Monday, August 29, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Preview: New Dinette Set
Mud Room Update
I haven't really shown pictures of the Mud Room... mainly because it's a really small space. But you enter it from the garage and there is a small closet to the left and then the door to the house in front of you. Two weekends ago we decorated it... We hung the posters we got from Algonquin and a key rack from there as well.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Dear Home Depot
We just bought a house. We're certainly not alone in this type of purchase. When you buy a new home or, more specifically, your first home... You need lots of "stuff". Hoses, screws, flashlights, stain, general "tools", trash cans, etc. The list is endless. Ian and I found ourselves wandering around your store quite a few times. We would walk up and down the aisles... Looking up for a sign or something to help to us... usually with our mouths open... This is rhetorical question because I can know the answer... but why is it that you make your stores so damn confusing? Answer: Because the more you wander around the higher the chance you are going to find something else to buy in addition to your original purchase.
It would be super helpful if you could make your signs easier to read and a little more detailed. Or have customer service people wandering every aisle looking for us lost souls. Maybe design an app that contains guides to each store. SOMETHING. I think we are one of the millions of couples... fresh off of buying a new house... who are looking for the damn air filter aisle (insert other applicable section)... that just want to go home and not be lost in your stores.
Sincerely,
Two Very Tired Home Depot Shoppers
P.S. I used "damn" twice in this post. My apologies. I'm as I said... very tired. =P
Monday, August 22, 2011
State of Our Union - August Edition
The last time I did one of these... I started off with "where has the time gone?" This time I exactly know the answer to that. It has gone into purchasing, building, designing, moving into and living in this house. It's been quite the undertaking. I think I'm still a little shell-shocked. Not to brag or anything... but our house is pretty friggin awesome. =P
I have a whole laundry list of stuff that I have to do... (including laundry!) The time is filled pretty quickly. We are 99% unpacked. That remaining 1% consists of Christmas decorations and a single box of "stuff" that is slowly sucking away my soul. It's the kind of "stuff" you know you have to keep... but you have no clue where to put any of it. (Don't tell Ian... but I think in another day or so I am going to opt for that black hole abyss we call the basement.)
After a chat with my mom, I had a new item tacked to the top of my list... A full house video. I will probably end up with a couple videos of each floor. I need to ship away Cooper's 3rd Birthday present and be sad about it. This will be the first birthday that I miss. I am completely conflicted about it. I love that little bugger to death. But since I've lived in Canada I've never spent a Labor Day here. Not that Labor Day is some big holiday where glitter falls from the sky or anything... But it would be nice to have some time off to enjoy The House knowing that we aren't coming back to a big workload - everyone else will have it off too. There is a fair that weekend as well. And last but most importantly... buying and setting up this house has cost a pretty penny - airfare is costing about an arm, a leg and your first born these days... It's not easy. I really wish my mom and sister lived closer. It just plain ol' sucks. HOWEVER, I am counting down the days until they get here in December. I really can't wait. They've hosted me in their houses countless times. I can't wait to host them. Ian and I are really looking forward to it. Hopefully the weather is nice and gives them a taste of what a real Canadian winter is like - last year was practically a tropical heat wave.
The biggest news came today... We have a lawn! We were lucky enough to be the first one (I think... I haven't checked out the rest of the neighborhood...) to get pretty much a full lawn. A small section to the right of our house is missing. It is so awesome. The green really goes with our house.......... lol. :)
That is all for now... as I write this... Ian is wandering outside with a flashlight moving sprinklers around. I better go supervise.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
New Favorite Food
Friday, August 12, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
We've Moved!
After a week or so... I can officially say we are moved in. Most of our "projects" are done. Most of the boxes are "unpacked". What we are now calling the Front Bedroom and the Back Bedroom (currently empty rooms that will house guests and future kids) hold some packed boxes. But I am excited to showcase our house. It's just plain awesome.
Exterior
I haven't taken pictures of EVERYTHING. I'm mostly covering the important rooms. If you really want to see it all, come visit! I can't wait to have guests over... especially my family. December is too far away at this point. Anyway, here is the outside as it currently stands. We expect to have sod within the next two weeks. [TIP: You can click on the slideshow to get a bigger picture.]
Living Room
I am extremely happy with how the living room turned out. It's taken a lot of work on our part, the builder's and our lovely interior designer, Nikki's.
Not much left to do in the living room. In about a month our builder will come through and add another coat to the entertainment center. Then we can start filling out the shelves.
Kitchen
Oh my beautiful kitchen. I absolutely love it. Every upgrade we did in the kitchen was totally worth it.
I can't wait until we get the dinette table and chairs and the barstools in. This will complete the kitchen along with some wall art. We are considering getting a piece to go up against the dinette wall too.
Dining Room
On to the dining room... like I say in the video - I can't really get the color to come across. It's called Barley by Benjamin Moore. It pulls out the yellow in the fabric on the chairs. In the pictures and video, the chairs look very green.
I have an idea for a large framed piece to go right between the two windows. I would like to change out the chandelier and get a "serving" hutch (if such a thing exists).
Office
The office was just finished yesterday. I love the placement of my desk (the one on the left). At the apartment my desk was too far from the window for me to see out.
This will be one of the first rooms that gets blinds. I love the giant window though. Eventually there will be a small chair in here too. The hardwood has a small crack in the center of the floor. This will be getting as soon as possible by the builder. You can't tell unless you're looking right at it.
Main Bath
Another room that is hard to capture on film is the Main Bath. There are no windows so the wall color comes off aqua and the countertop looks super orange. For the record, Ian made all of choices for this room. I think it turned out perfect!
I don't think there is anything left to do in this room... it's ready for guests!
Laundry
One of my favorite rooms is actually the Laundry. Lol... mainly because the washer and dryer we got are AWESOME.
I'm sure most will think I'm crazy but I would like to paint this room. Because of the window, the door will usually be open. I would like it to at least be pretty!
Master Bedroom
The Master Bedroom is definitely a work in progress.
We've ordered a new bed from Pottery Barn (the one I posted about awhile ago). The new sheets match the wall colors... it's going to be beautiful!
Ensuite
The Ensuite (or as it should be known... the Master Bath!!!) is looking really good too. I mention it in the video... but the trim for the shower is wrong and will be changed out once it comes in.
There will white shelves that go up on one of the walls over the tub and a piece of art on the opposite wall. Someday. =P
Remember the Adirondack Chair Project? We didn't get much use out of it because it was on the balcony. Ian isn't such a fan of heights... But they fit on our front porch perfectly! Here Ian is enjoying them...
Overall, we are really, really happy. The house isn't perfect... but it's damn near close. The House will soon become The Home (I need to stop being so scared at night~). A big thank you to Maureen, Duncan, Drew and Rod for helping us move. It was a crazy few days... but as of today we're pretty much settled in. It's nice to finally be settled.
