Finally..A Place to kick off our shoes and call home...

 

We are officially home..Sorry it took so long to update my blog but we didn't have internet for a few weeks, and then I had little to no time to sit and update with pictures (and descriptions)  I still have more pictures to take and share of the 2nd floor and the basement, but here are some from our first floor :)  So very thankful for this place to kick off our shoes and call our own again..I miss our old house, but am so very happy with our new house.  They are like apples and oranges but I've always loved fruit salad ;)

The Informal (formal) Living Room

 

 

This room brought me the most unexpected pleasure.  You see, all the furniture in it is mismatched.  I have a blue country style loveseat that came with the house, a light tan modern style recliner I got at Salvation Army for 25.00, a red brocade chair free after the flood, and a green velvety type chair that also came with the house, not to mention my pretty furniture that we were able to salvage from the house, my mom's piano which we "inherited" around Christmastime and Bob's huge TV.  I had little hope that this room would look nice (to my standards)  I couldn't believe how well everything blended together..The vibrantly colored stained glass lamps helped to tie things together but really and truly considering I have blue, red, green and tan all in one room and all different styles I can't believe how great it looks..It just seems to fit so well (or maybe it's just because I'm happy to have a place to call home again..Who knows..Regardless why- I'll Take It!) :)

The "Kitchen side" of the kitchen :)

 

This is the kitchen side of the kitchen..Still very roomy and spacious..I love all the cabinets and room!  It's a true joy to have a large kitchen that's for sure!! :)

Dining Area Attached to Kitchen

 

At first I wondered how having our dining area in the kitchen would work out, as we've always had a separate dining room since Bob and I were married. I wondered how it would look and if I would like it.  Let's put the truth out there- I like it alot!  There is a wonderful little bar on the side that is great for serving breakfast at, but also additional seating for company, or could even be a great place for food for an even larger gathering. It's great when people are over because they can hang out in the kitchen and chat with you while you are working on preparing food! :)   It's easier for setting table purposes, clean-up purposes, and it still looks formal even though it's technically in the kitchen..  My sister says it also shows off the furniture I was able to save better for some reason.  Maybe because there are lighter walls, maybe it's just because everything seems to have found it's special place in there..Who knows why, but I am pleased with it :)

Who would have ever guessed I'd have a formal reading room/sitting room/sucking your thumb room :)

 

 

This little room has turned into my reading room. The little ones and I read stories in here together, I lose myself in my own books in here while other's are watching shows/movies in the living room..During the day classical music is often heard in here softly playing from the antique radio/record console..It's a room of comfortable solitude..A haven of sorts for me..Who would have EVER guessed I would have a room like this?  Not I, that's for sure but my hubby has laid claim to a room yet to be built but is supposed to be built this spring.  A large family room outside of the door you see here.  He has decided that the family room will be mostly his (although he has a full garage for his wood worksop)  Hopefully he will let me take part just a little bit in it..That would be nice but we shall see..In the meantime, I must admit, I love my red Reading Room :)

A Room Fit for 2 Little Princesses :)

 

 

I'm very happy how this room turned out (except the stockpiling of games/toys on top of the bookcase and dresser, but if I didn't pieces would be sure to get lost and room would be completely trashed every hour on the hour,  thanks to a certain 4 yr old and 3 yr old I know) ;)  They adore their princess room and now every made up story before bed has to be about 2 princesses and their adventures :)

First Floor Pictures- Check!

This is the First Floor Bathroom.  It's been a huge adjustment to go from a monster bathroom to a tiny bathroom, but it's been nice to have a bathroom on every level of the house!  It's a world of gives and takes, that's for sure! :)  Stay tuned for 2nd floor and Basement Photos, coming soon to a computer near you ;)

Lotsa Work done...Lots to still do..

In order for our house to pass reinspection, we offered to pay for all the items on the appraisal inspection list while the seller paid to have some things on the inspection list taken care of. This was definately a joint effort on both our parts. He had a radon system installed. He paid for 2 or 3 electric baseboards to be installed in the 2nd floor because of nonfunctioning heat upstairs. He also paid to have the chimney's repaired in order for us to be able to use BOTH fireplaces! :) That's ALOT and it's expensive! We, in turn agreed to paint and scrape all exterior windows, trim, doors, garage door, etc (and let me tell you it was FREEZING!) We also had to paint living room ceiling due to water stains, hire an electrician to come and rip out old hanging electrical in basement, disconnect an electric chair with live wiring and outlets wrapped around them (not sure what in the world they were thinking on that one!) replace almost the entire wall in the basement bathroom, rip up tile and replace flooring in master bedroom in the basement, paint stairs going to 2nd floor, install flooring in foyer and upstairs bedroom. His was more costly but little work to him, ours was less costly but lots of work for us. In the end, we all pulled together and got it done fairly quickly considering the circumstances! After 2 weeks of submitting paperwork, we believe we are ready to close on the house. If the bank clears us, we may even be able to close this week! :) Yay!!! :) As soon as we close, we will set an appt for the assessor to come and reassess our home, then Bob will build a wall upstairs and I will finish all the painting so we can move in almost right away! :) Praying, Praying, Praying!!! :)

The girls' bedroom before and during :)

