Friday Five!

1. My timehop today showed that exactly one year ago we were moving into our apartment. Crazy to think about how fast this last year went! Because of that little place we have new friends and great memories. I’m happy to have more space now but I’m definitely missing that short commute to work from the apartment!

2. Yesterday I shared a screenshot that made me giddy. Homegoods liked my bathroom photo and Kirkland’s inquired about sharing my image on their Instagram and/or marketing materials. I of course said yes, yes, yes but didn’t know if it would actually get posted. Then next thing I know they did end up posting it to their Instagram! I was rather excited. See below!

This was my excited face. 

3. I’m grateful that even though we’ve moved farther than a few doors down, our friends have come and hung out with us still! Thankfully the (four!) pups have a place to run around outside now and we’re not all gathered in our tiny little apartment.

4. I ordered a new return address stamp and I am so excited about it! How cute is this one that I found on Etsy? I can’t wait for it to get here so I can send some snail mail!

5. I am super pumped about this weekend because Dad and I are going to build the farmhouse table for the dining nook! I scoured the internet for plans and finally settled on one. There are so many options! Now I am going to be on the hunt for three metal industrial chairs to go with it. World market has some that I love but they are pretty pricey and I don’t want the chairs to cost more than the table. I just love this look! I haven't decided on the stain for the table or the chair color but I know I want the vibe.

We finally sold our high top table at a friend’s garage sale a month or so ago. That was one pretty table that I absolutely begged for when we got married. It served us well but didn’t fit in with my evolving style and we had grown apart unfortunately. She sure did look pretty in our last dining room though!

Happy (almost) weekend!!

House Tour: A Blank Slate

Welcome to our official “before” house tour! No fancy photos, just a smorgasbord of iphone pics of our house before it it is transformed into our home! I ran through the house and snapped these the night of our final walk through/day before closing.

Before we get to the good stuff, I wanted to share some deets about the house itself. It is a 3 bedroom 2 bath with a sunroom and office/flex room. It comes in at about 1,866 square feet. We don’t have a covered back porch this go around (insert sad face) but we do have a deck out back so that helps suppress the pain a little. Not to mention, the covered front porch is pretty much what my dreams are made of so there’s that. One thing you’ll notice in the photos (or maybe you won’t) is there is not a fireplace either (insert really super-duper pouty face). I really, really wanted a fireplace again but it just wasn’t in the cards this go-around. Cost wise and plan wise we just had to opt out. My husband promises to make it up to me with an awesome backyard fire pit and patio area. As long as that includes s’mores year ‘round I guess I can live with that.

Once I get this baby somewhat decorated I’ll do a photo-shoot with my big girl camera and I’ll put a link to the tour like I did with our last house.

So let’s get started shall we? I’ll be your tour guide today so sit back, grab some iced coffee, a cold beer (I’m talking to you Dad) or a coke (yeah you Mom) and enjoy!

Exterior paint color is Benjamin Moore Naval. Trim is all bright white.

For perspective purposes, the room on the left is the future nursery (but not just yet) and the room on the right is the flex/office space. Far right is the window over the kitchen sink.

Side Note Question: We want to get rocking chairs for the right side of the porch. I had planned to get two from Lowe's but they've gotten pretty poor reviews and I don't want to spend $100 each on chairs that won't last. Any suggestions? I've thought about Cracker Barrel but those just aren't in the budget... 

Weathered copper pendants on the front porch are from Home Depot

When you walk in the front door and rotate clockwise 90 degrees, this is the view. Living room, kitchen, and dining is open with the sunroom on the left and flex room on the right.

Interior paint color everywhere except the master is Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray

Turn back around and you have a view of the front door/foyer. If you're having deja vu it is because we had that identical light in our last foyer (Lowe's). 

Glass pendant island lights are from World Market. Kitchen sink cage pendant is from Home Depot.

Standing in the dining room and looking back across to the foyer/flex room.

I wanted to add this angle too but forgot to take one once it was cleaned so this one from during the inspection/final cleaning stages and will have to do.

The sunroom and its gorgeousness is bound to be a spot where I spend a lot of time. There are a total of five windows across and three light sconces. Unfortunately this is a hard room to photograph so you get a 2/3 view of the room.

Barn chandelier is from Amazon

The dining nook, I am especially excited to see this space evolve!

Laundry room. Appliances tuck in nicely on the left side.

Laundry room light is from Ikea

When you walk in the garage there is a hall that passes a nook and then leads into our bedroom.

Hi nook. You're going to become a mudroom/drop zone but I haven't broken that news to you quite yet.

