Happy Labor Day weekend to you all! It’s been a week since we officially moved into the new house and even though there’s not a lot of pretty to share with you yet, I figured you all would like to see the process we are in getting this house organized and ready to live in. As you all know, since most of us have moved a time or two (or for some dozens of times), it’s definitely a process to get a house unpacked and organized. It’s always a challenge to move in a new space, get to know your surroundings, and figure out how to organize everything in the best possible way. Not to mention figuring out furniture arrangements and making things work that you already have. That’s turning out to be a challenge for us, more than I initially thought!
I know it will take awhile and things may move around a few times before we settle into the best thing for us and it’s going to take living here awhile before we figure all that out, I’m sure. One of the first things I’ve noticed since we moved in is just how small the hall closets are. I had big deep closets in my 70’s house and this house, even though it’s bigger in square footage has smaller closets overall, so I’ll have to figure those things out too. Where to put the vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies. Where to put all the towels and sheets. The upstairs hall linen closet is about 12″ deep, so that’s pretty small. Where to put my hanging dresses, since the master closet has sloped ceilings and I can’t hang dresses in there without them dragging the floor. All of those are trivial things in the long run, but it’s those small things that we have to figure out and make the best of.
So, with all that in mind, I’ll show you where we are so far this first week. We really are loving our new house and just looking forward to getting all of the initial projects done, furniture in place, and feeling more organized and settled. All of those things take a little while after a move, but I’m sure in a month or two we will be feeling like this really is home for us.
Mark is working on the dining room right now, so all the dining room and living room furniture is crammed in the small living room for now.
He’s almost finished with the dining room and I’ll share that soon, so hopefully we can move this furniture in place this week.
One of the best things we have in this house is that full, unfinished clean and dry basement, so thank goodness that most everything is out of the way for now. I know that’s where the overflow of storage will end up when we finally get unpacked and go through everything. We will unpack, do more decluttering and then finally get organized in the basement and elsewhere. I’m determined that I’m not going to keep a lot of extra stuff in this house. If it’s not getting used (within reason, seasonal decor accessories), then I’m getting rid of it! This move really made me get over the “stuff” I have accumulated and I just do not want to keep it all. Maybe getting older has something to do with that, but for sure packing and moving “stuff” around just about did me in this time.
Right before I moved, I painted the media cabinet that I got a few years ago from Homegoods. Mark doesn’t love really chippy furniture and I don’t have a lot of it anyway, but this piece wasn’t his fave, so I painted it. I’ll share that later too, but I love the color and how it turned out. In fact, I love it even better now too and it’s perfect for this wall in the family room. Real life here, see the Angel Soft on there! Ugh, I can’t wait to get organized!
The den space isn’t huge, so I have to figure out this layout too. It made sense to put the curved sofa in the bay window. Love all those windows, by the way, this house has so much light streaming in and I love that! These two large chairs are really too big in here and I want to do something else in this space. I saw some swivel rockers at Scott’s that I would love to get in here, so maybe that will happen soon. I’m not sure where I’ll put these chairs, but they just overpower this room. This room will no doubt evolve as we go along, but I got lamps in place to make it cozy. It will be awhile before the decorating really begins.
Just getting furniture in the house with a place to sit and watch TV was so nice and we are loving our small family room space off the kitchen. But, again it’s way smaller than my living room and den space was at my old house, so all the furniture doesn’t fit the same. There are a few things I left behind in my old house for my step daughter to use, first my large French armoire with mirror that was in my master bedroom. There’s no place to put it here.
All my bedroom furniture that I had in my master will now go in our guest room here and it’s a very small room, so the king bed, nightstands and chest of drawers is all that will fit in there.
Mark and I are staying in the guest room for now since our new master bedroom furniture hasn’t arrived yet and we still have to paint and do some things in the master before we move in there. It will probably be a few more weeks before we move in, but at least we have a comfy bed in the guest room and it’s great to be in here. That rug from Shaw Floors will go in Mark’s man cave space. The master bedroom is still being figured out. We’ve got new furniture coming, but I’m still figuring out what all we want in here as far as colors, linens, drapes and more. So much to figure out!
Looks like I’ll be painting that green vanity a new color that was in my old living room. It definitely won’t go with the master bedroom stuff now and I’m going to use it as my new vanity table in here. My old vanity stayed at my house in that nook. With the mirror on it, it’s a bigger piece that wouldn’t fit in here so well, so I left it for now. See what I mean about furniture not fitting the same? Several pieces didn’t make the cut.
