Interior Design

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A couple weeks after moving in, we dubbed this room “The Terror Room.” I’ve been told every new homeowner has one. It’s the extra room or spot where stuff ends up when it doesn’t fit anywhere else or requires more time than you have to sort out. The stuff you put off unpacking, gifts you don’t know where to put, artwork you haven’t hung yet. Ours has it all. Or did. We finally took care of it this weekend, well somewhat. But now we need some help from you. But first, the clean-up:

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Huge piles of small, random stuff. Hands down the most annoyingly tedious to stuff to clean up.

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I organized all of our gardening accessories and antiques into boxes for now. Hopefully with some shelving in this closet, we can store things a little better until we actually get to decorating.

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Look, my wedding bouquet! Ladies, I have no idea what to do with it! Obviously it’s probably worth keeping, but is there anything I can do with it besides let it hang?

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All of our blankets and bedding, now in one place. I’m thinking a huge blanket fort might be in order this winter, if for no other reason than to see how far we can get it to stretch around the house. (Note: I tidied them up after taking this photo.)

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Neil found a whole bag of his socks. How he didn’t know they were missing illustrates another problem altogether. Is there such a thing as too many socks?

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We have tons of art and frames to sort through, for now they are still stacked against the wall. Definitely have to start painting now that the temperatures are cooling off.

As we cleaned, we noticed a few things that definitely need to be addressed, right after we finish scratching our heads and asking why and how and why people end up making the decisions they do:

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Cables through a random place in the plaster, great choice! And how about that outlet sitting on the floor? Why put it in the wall like like a conformist when you can have it hanging out and mismatched to boot? And what was the logic behind removing the molding?

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This also totally necessitates cutting through the molding. Totally.

When we finished, we hauled tons of boxes and trash out:

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And were left with this:

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Ever finish one project to find you have about five more? That’s how we feel right now, but we are excited to finally have this room ready for — something? That’s where we need your help. We put our guest room upstairs with the second bathroom, and we already have an office and a TV room, so what should we do with this room?

It’s nicely located right off the kitchen, maybe another lounge area? I mean *eventually* it could be a kids room, but for now it’s just hanging out semi-empty. We need ideas before Felix fully claims it as his new room:

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Are you there God? It’s me, Felix. I’ve been a good cat this year, please let this be my room, please!?

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1 Month!

Over the holiday weekend, we celebrated ONE MONTH in our new house. The feeling is totally reminiscent of when our relationship was new and we were total cheeseballs about every little milestone and month that passed. Even though we are at the beginning of what is sure to be a long journey, it’s exciting to know we have made some big progress in the short month we’ve been here.

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Unpacking. Our house was total chaos in the beginning. Everything was thrown every which way, we had furniture in the middle of rooms and we slept wherever we could find a place. Looking back, I don’t know how we functioned!

Backyard

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Yardwork. We’ve put some major sweat and hours into taming the yard, and while we have big plans for it that we hope to start once the weather cools down, it’s been nice having a yard that doesn’t bite back.

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Buffet Contents

Purchases. While we’ve been mostly frugal in order to be as prepared as possible for all the no-fun purchases that come with being new homeowners (there are a lot!), we still made room for a few fun purchases to make our house feel more like a home.

Our first major purchase was our Google TV, which has been an awesome edition and way to unwind at night while we work upstairs in the loft. We not only use it for Netflix, but for collaborating on projects simultaneously.

Our second major purchase was bedroom furniture, which I apologize for being pretty elusive about. The furniture looks great, and it’s ready for the big reveal, however the rest of the room is still a bit of a mess as we get organized. I hope to show you all the progress we’re making next week, because we’re definitely going to need some advice!

Our third purchase was a lovely buffet that we picked up for a steal on Craigslist. With a little furniture polish and TLC it shines in our dining room.

Compared to a new house, it feels like there is a certain courting process involved in settling into an older home. The best quote I’ve found to describe it is from Under the Tuscan Sun; it goes:

“The trick to overcoming buyer’s remorse is to have a plan. Pick one room and make it yours. Go slowly through the house. Be polite, introduce yourself, so it can introduce itself to you.”

Although we’re slowly putting our own mark on the house, it still to an extent feels like we’re living in someone else’s house. The previous owner lived and raised a family here for 45 years! It’s going to take time, and in the meantime, we’re enjoying all the little discoveries we’re making in it almost daily. It’s slowly becoming our home, and we still can’t believe it’s ours.

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I can’t get over these furniture design concepts by Resource Furniture. As a minimalist constantly looking to maximize space and minimize clutter, designs like these are a dream come true!

Have you done anything cool to save space around the house?

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Home Office Inspo

May 20, 2010

Now that our basement is clean I have it in my head to finally create a little corner for myself. I’m absolutely loving See Saw Design’s simple space with colorful accents and a clippings wall made from chicken wire. {Via Angela Hardison of See Saw Design}

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Awesome Weekend in the Twin Cities

April 27, 2010

As I mentioned in my Friday post (before I promptly disappeared for the whole weekend), I was headed to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN) for a weekend of Bachelorette activities for my best friend Anja. As I was so disorganized last week with the homecoming of our newest member, I realized about an hour [...]

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My Weekend DIY-ness

April 19, 2010

As renters, we have a lot of what I would consider “transitional” furniture. You know, the stuff leftover from bachelor days and post-college moves (I’ve moved at least once a year since 2000). Being essentially nomadic and fixing your life around academia and the job market, it’s nearly impossible to ever make the move to [...]

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My Sweetgum Wreath

April 12, 2010

Many of you have probably seen Sweetgum fruit. If you have, you probably hate Sweetgum fruit with devout passion. That annoying prickly seed that plants itself in the grass and is impossible to rake up every spring, grr! My sweet 86 year-old dear Christian neighbor Virginia can be heard cursing them under her breath. I’ve [...]

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