Category: home

It’s Nice To Share

As you probably know already, David and I are relatively new homeowners. We bought our house in December 2008 and moved in this past January. It was in great condition, but since it was built in 1983 and an older couple owned it before us, not everything was quite to our taste. Eventually every room will need to be redecorated, but right now we’re just starting a little at a time.

Although I’m not 8 months pregnant, I have been feeling the nesting instinct. Maybe it’s just a female thing? I don’t know, but lately I’ve been addicted to watching HGTV and scouring the internet for home decor and furniture ideas. I wanted to share just a few of the resources I’ve found with you.

1. Young House Love – I’m addicted to this blog because it is written by a young married couple (John and Sherry) almost exactly my age who have totally redone their 50-year-old ranch house after two years. The blog has become Sherry’s full-time job and they now offer design services for others as well. Every Monday there is a great giveaway, and they are extremely responsive to readers. I love their taste and know that I’ll be using tons of their ideas in my own home because they are young and know what it’s like to be on a budget!

2. Bower Power – Katie writes about life in general but focuses on the home. She is also young and a somewhat newlywed, and it’s always great to connect with other people in my similar walk of life. Her blog is full of ideas, and I especially love her humor. I think that we could be BFFs if we met in person, but unfortunately she lives in Atlanta. That, and the fact that we haven’t even met online yet, considering I’m not extremely assertive in my blog reading habits. Hmm, hope she isn’t creeped out by this!

3. Houzz – You really just have to check this out yourself. It has tons of pictures and ideas, and if you set up an account you can save pictures to customizable “ideabooks” of your own. They have a feature where they interview design bloggers and show pictures of the blogger’s home. At the end of each interview there is a giveaway, and I’m excited to say that I am the most recent winner! I won this:

Wouldn’t it be super cute to put in an office, or eventually a nursery? I’m so excited! This giveaway was chosen by…

4. Ish & Chi – I just started following this blog after I saw Vivian’s interview on Houzz, and I am hooked. It has a perfect mix of pictures, ideas, and inspiration. Plus, she lives in Sydney, so that makes her extra cool.

I hope you enjoy these links! Let me know what you think, and if you have any similar blogs that you stalk, please share!

June 8, 2009
Ode to a Second Home

This is the home of my good friends Bridget and Dave. They are the ones I have been house-sitting for since 2006. They take lots of vacations, so I’ve spent a whole lot of time there. It’s a place that makes you feel immediately comfortable, and I love so many things about it that it became my inspiration when we were looking to buy a house of our own. I’m happy to say I think we actually ended up with one quite similar!

Anyway, Bridget and Dave are moving this week, and I am very sad about this. Of course it’s mostly because I have to say goodbye to them (and their dogs Teak and Riley, who were the real reasons for my house-sitting), but I’m also really going to miss their house. David and I have spent a lot of quality time there, and have had some important conversations under its roof. I was staying in this house when I graduated nursing school and took the NCLEX. I’ve had lazy, relaxing days there and sleepless, stormy nights. It really has been a second home.

Let’s take a tour through their cute little house, so I can always remember it.

This is what you see when you walk inside the front door. Yes, you will probably see the backsides of doggies Riley and Teak as well as that gorgeous grandfather clock.

They call their house “Wild Peacock Bed & Breakfast” because there actually ARE wild peacocks that live in the trees around their neighborhood! You can see them wandering the streets and hear their squawks quite often. Here are some peacock feathers that they collected and added to the decor of their home.

The main living room where I spent most of my time. I love how the walls are painted wood paneling. Those fans are amazingly powerful, by the way. We bought one for our living room but had to return it when we realized we couldn’t add a light attachment.

Another view of the fireplace. I’m thinking of painting the brick around our fireplace white too, because I like this so much!

The other side of the living room. Comfy couch, built-in wall of bookshelves, leads right into the kitchen, so lovely!

This plate always sits on the bar in between the living room and kitchen, and Bridget updates the saying on it as the seasons change. I think I might like to have something similar.

A cute little breakfast room that always had fresh flowers when I was there. And all of those pictures on the wall were taken by Dave.

I love an all white kitchen, especially with the bamboo accents. Makes that pretty orchid really stand out!

Just for posterity’s sake, here is the guest room where I slept so many nights.

And let’s not forget the lovely patio! I want to put pretty cobblestone like this down on ours so bad, but that project will have to wait until we actually get some furniture!