My French antique cupboard ended up in the kitchen space. There’s a nook here by the fridge and it fits there perfectly so it will come in handy for extra storage in the kitchen.
I mulled over adding built in cabinets or kitchen drawers here in this space and who knows, I may do that eventually, since the kitchen is so much smaller than my Ikea kitchen was. But, for now the antique piece can hold quite a bit of overflow and I’ll use it for kitchen storage for serving pieces. I’ve got a Ballard Designs shelf that will go above it eventually and I can decorate that. We hate that the fridge sticks out so far, so on the list is a counter depth refrigerator in the future. We’ll put this one in the garage for extra things. So grateful that the previous owners left it though, it’s a nice GE Profile fridge, but it just sticks out into the room too far.
Mulling this over, but I’m still trying to decide what I want to do in the breakfast nook. It’s not a large space at all, so I just don’t know what will work best here, still thinking it over. I’m trying out my 2 wood chairs that I’ve had forever along with a small round end table that works with it, although the table could be bigger. I think I like it here and I know it looks smallish, but I don’t want to put anything too large in this space, so I may leave this for now. Again, trying to use what we have. If you have any ideas, throw them my way! I’m adding 2 barstools to the bar over to the right. My sister suggested a tall bistro table with 2 chairs. I’m just not sure yet what we want to do here. We probably won’t use this for eating, it’s more for looks, but the ceiling fan will be staying. We like being cool and there are fans all over the house, so we will probably leave it even though a pretty light fixture would be look better. I know it’s not popular in blogland to leave ceiling fans, but we are more about being comfortable rather than having a magazine worthy space. But, don’t get me wrong, I want this house to be pretty too!
What to do, what to do??
I did get the kitchen mostly organized and cleaned up. We have been working out of the kitchen and it was just a mess, but at least I got it looking better and the counters mostly cleaned off. With a small kitchen, I want to be careful about how much I put on the counters, but I use this stuff all the time, so it will stay out, the coffee pot/coffee station, bowl for fresh fruit, knife block, and kitchen spoons/utensils in a large pitcher.
I will definitely miss my old kitchen. That Ikea kitchen I put in had so much storage and was so versatile and just overall a great kitchen. The cabinets in an Ikea kitchen are much more open, the drawers are deeper and longer and the thing I’ll miss the most is those 4 large pullout drawers that I stored so many things in, along with the huge pantry with large pullout drawers. But, I am sure I’ll adjust to this smaller one and it will force me to pare down to what I use all the time. This kitchen is just a basic one with no bells and whistles, but I’ve got some ideas on organizing this kitchen better with adding some pull out drawers to the pantry, so that will come later. The layout of the kitchen isn’t bad, it has a great triangle work space area, with the fridge, sink and stove all within steps of each other, which is supposed to be the ideal working space for a kitchen. You can see the painted cabinets we had the painter spray and I’ll do another post on the kitchen when I get it even prettier and talk more about that process. We are so glad we did all of that before moving in! I have plans to get new countertops, sink and faucet later on. I miss my big single sink!
The other piece that won’t move to this house is my china cabinet that was in my old den space. My foyer table and large antique mirror won’t fit in this house anywhere either (that we’ve figured out anyway), so I’m leaving it there too. The corner cabinet in the dining room stayed there too. I’ll have my dining room table and buffet in the dining room here and that’s about all that will fit in that space. This house has lots more open space and less walls, so there are less places to put furniture. All of that we are figuring out now that we’re in here. The leather loveseat that I had in my den was going in Mark’s man cave, but right now we haven’t figured out a way to get it through the door, so that’s to be determined too. My grandma’s sewing table that was in the den won’t have a good spot here, so I’m leaving it there for now.
My office is changing up some and I’m using the same furniture with some different pieces that I had in the den. Some new looks using what I have. We can’t go out and get all new stuff, so we are trying to make things work with what we have and then will fill in some pieces along the way as it all comes together. You know how that is. I was very fortunate in my old house that everything fit in there so well, I had a place for all my furniture, but it’s not the same with this house, so we’ll just have to see how it evolves. Whew, that was long, but I wanted to tell you how that all is working out with placing furniture and all of that.
