A Tour of the Bones

Merry Christmas!  Welcome to the adventure of transforming our new house into our home sweet home.

After a tad bit of drama during the purchasing process, we are just beginning to take stock of everything on the 'To Do' list.  It's a long one, but we're so thankful to be starting with great bones!  The house is a California Split with a twist (meaning the master is on the main floor with the kitchen) and has some major spacious living areas, a blank canvas for landscaping, an enormous garage, plus a bathroom for everybody.  Okay, I don't know if that last one is actually a plus...I keep looking for the house cleaning fairy that was supposed to come with the deal.

Since I started ripping down wallpaper yesterday, I thought I'd better get going on a journal of our progress, so let's start with a tour!

From the outside we're diggin' the three car garage, since our current two-car garage exists as a one-car/tons of tools and bicycles storage unit.  We may BOTH be able to park under cover...novel.

The New Project

Walking through the beveled glass front door trimmed in lavender, you see a huge entry fixture (sorry, took that photo out).  It needs to be to balance the size of the living area.  This is the main living room and it plus the entry make up about 400 square feet.

Living room...can you say "Cranberry"?

The shocking cranberry flat paint fairly well clashes with the yellow toned woodwork surrounding the purple-tiled fireplace and on the bannisters.  But I do think it looks worse in the photos than in person.  Thankfully.  The purple-ly tile also graces the entry half of this room.

The kitchen is great...tons of cabinets and even a double oven (♥)!  And you KNOW I'm ready to start painting cabinets again!  Already have pulled the silver/white ceramic hardware off and the doors are next in line.

Ariel view of the Kitchen/Dining area

The laminate counter-top coordinates with the purple tile in the entry, so it will, ahem, be going.  However, we will keep the hardwood floors.  They are in good condition, just need refinished.

Just a few of the many shelves!

Down the hall from the kitchen is the master bedroom...no worries, can't miss it--it kind of glows a bit (in the dark?).  The double tray ceiling is nice and I'm excited to turn this suite into a peaceful & cozy space.

The light & bright Master Bedroom

Standing in the master closet, this is a peek of the master bathroom.  It's not the best angle, but I had to show you my very favoritest thing in the whole house.  See the vinyl just past the carpet?  Oh, yeah, baby, it's cushy.  Yup, cushy as in 'got some carpet under it'!  Bordered by a couple tacked down brass transition strips and gobs of caulk, we've got ourselves a comfy floor when stepping out of the shower!

The best spot in the house!

I do finally get a huge whirlpool tub, so I'm very excited about that!

Moving on to the top level of the house, we come to the kids' rooms.  They are smaller than the rooms in our current home, but have some nice details including the pretty Palladian window in Kai's bedroom.

Kai's room with the fantastic window.

The boys will share the hall bathroom with its double sinks and a separate tub and commode room.  

And then for our Elena-girl:  her very own suite!  Her pretty room is at the end of the hallway and includes a vaulted ceiling, walk-in closet and separate full bath.  She is beyond thrilled to have her own space and has designed a unique layout for all her furniture and some cool painting treatments for the walls.

Back down, and then down again and again, is the basement living area.  The doors you (barely) see on the right lead to 1.  The unfinished sub-basement and 2. An office, which we will use as a school room (YESSS!).  If you turn around you'll see a little hall with yet another full bathroom and a guest bedroom (#5).  Really all a lovely space that I know we'll use a ton!

Walk-out Basement

Finally, a peek at the back yard and deck.  It's sturdy and has a nice patio underneath and to the side.  There really is little to no landscaping so we're choosing to look at that as a plus since it means less to re-do.  Just starting from scratch!

The back deck

So there she is!  We have our work cut out for us, but as my dear sister reminded me, it's all cosmetic.  We are glad there are not walls that need knocked down or dilapidated cabinets to rip out etc. 

And now to the question lots of our friends and family have asked:   

Why in the world are you moving a couple miles down the road when you just finished re-doing your house?!!  

The answers:

#1 Community.  Great friends that we love and go to church with right next door and across the street.  Plus more friends and acquaintances scattered both around the double cul-de-sac and throughout the subdivision.  Kids EVERYWHERE.

#2  It was a good deal on a larger home--plus there is a community pool.

#3  What else to we have to do?  I mean really, there is lots of lounging on the couch going on around here, right?

Stay tuned.....