Dining Room Plan 5

I love this fabric! Thank you Gramma, it's the perfect Christmas gift!

So I have the patience of a bulldog. Whatever that means, I thought it was a fun thing to say!

I can't find the iron nor the staple gun, but I can't wait another minute! The trick is to decide WHERE TO CUT my $50 per yard fabric!!! I positioned the piece over the canvas using different sections of fabric. THEN. I. CUT. IT.

Gasp!

I gently wrapped and tucked the fabric around the canvas and propped it against the wall. There it sits until I find my tools! Once it is officially up, you'll get to see the photo.

On another note, some folks dig a 6-pack. Of beer. Me? Nope, I get excited over a 6-pack of COMMAND HOOKS! Seriously folks, what does that say about me!?

I've lost my marbles. Now that we painted the entire house, I can't bring myself to push a thumbtack into my beautiful walls! I'm seriously off my rocker, this has never bothered me before! It's a TINY hole, it's really okay.

Nope.

Not me. Enter fresh 6-pack of Command hooks. Yum yum.

No tiny holes in MY walls!

I have a lovely spot to hang my jammies and my clipboard, not to mention...

This hook is perfect on the side of my Expedit headboard, loving it!

...I've become a clipboard geek, but I'm NOT going to go into that here!

These little removable hooks have made me happy today.

PHOTO WALL DISCOVERY Dining Room Plan 4 Renter Friendly

This is IT! Finally figured out a way to cover the wall with photos!

This is NUTS.

I've wanted to do a photo wall for years. At the old house, I painted magnetic paint so I could put up the photos with magnets. And it looked awesome!

BUT

Daniel especially liked to "whoosh-run" down the narrow hallway, leaving photos flittering to the floor in his wake. No good.

When we moved, I started thinking about a new photo wall, and one that actually worked. I've searched pretty much every kind of photo wall out there, but haven't come upon one that will work for me. My requirements are: inexpensive and holds a ton of photos.

John took me to Lowe's and we looked at the sound board someone on Pinterest recommended. Uh, no, turned out it isn't for me.

We looked at everything we could think of and some things we didn't too! Nothing fit the bill. I was feeling dejected and questioned whether a solution existed for me or not.

We were standing at an end cap when John pulled out these long skinny white plastic things. Immediately, I thought, "photos would fit in here"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned, baby, stay tuned, you're going to LOVE my new photo wall! Details to come after installation! Yow! This is going to work!

Dining Room Plan 3

Looks great with the silver IKEA Capita legs

We had my sister over and I have to say it was really fun having them here! I'm liking entertaining again!

I can't remember if I wrote about this, but we found more than $40 in quarters while unpacking. Happily, we put that money to good use and bought this used Expedit from Craigslist. I planned to put the Capita legs on it so it looks like a tiny buffet. I LOVE IT! Can't believe we scored on the drawer inserts, it's already handy to have a couple drawers in the dining room!

Just what I was hoping for...it will be cuter when the fabric goes up

Next step is getting the fabric on the canvas (which means finding the iron and the staple gun, sigh).

Dining Room Plan 2

The previous photo with the taped out measurements,
allowed me to get a visual on my idea

Of course there's a plan for MORE decor.

I've been looking on and off at a new dining room light fixture/pendant/chandelier. Call me crazy, but the glass "button" on the ceiling doesn't speak to me.

I'm completely magnetized to this one. And surprise, even though it's a really great price, it's ON SALE right now! I love the semi flush mount because I really don't want to chop the view of the windows with a hanging pendant light. We also move our table around, so the shorter mount allows us to not have to center the table in the room.

Not to mention the south wall! At the old house, I attempted a photo wall which failed miserably. I painted with chalkboard paint and used magnets to hold the photos. But the kids (especially Daniel) would run down the hall which formed a wind tunnel, launching my photos into the air...and onto the floor. So after some Pinteresting, I have a solution! Terribly excited about this because not only is it CHEAP, it's going to look fabulous-at least to me.

The north wall, with the three windows, has a 30" blank wall in the right corner. I thought I'd want some circle art there, but after visualizing several ideas, I think I want a 3-piece "stacking"/vertical something. And squares, not circles. Stay tuned. :)

Dining Room Plan 1

Marking off placement of black shelf,
do I prefer 24" or 36" fabric canvas wall art?

