Holding Out

If you hadn't noticed, I haven't exactly been forthcoming with "after" photos of our new house.

I have selfishly been waiting for all of our furniture to be moved in (meanwhile, it is "staging" our home across the street), all pictures to be hung, all decor to be in place, a perfectly clean and in-order house plus some great lighting to take photos with the "good camera" before I was going to share the final product with you.  All in a detailed photo strip with 'before' and 'during' photos, naturally.

But then I came to my senses: none of these things will be happening in the foreseeable future!

Meanwhile you have been following along (perhaps by default) with our project since October, patiently waiting for an end result, and I have failed to give you a proper finale.

Shame on me.

So, selfishness aside, here are a few snapshots.  With my cell phone.  Still settling in.  No prior prepping (okay fine - I windex-ed the fingerprints off the glass door and wiped down the stainless steel...for the millionth time).

Enjoy :)

Welcome.

It's hard to tell, but there is an interior glass door with a painted panel around the perimeter.  Eventually I would like to paint this an aqua color to make it pop from the street view.  Right now, it is a light brown which I like just fine, but it's nothing special.

When you walk in the door, you are currently greeted by...nothing.  And it's driving me nuts.
I have plans to refinish my Mom's old hutch that I would like place against the back wall.   I am also entertaining the idea of a large mirror mounted over a reclaimed wood console table.  Maybe both.

To the right is our living room.

I am loving our new "knock off" West Elm couch from American Furniture Warehouse (we know better than to spend a fortune on furniture with small children).

I am also particularly fond of this Craigslist find.  $40 was a steal for this beauty.

Now that's a mantel!

I feel torn about the rest of the space, however.
For instance, the fireplace.   It needs some cleaning up, especially around the hearth and I am undecided on painting it.  White?  Grey?  Strip to original?  Pop of color?  Leave as is?  Decisions like this keep me up at night, people.

And finally, a shot from the back wall.

From the living room, you enter Lolo's room.  That rod iron headboard is actually a decal sticker.  Not bad for twelve bucks.

We decided to keep the kid's walls neutral and I am glad we did.  Otherwise, I think we would be on pink overload in here!

Logan loves showing off her "own" closet: something she shared with Weston at the old house.  We added Ikea custom closet units to all of the closets in the house to maximize their tiny space.

Next up is the Jack n' Jill bath connecting the kids rooms.   They love making circles around their rooms with this bathroom.  Cute.  You can see from the photo, the linen storage space.  Dave built this and it's the perfect addition for extra storage!

Enter West's room.

He too has his own closet, although not as much showing off goes on.

Oh hey, sleepy Weston :)

It's probably no surprise that the kitchen is my favorite space in the house.  With new appliances, a quiet dishwasher, ample storage (for an old house) and an under mount sink, it's a dream.

I like to call it "white on rice".
White cabinetry, white marble (or rather, engineered quartz), white subway tile backsplash, white grout and paint in "Moderne White". 

I interrupt this tour for these adorable shoes.  Ugh, love!

And the pantry with roll out shelves? Drool-worthy domestication.

This is my favorite feature from the "breakfast bar" side of things.  I love the glass shelf to display a few of my favorite items along with our bar glassware.  The liquor cabinet is below, making it a self serve area for guests.

The third bedroom upstairs if the one-day office.  For now, it's our catch all room where I mostly keep the door shut :)

Downstairs is the kid's playroom...

and our soon to be master bedroom / mattress on the floor college dorm room.

Along with the second bathroom...

...and the laundry room (my second favorite space).  Seriously.  Our new washer does not have an agitator and can wash towels and quilts without sounding like an earthquake.  It's amazing.

We love the large backyard and a garage sale playhouse was the first white trash, I mean fun, thing to adorn the yard ;)

I have big plans for an outdoor living room of sorts complete with a farm table, hanging lights and shade sails.  Chris tells me to hold my horses for a while before any new projects...  We shall see.

Future "urban garden" perhaps?

Needless to say, we are enjoying the fruits of our labor.  Thanks for following our renovations!

And three cheers for simultaneous uninterrupted nap time to get this post done!!!