Six months ago, we closed on our new house. We moved in shortly thereafter. Now that we’re settled, it really about time I share the pictures of the inside. In fact, I can’t believe it’s already been six months.

Since January 29, we had the wood floors refinished, completely replaced the roof, and moved in. We have all the framed artwork that we own up on the walls. The wonderful thing is there are so many walls that we still have space left for more!

Note: Wow, this post ended up long. No hard feelings if you don’t want to read it all. 🙂

Since Ryan is back to traveling starting this week, I’d determined to get back on a regular schedule of cleaning the house. No more excuses, despite the summer weather. My goal is that every Thursday I spend the entire day getting the house ready for his return, including:

• sweeping (which should be a daily task) and mopping the hardwood floors
• cleaning the bathrooms, including the counters, mirrors, floors, toilets, and tubs/showers
• scrubbing the kitchen counters and emptying the sink, including the microwave
• dusting the living, family room, and bedroom
• vacuuming all the carpet (there isn’t very much of it)
• cleaning my office desk (I tend to pile things on it; this isn’t really for Ryan’s sake but rather for my own)

I started this morning, entertained Visiting Teachers for an hour, and was done by 3 p.m. (including taking 1 1/2 hours of Paul’s nap time).  Paul was very “helpful” when he’s awake. In addition to regular cleaning, I want to do one other major or minor house project a week.

Expensive House Projects

If I consider how much money we spent on floors, a new roof, and moving, certainly I could get a lot more basic house maintenance done in the next six months too!

• A new water softener (very urgent; my hands are chapped)
• Repaint the garage door (it was paint balled this week, and the bright orange paint won’t come off)
• A new dryer (ours is slowly dying, so the next six months will probably bring this needed appliance)
• Repaint all trim on house exterior (optional, I suppose, but it’s looking bad)
• Re-seal and repaint the house exterior (optional, I hope)

A Tour of My House

Entry

I’m pretty happy with the main entry to my house. I love it, in fact. Do you think the entryway needs a little console table under the picture of Christ? Maybe I’d put one to the side under the other picture in the hall (not pictured here). Except, I don’t want it to become a place to set things. Not cool. I just like the look of console tables. This is a dream, not a project.

Powder Room

I love the long counter in here! Project: This bathroom needs a photo or picture over the toilet. What kind of a picture does one put in a bathroom? Does the picture of Christ on the counter look odd?

Living Room

This room is so comfortable. It’s a non-play room, so I feel I can keep it clean and tidy for more than an afternoon. A few weeks ago, we finally put up our three picture shelves. Project: I need to get extended family pictures and frames to put on the shelf.

I love this book case, and it works for now. Dream: A larger, taller case with glass doors.

Dining Room

When the extra leaf is in the table, it makes this room very crowded. We only eat here when we have company though, so it’s okay, I guess. Except we never want to take out the leaf.

• Project: I need something appropriate for that large, long shelf. It can’t weight too much, and it’s a bit high, so I can’t decide what would look nice at that level.
• Project: New light fixture. This one has two light bulbs broken inside it, and we can’t get them out. Looks rather tacky.

Kitchen

I love my kitchen. It’s probably my favorite room, just because it’s so comfortable. When it’s clean, I just get goosebumps as I walk in to it. I love the granite countertops.

• Project: Rearrange drawers so more of the utensils can be put away. I don’t like having so many utensils on the counter, but I do like having them accessible when I need them! I actually have three drawers empty, but they are the drawers by the glass cabinets — not a useful spot when I’m in the middle of cooking.
• Project: Get our knives sharpened. (I’m reading a book about it right now, so I’m already working on this project.)
• Dream: Find a better home for the ice cream maker and bread maker. It’s too bad, but they don’t fit in any cabinets. And they’re heavy.
• Project: Eat one meal a week on my china. I have it, I should use it, fancy meal or not!

Family Room

I like this room too. I like the pillows I found for the couch, and that table is actually a chest for hiding Paul’s toys.

• Project: Set up keyboards (they were disconnected a few weeks ago).
• Project: Do something nice on the mantle. I had family pictures there, but now I think I’m going to move them to the other room.
• Project: Reorganize DVDs in binders (these are in the drawer of the cabinet.)
• Dream: Add a shelf to the cabinet in this room. It was a TV cabinet that we got used. I’ve tried to affix a shelf inside the top half, but I can’t. Alas.

Master Bedroom/Bathroom

I like this room too. Really, I just love my house overall.

• Project: We have a large armoire that we got used. The doors have come off (the holes are stripped), so I need to sand them, fill them, and re-drill the holes. This will be a big project, I think.
• Project: Recalk master shower. It’s not bad, yet, but every week when I clean it, I think that’s what it really needs: more caulking.
• Project: Do the ironing. (We keep the ironing board set up in our room.)

My Office

I don’t have any project in here, other than getting pictures on the wall (a very low priority). When we first moved in, I had my books in alphabetical order (fiction) and Dewey Decimal order (nonfiction). I’m a geek. Needless to say, it didn’t last long with Paul to help reorganize it.

I didn’t really know how cluttered my bookshelves are until I take pictures of them! It looks pretty messy.

Ryan’s Office

Ryan’s office is quite and lonely when he’s gone, especially since he’d been working from home for so long. Paul likes to sit in the chair in the corner and read his books. If there are any projects for this room, I don’t know about them!

Paul’s room looks the same as in his tour a few months ago. Other projects include more pictures on the walls, especially in the hall, and recaulk the tub in the hall. Fun, fun, fun!

Okay, I know that was more than you wanted to know. But now I feel really good about the prospects for the coming six months! We’ll see how much we get done.

(Oh wait, I forgot the yard! For another day….)