Today, there was no unpacking done (she says shaking her head in shame).

Ever since we moved in, for some reason, I've had delightful inspirations about the east wall in the dining room. I've been thinking about what I'd like to look at and what might be functional too. But do I REALLY like my ideas enough to live with them for a long time? After much deliberation, I've been evaluating that very thing...and I've decided that, YES, my vision is something worth bringing into reality.

We are on a very strict budget and dining room decor in no way ranks in priority over needing some functional win-dow cover-ings! We have some of the windows budgeted, it's a matter of making my purchases in the next weeks or so. But...somehow...this project has come all together and fallen in my lap!

In an act of curiosity, I ventured over to Craigslist, and lo and behold, I found THE black shelf my heart desires! But not just the shelf, but the matching DRAWERS included! YAY! So would it be so bad to get it? John and I discussed it and we decided to make a move on it (he JUST picked it up!) and go for it. IKEA Expedit (now Kallax) furniture is my favorite thing so this won't disappoint. The drawers make it an even awesomer purchase! I like the idea of some black in this room for contrast and POP.

There's this Marimekko pattern (Unikko/poppies in red) that makes my heart flutter. Always has. I had no idea it is available by the yard! I don't quite know what it is about the print, but I just love it, despite its simplicity. Or maybe because of it. Bold and unpretentious.

Anyways, Unikko crossed my path recently, which made me do a little surfing online. Etsy has a large tablecloth, which led me to discover it being sold by the yard-in Finland. Wouldn't it be fun to have it on the WALL? Somehow found the Marimekko store in Seattle! Bingo!

When Gramma was here for Tree Day, I got telling her about my plan. She got all inspired over my excitement and decided to give me her Christmas gift early! I choose-FABRIC! :)

So I thought I'd check prices and sizes on the canvas so I can staple the fabric over it. Yep, 50% off right now! Yippee!!

So here's the plan:
1-Expedit in black/brown with matching drawers from Craigslist (60)
2-Capita legs (get from IKEA) (20)
3-Marimekko fabric (85 on sale!)
4-Joann sale canvas (30)

Since I found the Expedit on Craigslist, and Gramma gifted me the fabric, all I really need is the canvas...

and that's what I did today instead of unpack. :)

Dining Room Curtains

Darling cafe curtains meet our needs for light filtering and privacy

The tensions rods were less than $5 each at Target and the fabric was crazy on sale. I think each curtain needed about 2 1/2 yards of fabric.

Thank you MOM!!!!

They turned out just as I imagined, only better! I really wanted to see the trees out the top of the windows, let light in, yet have a sheer separation from the road. It is so much more comfortable with some privacy. And the cats can get up underneath and sit on the windowsill. And all five are up!

So excited to have a cute pendant chandelier in here one day. Too many other projects to address first, of course.

Empty Counters

What item doesn't belong?

It's really a gift to be able to have a fresh start and another opportunity to tidy my house from move-in to live-in. Since we moved, I've been very deliberate about setting up the kitchen to be functional. For the first time (maybe ever!), I have a clear vision of what's going to work for us. 

I've put all the food we use daily under the assigned prep area and the dishes above. It's close to the fridge and I've been quite surprised how easily John's lunch goes together now that everything is really close! It's SO fast!!! Not only is each item within reach, but with a clean counter, I'm not struggling to make a sandwich. Wow, it's made preparing his lunch (before bed) so easy!

I read on online someone who doesn't store anything on her counters and since we moved, I've been making that my rule. WOW, it really helps me keep the counters clean! My brain isn't distracted with what's supposed to be there, helps me focus on keeping it empty and crumb-free! I'm in SHOCK what a game changer this is for me.

Love the prep area

All the dishes we USE are in the cabinet, clean counter, drawers contain what we USE most (ziplocs and silverware) with pantry type food below (bread, tortillas, nuts, cereal)-everything within an arm's reach!

No, felines are NOT allowed on the counters!!! Oreo couldn't help himself and you see him above getting cozy with the freshly prepared Italian sausage! He even has a guilty look on his cute little face. Bad kitty!!

