Where We Hang

I was really worried about how our big 'ole sectional was going to fit in this space. Now that just seems silly because it's as if this couch was made for this room.

Did you notice the rug? It was a very generous birthday/housewarming gift from my parents. (My mom was a bit obsessed about getting us an area rug for this room.) After a LOT of looking, we found this rug on clearance at JCPenney.com. I love how it is chic and sophisticated, but colorful and fun at the same time. Thanks Mom & Dad... you know we would still be rugless if it wasn't for you!

The console table our TV sits on is a loaner from Andrew's mom until we get something of our own. Stay tuned for updates on that in a future post.

Here's a look at the other side of the room. This is where Andrew gets most of his work, I mean fantasy baseball, done...

A view back into the kitchen area. I don't think we realized how much more space we had in this house until we got our furniture in here. We're no longer tripping over everything. Happy, happy!

Next up: Our screened-in porch makeover! Here's a sneak peek...

Who's coming for dinner?

Remember our blank slate of a kitchen...

Well, it has been gaining a bit of a personality...

I finally got my island! It is big, beautiful and I love it!! The butcher block adds such warmth and character to the room. Once I get new barstools, I'll be able to seat four people at it.

Plus it has a huge cabinet base where I'll be able to hide pull-out garbage/recycling bins.

I kept my word on getting rid of that hideous faucet. After a bit of grunting and cursing, Andrew's father did a bang-up job of installing this beauty for us. Thanks Al!!

Here's a sneak peak into the living room. More on that later...

It's been awhile...

Sorry for making everyone wait for a new post on the house... we've been busy bees working on it!

We still have several empty rooms, nothing hanging on the walls and a few unpacked boxes. We have made some significant progress though and it is really starting to feel like home. I'll be posting photos of some of our more complete rooms over the next few days. For now, enjoy some photos of our more lively front patio!

The boring BEFORE:

The bright and sunny AFTER:

I've been trying to repurpose as much stuff from the old house as possible. I scored this charming bench at the Raleigh Flea Market a few years ago for $60. It just happens to be perfect here! It could use a new coat of paint, but I'll get to that eventually...

These copper hanging pots were hanging from our old front porch (I have two more that will make an appearance in a future post) and the side table was on our back porch. The only new things you see are the two striped toss pillows, the plant hanging hardware and the actual plants.

Yippee for low-budget improvements!

Moving Day

This has been the longest month ever, but it finally happened – WE MOVED!! This week has been a whirlwind. Friday we closed on the old house, Tuesday we closed on the new house, Thursday we moved and in between – there was a whole lot of packing. Here's a photo of the Uhaul parked in front of our brand new home.

After bringing four loads of boxes to the house on Karen & Al's pick-up truck, we were shocked when we still couldn't fit everything in the Uhaul. I wish I got a photo of how stuffed the truck was. Here is a photo of it partly unloaded. It was literally packed front to back and floor to ceiling.

The funny thing is that all this stuff still doesn't fill our new house. You know what that means? SHOPPING!!!

SOLD!

I feel like it is official now that the sign is up!!

You will never guess who our buyer is..........

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

...only the best, BEST MAN ever!!!

You can imagine all of Ted's lofty ideas about what he is going to do with the place. Some of my favorite are:

1- Turning the office into a bar/game room
2- "Are these columns load bearing? They have got to go!"
3- Filling a guest room with balls so people can just jump in (like Chuck E. Cheese)
4- Having his father replace all the cabinets
5- Turning the entire second floor into a casino and allowing golfers to come and gamble in the middle of their rounds. (This was an elaborate plan that including putting a sign in the backyard along with painting lines in the grass for golf carts.)

I could go on and on. My response is always, "Ted, I can not wait to see how you improve the place." With a smile, of course.

House Update

Our new home is officially sitting, ready and waiting for us to move in. We have had no offers on our current house and little to no traffic. With an Open House every Sunday for the last two weeks and gearing up for another one this coming Sunday – life has been hectic. I will not lie, it has been an extremely frustrated process. I always try to be optimistic and look on the bright side of things, but I am starting to unravel from staging my house for so long. How do people do this when they have kids? I can't imagine...

I can't help but sit here and think of all the things I need to get (but can't afford) for our new house. For instance:

Kitchen Island:

Faux Wood Blinds:

A Beautiful Patio Set:

Just to name a few...

Our First Walk-thru

Today we had our first walk through of the house. This was our opportunity to point out any imperfections in the house that we'd like to have fixed before our closing. Our field manager also showed us a lot of the cool features of our new home.

They finally painted our front door!! It looks so sharp in black!!

Surprise!! They put up a metal fence on the other side of the house. I guess because of the retaining wall, they are required to put up a fence for safety reasons. I was holding out for solid wood fences, but these are free so I guess I can't complain.

Did you notice the sod in the last photo? Funny how they lay down dead sod huh? Whatever...

The screens are finally up on the porch and check out our cute little white door!

Last, but not least, here is an excellent view of the hardwood floors. I am SO, SO happy with them!!! You can also see our new snazzy oven!