Their house wasn’t on the market for two days before they got an offer! I’m jealous of whoever gets to move in. But it won’t come with these guys:

Two of the cutest (and neediest) doggies around! I sure will miss it there.

Pictures of my own house coming soon!

June 7, 2009
I’m Like Job, Only Not

I feel as if Someone out there is messing with me, trying to figure out exactly how many tiny annoyances I can take. Each one in itself is nothing to write home about, but the inconveniences just keep coming and it is driving me slowly out of my mind.

1. Our lack of furniture, and how we ordered it over three months ago and in the end just canceled in frustration. We continue to eat every meal on our laps or using TV trays.

2. A myraid of computer problems which, unfortunately, you already know too much about. And when I finally got my computer fixed up, our internet went out. I waited around the house all day long yesterday on my day off for the cable guy to come out and fix it, and of course he comes 5 minutes before his window is up. Then he tells me that our outside line is really bad and it will be a few days before someone ELSE can come out and fix THAT.

3. I’ve had this sore in my mouth for two weeks now. It’s finally starting to heal, and lo and behold a new one is popping up.

4. The lock to the driver’s side door of my truck is now broken. No big deal, right? I can just get in through the passenger side door. Nope. That lock has been broken for years. Since my truck is 10 years old and we’ll be getting rid of it when we have kids anyway (we both have trucks with tiny jumpseats in the back), it’s not worth putting money into to fix. So I just took everything valuable out of it and I’m leaving it permanently unlocked. If it gets stolen, oh well. I guess it’ll be time for a new car.

5. For whatever reason, a muscle in my back is really aching today.

Well this ends my venting session. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time here today!

June 3, 2009
Need Paint Color Advice Quick!

Here is a sneak peek of what the new painting looks like in our house. These pictures were taken with my iPhone because I don’t know how to upload pictures onto my husband’s computer with my camera just yet.

Here is the breakfast room before:

Here it is after the wood paneling was painted:

The light fixture and the blinds will be gone soon. This color scheme is carried throughout the living room and the kitchen cabinets are now white. I’m showing you this picture now because I have the weekend off, and I’ve recruited some willing and able volunteers (by the name of Dad and Mom), and I really want to get the walls painted (the part above the white/green paneling. It’s only in this room and a small amount in the kitchen.

My question is: what color? So far I’m thinking either white or a more tan/brown neutral. The fireplace in our living room is a creamy tan brick, our couches are beige, and we will have espresso furniture whenever it comes in.

If you have any ideas or an opinion at all, please let me know now! I want to buy paint tonight or tomorrow morning.

Not my best post here, but I’m in a hurry – gotta get to work! Kthxbye.

May 22, 2009
Whew

Alright. So. Sorry about being gone for a week and then coming back with a really depressing post. But some things I just have to write about. If you’re wondering, my patient died yesterday and it was sad. I was glad that I was able to be there for the family, but it was a very surreal experience for me. I’ll just leave it at that.

On to happier things! The painters finally finished with our house last week so we are back home. It’s amazing what a difference my own bed makes. When I walked in the first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t painted exactly how I had asked it to be. But once I put furniture in the room and lived with it a few days I realized that I like it this way. So that’s good. The painters charged us $400 more than they said they would, and they painted a drawer in the kitchen shut, but let’s not focus on the negative.

I am really looking forward to showing you the pictures, because there are still some parts we need to paint ourselves and I need advice on what color. However, there is still the issue of my computer. The good thing is that I think I recovered all my data, and it only cost $100 for software and an IT savvy brother-in-law, who is now attempting to fix my busted hard drive. It’s going to take some time for me to sort through those files and make sense of them, but I’ll be working on it.

I had the day off today and got a whole lot done around the house. I learned how to install a doorknob, and in the process I also learned that standard doorknobs don’t fit in our doors. I’m not quite sure what the solution to that problem is yet, but I know that our old knobs have got to go. I also went for a swim, and although swimming is definitely getting easier for me I still have a looong way to go to be able to make it triathlon distance without killing myself.

I think that pretty much catches you up on the past week. It’s my bedtime, but the Dancing With the Stars finale is on and I DO have my priorites. I’m postponing sleep so I can (hopefully) watch Shawn Johnson take home the mirrorball trophy!

XOXO,
Kathleen

May 19, 2009