Home Sweet Home

We got the keys to our new house on Friday night, and yesterday we started right in on some of the pre-move renovation projects we had planned. I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures I took of the house last week, though certain things (like paint colors) are going to be changing in the next week or so.

This is the front of the house again:

Yesterday we took down the storm door and removed the plants from the front porch. We will be taking out those bushes, painting the front door red, and adding (white) planter boxes under both of the front windows. . . which I will then fill with red geraniums, of course. ;)

This is the living room:

We will be changing the paint in there to a light taupe and eventually replacing the fireplace insert. This is a good shot of the hardwood floors in the house, though, which are one of our favorite things about it. :)

Dining room:

The purple paint is NOT staying. However, it was painted on top of some old wallpaper, so yesterday, pretty much the first thing we did was take a couple of scrapers and start tearing all the wallpaper/paint off. Right now this room is an awful mess, but it should only improve from here. ;) I haven't decided what color to paint it yet. I was thinking about maybe a deep red, or possibly a dark smoky blue. Our dining room furniture is all black. Suggestions, anyone? :)

This is the office, which will also be repainted, but probably not before we move in. I can't decide what color to paint it, and we agreed we can both live with the green for a little while. :)

This is a shot of our backyard:

Dan is quite the plant and gardening guy, so he has all kinds of plans for the backyard. He wants to tear out that reddish patio and replace it with a flagstone patio. He also plans to remove several of the shrubs and trees and re-landscape the whole thing to allow a little more sunlight in.

Last but not least, this is the loft, which has a sitting room off to the side and its own (half) bathroom:

We hope to eventually turn this into a master suite, but we aren't ready to undertake that project just yet. :) It will entail moving some walls, enlarging the bathroom into a full bath, and possibly even some major changes to the roof/exterior. In the meantime, it is going to make a great hobby area and/or home theatre room. :)

Pictures I didn't post: the kitchen, because I just couldn't get a decent shot with the lighting, and the main floor bath and the two main floor bedrooms, because they won't really look like anything until we get our furniture in. Give me another month or so for those. ;)

While we were at the house yesterday, I got to meet our new next-door neighbors. They are a young couple with a daughter, and they moved here last July from Austin, Texas. The wife, Erika, told me strictly not to cook on moving day, because she's bringing dinner over. :) It hadn't even occurred to me to pray for nice neighbors, but it looks like God has blessed us in that respect without us even having to ask. We are so thankful for the way this whole house-buying process has gone. There has been barely a bump or a wrinkle and we couldn't be happier with the home, the neighborhood, and as it turns out, the neighbors. :)