Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Spendy McSpenderson

       If there's one thing this new home has been bad for, its my online shopping addiction. Most days I try to just look, but too often lately I've actually been clicking on "add to shopping cart". Of course, this should be expected with a new home, but for me, it's seems to border being a bit unhealthy. When a sale, special discount, or flash sale email arrives in my inbox, sometimes I just don't know how to say "no". Most of my home shopping is being done sitting in front of my computer with a cup of coffee (toting around 2 kids in a store is just not my idea of a good time). I thought I would share some of my recent purchases and things I'm dying to buy.
I'm seriously considering this duvet cover for Nolan's room makeover.
Love me some buffalo check.
Ikea

This mirror recently became mine. 
Sale coupon and free shipping peeps. 
I couldn't pass it up.
Garnet Hill

Over on Etsy, an artist makes lots of cool planters and book ends from cement. 
I think these would look great on the built ins that we have planned.
Etsy

A little bit country, a little bit glam, 
I've been thinking about this deer head for a while.
ZGallerie

Love these. They come in so many fun colors. 
How, oh how, to choose which shade I love best?

Industry West

Apparently I have a thing for round mirrors,
because I'm loving the idea of these in our master bedroom. 
CB2

I have adored this style of dresser for quite sometime.
Better start saving my pennies.
Andella Home

I've started game planning for Quincy's room. 
Her room is pretty far down on the to-do list, but this paper makes me jump into it right away.
I've always loved their designs, 
and I think this wrapping paper will make for some great little girls room wall art.
Rifle and Paper Co.

This little semi-flush mount school house fixture for our mudroom. 
Yes please!

Rejuvination

       All right people, get out there on the world wide web and do some of your own online shopping damage. Come on...it feels so good!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Let's Talk Design

       Before I get ahead of myself on highlighting the different projects we're working on, I thought I should share our design plan for the home. We're fortunate that this home turned out to be just what we were really looking for (expect for the price tag, sheesh). While the home has been cared for and loved, it's older and is certainly in need of some updating. It was clean and move in ready, but on the flip side it's also screaming for some new light fixtures, paint colors, flooring and style.  Before we moved in I already started formulating a long list of things to do. But now, living here and soaking it all in, I've adjusted my plans a bit. The grey paint I was thinking of for the living area will now be white. All of the pine in our kitchen is actually really charming- in a homey mountain sort of way. All of the steely blue carpet is a downer, but it's soft for the kids and helps absorb a lot of noise. The guestroom I had planned in my head is now going to be Quincy's room. And the list goes on. I'm learning, and flexing our plans as we go.
       So what is our plan for this house?  The last couple of years I have become just a tad bit obsessed with interior design, and if you follow me on pinterest you've probably noticed. I've been collecting images and inspiration and the pinterest overload has really helped me to hone in on my personal home tastes.  I already know what I love. I know what colors I gravitate towards. I know what light fixtures make me gaga. And that makes it all SO much easier to jump right in and make decisions. 
       The other night Jon asked me, "What is going to be the theme of our house?". I think he thinks in terms of "theme", while I think in terms of "style". I've been trying to narrow down a term to describe my (our?) taste and I've come up with Airy Country Mountain. Let me expand.
       Airy: Our rental was dark and I think we're slightly scarred by that. We're fortunate that this home has lots of windows and nice light, and the most rooms have great views of the treetops or our grassy yard. We want to capitalize on all of the light and highlight it where we can. We want it to feel open, bright, and well, airy. Here are some of my favorite shots that are a nod to this feeling:
I'm dying to do a white plank ceiling treatment 
in our vaulted living room.


       Country: There are horses down the street from us. We live 7 miles outside of town on of a semi-rural road. Every man on our street owns a truck, or two. There is a General Store IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD (which is totally awesome to have I might add). And you can't walk anywhere here without being greeted by neighborhood dogs. You just can't fight it, we are a little bit country. To us that means a casual home. A comfortable place for friends and their kids to gather. Picture a farm table in our dining room. Maybe some antlers (fake) on the wall, some pea gravel in the garden, and a barn door in our master bedroom. This may help you picture it just a bit more:
I've been obsessed with white plank walls for some time now.
Hello charming country bedroom.
We've already been perusing the world wide web for barn door hardware.
Sigh.
Pea Gravel. It's on my Spring 2014 To Do list.
       Mountain: This will probably not be our forever home and knowing that, we must think of resale value. Mountain design is very popular here, and it's what a lot of people are looking for when they are house shopping. It's in our best interest to leave some mountain character in the home, so that it's appealing when it's time to sell. This means that the pine kitchen cabinets will stay, all of the pine trim will remain, the stone fireplace platform will stay, etc. Luckily, mountain design can be done right so we'll try to incorporate this style, so that it works for us.
I've got a thing for Buffalo Check. 


