Etsygazing (the saga continues)

Urban Bead - $12


marywibis $18



sarahminshall $25




AnniesStudio $35




Ah, Cherry Blossoms!

Accentuate the Positive....

Can you believe there is no long hanging storage in here?



Eliminate the negative




Which color do you like? They were both intended for the main level, but I'm leaning towards the one on the left for the main and the one on the right for Madeline's room once she leaves the nursery behind.





Don't mess with the in-between... (the dining room sans master bed)



I thought I'd share some of the updates of our house this last week. We had new carpets put in a week ago, and what bliss! Nothing like walking barefoot on nice clean carpet. I have learned a early remodeling lesson. We got a less plush grade of carpet, and I regretted it the minute I stepped on it. The woman at the carpet store thought it would be more than adequate for bedrooms, but we were used to something a little more dense. If the carpet lasts for the minimum of 10 years that it is supposed to, it would have been worth the $50 extra a year for it's life. Lesson #1- Buy the best you can afford to. (which is why the kitchen is off in the distant future, b/c we could only afford a nice new Coleman stove at this point)


Lesson #2- We are on the cusp of middle age. Movers are worth every cent. The day after the carpet was installed we hired movers to bring the furnture up to the top level. Two gentleman (they took their shoes off to walk on my nice new carpet, A++++++) moved everything within an hour and 15 minutes. Unbelievable. You know when you move into a new house, there are certain things that only you can do. Where do the dishes go? Go buy new toilet seats. Install the baby gate. But I have learned that movers and a housecleaning team on the day of closing will make your sanity last. Anyone can mop and move a box. This way you hit the ground running and don't feel like you are playing catch up for the first month.


Eliminate the negative- Our bathroom tub is being used as a super sonic paint rinsing station. It has grossed me out from the first time we saw the house and it is the first of our remodeling jobs. I've got the tile picked out, but the tub we are debating over. Currently it is a jacuzzi, but I'm replacing it with just a soaker tub. Any thoughts?

You say goodbye.....

This is one of the last pictures I took of Madeline before we moved. I really think she is looking around her room and telling it "bye!" I personally thought of all the hours we spent in her great-grandmother's rocking chair reading books, sleeping (or trying to!), and just cuddling. It was funny; although we lived in the house for 8 1/2 years married (Jeff almost 12), when we left all we could think about were the memories we had created with her the last year and a half.


This is Madeline's current room - that's her as she drifts off for a nap. No room is set up and we are exhausted from a summer spent as nomads. Wednesday the new carpet arrives and we will finally be able to move in completely.



This is the living room- I'm sure you knew that-and the one good thing about moving into a bigger house is that there is tons of room. We never had a living room before...




nor a dining room, so why not make it a temporary master bedroom? It also functions as a grande changing table.





This is the room that I'm dying to overhaul. To the right is the wall that separates the kitchen from the family room. It will come down, but I'm going to have to live with it for the time being. The entire kitchen will eventually be gutted. New cabinets that go to the ceilling, removing the bulkhead, and rearranging the appliances.

I do miss my old house, but mostly because it was familiar and had all of us so invested in it. It wasn't working for us anymore space wise. And so I say hello, hello, HELLO! To a new life beginning... and yet another trip to the home improvement store.