So we're homeowners, and it's kind of crazy

Note: this is going to be sloppy cuz for some reason a few photos refuse to display correctly--they insist on lying on their sides when they should be standing upright. Boo.

It hasn't really yet sunk in because we're still very much unpacking. I now auto-pilot home from work to the new place, but it all still feels kind of surreal, almost like vacation--you know when you've settled into a hotel room enough that you feel "at home" but you're still strikingly aware that it's not really home? That's where we're at these days.

By this point, we've got the main living areas just about right, save a few furniture tweaks--they were the main priority since those are where we spend the most time, and the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom especially needed to be fully functional. That means, of course, that our peripheral rooms are frozen in time from moving day and are box wastelands.

But enough of my gibbering. Here are some photos!

I took this photo this morning as I left the house (it's been too dark when I get home to get a good shot). Here we are looking nice and autumnal. We hope to pick some pumpkins this weekend, and John is thinking about some corn stalks or something. So we'll see how it evolves. We have to be ready for trick-or-treaters come Halloween (which is disturbingly close)!

John and my dad trimmed a lot of low-hanging branches from the front lawn trees on Sunday so now you can actually see the house. The branches also no longer sag right onto cars in the driveway. It feels so open. I made the candy corn garland you see in the bay window and on the door from a kit from Paper Source. I think they're adorable. Plans for the front garden include ripping out the lirirope and mealy hostas from under the bay, and planting 1 or 2 hydrangeas there, along with some seasonal annuals. I'd like to also eventually add some sort of border for the garden bed--perhaps some sculpted bricks or something. The front door and mailbox could also use a fresh coat of paint eventually, and we'll need a door knocker and numbers to put on the house. A later-later project is to replace the exterior lights on either side of the door. But for now, I think it's quite welcoming.

When you step inside, you enter the living room. We are so in love with our paint colors. The living room is Spring Valley. I spent a lot of time on the Benjamin Moore site, and when I presented my ideas to John, he was on board immediately. Thank goodness. The idea for the house is a light, comfy beach cottage vibe. We are smitten with all the historic details in the woodwork and layout--I don't mind the separate rooms because there are so many windows and doors and pass-throughs it all just flows together so naturally and doesn't feel cut off at all.

I don't know why this keeps loading sideways. Sorry. : (

From the living room, you walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen. The dining room sports a bay window and also a regular window on the opposite walls. Oh, and those two charming pass-throughs that peer into the living room. The dining room is painted Pilgrim Haze by Ben.

Once through the dining room, you're finally in the kitchen. Can we stop for just a moment to see how many people I can fit in this kitchen?! In the apartment, if John and I were in there it felt like suffocation. Here, though, I can have a little kitchen party, and there's even a spot for two barstools on the other side of the counter at the foreground of the pic immediately below.

The two large RubberMaid bins are in front of the cabinets because the doors don't stay closed. I plan to pretty immediately change the hardware and hinges because they are just really, really gross and cannot be cleaned. I hope this will help the doors close a little bit better, but if not, we'll get some small child locks or magnet closures to help them stay closed--Hammy has already climbed into the under-sink cabinets, which is no good!

Oh, hello sexy stovetop...that long center burner is begging for a griddle pan.

Beyond the kitchen is an addition to the house from probably about the 70s or 80s. It houses the laundry area and the house's only bathroom. Yup, you read that right: the only bathroom is downstairs, at the very back of the house. I'll let that sink in for a moment. I have no pics of the bathroom for this post, but here's the laundry area (the bathroom entrance is to the left in this pic), which is full of random stuff and furniture that is kind of useless now that we actually have adequate storage. The sheer panel that looks like a Chinese screen is the covering for the sliding glass door. That, along with all the curtains you see in photos, was left by the sellers. What looks like a wooden panel/bulletin board to the right is actually a box that covers the outmoded in-wall air conditioning unit. We may put something there to hang coats or maybe laundry that needs to air dry a bit. The jury is still out.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms. Ours, one that's perfect for guests, and one that we'll use as an office since it's very small. The sellers used it as the nursery for their wee one. Our room is good to go, and you'll see the descent into chaos in the other two rooms since that was the other area we dumped stuff we weren't quite sure what to do with.

 

Office...or cardbard graveyard.

Guest room (sellers left the twin bed frame--score!)

And that, folks, is where we stand right now. More to come for sure as we work work work. I'll have to post some outdoor pics once I begin attacking the garden. There is SO much to rip out. In addition to the front, there are tons of plants I want to replace in the backyard, and there's a long skinny garden alongside the driveway. That one has a few things I'll save, including a coveted hydrangea, but pretty much everything else will go.

For now, we are turning our attention to winterizing: thermal curtains, stopping up any gaps in baseboards, etc., and replacing a few windows.

Until next time, love from The Cottage.