Rhythms of Life

New sheets

We are starting to get our rhythms regulated! Routines and patterns are starting to emerge as we settle in. New (and old) chores abound and with that, of course, new tracking sheets! I edited the old shopping list and meal planning menu to match the new rainbow color-coordinated routine/chore sheets. Oh, I think I love forms and spreadsheets too much!

These look nice on the fridge and it gives us a starting point from which to make changes and tweaks.

Really exciting as things are starting to fall into place. I have a very long list of things I "need" to be comfortable. Items like hooks, decor, curtains, blinds, shelves, a medicine cabinet, over the toilet cabinets like we had at the old house (love those!), more bubble bath, clipboards, dining room decor (I have it picked out!), and new stuff that will have to wait (like a bed).

Hard to believe we're soaring full speed into the holiday season...kinda mind boggling that Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

Unpacking

Oreo is enjoying being in the center of things

I think it makes him feel secure to be around us. He's done exceptionally well during this transition. What a good boy! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having the cat litter in the garage and not in the master bath!??!

John took Daniel to a dental appointment while Sarah and I worked at unpacking. The kitchen and pantry are going to be AWESOME!

Tried out the laundry baskets on the landing in the garage...meh, we'll see. John and Dan got the boxes broken down near the back door and we're doing laundry at a good pace. Just more settling in.

I've been obsessing on Pinterest when I can for window covering ideas...I love the look of cellular shades/honeycomb blinds, but I'm going to go a different route. Functionality over beauty...each window has its own set of requirements.

I ran across this today, which is going to be PERFECT for the front window by the door! I'm so doing this!

Watched more of "The Flash" tonight. We need to stop eating out before we're broke! There's a specialty burger joint just down the road, it's like living nine minutes away from Dick's! A bit delicious!

Tired

This is how I feel today

We are exhausted. Plain and simple. Struggling to get on some kind of routine with John on vacation and the house only about 5% put together. Okay, maybe 3%.

It's a conspiracy. The more I unpack, the more cluttered our lives become! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around!?

I know why. The kitchen wasn't put together last week, so now as I unpack the boxes onto the counter, it feels like more of a mess. Doing a new kitchen takes some mental effort. I just keep at it.

We went roller skating for a friend's birthday tonight. It was nice to do something different with our friends! But I found myself super emotional and teary...good grief! I just "snapped" and couldn't contain my emotions when friends asked, "how are things going"? I think I'm just really tired emotionally as well as physically. We've done so much the past month!!! Really eager to press on and get the house fixed up!

Moving Took Five Days

When we left, the moon was so beautiful illuminating the road
as we said goodbye to this chapter of our lives

Good grief.

Glory day! We finished a bit after midnight with the final floor mopped! What a journey! This isn't the END, it's really just the BEGINNING! What a process to buy the house, close the deal, paint the entire interior and actually execute the move. It took a lot of help from friends and family and many, many hours, but we DID IT!

At dusk, the kids and I took a last walk around the property, which was bittersweet for me. We've had a good 2+ years here. A lot has happened relationally in our family and we'll miss this beautiful spot. We have loved living here and are so grateful for the experience. We know there's a lot of good to come, so I keep my eyes looking forward.

I get so much from blogging. I really enjoy processing the happenings of life this way. And we all love looking back and, if only for a moment, reliving some memories. Even the hard parts are somewhat enjoyable to revisit for a glimpse at the past. We were all SO DONE at midnight on Monday, we were tired and hungry and just tired some more. Moving is hard and taxing on so many levels, I'm so glad we're done!

More Packing

Last full day at old house, always a beautiful view, no matter the weather

Thank you Rhonda! I think you saved the move by letting me drag you room to room and evaluate what needed to be packed instead of doing the kitchen. I would not have been able to do today without you!

My Mom thoughtfully made us four homemade meals, thanks Mom!

Final cleaning at the new house, finished the painting, washing the floors so we can get them all dirty again!

Countdown to Moving Day

My happy color!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, MOVING DAY! Yeeps!

We could seriously use another week, but I'm glad Moving Day is happening soon! I'm emotionally ready! The weird thing is...I feel like I'm in a time warp of sorts. Each day feels like a week, so when I look back on my posts from a few days ago, I feel like it was weeks ago. Hard to explain.