       We are so excited to start inserting all of our decor ideas into the house, but we're also learning that time and money are surely limiting factors. So it will be a process and it will take time. But hopefully in a year, this place will be looking a lot more like our home!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

First Things First: Storage and the Great Outdoors

       From the moment that we found out that our offer was accepted on this home, our heads started spinning with ideas. I started shopping for home goodies online immediately (I refrained from actually buying...for the most part). I was thinking about paint colors, patterns, light fixtures and all that goodness. Jon started working on his tool wish list, and loved perusing homedepot.com. But before we were even handed our keys we decided that our first projects would not be the most glamorous or beautiful, they would be functional. We decided to figure out how to maximize storage in our basement and garage, before we started on anything fun.
       From living in our rental, Jon and I have learned that we hate clutter. And we had the unfortunate discovery when we packed up our moving truck, that we may in fact be hoarders. Not really what we were going for.  We all know that with kids comes a lot of belongings; obnoxious toys, gear, and lots of clothing. Add to that too many motorcycles, bikes, camping gear, tools, etc. etc. etc. and you get one big cluttered problem. Before we moved we got rid of a lot, only to discover that when we got here, we wanted to get rid of more.
Our moving truck (all 26' of it), chalk full on moving day.

       So we've been editing our lives, in a major way. Donating, recycling, throwing away. If we don't love it, use it, or need it, it's gone.  This will make it possible for us to purchase things for this home that we love. As we edit through all of our belongings, we are also trying to ensure that there is storage for everything we are keeping. By ensuring good storage, we'll be able to tame all of said clutter.
       Enter Jon's first project. He has been working away on setting up a storage system in our basement. I'll post some photos of the project once its completed. It should help our currently unorganized world.
       So while we are using up our current home improvement budget on wood and storage supplies, and Jon is heavily occupied with said construction, I've been keeping myself busy in  another area. The garden. Apparently this home comes with a lot more garden then I was aware. Gardening was one of the previous owners favorite hobbies, and she worked in the garden all of the time. They spent lots of their energy planting trees that would add privacy to the property and managing all of the different varieties of plants that they planted. I on the other hand have never worked in a garden in my life. That is, until now. These days I'm spending 2-3 hours a day weeding, cleaning up pine needles and getting our yard in tip-top shape for the Summer. Unfortunately there just aren't enough hours in the day to devote to the yard, but I'm trying. Q usually keeps me company in her bouncy chair while Nolan runs around causing havoc. I snapped some photos of our garden, so that I can take note as things bloom through the seasons.




       Because I CANNOT WAIT to jump in to some fun projects, aside from the garden I had to get started with something on the fun side.  So, I've been working on an affordable front porch face lift. Our home has a welcoming little front porch, that has great views of our trees and terraced flowers. I think it will be a fun place to decorate during Halloween, the 4th of July, etc. Because its the first thing you see when you arrive, I figured it should look welcoming and also reflect the style of our home. So I perused the web, and took note of what we already had, and this is the design plan that I've come up with.

The Front Porch
       I've been sanding and prepping our Adirondack chairs for a makeover, and the area rug and pillows are on the way to our house at this very minute. The wood stump...well, that will be coming straight out of our yard and getting a sanding and sealing treatment for its new spot on our stoop. 
Finally getting to put my Dewalt sander to use.

       Hopefully I'll have my front porch makeover wrapped up in a week or so, and I'll be back to share how it turns out.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Quincy at Three Months

       Quincy turns four months old this week so I figured it was about time that I posted her three month photos. I snapped this amidst the chaos of packing and moving and was only able to get a few. 
Q is my little sidekick.
She has me wrapped around her teeny finger.
She gives us lots of smiles now and has learned to nap and sleep when not in my arms. 
She is doing much better in her car seat too, 
which makes running errands much less anxiety inducing.
AND I think she's pretty gosh darn beautiful too.
She is getting too big far too fast for my liking.

 I don't know if it's because she's a girl, or because it may be my last, 
but the second time around everything seems so much sweeter. 
       I am about five weeks away from returning to work, and the thought of leaving her makes me nauseous. I have been oh-so-blessed to have this extra time off work with her, but I think it has made our attachment to each other all that much stronger (and will make being separated all the more challenging). But I know I survived it with Nolan, and in the end he loved his daycare and all of his friends. We are very fortunate to have them starting in a great small daycare together, near to our new house. 
       Oh, and about the new house. I've been dying to share our current projects and updates but there seems to be too few hours in the day. I'll be back very soon with some fun house related news!