sure we wanted the above LG pair. But we did want to go check Lowes & Home Depot just in case. Well, on Saturday afternoon, Lowes & Home Depot were packed and we couldn’t get anyone to help us. They both only had one salesperson on the floor and there were about 5-6 customers ahead of us. We walked around and looked, and price checked, but then went home. We looked around on the internet and read reviews and price checked the machines from HHGregg. HHGregg had the best price, we couldn’t even find it cheaper on the internet!

We went back to HHGregg later that afternoon and ordered the LGs. I think they had some kind of shipping deal that most places have these days- you pay up front for shipping and delivery and they give you a mail-in rebate to make it “free”. Well, I hate mail-in rebates. They never seem to come. LOL. So we just asked- Hey, we don’t like mail-in rebates- can you take the shipping/delivery fee off our total? They said “Sure!” and didn’t even blink. And guess what- they still gave us the form for the mail-in rebate, and said we could mail it in and still get our “money back” for shipping even though we didn’t pay for it. Neat, huh? But what was really cool- like I said, we ordered it on a Saturday afternoon- and they delivered it the next day. On a Sunday! Isn’t that weird?? But cool! It would’ve been awesome if our old washer and dryer were broken and we had a laundry crisis and had to do laundry right away. lol

After using the new washer and dryer for a couple of weeks, I’m very pleased. I really wanted to be able to wash our huge, fluffy, king-sized down comforter. It just wouldn’t fit in our old machine. The middle wouldn’t even get wet. lol. It did great in the new washer and came out so bright and clean. I can also wash all 5 of the dog beds in one load- compared to 2 at the most in our old machine- and that Sanitary cycle sure comes in handy! LOL

Pedestals
I originally thought I wanted pedestals. I didn’t want to do all that bending down. lol. Plus I really liked the extra storage space. We shopped around for the best price on the LG pedestals and found them for about $70 cheaper on Newegg.com than what HHGregg was selling them for. We printed out the shopping cart page from Newegg and brought it into HHGregg. We told them we were very pleased with their service and would like to buy the pedestals from them too, but found them for a better price online. The guy took the piece of paper, went behind the counter and got the price down to within $7 of the Newegg price. No questions asked!

We ordered the pedestals from HHGregg, and they too were there the next day. My dad came up that weekend and he and Kevin spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon installing the pedestals… But after seeing them in my laundry room… I didn’t really like them. :\ It made it feel more closed in… I guess because the washer and dryer were higher? And also, I couldn’t keep laundry baskets on top of the washer and dryer anymore- the cabinets were in the way. And I had a harder time reaching items in the cabinets. As far as bending down? Well, I found I actually prefered it! See, I would take the clothes to the laundry room in a laundry basket. Then when it was time to move them to the dryer, I just opened the door, scooped all the clothes in the the basket, slid it over and scooped the into the dryer, all in one big scoop. If the clothes were up high, on the pedestals, I would have to pull each item out of the washer separately to make sure it wasn’t attached to any other article of clothing- because I’ve done that before and it always falls on the dirty laundry room floor. Fun! lol

So my poor dad and Kevin spent the rest of the afternoon taking the pedestals OFF the washer and dryer and returning them to HHGregg for me. *sigh* :)

The Cabinets

premade laundry cabinets
These were just pre-made cabinets that we bought at Lowes. They were a perfect fit, and such a huge improvement over the wire shelving!!

The Baskets
I got these from Target. They were originally a lighter, honey color, but I wanted them dark so I spray painted them. Worked great! :) And for those wondering- no, I definitely can’t reach them without some kind of vertical assistance! ;) But Kevin has freakishly long monkey arms and can reach them easily without a step ladder. So I keep things he normally takes care of up there- like extra light bulbs. :)

Wicker Baskets from Target

The Rug
The rug was the “inspiration piece” for the room. ;) I saw it at Bed, Bath and Beyond and *had* to have it. I knew it would be perfect to liven up the laundry room! I took the rug to Home Depot and they color matched the blue in Behr paint for the wall color.

laundry-room-rug1

Oh, and btw… This stuff is *awesome*

rug-gripper

I wanted the rug so bad, but didn’t think it would work in the laundry room because of the two doors- there wasn’t enough room to put the rug down without the doors catching on it and flipping it up every single time- annoying! So I bought this tape from Target and it rocks! It’s strong enough to hold the rug down- the doors don’t get caught on it and I can even vacuum it! But when I got ready to throw the rug in the wash before taking these pics, it was easy to get up.

The Laundry Tower

Since I didn’t get the pedestals, I decided to splurge and get this Whirlpool laundry tower (special ordered from Lowes). I had one of those little cheap, plastic rolling carts there initially, and it worked fine, but this one is nicer. :D I love the drawers, and I love that there’s enough room to fit a little mini-trashcan down there for lint. It holds all the essentials- detergent, bleach, fabric softener and dryer sheets all right there. Btw. Yes. That’s indeed Cascade you see in there. It’s my secret for whitest whites. ;)

laundry-room-makeover-after2

Thanks so much for looking! :) Whew- I don’t think I’ve left anything unsaid, but if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them in the comments! :)

Oh and Congrats to#86 Cathi! She’s the winner of Crystal’s May Project 365 Kit. It goes on sale today at Two Peas. If you didn’t win, Crystal is offering a special for those who buy the kit today! Head on over to her blog for the details! :)

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