The House, Part 6: The Front Rooms

When the sunroom was finally done, we were more than ready to finally tackle the main living space.  It'd been 3 weeks.  3 weeks of go, go, go, finish this, finish that, can't do that yet, must do this, and oh yeah, we're going camping with the grandparents too!  Yes really.  Only for a weekend though.  :)  We were still finalizing things at the old apartment, still working on the closet, finally getting to the sunroom, trying to unpack what we could, or at least neatly stack what we couldn't.  I also started taking care of a little boy every Thursday at our new place, so it had to at least be toddler-friendly by the end of August...which it was...it just didn't have the 'our house' feel yet.  We had one week to go until the Munch's birthday, which we'd decided earlier to combine with an open house...and that meant we had to WORK.  But with our work schedules and other things that also desperately needed attention NOW, when my little boy left Thursday afternoon, we had yet to even paint the front area, let alone finally set it up...and the party was on Sunday!

I prettymuch worked like a dog from sun-up to midnight for those last couple days.  Daddy did what he could as well, but he was still working his regular job too.  The painting was done by Friday night, and thankfully for these rooms, painting and new electric covers were really all the fixing that needed to be done.  There was one patch on a wall that had to be cleaned up, where the old paint was pealing a bit, but that was a matter of perhaps an hour total, including drying time for the spackle.  The livingroom, entryway, and study all got the same stuff--grey and/or a deep blue/purple called 'grape haze'...it looks like a concord grape color.  The new colors had an almost instant effect on me...Sooooo much more soothing.  :D  And since it was such a large portion of the house, it instantly made things seem much more 'us', and much more settled.  We spent Saturday sorting through boxes and finally setting up furniture like bookcases and my piano.  Most of the pictures didn't get hung in time for the party, but at least we finally had a nice, mostly finished, happy space.  

It was certainly not the most dramatic of changes, unlike a couple other projects, but the timing of it added to the drama...We were...a bit stressed.  But definitely relieved when it was done.  In fact, we were so relieved, we didn't bother to do anything else for a looong while!  We were TIRED.

We have of course since hung various pictures, and we finally bought a cat tree for our kittens today (my first ever cat tree that I actually purchased, despite a lifetime of cats!).  My books are sorted, my porcelain dolls, which haven't seen the light of day in 3 years (there wasn't any place to safely put them at the last apartment), are on display once again, and so are a lot of our wedding memorabilia that were stashed away in the same box with the dolls.  It's definitely starting to feel like home here.

So, pictures:

The Study:

Before.  Sorry it's such a dark picture...I forgot to turn the light on.

Now.  The desk is a pull-down, and has keyed entry, which I love!  

My nanny family was extremely generous in giving us this piece of furniture.

My piano--essentially the same set-up it's had since its early years with me.  Our wedding stuffs and a bunch of old-time photos (along with a Norman Rockwell print) surround it and fill the space.

My more than full bookcases.  Our last apartment had a built-in...and...well...we need another bookcase now because these guys are double-stuffed.  They seemed plenty-big when we first got married, I don't know what happened!!  ;)

The Living Room:

Before, with the entrance.

The south wall, with its tiny windows.

I bought shelves to decorate the little windows with, and they ended up doubling as a safe place for my plants.  And yes, my desk sticks out...I'm hoping to get a bookcase to hide that fact at some point...solve 2 problems at once!  ;)

The 2 DVD cases that fit so well and looked so nice in our old apartment don't fit at all here, but we've made them work, even if it looks a bit awkward.  They're bolted into the wall. :)

The Entryway 

Before.

The rocking chair that used to be in the Munch's room has been repurposed.  We still need to get some coat hooks, but otherwise, this little space has shaped up beautifully.

  

There will always be something else to be done in this space...it IS our primary living space, after all!  I have visions of photos stretching across the tops of the arch-ways, and curtains in the study area, and there are some old lamps I'd like to restore to their place on the piano once the kittens are a little wiser...but for now, this will do.  This is US.  :)