Our House, part 1

We moved in the beginning of June to a new house in the same town (still a rental), mostly so we would have more room for a new baby and partly because living in a basement was slowly making us crazy and possibly making us sick. The summer has been insanely busy, so I’m just now getting it looking just how I want it. Our master bedroom is still not quite right, but I did want to share pictures of the rest of the house so that those of you who are far away can picture us in it.

Here’s our entryway. I really like the  front door, and the boys love the mini door you can peek through. It’s also nice to have a place that generally stays clean so that if and when people just drop by, they aren’t immediately in the kitchen or living room or whatever.

Next is the office/piano room. It’s just on the other side of the wall on the right-hand side of the previous photo. It’s great to be able to have a designated place for teaching piano, and the computer is even handy for times when we’re learning a song by ear, or I want to use supplemental games or whatever online.

Next up is the living room. I didn’t take a picture of the fireplace from the office/entry side, but it’s in the center of the house and opens on both sides. You can see the entry to the left and the office to the right. I don’t know why the actual opening of the fireplace is so off-center so that the mantel is also badly off-center, but I do like the mantel a lot, so I try not to let it bug me. 😉 Also note the beautiful purse my sister gave me in front of the fireplace. It’s a work of art.

I was a little worried before we moved in that our red couch would clash with the pale blue walls, but I think it works okay. It’s not like it looks totally planned or anything, but the couch is far enough away from any of the blue that it’s not visually jarring either. Not like our old forest-green carpet was with the couch.

Another view of the living room, with the bookshelves, which I’ll get to later:

One of my favorite features of the house is the built-in bookshelf. I love the different shapes and sizes of the shelves, and I love that every single book we own fits on them. I love the personality they lend the room too.

Another of my favorite features of the house is the yard. Here’s a view through the window into the back yard. You can see a grassy area with some trees and bushes behind, and an archway to the right of center. Through that archway is the back-backyard, as we call it. It’s mostly weeds, but it has a big cast-iron firepit, a swing set, and my garden back there. Maybe I’ll take pictures of the yard another time.

And now into the kitchen. The kitchen is on the left-hand side of the house as you walk in the front door. There’s a doorway from the office and another from the living room. As you can see, it’s really long—the whole length of the house.

It has pretty granite countertops:

But the cabinets leave a lot to be desired. It’s even worse than it looks in this picture. I’m not sure what the intended look was, but I’m pretty sure smeary, streaky brownish gray wasn’t it. The landlady said when we walked through the house that she would paint before we moved in, but she didn’t get a chance to because the previous tenant moved out late. She said she’d still do it, but we have yet to see any progress on that front, despite my nagging her about it several times over the course of the last few months.

And there’s parts of the kitchen that aren’t even finished.

I honestly thought at first that the kitchen would drive me nuts because of the aesthetic failings thereof, but I really haven’t minded too much. Honestly, my biggest complaint is that the cupboard doors are extremely annoying to close and keep closed. It’s a silly thing, but it is something I run into all the time. I do love love love the acres of counter space, the gas stove, the deep sinks, the lazy Susan in the corner that fits almost all of our nonperishable food in a very easy-to-access way. I also love having a window over the kitchen sink for the first time in my life, and two more windows at the back of the kitchen that let in light and allow me to keep an eye on the boys when they’re in the back yard.

This post is getting hugely long, so I’ll put the rest in another one.