Rearranging the First Floor

Wine of the Day:  Vendage - Merlot

Brian and I have slowly been working on finishing touches for the house.  The wainscot is up and painted and completed! 

After seeing how great the final product looked we also decided to rearrange some furniture.  We moved the book shelves out of the dining room and into the back room by the kitchen to create more of a den.  This also allowed us to hang more of our wall art and our wine rack up.  We had been struggling to find the perfect place for the wine rack and the chalk board but now it seems we have found them the perfect homes.

 

 



We also received bar stools we had been wanting for Christmas to create the perfect breakfast bar/ hang out spot.

 

 

The wood color ties in perfectly with our dining room set and bookshelves.  It's also become one of Brutus's favorite places to nap. 

 

We have temporarily moved the loveseat into the living room but plan to rearrange the living room once we finish the basement.  For now we have a cat nap trap...

 

 

 

We've also caught Bria sitting on the chair.

 

And, I came home one day to see this owl perched on our deck railing.





After the wedding we will get all of our new light fixtures hung; also Christmas presents. We also plan to get the basement painted and furnished ASAP!

Cheers, k

First Halloween at the New House

Wine of the Day:  something festive like blood red wine

We have been doing a lot of yard work that should be blogged about but since it's Halloween I will instead show you pictures of our decorations.

I made this for the front door.  Thank you pinterest for the idea and youtube for the bow tying tutorial.

 

 

Pumpkins lead the way to the candy!

 

Of course I also had to get a mum.  My goal is for it to still be alive come Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

Finishing touch is the purple lights going up the banister.

 

Can't wait to see all the costumes tonight! 

 

cheers,

k

 

Condo Kitchen Done

Wine of the Day: Dirty Martini with Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

It just occurred to me that I never posted the "after" pictures of the condo kitchen renovation.  With everything that has been going on, I completely forgot to even take pictures of it.  Lucky for me, my mom remembered! 

So there it is; gorgeous white wood cabinets with solid surface counter tops.  The corner cabinet adds a ton of extra storage as well as the second full size upper cabinet. 

Our contractor, Bill, did a fantastic job for us.  We ran into a little trouble with the faucet but thanks to my dad's handy man skills it quickly got resolved.  Brian and I even got in on the renovation action by adding the drawer pulls and painting the space.  I decided to paint it a neutral color rather than the green it was before; the new color is the same as the living room.  I like keeping the space neutral for renters since not everyone will love the bright colors like I do.  Lastly, we hung new blinds in the window and returned the butcher block to its rightful home in the corner.  Tenants moved in earlier this month and I hope they are enjoying it! 

kara

Getting the House Furnished

Wine of the Day: Korbel - Sweet Rose

A lot has been happening over at the Kitty Compound!  We are all settled in and thankfully no more cats in the vents mishaps.  We've gotten some more furniture and started to hang art work so it officially feels like home. 

 Starting with the main floor:

We have the living room.

 

 

This is looking toward the foyer.

Then the dining room.

This is looking toward the living room.

This is a view of the buffet in the dining room.

 And finally the kitchen.

Crab clock!

The "study".

We've also done some more work upstairs:

The guest bedroom has been painted and is ready for guests!  We redid the inside of the closet, painted the walls and trim and hung new blinds in the windows.  

Guest room Eiffel Tower art work.

Lastly, we added artwork to our bedroom.

These frames were in the living room at our condo but I thought the colors in the art work were perfect with our new bedroom. 

Speaking of the condo, we are officially landlords! We had our first renters move in earlier this month and so far so good.  The kitchen turned out great and has so much extra storage in it; I wish I had done it sooner.  

The cats have all settled into the new house nicely too and they all love having the extra space.  Brutus loves to run up and down the stairs, Bria can get away from them all when she wants, and Lucy and Kahlua still like to be on whichever floor we are on.  I did find them hiding a few times when I was hanging the art work though.  I guess they don't like the hammering.

I wonder where Lucy could be?

Lucy, where are you?

Oh, there you are!

Any movement under the covers results in Brutus pouncing.

Up next, the deck.  A structural post needed to be replaced to we decided to go ahead and resurface it as well.  Can't wait for bbqs and crabs out back!

Cheers,
kara

Upstairs Done!

Wine of the Day: Angry Orchard - Crisp Apple Hard Cider

The house is finally ours!!!

As of April 16th, the previous owners were moved out and we started to move in!  There have been some major changes going on inside in the past two weeks.  We started with having our painter, Larry, come in and paint the stairway, master bedroom and master bathroom.  We are doing most of the work ourselves but with the vaulted ceilings we just figured it would be easier to hire someone with a tall enough ladder.  He also added crown molding in the stairway and upstairs hall.

Before

The master bedroom had been a beige color paint with some drywall damage and a tv attached to the wall just inside the door.  The bathroom was a dark pink color.

After

After

Now the master bedroom is painted a deep plum color (Sherwin Williams - Enigma) and the bathroom is a nice light neutral gray (Sherwin Williams - Popular Gray).  Larry even painted inside the walk in closet for us. 

After

The stairway was painted Popular Gray, crown molding was added and finally a new light fixture was installed. I don't think the stairs had been painted in the past but now they seem brighter and the fixture is much more our style.

 

Before

After

We are extremely happy with the work that Larry did and the fact that hiring him allowed us to focus on the main floor.  Also, big thank you to my mom for all of her help!

Up next, the adventures in wallpaper removal.

Cheers,
k