House Update

Helloooooooooooo if any of you are left out there! Has it really been since January that I have updated my faithful blog? It's high time I extended a home related post to my followers. Last time we talked home biz, we were tying up lots of loose ends around the house and were in the early stages of furniture purchasing. When 'finishing' a house, you think it's a matter of picking up a few big pieces of furniture, a rug or two, a lamp, some pillows and that's it. I have learned through this whole process just how wrong I was. The house seems to have layers, upon layers, upon layers of needs - and when one need is met, another you never noticed suddenly starts screaming out at you. This could seriously become a never. ending. spending. spree. But, we've been chugging along on this bottomless pit of expenditures and taking things one step at a time - often one piece at a time. Trying to remain steadfast to our Dave Ramsey principles of adopting NO DEBT on this journey means we often move along at a snails pace. But we are making it happen and it is that much more rewarding knowing we own each thing free and clear! With all that jibber jabber, I should tell you just WHAT we've been up to. I promise in the coming weeks to get some high quality photos up of the 'finished' and 'furnished' house - but my camera stinks, we have a few odds and ends still awaiting delivery (like a chair/ottoman for the family room that we've now been waiting 10 WEEKS for and a custom built campaign-style media cabinet that is going to be an absolute STUNNER!) AND I'm just heading into my key nesting weeks of this third trimester which can only mean my house will be polished to the nines in a matter of time. Once I get it there, you can bet I'll be documenting it as no more pregnancies for this mama means it will never look that fabulous again;-) Ok, so here's a running list of what we've done/purchased: - We are FINISHED purchasing window treatments! We added honeycomb shades to our family room french doors and a fabric roman shade in the kitchen that is a perfect fit! - We wallpapered the kitchen in an absolutely gorgeous charcoal/white graphic paper. The arches and cabinetry really do pop now. - We purchased a couch! - We purchased a small laptop desk for the family room. - We purchased a dining room table and 8 chairs. - We bought an additional dresser for our bedroom - one of the ones I had my eye on forever! - We upgraded our 13" TV that we bought with gift cards from our wedding 6 years ago. That TV now resides in the playroom downstairs - We've added some wall art in the playroom - We've expanded the gold framed gallery wall that climbs our staircase. It now wraps 3 walls vs 1. - We purchased a french style arm chair and ottoman (still awaiting delivery - supposedly next week). - We searched the globe HIGH and LOW for a media cabinet to suit our needs to no avail. So we designed a cabinet instead, chose a cabinet maker and it is currently in production and scheduled to be ready by 2nd week of April. - We had our laundry room walls painted - Jeff is literally down in the basement as I type this repairing, self-leveling and epoxying the laundry room floor. - We have chosen an IKEA cabinet system for a little laundry work area we hope to complete by the end of next week. - We had all of the wood work in our house re-caulked and repainted. First 4 seasons with new woodwork means a re-caulking and re-painting post expansion and contraction. - We bought and hung a Venetian glass mirror in our powder room. - We bought the dining room light fixture from Belgium, had it rewired for US wiring and installed in our dining room. - We bought new lamps for our bedroom that suit the space JUST right! That's everything I can think of off the top of my head...not too shabby! I have about 4 odds and ends still hanging out on my punch list - all of which I'm on a mission to accomplish before this baby is born (only 9 more weeks). In the meantime, this house sure is treating us right. We absolutely love it here and feel more at home than we ever have. We are anxious to get out into the yard and get some plants in the beds we created last summer. Stay tuned for photos coming soon!