Hey, So This Happened...

We moved. Surprise!

 It was a spur of the moment decision that sort of went like this ::

June 14- Jordan and I casually talked about finding a house. We then talked about a town house. Wondered about the price difference and whether it would be worth it to move. 

June 15- Look at the floor plans and price it all out.

June 16- Jordan calls the office and sets up an appointment. We go see the town house.

June 17- We give them our deposit. 

June 20- We sign the lease and they hand us the keys.

June 20-24- Pack and move everything.

So here we are, a little over a week later. It's a mess around here. We did everything so quickly that it's taking a little while to recover. Because it was so last minute we were not able to take any time off from work. We've had full weeks on top of it. 

This is the view as you walk in the front door. 

View from the hallway towards the front of the house.

Down the hallway is the kitchen/dining room/ laundry room. To the left is the closet and to the right is the half bath.

The pictures do not do it justice, this is the largest closet ever.

To the left is the dining area. It is smaller than our last place.

It also houses the pantry.

To the right of the doorway is the kitchen. We were fortunate to move in right after they had replaced all of the appliances.

The laundry is in the kitchen. I'm not a huge fan of that, but I'm all for being able to do our laundry at home.

Out the back is our fenced in "yard". We are able to do whatever we'd like out here.

We also have central air, which is amazing.

Back inside, this is the view from the front door. Door at the top of the stairs is the linen closet.

From the landing you can see Story's room and the bathroom.

Story's room overlooks the front of the house. It is bigger than her last room.

It also has these awesome double closets.

The full bath.

The house is three bedrooms so Jordan was able to keep his office.

The master bedroom is to the immediate left once you reach the top of the stairs. It is a lot smaller than our old bedroom, but is finally the size of a normal room.

Overall we are extremely happy with the move and the new house. We are estatic that we no longer live in an apartment. It's like a step up for us. 

I feel like we are a long way off from being "moved in". Posting will be sparse. I can't find the power strip to get my computer going. But we do have a few of the rooms mostly unpacked. We're getting there.

Story's Room {First Look}

I've finally taken the time to get Story's room in working order. We've been in our new apartment for about two months now, and in the state for seven?! months. It's about time I got on it. I will admit, her room intimidates me. There is so much I want to cram in there, that the sheer volume of toys overwhelms me. She's a borderline hoarder. Since we don't have a playroom, her room has to serve as a bedroom and playroom.

previous post

She still has a lot of the same toys, but we did decide to get rid of a few things. The biggest being her Princess Play Kitchen. She hasn't really used it since we moved, even though it was easy to access in her new/old room.

you can view our first apartment here

The new apartment has the same layout. But since the arrangement I had before wasn't working very well, I decided to try it a different way. I wanted to focus on the important things, things that she played with most, and tried to make getting a few other things more difficult. 

What started the whole redo was a new bedspread. She's really into everything blue, and as you can tell in the above photos, her quilt was pink. Once we picked out the new comforter, things just kind of went off from there.

The other big thing we added were proper curtains. I had added some in the old apartment, and there were some in our old house, but she decided to tear down the rod this last time. After a very sad discussion I have her word that she will not tear these down. See that only one of the shades are drawn? Yeah, I broke the other one not more than a week after we moved in... SO! Now she has curtains. I've had a set of these panels for a while now. We had them in our first living room and then again in our first apartment. This time around I felt like they matched Story's style better. I picked up the second set the last time we went to Ikea. 

Story helped me make the bed and decided which pillows should go where. The white and black pillow has the same pattern as the reverse side of the comforter. I like how it all ties in together. The lamp was a recent find at Target. The nighstand is one that we've had for a while now, but haven't had a place to put. It is far away from the bed on purpose. This way a certain little miss can't play with it during her nap ;)

Her new favorite thing is the bookcase. Her old one was broken in the move so I "loaned" her this one until we could find her a big enough one. She loves to read and is so excited to have all of her books unpacked finally. 

This corner is my least favorite area. I don't know what to do with her stuffed animals. I wanted to put them in her closet but there just wasn't enough room. She plays with almost all of them. 

Speaking of her closet.

Almost all of her toys fit nicely behind those doors. I would show you photos of it, but it's not ready. Not that her room is ready, but it's less ready than her room. Make sense?

Which brings me to my next topic : List of things left to do.

1. hang shelves

2. hang gallery wall

3. get a new book case/ paint old book case

4. hang mirror in dress up area

5. paint stripes or polka dots on one wall

I'm sure there is more, but that's the list as of now. I really want to get the shelves up so we can display all of her cute little treasures.

