At least I plan to be. I've missed blogging and would like to make it a regular part of my schedule again.
What I'd like to share with you today is how our new home looks so far. I really need to look back in the archives to see what all I've shared, but for now, come on in and see how we live!
If you come in our front door, which nobody does, you'd see this view of our living room. On the long list, we need to finish the garage (it's a carport, though it shares a roof with the house so the project won't be that difficult) and fix some landscaping, and add a more obvious path to the front door.
This little table is in the entry for now. Eventually I want to add a long pew and some sort of wall treatment (shiplap? board and batten?) and lots of hooks for coats.
The rest of the living room is probably the closest to DONE, but it needs a rug and some window treatments. And trim paint.
We're undecided about what to do with our fireplace. This brick isn't bad, but it's pretty dirty, and the dark grout isn't my favorite. I'd like to paint it all white, but we've heard from people in the know that it's not the best idea. I've tried to clean part of it, but it's still yellow and stinky, so who knows. Did I mention it's double-sided? We have an indoor grill built in to the kitchen part of this wall, so it's a focal point in there too. We know we want to add a mantel, probably a large rough beam.
Just as a reminder, when we bought the house this room was really really stinky. The owner smoked and allowed their dog to use the living room carpet as a bathroom. It was so bad. We (Gary and his friends) had to remove and replace the subfloor to get rid of the smell! But our hickory vinyl plank flooring is so nice, and everything has been painted Cathedral Gray by Behr and we love it!
Hey, you can see the entry wall better here, so imagine my wall treatment and pew and hooks and the door painted a fun color! It'll happen...
So now let's step from the living room into the kitchen. There's a 3/4 wall separating the two, but we need to add a ceiling support beam in that open area that is part hall, part living room, part kitchen. We'll see what happens with the 3/4 wall at that point.
Here's our little dining area. I'd love for it to be twice as big, but maybe the next house. There's a big window that looks onto the backyard, the dark gray is the kitchen itself, you can see a bit of the brick wall that has the grill, and you can imagine that you're standing right by the door to the basement. There is also the current laundry room and the back door and a tiny closet around the corner behind you, but that all will change eventually. More on that later.
I like to play with my food. Er, table settings?
This is our Thanksgiving table. Or something. For Thanksgiving there will be too much food to have all of these other things on the table, but whatever.
To the right of the table (from this point of view, at least) is a desk like thing that I've recently changed into a coffee station. Because it's cute!
See? Usually there's a basket for mail/clutter/junk, and note the router, because this is real life. This is the 3/4 wall. There are plants on top and white trim 'n stuff, but it looks really cluttered in a picture, so I don't take pictures of it. :)
On into the kitchen!
Oh look! I hadn't moved the coffee stuff yet. Or installed door knobs.
And you can kinda almost see that I haven't finished painting the upper cabinet doors, but they're going to be white. We love the two-tone look! I like how the darker bottom grounds the space while the white uppers make it seem light and bright.
I'd like to add a backsplash and maybe new counters. But we have all new appliances and aren't planning to do a whole lot more to the kitchen.
So let's go down the hall and peek at Jocelyn's room because it's the cutest!
I love how her room turned out. It needs a rug and a cute ceiling fixture and I'll paint trim and closet doors eventually, but I still like it as is.
Her crib converts to a toddler bed, but in a couple years we'll put in our antique double bed and get a cute bedspread. I just love how the Cathedral Gray looks with her white furniture and pink accessories! (Jocelyn will be one in two weeks, just for reference.)
Let's step across the hall to the master bedroom.
Yeah, that curtain? It was held up by tape for the picture. We don't have rods yet, and I'd like a giant rug instead of bath mats, but these things take time. And money.
I'm taping up curtains in my imagination and the room looks so much warmer and finished!
Ok, back down the hall and we pass the bathroom. It's ugly. No pictures. It doesn't need big changes but the walls are covered in yellow laminate. I plan to cover it with shiplap, repaint the vanity, get new lights, mirror and faucet, add hooks for towels and call it done.
Let's zoom downstairs (which eventually will boast a barn door on sliders at the top of the stairs) and ignore the piles and boxes and cupboard-painting mess and pop into the boys' room for a quick peek.
Cathedral Gray on the walls, maps on the closet doors, matching jean bedspreads, colorful dressers... But this is the only picture. There's dark gray carpet here and a brick wall where the boys would like an American flag painted! I finished all the rest of their room, as in hanging things and organizing stuff, except the flag and taking pictures, so that will be done soon.
Also downstairs is Gary's office and gym which are relatively done. At least useful at this point. There is an area where my craft room and sewing area will be, and another space for a playroom or family room where we'll store toys and have a comfy couch and possibly a tv for movie nights. We've gutted a space where we will add a bathroom, and the laundry will be moved to the basement to open up room upstairs for a mudroom of sorts.