Today John finished carpet cleaning and returned the machine. Daniel was the gopher-boy and Sarah washed the dining room floor on hands & knees with vinegar and water (it was super dirty after painting)! I did all the meticulous edging and finishing work in the kitchen, at least the first coat and part of the second. The frustrating thing is I CANNOT see the wet paint going on the old existing color!!! Argh!!! So grateful for the big light that Don brought, it really helped me again tonight!

And a peek...

Got the first coat of the periwinkle on tonight! OOOOOHHHHH, I LOVE IT!!!! Can't wait to see it dry and apply the second coat!!

Monday: assign 30 minutes per room and see how much we can get packed. Goal is to get things cleared off enough for the movers on Thursday

Tuesday: meet Comcast guy and finish up painting (probably 2 hours worth of painting remaining) and kids do the kitchen and laundry floors

Wednesday: last time we moved, Gramma helped us with kitchen moving day the day before the movers came. It worked out brilliantly!!! This time, Rhonda will come and help me pack up the kitchen and drive it to the new house and get it all set up. THANKFULLY, the pantry is done!!! I'm SO glad we did that last week! Mom is fixing pot roast for us, yum!

Thursday: Moving Day! We'll have the movers do the master bedroom first and then lock the cats in there with their litter box, food and water for the day where they will be safe and have everything they need. Then after the movers go home, we'll head back here to get the cats and the toiletries and sheets. We'll head to the new home and make the beds and get the cats set up in the garage and laundry. I like them to be confined for a few hours to a small area so they know where the litter box is and then we'll let them out into the rest of the house on Friday!

Friday: pack and move remaining stuff from old house and start cleaning old house

Saturday: some friends are coming to move whatever is remaining and we'll do more cleaning (windows, refrigerator, walls, floors, etc)

Sunday: we want to be out by 8pm, here's hoping!

Nearly Done in Dan's Room

Progress

Dan's room keeps getting darker and darker! It's the "cozy cave"! Can't wait to see his furniture and posters in here. He has an idea for a feature wall and some other embellishments...love his style!

Green Ceiling

The 2nd coat will bring it to a grass green

Dan decided he wants a green ceiling and gray walls. Here we go!

Dan's Ceiling

My main priority is that Dan is happy with his choice

We are starting to feel the time crunch. A week from this Thursday, the movers will show up with the moving truck(!) I'm in denial. There's so much still left to do to get the inside ready to move in and at the very same time, the days are dwindling to finish packing and clean up the inside and outside of the old house.

Fun times ahead.

AFTERNOON UPDATE: Daniel and I just had a discussion. John is in a hurry to paint his room, I can understand why that's important. But when I press Dan about colors, he's not sure. He might want a green ceiling. I don't want to rush him. And I don't want to paint his room several times, so I want to give him space to get a sense for what he might like.

More samples.

All Wall Rolling Done

Love this view from the living room!

The kitchen high places are DONE!

I will paint the walls between the upper cupboards and the counters with a brush and mini roller sometime this week. The hard part in the kitchen is done though-YAY!!! In fact, all the rolling is done!

Except, for Dan's room. We'll do his ceiling tomorrow night after he chooses his ceiling color.

Whoooooopppppeeeee, we're really almost completely finished with all the painting! OK, maybe 90% done.

Box by Box

Slowly we're getting our stuff to the new house

Everyday we load up the van, the pile in the new garage is growing! With John's back, it's been mostly the kids with a little bit of me doing all the boxes. Good job crew!

Ceilings Finished

Only three ceiling coats in the dining room and four in Sarah's-whew

We painted the flat ceilings white and the vaulted ceilings will be White Mocha. Flat ceilings include: dining, Sarah's, guest room, laundry and master plus two small hallways (bathrooms will be painted later).

Hallelujah, we did it! The ceilings are done!!!

Painting Spreadsheet

Every checked box is one step closer to finishing!

Painting ceilings, edging and walls started to get confusing really fast since we're doing everything at once. Enter my favorite tool, the spreadsheet! Now I know what needs to be done next and it's simple to see we're just over half was done according to the boxes we created. This is a brain-saver for me!

