Home is Where Love Grows

Inspiration ⁄ Search: It Is Written

Cheers

Marvelous paper piecing and what a fun way to remember what you started with!

August 05, 2013

How cool! great title and lo idea

July 27, 2013

Home is Where Love Grows

Each photo is a room in our house as the photos appeared on the real estate site when we bought it. Inside each photo I have written what we liked or did not like about the room and what we planned to do with it.

Journaling reads:
Kadence fell in love with this room the moment she saw it. The pink princess border with a matching ceiling fan was perfect for her princess and the frog bedroom. As soon as she saw this room, she told us she wanted to live in this house and she and Abby started deciding where her stuff could fit in the room. I liked that the closet had lots of built in shelving, so although the room was small, there was lots of space for all her clothes and toys.

This was the only room in the house that would need to be painted. Although the blue with the jungle animals was cute, it was not very girly. The room was small but it had a nice closet to keep Reagan’s clothes and toys in. We decided to paint the room a pale pink color and do an owl theme. Emmy Lou Harris, one of my coworkers, even came and painted an owl tree on the wall for Reagan. It is the perfect little room for Roo!

The kitchen was a bit on the small side. It also did not have a dishwasher, which actually almost made us pass on the house. We discussed using a portable dishwasher for awhile but there was not really a place for that either so we figured in time we could possibly redo the kitchen. Plus, we have two girls to help wash dishes. There was lots of cupboard space and a side by side refrigerator, stove, and microwave that came with the house.

This room used to be the master bedroom. It would be really small for that but perfect for a scrapbook room. I loved that it had hard wood floors. Terry is not a fan of them, but since this is my room it is perfect. The hardwood is easier than carpet to clean up if I spill paint, glue, or glitter. There is a nice window for natural light while I scrap. There is also a nice closet with built in shelving to put all my supplies. I am excited we found a place where I can still have my own space.

This room is in the basement and will be Terry’s poker room as well as our spare bedroom. We can put our queen sized bed here so there is a somewhere for my parents, friends, and other family to stay if they visit. There is an egress window if someone ever needed to get out in a fire. We will also set up Terry’s desk here so he can play poker in peace. It is good that it is in the basement because Terry is always hot! Someday one of the kids may move down here, we will see.

The dining room connects with the kitchen. There is just enough room for a small table and four chairs so we can sit down as a family and enjoy meals. We are going to try and keep the table cleaner in this house so we do that more often. I love the sliding glass doors letting in lots of natural light and leading to the backyard. I wasn’t sure I liked the fake brick paneling at first but it has grown on me. The only problem is that you cannot really put holes in it so I cannot hang anything on the wall.

The swing set and jungle gym was a huge selling item for us on this house. There was a playhouse and slide built onto the backyard and we asked for the swing set in our offer on the house as well. We loved the idea of the kids being able to play in the backyard. Their own built in park. Under the jungle gym is a huge sand box. Although the kids, especially Reagan, love playing in it, it is probably my least favorite thing about the house. Sand gets tracked into the house all the time!

Honestly, this is probably what sold us on the house! A whirlpool tub was on our list of dreams but not necessities and once we found this house with one we realized how great it would be to have one. There is also a television mounted on the wall above the toilet so you can relax in the bath tub and watch television There is a tankless water heater so you have plenty of hot water Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than that! And the girls LOVE to take a bath together with lots of bubbles and ducks.

The basement had been finished a few years earlier. They put dimmer lights and surround sound in the family room so it is perfect for enjoying movies! We did not realize until our friend went to hook up the TV that it is a top of the line surround system! There is also room downstairs for the girls’ toy box so the toy mess can be kept out of site when people come over. We were surprised when we moved in that they left two giant bookcases in the family room too!

We really wanted a back patio or deck to grill and entertain. The house has plenty of space for a grill, patio table with chairs, and even the fire pit. There is not a fence between the garage and house we were a little worried about letting Reagan play alone in the backyard but she has done a great job of staying in the yard. Terry had wanted a two stall garage or at least a two stall driveway, but although you have to move cars to get out, all three cars do fit in the driveway.

The back yard has two large shade trees. There is also a clothes line, which was wonderful while our drier was broken when we first moved in. The lot behind the house is owned by Belmont Baptist Church. There is plenty of open space for the kids to play baseball and throw frisbees. There is an amazing view of the Lincoln skyline, including the capitol. You can see the whole cities’ fireworks on the Fourth of July from our back yard. It is a quiet neighborhood with fabulous neighbors.

1421 Hartley Street was the first house we looked at! Abby Masonbrink told us that day we should buy it and we should have listened to her. It is a ranch style house built in 1965 with over 2,000 square feet of living space on a 6,534 square foot lot. There are 4 bedrooms, an office, and 2 bathrooms. The home had been updated with new siding, windows, roof, paint, and carpet. It has a partially fenced in yard with a detached single car garage.

A spacious master bedroom has been added onto the house. There is room for a king sized bed. The large closet is adequate space for both Terry and I. There is a television mounted on the wall that came with the house. Even though we do not have cable, it is nice to lie in bed at night and watch Netflix as we go to sleep. The walls are sage green, but I painted an accent wall behind the bed a teal green. I love being able to own our house and paint the walls whatever bright colors I want.

The downstairs utility room has lots of space for storage. We have put in shelving for a pantry and keep the deep freeze down there with the washer and drier. There is a crawl space under the master bedroom addition that is perfect for keeping Christmas decorations. We also store clothes, treasures, and other items in totes in the basement. It is nice to have a space shut off from the rest of the house to keep things.

The upstairs bathroom is small but adequate. It has both a shower and a tub in it. We changed the shower head to a spa shower to accommodate Terry’s height. The window in the bathroom is the only ventilation so we have put in a fan to help keep down the moisture and humidity. The vanity is dark stained wood, which goes perfectly with turquoise, one of my favorite colors. I enjoyed decorating the bathroom!

The upstairs living room is the perfect size for a couch! We have only ever owned futons and hand me down couches so I was very excited to buy our own couch. There is a large open wall that I have decorated with a large clock and framed scrapbook layouts. The living room is a perfect sitting room when friends come over to visit. There is also a mounted television in this room that came with the house, but since we do not have cable we do not use it often.

The downstairs bathroom with the whirlpool tub has is much larger than the upstairs bathroom. I like to fix my hair and do my make up down there away from everyone. There is a huge wood vanity with lots of cupboards built around the sink for storage. There is also a small closet built in under the stairs. I keep the girls hand me down clothes in that cupboard so they are easy to access as the seasons change and they grow.

I was worried about the school district this house sat in because if we buy a house we hope to stay in it until the kids are grown. Belmont Elementary is right across the street but Kadie will remain at Eastridge since that is closest to Kids First. The middle school is Goodrich and the high school is North Star. I am not sure how I feel about either of those schools, but we will see where we are and how we feel when they are older to make decision on whether we should opt into another school.