Moving Day

So here she is in all her glory...

unlived in for close to 3 years

very first thing we had to do was install blinds in every single room. 

dang are blinds expensive!!

This is the dining room as you enter the house.

Has an awesome picture window. unsure what the trayed out area below is for.

oopsie... we broke a chairs standing in it right off the bat.

And this mantle is awesome. 

currently has some height issues (needs to come down quite a few inches)

but excited nonetheless.

A view of the kitchen right off the den

Dont be jealous of my appliances.

The bar and dining area

Dining area.

The laundry room

Downstairs hall bath.

these lights went straight into the trashcan.

Oh! and we immediately replaced toilet seats. 

Guest room/ nursery (for now)

Playroom off of the guest room.

Master's Vanity area.

Micro master bathroom

C's room he will share very soon with baby.

c's room

sisters room

Just finished picking up so I can show you the "moved in state."

Den progress

I know this seems a little backwards to some of you.. (No full house your yet) but we are making steady progress in our den. 

One of the first things we wanted to do is paint the fireplace. 

Before:

During:

Finishing up in some spots! 

Almost done and we lost a baby brick (right by my paint can)!! Ack! 

And here we are with the secretary. 

At midnight.

Way past my bedtime (since baby thinks he has an all night pass at the milk bar 😜) 

Soo... The plan is to finish it up this weekend. 

Be back with our entry table make over and a full house tour. (Pre moving and then now, so you can see our slow progress)

Bathroom Lighting

As I mentioned in a previous post one of our first goals for the house is lighting. 

For the downstairs bathroom and the master bath we decided to go with this light from pottery barn.

Once I get fully unpacked from our trip I will take a before and after for yall so you can see!!

Hopefully tomorrow!

I swear.. with as much as I am into at pottery barn right now they should be paying me for these wonderful shameless plugs!!! haha

Kitchen Table Lighting

Before we purchased our new home we knew we wanted to set some goals for when things would be completed. 

The ONLY updated fixtures in the whole home were a blue fluorescent blade fan In the babies room and a halfway installed fan in the master! 

So...obviously updating lighting was first on the list. 

                        

The day after closing I ran in a neat outlet store and chances upon this. 

The original plan was to order the lantern from Ballard for over the table. 

This one...

Then I found this.

                                

Upon a quick google search I discovered this was a slamming deal!!! 

                                     

It was a nice heavy fixture and I knew it would look great over our new kitchen table!! 

and at $69.99 I knew I was saving a few bones :)

We were able to hang it about the second week we moved in and we love it! 

This is one of the first things you see when walking in the front door and I feel like it really sets the tone for the whole house! 

                                

Next up lighting over the sink and in the back door hallway. 

Once we complete lighting I hope to share the style boards for each room and mix in some kids posts here and there.

Strap in... going to be LOTS of newness this fall... 

I have done a people choose on my instagram account with a thing here and there and I like having people's opinion!! Really!! i do!! I can usually narrow down to a few favorites then it takes me weeks to finally commit to something.

Pinterest Dreaming: The plans for Renovations

Nowadays... the best place to start when you are wanting to redo something is check out pinterest, houzz, and of course trade publications!

Here are just a few that really exude the feeling we are wanting to achieve in our new house. 

May take us a while to get here but excited and up for the challenge!

So... I personally do not care for the color of shingle on the roof, (see below for what I prefer) The house also needs the brick painted, some landscaping, some grass instead of weeds, and a basic overall facelift. Some things will have to wait, obviously. But we hope to make a few inexpensive changes to get the place looking like a family lives here by early fall.

 (source unknown, let me know if you know where its from)

This is the color scheme/look we will be going for. 

We have however discovered this week, the rotten wood we asked to be replaced.. bummer!! so we will have to address thigs like that before we can move onto more fun stuff.

As of right now the only pan for this room is to paint the fireplace a cream color, and paint the paneling. 

We will hopefully have the chimney cleaned sometime soon then I will shop for a new fireplace screen and remove this brass one.

Belo is the layout for the den we are hoping to achieve.

Obviously the sectional sofa has to go and we will likely get rid of the leather recliner as well. 

I have found my two side chairs for this room but finding a couch is proving to be harder than we thought. 

To accomodate this amount of seating we need a couch less than 84" and a love seat. 

Baby steps.

via urbangrace.com

Here is the dining area of the kitchen. 

So far this has been one of the few spaces in the home we have been able to address. 

(waiting for the rain to clear to get some shots with better lighting for yall!)

Can't wait to show you what we found!!

I must admit this doesnt look like a selling feature to most. 

But to me this 17 foot, yes seventeen foot long laundry room meant I could have my mud room area as well as my in home business. oh... and clean those pesky dirty clothes.

haha

Here is an idea of what we are thinking for the cubbies

 via isabella and max rooms

As I am sure you all well remember, the last house was next to a drainage ditch and backed up to the main interstate in our city. Loud, easy for the dogs to escape, and in no way condusive to small children playing. 

I think it's safe to say the new space is uh... a blank slate. Even after 20+ years of when it was built. 

I have some SERIOUS plans for flowerbeds!!!

source via oakleyhomebuilders.com

And a paver patio, and a pergola, and an outdoor kitchen.

Does anyone know where to get those money trees I have heard of?

Thinking I may need to plant a few with ALL these plans I have!

via houseandhome.com

viahomesdesignlove.com

And the next big space is the playroom.

I LOVE how holly designed her boy playroom. 

Lots of fun and whimsical touches.

Hoping to solidify paint colors in here soon!

via holly mathis interiors

I think the bathrooms and the kitchen need their own post!!!

The new house

We started out our home search wanting a completely fixed up home. 

After realizing there is a housing shortage in our area... Knowing #3 was due any day, and seeing how people were renovating and knowing it wasn't "us" we started looking at fixer uppers. 

The home we purchased; I remember driving by and immediately saying NO! 

It just wasn't what I was wanting in a home. Then my husband saw potential I wasn't seeing. The more we looked we kept comparing it to that home. We knew we needed to walk thru it.

After the initial walk thru I saw us putting up a Christmas tree in the dining room. And watching TV in the den. I knew this was our home. 

Without further adeu. The fixer upper part deaux! 

This will be our dining room. We hope to do lots of entertaining in here over the years. 

This is a view of the den. 

The laundry room and where preppie peonie will operate. 

And the kitchen. Ohhh the kitchen I see lots of potential! 

And here is the kids playroom!! 

Be back with more later!!