Bean's Room

This was one of the biggest motivators for us to get a house this spring. I did not want to set up a crib in the hallway of our tiny apartment. I wanted our baby girl to have a real home to come to. I know, I know, there are stories of babies sleeping in dresser drawers and in other cramped and less-than-ideal spaces and those children turn out just fine, but I was definitely feeling mommy-guilt for not having a nursery ready for little Bean. That's probably why the most thought and time has gone into the baby's room.
Here's the room before it got a makeover. Three of the walls were basic white and the fourth wall was a brown/grey color. You can't tell from the picture, but the walls were pretty beat up and required spackling and sanding.


Here's the wall color now. It's Sherwin Williams Progreen 200 in Musclen Green. It's bright and vibrant and I just love it. I think it compliments the wooden crib nicely. I made the bulletin board/picture frame from a barn window that Dan dug out of his Mom's garage. Above the crib I'm going to put wooden letters that spell her name (yes, eventually she will have a name other than Bean).

This will be our little rocking/feeding/reading nook. We found the glider at an estate sale and it is so soft and comfortable. The little white table is a hand-me-down from a friend. I think I need to re-cover the chair cushions. What do you think?

Here's another angle. The changing table and toy box are more hand-me-downs, but I think they'll really work nicely.

Okay, so what do you think? What am I missing? I'm feeling that the room is pretty much baby-ready at this point, but maybe all you been-there-done-that moms might have a few suggestions?

"Before" and "In Progress"

I watch a lot of HGTV. I love the home improvement shows that take an ugly, outdated, useless space and turn it into a functional, lovely work of art. My favorite part is at the end of the show when you see the "before" and "after" shots. That was my initial plan, but alas, home improvement is an ongoing process and I have embraced that the "after" portion will be continually evolving, so instead of "after" pictures, I will present you with "in progress" pictures.


This is our dining area "before." The walls were a dirty white and the pop-out window was a dark, deep purple-blue.

Here is the dining area in it's current "in progress" state. The left wall is painted a light green (Sherwin Williams Progreen Paint in Green Sprout) and the window wall and window area are darker green (SW Rookwood Green). I am loving the new color scheme (those same colors extend into the adjacent living room) and love how fresh some new paint can make a room feel. I like how the dark wood of our dining room table looks in this room. What I don't like is that lighting fixture. It's gold and glass and dated and obtrusive. What would you replace it with? How about window coverings? I love our view out this window (especially now that the window is sparkling clean - thanks Dad!) but the sun can be harsh if you're eating your breakfast at just the right time in the morning, so some type of drapery will be necessary. What about wall hangings? Should I keep my eyes peeled for something for the light green wall? Opinions please!

This is the hallway. I'm standing at the far end, looking toward the living room. The walls were in horrid shape and Dan spent hours spackling, sanding, applying texture and sanding again. I didn't like that it felt so closed in and "dark," which is odd, because it was painted white.

Here is the "in progress" shot of the hallway. I'm standing on the other end. I painted the walls and ceiling a lovely light tan/yellow color. (Sherwin Williams Progreen Paint in Beeswax) I wasn't planning on painting the ceiling at first, but the color totally transformed the walls and I thought the ceiling could use a good transformation as well. I really like how it turned out. So once again, I need your opinions. What do you think about the light fixture? I don't really like it, but can probably live with it for a while. What about the walls? Should I hang pictures? If so, what kind? Are hallways meant for family pictures, as my Mum has suggested? What about the open space at the end of the hallway? It has the potential to be a neat focal point, but I have no idea what to put there.
Feel free to offer opinions and ideas. I know a lot of you are way better at this home improvement stuff than I am.

Finally! The Promised Pictures

I have been telling people for a couple of weeks now that I'd post pictures of our place. I kept meaning to, but then I'd get distracted by painting or cleaning or organizing or doctor's appointments or something else and the pictures would continue to go unposted. But not today. Today I found my camera cord and filled myself with the necessary determination to get the job done. (Please note, these are only outdoor pictures. I will post indoor room-by-room before/after pictures as soon as I actually snap the after pictures.) So, without further ado, here is post #1 of pictures of the place:

This is the view of the front of the house from across the road. The front yard is in need of a landscape re-haul, and the entire thing needs new grass, but for now, we'll just keep it mowed and get to the other stuff when we can.

This is the back of the house as seen from the hillside. There are french doors that lead out to a patio. I think it'll be a great BBQ spot.

I took this picture to basically show the property. I'm standing on one end and the property line pretty much extends to as far as you can see on this picture. One part of the property is a hill and the rest is flat pasture. There's a creek at the end (or ditch, depending on your attitude) and the pasture part is completely fenced (although spots are in need of repair). It's a little over 8 acres total.
So, what do you think? I think an ambitious, hard-working newlywed couple and their baby daughter will do very well here. We've already done so much, but as with any big project, there's still so much to do. It's okay, we're in this for the long haul.

Moving Day!

Tomorrow is our official moving day. Technically, we've been moving stuff all week, but Dan gets the trailer tomorrow, so that's when all the big stuff will go. Tomorrow night we'll sleep in the new house. There's still a ton of work to do (finish painting, clean the apartment, unpack, etc...) but we can definitely see the light and the end of the tunnel. Right now, when we talk, we either say, "the house," or "the apartment," and it will feel so good next week to just say, "HOME."
I sent out an email to a lot of you with our new address. I don't want to post that info on a public blog, but if I accidentally skipped you (or typed in your email address incorrectly, very likely) let me know and I'll get you our new information.

I am not a superstitious person.....

Really, I'm not. I don't understand why athletes wear the same dirty socks every game of a win streak. I never "got" why leaving a hat on a bed was considered bad luck. I don't think that black cats are evil and the reason I don't care to break a mirror is because I don't want to clean up the mess. The promised 7 years of bad luck has never crossed my mind. However, for the last two months or so, I have knocked on wood and kept my fingers crossed more times than I care to admit, because, like I said, I am not a superstitious person. See, that last two months, Dan and I have been working on buying a house. It's been a roller coaster ride from the beginning. We negotiated, had a deal, the deal changed, we didn't like it. We were out, then back in, then out again and finally back in. Certainly, the deal we settled on isn't perfect (is there such a thing?) but we're happy and I am thrilled to be able to finally post on this blog that we have "officially" closed on our house!!!! Yay! I didn't post anything earlier for fear of jinxing the deal (really, I'm not superstitious), so if this is the first you're hearing of us buying a house, we didn't mean to leave you out of the loop. I just couldn't give myself permission to write about it until the deal was closed and done.
Anyway, I'll have to post pictures soon. We're cleaning and painting this weekend and next week after work and will hopefully get moved in without too much difficulty. The house is out in the country, in a lovely setting on 8 acres. We went out there last night and the stars were shining, the moon was bright and the creek was babbling. I think I'm very much going to like the sounds of our new place.
We will finally have a real guest room, so if you're in the area, stop by and visit!