I hope to show you some progress soon.

In the meantime, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!


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Office Update

We are finally, really, settling in after our move. All Most of our furniture is in place. Which is a huge relief for me. I really don't like having a random table, covered with random junk, in the middle of the floor.

As I mentioned earlier, we were able to make the trek to Ikea. (which turns out, isn't that far!!! Really only a day trip ;) ) I had high hopes, and a pretty good list of things I wanted to leave with. Turns out they were remodeling most of the marketplace level. So, a lot of the things I was looking for weren't there! We also didn't have a big enough car to grab a few of the other things. But, I was able to get a new computer desk! The one I had before was several years old and was part of a three piece corner unit. It was really rickety, too tall, and was glass. Here is a refresher shot. This was taken in our old apartment.

Apt. 1

In all honesty, the office area didn't improve much. I did eventually get a new chair. I guess I never really worked on it because I had hopes that we would be getting a different apartment. Which I'm so thankful we did. I held off again, after the move, mainly because I wanted a new desk. 

Jordan put it together for me. He's the best husband ever :) I thought it would be difficult, but it turns out the base already had pre-drilled holes. So, he was able to just line it all up and screw it together. I had originally wanted a colored top, but I'm glad I went with the dark mocha. It matches the bookcases and also the entertainment center. I do think all of these pieces are too dark, but I'm working with what we have. 

Once the desk was in place, I was finally able to hang up the art work I've been saving. It hasn't been hung since we lived in North Carolina. Sorry about the glare on the frames, there really is no good time to get non glare photos of this wall.

The three Van Gogh prints were all thrifted from various locations. The small black frames were from a yard sale last year. ( seen here )

What I like most is that the desk almost looks built in. I do have plans to redo the dresser. It was originally in Story's room and was painted purple. It then moved into our bedroom and I painted it brown. Then it went back into Story's room, never to be finished. I haven't decided on a color yet. 

Overall, I really like how this little area is coming together. I have a few more pieces to hang up, and the transition into the "foyer" area. 

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Small Kitchen Updates {New Apartment}

We are finally getting around to fixing up our house. I mean, more than just unpacking boxes and piling things on the floor. This time around we're slow going. I'm working more and Jordan has just been promoted. (Team Lead!!) There is also a lot more going on, family wise. Our Indiana family sure is a lot of fun. It seems like at least once a week we are all getting together for something. It's wonderful and we feel very fortunate to have them this close in our lives again. (we really miss you Nina and Poppy though. looking forward to November)

The kitchen was the first thing we unpacked. There is nothing worse than having a non functioning kitchen. I mean, besides a non functioning bathroom, but that's easier to fix. In between carrying hundreds of boxes I put away all of the essential items. Fast forward four weeks, and it would look pretty much the same. I finally got my butt in gear after we visited my Mother in Law's antique store. We walked away with a few awesome items. One thing was this set of vintage canisters that she had painted and then added old Van Gogh photos. They are the coolest things ever. She's going to kill me for talking about them :) But, they were the first thing I really noticed when I visited their house, six years ago. When I saw them in her shop, I was sad that she was getting rid of them. Luckily they're still in the family. :) :)

I added a few more items to really make the kitchen work better. They just happen to look pretty too. I have a list of things I'd like to add to the kitchen to really make it pop.

We moved our Ikea island to create another "L" shape. Though this time we're not using the coffee bar.

While at her store we also picked up this great butcher block table. It was one they had had before and Jordan really wanted it :) It's the perfect size for our petite kitchen. The only problem with this layout is that the butcher block is a smidge too tall and blocks the drawers. We have to open them from the opposite side. Not a huge deal. I'll probably put risers under the cart.

In addition to the furniture, I hung up a few of our pretties from Ikea. ** I really miss Ikea.... I haven't been to one in about 8!!!! months... But, we get to go next week!!!!** There are a few items that I never got around to hanging up. They didn't work in our last apartment.

Apt 2

Apt 1

The biggest difference between the two apartments is the cabinets. They are older, and not quite as nice, but they are taller. it gives me just enough space to hang things from the backsplash.

It also creates more counter space. Which is ideal when it comes to cooking. I have almost everything I need within reach and still have a place for plates/ produce. 

And, because everyone loves a good before and after, I'll give you a few photos of comparison between the two kitchens.

Apt 2

Apt 1

Apt 2

Apt 1

*For more info on Apt 1*

I know the new kitchen doesn't look as awesome as the old kitchen, yet. But I have lots of plans. You have to remember, we've only been here for about a month.

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