It’s beginning to look a lot like home!

Things are starting to come together.  Take shape, as you will.  Here is a look at the great room from the landing of the stairs.

I was at Lowes looking at rugs and none of them really jumped out at me.  But I decided that I liked this one enough to bring it home and return it if I didn’t when I got it laid down.

Well, it fits perfectly with my color scheme that I am going for.  It isn’t too loud and doesn’t overwhelm the room.  It just anchors the room and gives it a little pop of color.

Next, if you notice the table lamps, on the right side the lamp has a traditional shade on it but it lends itself to being burgundy.  So off to Home Goods I went and came home with some great, red, funky lampshades like the one on the left.  I can’t decide which one I will keep.  I like the one on the left and Gary likes the one on the right.  Maybe I should take a close up photo of both and take a vote:)

Ignore the cords over at the chair.  That would be Caden’s laptop  cords that he NEVER takes upstairs:)

This a view of the fireplace from the landing.  As you can tell, we have a double mantle and 18 to 20ft. ceilings.  This is the challenge that I am running into.  The picture if too small for the room but I put it above the fireplace until I find a permanent home for it.  The candlesticks on the mantle are not staying either.  Everything is going to have to be bought with LARGE scale in mind.  You can’t tell in the photo but behind the picture, they put molding in a huge square.  I am thinking of painting it the same color as the wall and adding a mirror or putting up printed wallpaper.  I have even thought about putting up textured wallpaper and painting it the same color as the walls.  Many ideas are running through my head.

Next up is the two story windows.  I was going to order bamboo roman shades but then discovered that the sun (when is shines;) rises and sets on the back of the house.  It makes watching football next to impossible so that will require the top windows be covered too.  I had a guy come out and measure the windows and after my education on window coverings, I went with faux wood blinds in a coffee color.

I had faux wood blinds in a home 10 yrs. ago and I wanted something different.  But I needed to do the top windows and doing the wood blinds allows me to have a ring on the blinds and a pole that will allow me to open and close them.

I love to let the light in and I didn’t want something that would never be able to be opened.  I do think that the coffee color will make the room pop.  With white trimmed out windows and tan walls, the coffee color will stand out and bring in some color.

This is all I have for now.  We are working hard trying to get things up and in place.  This house is challenging because of its size and scale.  It is going to take a while but we will get there.

Melanie

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for a husband who works hard to support his family and loves me unconditionally. Who treats me like his queen and does whatever he can to make me happy.

I am thankful for a son who is a great kid. Who has morals and values. Who has empathy for people and who is always appreciative and shows it.

I am thankful for parents who raised me right. Who taught me right from wrong.

I am thankful for my morning coffee.

I am thankful for all the books that are on my bookcase waiting to read.

I am thankful for sweet tea.

And I am thankful for all the friends that I have made through blogs and the internet.

I have a very blessed life.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

Over the weekend I will be working on some blog posts about our home, as we are getting some things done around here. Check back soon.

Country Girl has come to Town.

I officially felt like a city girl when I found myself in the LONG line at Starbucks this morning.

  I was headed out to the Home Goods store when I passed the Starbucks and decided that I needed a coffee to carry around with me while I shopped.  It was cool this morning and I wanted something to warm me up.

$4.00 later, I have a wonderful cup to enjoy while I walked the isle.

I think that I can now call myself a city girl again.

Melanie

Missing My Pantry:(

Pantries are something that most people don’t give a second thought to.  I ,on the other hand, am a rare breed. 

When we built our house in Florida, we took space off of Caden’s room and made me a really great space.  A pantry that was big enough to add a small desk to and a place for me to do my crafts.

Look at all that shelving! 

It housed all of my small appliances, baking supplies, and of course our food.

And that window!

So many people told me that it would look like a bowling alley since no one could envision my idea.  I knew that putting in a window would add light and make it nice and bright.

This was my little piece of heaven.  I love to cook and bake and this was one of my favorite things about our house.  I should say our former house.

Now I have a SMALL pantry and I haven’t figured out what I am going to do about it.  I know that all the small appliances will be in the basement which is not a big deal. 

But I don’t see many trips to Sam’s Club like I use to do.

Wait until you see the new pantry.  You will understand my complaint.  We now have a big house but whoever drew up the house plans, they sure didn’t cook.

Melanie

Honk if you love Jesus!

I just loved this and had to share it. This was posted on another blog that I read http://foodiemonologues.blogspot.com/. Brittany said that a friend emailed it to her and it was just too cute to pass up.

Melanie

This is my life.

We made arraignments with our builder to allow the painters to come in two days before we closed on the house, so they could get finished before the movers showed up on Tuesday.

Well, guess what?!

This was what the movers saw when they arrived.

Needless to say, the movers were not happy about having to work around the painters.

Neither was I. Dealing with three painters, wet walls, four movers, and furniture is not a good mix.

I do have to say that I love having someone else pack up my house and move it into the new location.

But I am now knee deep in boxes and trying to get everything put away. I seem to always forget how much work moving is.

Do you know how this mess makes a person with a type A personality feel? I am all about organization and being neat but this has given me hives:(

Try putting a Large kitchen and pantry into a Small kitchen and pantry. It just doesn’t work.

I am making some progress though and when I do, I will show you some nice pictures of the house instead of the disaster that it is now.

Gary has been home for the last two days but it wasn’t to help me. No, the poor thing is sick as a dog.

Men! They get sick at the right time, don’t they? LOL

Movin’ On Up.

Up north that is:)

The movers showed up bright and early Wednesday morning.They covered the columns with quilts, put cardboard down on the floor, and unpacked their wrapping supplies.

It took over 4 hours to pack the kitchen up!

The whole house was packed up in 2 days.

THANKS CSX!

I’m thinking this is the way to go:)

As I watched them drive away, I didn’t feel sad at all. It helped that I had already had 3 months to cry and get unattached to it.

I was ready for it all to be over.

And now it is.

Come Tuesday, I will be seeing the movers show up at the door of our new home and the decorating can begin.

Now that will be FUN!