Something Old, Something New

I am still in the honeymoon phase with this new house of our's.  I estimate that this phase will last about 6 weeks.  That is how long it took for our apartment in Irvine to get really dirty, lived in, and all around disorganized.  And then we moved out. Perfect!  Maybe I should just move every six weeks!  We have been in this house for 8 days. Just long enough to have put everything away where it belongs, not long enough for the kids to rearrange everything yet.  I love this phase as a homemaker.

While this is not my "dream house", there are definitely a few things I love about this house.  Let me share them with you:

The master closet is enormous!  This is just the back 1/3 or so.  Empty!  I don't even have enough junk to fill the whole thing. Yet. Sadly, I'm sure time will fix that.

The "honeymoon phase" includes hanging all of my clothes so they look like a pretty rainbow.

I bought all new hangers, including special ones just for Taylor's ties, substantial wood hangers for his suits, and non-slip hangers for certain clothes that need it.  When I'm ridiculously rich I will buy 200 non-slip hangers. It's the simple things.

When we moved we left a lot of furniture behind - things that weren't worth the money it would cost to move them.  We arrived couchless. (That is a word, Blogger.) Although I promised myself I wouldn't do this... we bought a couch off craigslist.  Cheap wins. It is a decent couch. And comfortable. And the family we bought it from were the nicest people! We chatted for an hour!

The next day we bought some furniture from craigslist for Waverly's room.  It is in really decent shape and we only paid $80 for a dresser with mirror, chest of drawers, desk and chair! You just can't beat "cheap".  I have also told myself that I prefer to buy the kids' furniture used because then I can't get too upset when they beat it up.

 Does the green furniture clash with my green carpet, or enhance it?  :)

 I think this little chair is darling.

I have vowed to not "cave" and buy my bedroom furniture on craigslist!  I have had in mind for quite some time what I would like to get, and I'm willing to wait for it! Until then, our mattress will reside on the floor. And I'm ok with that.

Here is something else I'm excited about as I set up our home: The future entertainment center!  I have envisioned what I want for quite a while, and while my lack of available funds cannot make it a reality THIS pay period... I was able buy a roll of tape and let my imagination go a little crazy.

This is all based on the dimensions of the Hemnes series from Ikea.  While we're at it, let's take a vote. Should we buy it in "black-brown" or "white"?

I really like the white, but I'm afraid what our crew's "wear and tear" will look like in a couple years.

And while I'm at it... I want this coffee table and matching end tables.

Anyway, on to the rest of the tour...

This one's for Kelly.  It's a long story, but we have 14 of these white cubes.  They have come in very handy as I like to rearrange and then rearrange again all of the furniture in my house. They were especially useful in the cottage where space was tight and we had to be very creative.  Kelly always got a real kick out of how many different configurations I could get out of the cubes.  Well, Kelly, the cubes live on. As does their flexibility and usefulness.  In my bathroom...

 ...In the kids' closets... (Each room has a walk-in closet. I love it!)

... As a TV stand in the playroom...  I like the playroom as it is, wide and open. I may never get furniture for it.  The toys seem to take up all the space anyway.

Speaking of wide, open spaces.  Here is the front room/living room/dining room.  I've even cleared out all of those empty boxes, so it is as spacious as can be.  Right now it is the "pull your brother around with a belt on the slick floor" room.  Among other things.

 The pantry/laundry room.  I love it. I really love it.  I love that I can pull clothes out of the dryer, fold them, and put them on a shelf until someone runs out of clothes and decides to come put them away.  Mark my words: I will never have a huge pile of clean laundry taunting me ever again. (What? Stop laughing!)

This is what my kitchen looks like during the new-move-in-honeymoon-period where I clean up after every meal and keep it sparkling.

I am itching to hang my pictures. I love love love hanging things on the wall that make me happy when I look at them. I bought several things for myself as a birthday present(s) right before we moved. It has been like my birthday all over again putting prints into new frames and trying to decide where they should go. It is tough hanging some things when there isn't furniture in the room. I kind of need a reference point.

So that is the grand tour.  I am really liking our house.  And as long as the temperature fails to fall below 100 degrees (It is supposed to be 108 on Friday and Saturday!!) I will be very content to sit in our new home and enjoy the air conditioning.  And dream about where to put the next nail in a wall...  And maybe create some more make-believe tape furniture.  :)