New House Tour

We are getting settled into our new place.  There's a lot to do, but it's exciting.  We really, really, really love the house.  I think it is going to be a wonderful fit for our family.  Here is the grand tour!

Family Room:

This room was bigger than we expected.  The previous owner had some really large furniture, and it disguised the room's actual size.  While not a huge room, it makes for a  cozy yet not too crowded living space for us.  One day we hope to replace the carpet (in this room, down the hall and in the bedrooms).  But that day is far away in the future.

Piano/Living Room:

This room will serve as our piano room, where I will teach piano lessons.  And I also want to create a sitting area/formal living room in this space.  I have big plans for this room, and I have been thinking about what I want to do and how I can do it on a budget for a long time.  The color scheme will be gray/yellow with some splashes of turquoise.  I'm thinking about putting board and batten on the walls.  I'm pretty excited to see this space when it is finished.  But it's going to take a while.  Time and money are not on our side.

Kitchen:

The kitchen is the biggest upgrade for us in this house.  Specifically the cabinets.  Our old kitchen had old, homemade cabinets that were falling apart.  We also had very little counter/cabinet space.  This kitchen has so much space!  And the cabinets are super nice.  I fit everything that I wanted to fit (in our old house we stored many things in the basement), and there are still empty shelves and cabinets!  Even though this isn't how I pictured my dream kitchen (which would look something like this), it is a super nice kitchen and I'm really excited about it.  

The kitchen is going to get a new paint color.  I have been through several different options, and I keep going back and forth.  But I think I have decided on a nice fresh green color.  (A couple of possibilities right now:  Agave or Wasabi)

Dining Room:

The dining room is also going to get a new paint color.  You can't tell very well in this picture, but the dining room walls are green.  If I paint the kitchen green, it's not going to look very good with the currently green dining room.  I think we will paint it tan, the same color as or similar to the family room walls.

Hallway:

This is the hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms.  I want to do a picture collage on this big wall, but look at all the annoying boxes I have to work with:  security system, thermostat and doorbell.  Why in the world did they have to put the thermostat right in the middle of the wall?  I'm thinking I might have to put a frame around it and pretend it is just part of the decor!

Main Bathroom:

Daniel loves this color. It's a little darker in real life than in the picture. I'm not sure if it would be my first pick, but it's not too bad.  We got a new shower curtain and will be keeping the walls this color.  For now at least!

Master Bedroom:

I didn't get a very good picture of this room while it was empty.  It is not a huge room.  And the closet is covered with mirrors, which makes picture taking hard.  We're not doing much in here right now besides moving our stuff in.  I'm thinking it might get some new paint at some point in the future, but for now, everything is staying as is.

 Master Bathroom:
We have never had a master bathroom before, so this is very exciting!  Imagine being able to get up, go to the bathroom, take a shower...all without the worry of waking up a sleeping child!  Add in quiet hallways that don't squeak with every step, and we are in love with this place!

I don't have any major plans to change this room anytime soon.  I think it was redone in the past 3-4 years.  I might paint that cabinet a darker brown though.

Audrey's Room:
Audrey is definitely going to get some new paint in her room.  The wall with the window is going to be pink, and the other walls will be light gray.  She has a hot pink comforter, so there will be a lot of pink going on in this room.  I'm hoping to tame it down with some grays, black, and white, and I might throw in a little orange too. 

Isla's Room:
Isla got this room (the bigger bedroom!) because it was already painted yellow and that will match her current bedding.  So far, the girls seem to really like having their own rooms.  And since the rooms are on the same level as the main living spaces, I have found them playing in their rooms by themselves much more frequently...which I like!

Basement:
I'm pretty happy that we decided to buy a house with a basement (the first house we put an offer on did not have one).  Mostly because I am afraid of tornadoes.  But also, because it is nice to have the extra space.

 We are going to make this part of the basement an office space.

And this part will be the girls play area.  I'm still trying to figure out what to do with that large piece of storage furniture in the corner.  It came with the house, because past owners assembled it in the basement and then couldn't get it out when they moved.  I'm hoping I can try to paint it, and then use it to store dress up clothes and other toys.  It is massively huge though, and I'm still not sure how we are going to arrange everything around it and make it look good.

Other projects for the basement include painting, putting up a new ceiling (either dry wall or tile) and new light fixtures.  It is really dark down there right now, and in need of being brightened up.

The basement also has a fairly large storage area with these built in shelves.  The storage is nice, but I really want to turn this area into a finished laundry room.  SOMEDAY!

Currently the washer and dryer are in the unfinished furnace room.  I haven't tried them out yet.  They look nice, but they also look very small.  A new washer/dryer might make its way on to our to do list as well.

And the backyard is really nice.  We just bought a table and some patio chairs, and we have already enjoyed a few meals outside.  There is a hammock in the back, and the grass is really soft and nice!  The garage is also pretty big.  But it is a little scary trying to back out of the garage and down our narrow driveway!  I tried it tonight for the first time.  I didn't hit anything...but I definitely will need to practice my technique.

So that's our house.  If I have anything to say about it, we will live in this house forever.  Or at least for as long as we are in Springfield.  It will probably take forever to save enough money to do all the things on my list!