Third Coat Better Do the Trick

John doesn't have to reach as far!

John is my painting savior! I am retired from doing ceilings, they just killed me!

John did the entire "west wing" ceilings with a third coat. I'll go back tomorrow and see how they look. I think regardless of how they look, I'm going to be satisfied. :)

The frig will be delivered on Saturday, so I painted one coat behind the frig and will do the second coat tomorrow. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless!

In the end, I'm actually really grateful for the ceiling fiasco because John and I had a huge breakthrough in our relational patterns! Yay for ceilings!

White Ceilings

Super slow start, but we've cut in and edged around the fixtures

When I woke up this morning, I was visualizing the dining room. I had just planned to paint a neutral color and paint the ceilings, too. But when I saw it in my mind, I thought "that looks weird, the ceilings should be white, not White Mocha"!

My friend Lara, who is a professional painter, agreed. White ceilings on the flat ceilings and do White Mocha on all the vaulted parts.

OK, so another trip to HD (Home Depot). White ceiling paint. Comes in two gallon cans. Bought four gallons to get me started.

We actually got to painting late in the afternoon. Yay! Did some edging/cutting in. I'm tired!

I really debated about painting the ceilings white because who really needs to paint clean ceilings? I almost changed my mind, but I am SO GLAD we are doing this! The ceilings are CREAM right now and it looks nice, but not the crisp clean that white ceiling paint provides! I am going to LOVE the new white ceilings! Tons of work, but I think I'm really going to enjoy it when it's done. It will make the White Mocha walls look sharp and of course we'll feel all "clean" having painted every paintable surface! Yay for paint!

Paint Samples Whole House

Sampling some paint colors

We want an all-purpose color that will bring the molding and carpet together.

I thought I would like the left one the best, but I really like the 2nd from left. It will be interesting to see it in the light tomorrow. The intent is to cover all walls including ceilings, so I want something light and neutral.

It was really fun to be in the house today! We got all the floors vacuumed and cleaned and the bathrooms, too. Feather dusted and bought a new ladder and step ladder.

Have many things on our list (including PACKING).

We set our moving date...lots to do!

Prep for Painting

Just some of the outlet and switch plate covers!

While I was at my conference on Saturday, my family spent the day at the house. One thing on my list was to have all the switch plate covers washed and conveniently removed for painting too. Nice work!

CLOSING

SOLD!!! No longer PENDING!! Wahooo, we have the keys!

I'm PINCHING myself!!!!

Wire transfer went through in the afternoon and we met Ryan at 5pm to GET THE KEYS!

What an incredible feeling walking into OUR NEW HOUSE! YAAAYYAYAYYAYYY!!!!

We celebrated by eating dinner at the card table in the dining room...a little Panda Express and Jack in the Box! Then I went back down to the M.INT. for the last session.

We are all so excited!!!

(Sadly, we noticed another broken window pane, so we'll have to figure out how to get that fixed. And it looks like there's something going on with the caulking around the master toilet...welcome back to home ownership!)

Hoping for Keys on Friday

Both seller and buyer have signed for September 18th!

The seller signed our extension and we plan to close on Friday September 18th!

I'm starting to feel really excited now! The loan docs should be done this afternoon and we expect to be hearing from escrow on signing, maybe Thursday?

Yippeeeeee!

Another Closing Date Passed

Mount Rainier visit in August. Ohanapecosh river.

I know this is a shocker, but nothing is going to happen today.

Why? Because we have a signed amendment to close today, of course!

Thankfully, things really are moving along. The loan docs are almost done and we are discussing (real) closing dates.

This morning we submitted an extension requesting to close on October 5th. Just this very moment, I heard back that they rejected it. They are demanding an answer right away as they offered to close as late as September 28th, but not into October.

At this very moment, the entire deal hangs in the balance...waiting for my husband to respond.

Waiting...

3:14PM-Waiting.

3:34-finally hear something from John. Apparently I misunderstood, so I am waiting to find out what my husband wants to do...

We have made it over SO MANY hurdles, we only have a very few remaining. I hope we cross the finish line with a house.