The girls' room was white walls and light green panelling. I decided to keep with the color scheme..It would have been fine to have left it, but I found out thru our West Ave house, if you are going to change it, change it when it's emptier, not fully furnished. So for the cost of one gallon of regular paint, and one gallon (with lots extra if I want to paint any accessories) of discounted lavender paint I changed it up..For the better and best :)

After- A room fit for two princesses :)

I must admit..I am proud of this room.. I put my heart into the girls' room and seeing their faces light up and their fingers touch "their" princess and hear their squeals of delight makes it all worth the work! :) Since the girls have half light green panelling, to save myself the hassle of painting and priming the panelling, I opted to "almost match" the color and changed the girls' regular walls from white to a light sage green. Then I found dark lavender paint on clearance because it was a mistint and grabbed it because I thought it would stand out better than pink (and I believe it was a good choice!) I drew a sketch of the mural on a piece of paper, but I didn't draw anything out on the walls. I just grabbed my paint and paintbrush and started painting. The door had no design to look at, at all..It was merely from my mind (including the unicorn!) It was daring, I know...I could have really botched it, but...I didn't! :) It turned out perfect for our two little princesses :) I love the mural, I love the curly attached C's on the door for "Cassandra and Christiana" I love the unicorn..I love the scripture (which you will see in a minute) I just love it all and would have DREAMED of having a room like this! :) The girls will have pink sheer curtains for the windows and all brown wood furniture..It will be a beautiful room for our two beautiful girls and I can't wait to show it to you when it's all set up! :) And it can't get much more feminine with light green, pink and lavender for the colors! :)

Words for little Girls to live by...

First of all, I apologize for the blurriness of the top photo. I didn't realize it was blurry till just now and I don't want to wait till later to post this so it will have to do :) I decided I wanted to post/paint scripture on the wall. I pondered what verse would be appropriate for two little girls who someday would grow up to be 2 big girls, then two teens, later two young women, and possibly spouses and/or mothers someday. It didn't take me long to decide I wanted to write the scripture that speaks about the fruit of the spirit. God calls us to have these attributes, to work towards these attributes and when I read them they are so appropriate for all ages and stages of feminine life. So I grabbed my brush and paint and set to work. The words are a little crooked and a little uneven but it just adds to the character of them :) If my girls can grow up with a constant reminder that they are to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control, maybe it will come just a little easier for them and I will have helped them on their journey to becoming Godly women :)

Up the Stairs and in the Upper Foyer, Before and Mostly After!

As per the appraiser, we had to put flooring in on the stairs and in the foyer (as well as MANY other things!) I decided to paint the stairs. They were painted before but some boards had been replaced and had no paint, and all the rest were old and had worn off paint. The color I chose wasn't really what I had envisioned to be honest but I figured out how to spice up the steps (you won't see those pics yet, because I'm not finished with them yet!) I bought this awesome bird stencil and I will put one going the opposite way down the whole staircase. I can't wait to see how it turns out! :) The flooring in the foyer looks really nice and coordinates very well with the coloring going up the stairs on the panelling and even with the stairwell "fence"..The colors are very calming, very peaceful..Just pretty.

Before and After- the ?? Room

This started out being the girls' room but I changed my mind. First of all we are hoping to put a room addition on the house and the entrance will be thru this room which will absolutely NOT work. So I moved them into the bigger bedroom. Then this was supposed to be the makeshift TV room so that I could have a pretty formal living room till the addition was put on. I was informed this afternoon that this room is way too small and will not work. So the pretty formal living room will have to wait till AFTER the addition and the TV room will be where the formal living room will be. Can I insert a grr here? ;) I understand, I really do, but I just don't want have to move in then re-move back in again shortly. I feel like I will be in limbo until the addition goes up. I am thankful for this little room and will squish my pretty velvet couch and loveseat in here and enjoy curling up and reading books in here it just feels like I won't really be able to decorate till everythings' done. I was also told the gun cabinets will have to go in here too until we can make sure our bedroom basement doesn't have too much moisture. How lovely, right?!?! I will figure it out, I usually do! :) In the meantime, the only thing I asked is that the piano go into the front room now. That's where it will be and that's where I want it to be put so it won't be moved and will have it's place right away! Samuel keeps asking me about piano lessons and I want him to be able to take them and be able to practice easily! There's a girl in our church who only charges 15.00 per lesson so as soon as we are settled in, We will start weekly lessons for him and hopefully later on for the girls :) Oh, and I forgot to mention..I painted it from that 60's bright mint green to brown. It reminds me of a small version of our living room, so even though it's tiny, it's homey and cozy to me :)

Before and After Upstairs Room

This is the room that will be split with a wall to make two rooms. Wayne wanted the traditional type room, Samantha took the long room. Both rooms needed flooring but we could only do one room for the time being because there is a kitchen on Wayne's side of the room with old linoleum tiles and we can't pull any of that out till we close. We opted for brown (NOT Black! :) ) I let the teens pick whatever color they wanted for their rooms. They both chose different shades of blue. What's cool is that the blue and brown go Very Well Together :) I bought the paint, they had to paint the themselves. Samantha finished her side but Wayne only got to do part of his for now. He will finish his side (most likely with help) as soon as we close! :)