The Juice is worth the Squeeze: Pictures of the House

So I told you some of the things we did to the house before moving in (Paint and hardwood floors) and as promised now I'm just showing off. I'm seriously in love with our house. But to really appreciate some of it you have to see the before and after to grasp the transformation from just some house into OUR home. After all - everyone has their own sense of style and I know mine is not for everyone. But it's now very "US".

One that I think would surprise people who know me well is how proud of I am of our dining room. I don't think I come across as a "formal dining room" kind of person. And I would agree that I'm not the stuffy type you normally see on like house hunters who insist on a formal dining room - BUT I have the antique set from my Great Grandmother whom I was named after. And as a single woman I had picked the print that's now hanging above it (You can't tell but it's a photograph of the grand canyon so really ties in with the reds), and the wall sconces on either side (Have desert flowers pressed in the center that are tan leaves and burgundy flowers so it goes perfectly with the print), and dear friends and family have given us the various crystal pieces and they mean a lot to me so suddenly we have a very put together and elegant looking room! And I'm just in love. Admittedly this is the room where Jeff had no influence over. It's all me. I'm just happy he agreed and liked everything I said.

Then the room we obviously spend the most time in - the family room.

I wasn't so sure on Jeff's choice of "Amazon Mist" (aka a sage green) for the kitchen and family room but now I love it because it really picks up the colors of the print we have of the snake river. Right now we have the ottoman in the corner just holding blankets and Chicago Pillow Pets (Tommy Hawk and South Paw) but I'd like to get two armless chairs from Target for either side of the entertainment center. Mainly so that when either family comes to visit we have seats for every adult.

Many believe the heart of the home is the kitchen. I think I've said that I hate the counter tops (laminate) but if I have not said it yet - seriously I HATE them. I think it was done poorly by a previous owner because the caulk line around the sink is globby and awful, the backsplash is nasty colors and around the window they got lazy and didn't even cut pieces to fit. But aside from hopefully getting those replaces next year (and then new appliances to follow) it's a nice layout. This picture is two weeks old because we've since unpacked more boxes, put the door back on the pantry and installed blinds on the windows. What I am most thankful for is that the linoleum floor is gone YUCK. Not that there can't be nice tile or even decent linoleum in a kitchen but seriously that screamed 80's to me.

That first door on the left (between family room and kitchen) is the powder room. The "Windsor Haze" blue color I chose is beautiful in there and really plays well with the Claude Monet print Jeff's parents gave us a few years ago when they redid their master bathroom. And I spent more time than I care to admit to pick out those towels so the collage pic had to have them when showing my mom how the room ended up.

The Master Suite - this was a sticking point when looking for a house. We wanted an en suite that had double sinks and separate tub and shower. Call us spoiled, but the townhouse had this and once you've had it you really can't go back. I am a bath lover. I take 3-7 bathes a week so it needs to be heaven.

It's hard to tell from the pic but that color is a light gray, our bedroom is a shade darker gray and accent colors of both rooms is khaki so things really flow well from one room to the other.

Now the rest of the house is just bedrooms and the one room you got a small glance of in the foreground of the dining room. I don't really know what to call it. In house hunting speak, it's the Living Room - but we don't need a formal living room with the family room just steps away. So I've referred to it as the "front room" but that sounds so old fashion and southern. I'm not receiving gentlemen callers there or something. It's Jeff's desk and office stuff. But also our bookcases so my parent's joke we should call it either the Library or the Study - either of which sound waaaay too stuffy and more sophisticated than what you should call a room with a hand-me-down La-Z-Boy amiright? So I've been caught still calling it the front room and sometimes the office.