Paint color is Benjamin Moore Van Courtland Blue.

The master bedroom is such a pretty space. Lots of potential in here!

Our closet is huge. I am already doing a great job filling it up!

Our bathroom is pretty similar decor-wise to the guest bath except for the mirrors and the shower floor. 

Lights are exterior sconces from Lowe's. Mirrors are from Hobby Lobby.

Pebble tile is from Home Depot

Back to the dining nook. This door leads to the back deck and is almost guaranteed to be painted in the near future.

Outer cabinets paint color is Benjamin Moore Winds Breath. Island color is Benjamin Moore Onyx.

Cabinet pulls are window sashes from Lowe's

Kitchen - need I say more? It's my favorite spot in the whole house. The cupboard on the right is a built in pantry.

TV Wall and sunroom view from the kitchen sink.

Flex room.

Front bedroom/future nursery.

Guest hallway which has a bedroom at each end and a bathroom sandwiched between. This is the view from the doorway of the front bedroom.

Mirrors are from Kirkland's

Guest bathroom vanity and shower.

Back guest bedroom, aka "Mom's" room.

Rear view. Lots of projects planned for back here!

Exterior sconce from Home Depot. LOVE this one.

Last but certainly not least, the magnificently spacious garage! That back right alcove is going to be David's man-zone. 

Okay that's all I've got for now. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Come back now ya hear!

Happy Homeowners!

Friday, July 24, 2015 we closed on our new home! Emotions ran high last week. We were stressed to the max and it was just a rough week. Monday started with the final home inspection. This was an optional route that we opted to take. You wouldn’t think you’d need a home inspection on a brand new house, but we felt that it would be worth the peace of mind to have it done. I’m glad we did. There wasn’t anything major but just a few things here and there that needed to be addressed before closing. In addition to the inspection list we had a punch list of our own with tons of minor things to give to the builder to fix. We wanted these things to be done by closing on Friday at noon which meant that time was of the essence for the builder and his crew by the time they received the to-do list Monday afternoon.

We stayed away for the next three days until our final walk through on Thursday night. There was still a small to do list but nothing that would keep us from closing the next day.

I hardly slept Thursday night. Oh the excitement, nervousness and anticipation had a lot to do with it, but really it was because that was going on the fourth night of David, myself and both dogs sleeping on the couch! We packed up the bed and mattress over the weekend so it was one less thing to do. Looking back we probably should have at least left the mattress out. Ha!

Friday came and I was up early packing the apartment. It’s amazing the amount of stuff that two people can collect in a one bedroom apartment. We even tried to remind ourselves over the last year that we don’t need to bring stuff in because it’s all going back out soon. Well, it took me days to pack but at least that’s behind us now.

We continued to load up our friend’s covered trailer (thank you Bryant!!) that morning so we’d be ready to go after closing.

Closing came and went and next thing we knew we were holding a handful of shiny house keys!

Then it was time to get busy. Go time! Yes, we started moving within two hours after closing. We were antsy to say the least. 

The rest of the weekend was a blur. Family and friends came and went and hauled and pushed and lifted our belongings. We are so very thankful for every single one of them!

Here are some photos I snapped throughout the weekend. I also took some of the house the night of the walk through while it was still empty so I will share those soon! 

Sums up our exhaustion on day two of moving.

We closed Friday at noon. Friday night, less than 24 hours after closing, a small pine tree fell and hit the house. There was a massive storm and the damage could have been much worse but dang it! A tree fell and smashed our fence within a month of living in our last house too. Must be tradition...Oy.

Our sweet neighbors and friends Davy and Caroline delivered some homemade cookies to us Saturday morning! 

Calm before the storm. Two loads in and starting to unpack.

 

I seriously just love this kitchen. I cannot wait to break out my big camera and do a full house tour once we are unpacked!

The puppies were SOOO excited to check out their new house and yard!!

Kali, Cole, Mom, Dad, David.

Rachael and Mom on light cleaning duty.

Loved our housewarming basket from Meghan and Russ!

Me, Rachael, Russ, Meghan and Bryant.

This week we have been unpacking, putting up blinds and cleaning the apartment in addition to all the other billions of things getting checked off the list. David planted all of the front landscaping last night. It looks so much better already! Thanks babe for all of your hard work!

 

Adding to the list of sweet visitors, my good friend Erin (and Jack and Jonah) came by and brought cookies and wine tonight! We seriously have the best friends. Gosh I love my peeps!

It's really hard to get up and go to work knowing that there's so much that needs to be done at home. I just want to stay home and twirl around my living room and of course DECORATE ALL THE SPACES!