Finally! Our house! And how we did it for so cheap!

Okay! Here they are! I kept waiting to have my house clean and the way I "envision" it looking when things aren't so busy...but I now realize, this is just it for now! With young kids, no matter how clean, there is still stuff all over with young kids, farm life and just LIFE in general...so I decided to just take the pictures and get them up for the many who have asked about our new house and wanted pictures. Many have also asked about how we did it for so cheap, so I will share that info as well and who knows, maybe someone will see a great idea they can tweak for their own house! =)

Beams! I LOVE these beams. Michael got them off a demo job from an old dairy factory in Seattle. Cost: FREE! We just pulled the nails off of them, scraped the cow poo off, washed them a little with a wash cloth and called it good! ...Did I mention that my goal with the NEW house was that it LOOK old ?

Here's the dining room. ALL of our windows and doors I either got at Olympia Salvage or Craigslist. They are all wood (Marvin and Andersen) windows, to go with my "older feel" theme... We probably saved about $20,000 buying these used...Okay, I also noticed when looking at my home from a "we don't ever buy anything" viewpoint that we have been ABUNDANTLY blessed by so many people! ( I always knew this, but really saw it in a new light here...)The trunk: given to me by my mom's cousin, whom I consider a friend. The dining rm table and chairs (over 100 years old): given to us from family friends (they consider me their second daughter), I painted it and re-covered the cushions. The window seat/storage box: my dad made and gave to us. The highchair: Michael's parents gave to us to use.

Here's the window seat, for our aniversary I got the fabric and foam at 50% off...still yet to sew it together... The light is one of two that we did for our bed lights. We couldn't find them in the finish we wanted so I got spray paint and painted them.

Cabinet that I made with old barn wood. Michael cut the posts for me with his chain saw. It's crammed full with egg cartons!

This is Christians room... the crib was the same I used as a child (was my older brother's first), same with the rocking chair  (well, my mom used it, while holding me!), I made the quilt on the bed-which was given to us as well, we are borrowing the rug from my parents and they also handed down to us the dressor/changing table.

This is a little nook in our bedroom-sort of a dark photo... The desk was a wedding present, the table lamp was a christmas gift, the door that you barely see in the corner/side of photo is solid core, that we got on sale for less than hollow core doors.. and the chair...

Michael and I want to an antique auction when we were first married and the auctioner laughed at us that we offered $1 for the chair, and got it! (a smaller one too! 2 for 1!) It didn't have wheels and needed a little wood glue.. we bought some wheels and vise gripped the top with wood glue and here it is 6 years later, still holding strong!Here is the kitchen... We really understated the cost for cabinets... $15-25K! So instead michael got out his chainsaw (again) and we had some peices of the beams left and some barn wood, and so we made these! I got the one set of drawers on sale at home depot and the island we got on craiglist. I painted the cupboard doors on the island and spray painted the handels...The black door you see on the side left used to be my parents front door (I painted it too), the kitchen sink was my parents (they remodeled their house at just the right time!), the appliances we got through my younger brother who works at an appliance store-MAJOR discount!=) ALL of the counter tops and ALL of the cupboards in the whole house (this kitchen plus 2 1/2 baths) were about $800!!!

Here is the living room.. Round table pushed up against the wall (so the kids can ride their bikes inside...we are a relaxed kid house....did I mention my toddler actually swings from the beams!) was given to us.

)Here's our master bathroom...The cupboards, I found on craigslist for $20 and painted them black. And the wainscotting (here and in the other bathrooms and the kids rooms, was done by ripping down scrap boards, the chair rail was made with the crate our wood floor was delivered in! We took it appart, pulled the nails and re-used it.

Here is our master bedroom porch. The shakes were given to us from Michael's uncle. The cedar rail was given to us from some incredible family friends who ripped it down, from their own trees, on their Alaskan Sawmill!

Here's our stairs... haven't been able to afford carpet yet! =) Which is actually JUST fine since the kids would probably ruin it at this stage anyway....It is nice to not have to worry about it... The railings were also pulled from my parents remodel.. i just painted them...

This is the playroom! The chair was given to us, the toy holder and the play kitchen, also gifts. Kits Camera was having a 50% off enlargements and JoAnn Fabric had frames 60% off, so I put my best "play" pictures of Elle in there (Christian was still just in my tummy, so none of him yet...) .

This is the other side of the playroom... carpet reminant...(see the big stain in the middle...so glad we didn't pay for "real" carpet yet!) the TV was a gift from friends, the TV stand/cabinet was 60% off at IKEA simply because the key was lost for the lock. Behind the photo of Elle at the beach is the laundry closet... I LOVE having it on the same floor as the bedrooms!

Here's our wood stove. We try to have this be our main source of heat. I love the kettle on top, it is so nice to have hot water "on tap" for tea or cider or hot chocolate. Oh, and here is a close up of the kitchen shelves. Yes, we use mason jars for glasses, the copper tea kettle is from my gandma, the brackets and mirror from my mom's work, Lynch Creek Floral. (In Shelton, WA- great store!)

There you have it! We also saved money by installing the flooring, the trim, the siding (but had some great friends that came and helped with that!), and the deck roofs. My dad helped immensly to install the decks and sofits and all the "little stuff" one doesn't realize is SO MUCH... closet rods, closet shelves (which we used left over scraps for), towel rods, toilet paper rolls, the wainscotting, the exterior trim, the bats on the exterior of house, and more.. We painted the interior of the house on our own and had a friend help paint the exterior. It was A LOT of work, especially beings that I was pregnant for the whole process, but it was great to be able to build a custom house at a very minimum cost.