New House + 3 Room Projects + Little Break

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Today I am sharing our New House + 3 Room Projects + a little break. It’s hard to believe that we have been in our new house now for over 2 weeks. The older I get, the more I realize that when you are going through changes in your life, you know that down the road, time seems to have a way of still moving forward. I don’t even know if that makes sense but for me, the stress and emotional rollercoaster of selling my parents house, that “my family” shared with them (and my grandparents) for the last 10 years was a 3+ month period that I am happy is over! I remember being in the thick of it thinking, this will pass. We will eventually move. I will look back on this period and it will seem like it didn’t happen. Meaning, the period will have come and gone. A new chapter will begin. I remember showing the house to potential buyers (we had over 26 showings) during the entire 3 month timeframe it was for sale, having 4 offers and one crazy ride with the buyers who ended up sealing the deal. During that 3+ month time period, my grandmother died and our boxer had to be put to sleep. It was such a crazy 3 months. Now, here we are, in our new home. A new chapter. New content to share with all of you. New stories about my grandfather (most recent being his upcoming marriage) and hopefully years to come of new wonderful memories.

New House + 3 Room Projects 

I took the past few days off to try and get organized. Our garage can now fit one car (my mom’s) and the basement is starting to take shape. I have a section that will be for my blog stuff, props, crafting and excess furniture pieces that haven’t found a home yet in the house. If you have been following us for a while, you know that my blog studio was over our in-law garage area at our old house. It was only just last summer, that I got my new office completed (which was my grandfather’s old bedroom) and started to feel like I was organized in the studio. As I type this post, I am sitting in a new space (which is a disaster I might add) with the same office furniture looking out a set of doors that views our front yard. This new space is off of our 2nd floor master bedroom and will serve as my office & closet. Yes, a “cloffice” project is on the horizon. 

We had our first snow storm last week which left an amazing view from our front entry area.

This was an even more amazing view. My 11 year old offering to vacuum? What the…..

My momma doing the dishes.

And the girls cleaning off their car in their tennis shoes. I am thinking that boots would have been a better choice but what do I know ;). 

We were hit with the craziest wind/rain/sleet storm this past weekend which called for necessities. Ice cream and wine. Can you relate? 🙂 

New House + 3 Room Projects

Our yard isn’t fenced yet so we (well me…) are  hand walking our dog. I snapped this picture the other night on my way back from a “pee run.” 

The 3 projects that we plan on tackling first are the dining room, family room and front entry way. These happen to be the rooms that we use the most right now. Although, we have been known deviate from projects if something else comes up first. For example, my parents have a cute den that is their TV space so if we happen to find furniture that is to their liking and in their budget, then that room could take precedence. We are 95% of the time, bargain shoppers so you know how that goes, you have to buy a piece you love when it’s on sale. That many times, dictates our room makeovers. 

Here is our current view of the family room. This space has 30′ ceilings, amazing windows and large stone fireplace. The plan is to have a mason remove the existing stone mantel and replace it with a thick piece of reclaimed lumber. Right now, the way the mantel sits, we cannot add a TV above it. The mantel is too high. I am not a big fan of TV’s above the fireplace but in this case, it makes the most sense for the layout. My thought is to have the TV “not mounted” to the stone and have it free standing. That way, we can remove it if we want. This topic is still open for discussion.-ha. Please share any ideas in the comment section below.

The next space is our front entry. This is the space you see as you walk in the front door. Our plan is to add a larger area rug and perhaps 4 wing back styled “comfy” chairs. It’s hard to believe that this 8×10 rug that seemed enormous in our old house and now it’s dwarfed in this space. Do you remember this rug in our old living room? My parents use this space to have their coffee in the morning and enjoy the view. They wanted a sofa in this space and thankfully they agreed when I suggested 4 chairs. I feel like the sofa would block of the openness of the space and would deter from the beautiful bowed window. You agree?

Lastly, this is our current dining room status. Pretty right? -ha. For the next couple months, you will probably be seeing unfinished, clusters of a mess. 

While the chandelier is perfect for the existing style of the house (which was an Old World Tuscan Theme), we are planning to swap it out. We will re-home our white farmhouse dining table (I think I am going to use it as a craft table in my studio space) and use the indoor/outdoor area rug outside on our new patio. Prior to us moving into the house, the entire first floor and 2nd floor hallway had faux finished walls. It was very Old World and Italian looking. I have many pictures that I will share down the road but we decided that having the house a neutral white color would be better for our style so the previous owner had the entire inside painted white before we moved in. Honestly, my Sicilian husband and parents would have just assume keep the faux painted walls but thankfully, I won that battle :).  This dining room, once the table, chandelier and rug are removed, will be a completely blank slate to work with. Any ideas? I am thinking a Modern Rustic theme with a hint of Tuscan. I would love a large wooden oval or round (or two) chandelier, a warm toned wooden rustic trestle table with substantial legs and slipcovered parsons chairs. That’s what I like right now. We’ll see if it ends up that way. A very large hutch with height will also help ground this space and give the appearance of a focused dining spot. Make sense? Stay tuned…..lots of things coming along with a new website design! PS. you can see the outside of our new home here.