Update: Our loan guy says we can close by September 18th, so we offered that in an extension, just waiting to hear back. Thursday nothing, Friday nothing, waited over the weekend as usual, Monday nothing.

OMG

We were able to see inside again a few weeks ago

ALERT! The title is  < F I N A L L Y >  recorded properly! We can move forward with the loan docs and CLOSE!!!! Yippee!!!

Wow.

Who could have had ANY clue this would turn out like this. They should have never put the house on the market back in January!

I'm feeling (cautiously) real now!

There's some discussion that the loan docs won't be ready for the 10th. No comment.

Just Be Patient

On June 25th, we noticed they put up the sold sign-sigh

I was really encouraged last week...by my landlord.

He has purchased three foreclosures and his advice to me was "Just Be Patient".

This has been helping me!

I think the part that has made this so difficult is not being given any dates, we've been completely in the dark.

July 3rd closing was missed and we hadn't signed another extension. Our loan expired. We got a relative involved who is a managing partner of a real estate law firm downtown. He's been able to talk to the foreclosure attorney on the seller's side and we at least know that the THIRD correction to the title has been filed for recording (as of about August 1st).

Just this week, we signed another extension for September 10th. S.E.P.T.E.M.B.E.R!

I just didn't know this was even possible that it would be September. Geesh, I hope that it doesn't go longer!

Ripe Plums

Our favorite store

I lost it on Thursday. I decided I was done. You couldn't talk me off the ledge. I searched on Craigslist and found two rentals to view over the weekend. We couldn't see ourselves in either house. I'm back on board with waiting for this house. We all LOVE it, it feels like our house.

On Saturday, we went over between looking at rentals and picked ripe plums from the backyard. I think about living there every single day!

No Close

The "zombie" hydrangea on July 16th

We did not close on July 3rd.

We are still w.a.i.t.i.n.g. in the dark.

In my book, Monday Aug 10th would be good to get keys. We'd be able to give notice and move before September. That would be good.

Drip, drip, drip.

Melting

Gorgeous lilies

It's hot here. I'm kinda melting.

Our new deadline is July 3rd, that's tomorrow. The day before Independence Day. I wonder if we'll hear anything. I've been checking my phone every few minutes this afternoon, but we haven't heard anything yet.

The thought of moving seems but a distant memory. I hope the reality comes crashing in-soon.

I've had to fight off the "what-ifs". I've been exercising faith instead.

Limbo Land

I will miss the wide open sky here

I've had a mind shift as I'm coming out of being sick for over a week. I feel really stuck, I'm still very fatigued and my mind feels a little mushy.

I realize that we really are in "Limbo Land".

And I've decided to embrace it. It is exactly where I am suppose to be.

I'm so incredibly grateful that we didn't close and move in May because I was so sick. Can't believe we've crossed over into June already!

Today's tasks involve taking the kids to the doctor so they can start healing as well. I'd like to make chili, which I've been doing on Wednesdays, but if that could get done, we'd have some tasty vittles for the next few days. Along with my shower, I think that's going to deplete me for the day.

House Logo Illustration

My friend John Howshall did this adorable illustration for my blog. It's just what I wanted! Thanks for the gift of your talent and time, John!

I love having an online scrapbook for my projects before and afters!

Closing Postponed

Hosta taken at photography class in Seattle

Ummmmm...

Who wasn't doing their job!?

We found out from Escrow that we can't close for a few more WEEKS!? Apparently, the bank never issued the Certificate of Sale and there's a process to do that, so there's now no closing date. This whole deal I had so neatly lined up has now exploded into a thousand pieces. I'm not sure how to even think about this. Huh.

Eight Days Until Closing

More boxes packed up today

Wow! We are getting packed and I just realized, we're eight days from closing! Still waiting on the broken window to be fixed, but that should be done by tomorrow. Feeling really excited and also a bit apprehensive because we have so much to do in the week before moving, not to mention being ready for movers by next Friday!

First Post

Our new house

We are buying a new house. I'm stunned. I never thought we'd be homeowners again.

I wanted a place to document some of my projects once we move in, so I'm excited about the future of this blog.

This photo is from March and today is May 9th...there's a field of dandelions in the front and the house looks sad, like it is waiting for us to move in and fill it with life, joy, and purpose!