I really don’t want to put too much furniture in this house, we would rather keep it open and less cluttered, so I’m keeping that in mind too. I don’t have built in bookcases to display things or a foyer table yet, so I’ll have less room for accessories and boy, do I have a lot of accessories! I’m not even going to show you the basement yet, with all the rest of my things moved in there, but it’s crazy how much I had to move. But I really am determined to use only what I need to use in this house to make it pretty and livable and I’ll get rid of the rest. It’s going to be much more streamlined and less cluttered because it’s more open. So, I’m excited to take this on and figure out where we want to go with everything.
Mark has been working on the dining room and I can’t wait to show you all of that too. He added Cape Cod style beadboard panels in here with a pretty top molding treatment.
Here’s how it’s looking with one coat of paint. We’ll get the dining room furniture moved in this week, so I can’t wait to see it all in place. I’m going to put grasscloth above the wainscot and I think it will be such an elegant space. I’ve got to find just the right one to add in here.
All of my patio furniture was moved over too, so it will be nice to get this space organized and ready to use for Fall this year. The leaves are already starting to turn here just a bit and I’m feeling that Fallish feel in the air already and love it! This will be our outdoor space for now until we can figure out the screened porch. I’m going to get someone out here to see about doing a screened porch next spring/summer and see how much it will cost, plus we have those bay windows on the back to deal with so we need a professional opinion on all of that.
In the meantime, we’ll get the patio space together and will be sitting out here enjoying our backyard space. We have all those woods back there that will be a nice backdrop. We’ve already seen deer coming in the yard next door, so I’m sure there are plenty in these woods. We also have a new wood fence going in very soon, as soon as they can get to us. We are fencing in the backyard for Mark’s dog, Hollie and she will be here with us soon. We’ll get her settled in before too long. Right now, she’s with his parents in the country.
We have lots of exploring to do in our new little town of Acworth and we can’t wait to get caught up on house stuff and start to enjoy living here.
We ate downtown over the weekend at Henry’s, the Louisiana restaurant that’s so popular here and really enjoyed it. I had heard it was really good for a long time and it was, we loved it and will definitely be going back often!
That’s where we are this week! It feels so good to get in here and now we can breathe and work on everything a little at a time. It will be a process decorating this house and making it look the way we want it to look, but we are so excited to have this house and make it our own!
Melanie says
Thanks for sharing! I loved this post. I will enjoy your decision making process as you go. It’s real life! It’s problem solving. We all have that and it is inspiring to me to follow along. Enjoy the journey.
Sofia Bouras says
Dear Rhonda,
I wish all the best from sunny Athens, Greece!
About your breakfast nook : what if you use the nice round table you have from your screened porch from you previous house? (maybe painted the base of the same as the lower kitchen cabinets?)
Sofia
Rhoda says
HI, Sofia, that’s a great idea and that glass table would fit. We will think about that option too. I do like these 2 bigger chairs instead of 4, so a bigger table with those 2 chairs could still work.
Terry says
I was going to suggest that too. But instead of painting, you could choose a floor length table cover to bring in color. The two chairs are perfect.
Jeanne says
Your move is such an exciting one. It is going to be a beautiful home. Enjoy the process of making choices with a final comfort in mind. As I am thinking of moving to a newer home your insights are important. By the way, Mark is very talented in his woodworking skills–seems to be a perfect match for you!
Tara G. says
Perhaps,the breakfast nook could function as a keeping room. People always like to be near the cook!
Rhoda says
Hi, Tara, I thought about that too and do have an extra comfy chair that could fit in there. We are going to think on it and decide what we really need the most. I’m not even sure a small breakfast table will be used much at all. I’m a sit on the sofa and have breakfast person.
Eleanor says
If you are not going to use a breakfast table, I am all in on the keeping room idea, especially since the adjacent room is smaller than you had before.
Mellyb B says
I like the keeping room idea as well.
Leila Case says
Why not put the porch table and chairs and use it for dining area for dinner for two at night – the small table looks awkward
Or if using as keeping room red leather sofa that you can’t get in cave two side tables with lamp and coffee table. A good place for morning coffee and watch wildlife outside.
Bonnie E says
Looking good ! I love the sofa in the bay area. That is exactly where mine is too. Also for a little tidbit of suggestion……in this house when it was only one linen closet in the hall and narrow plus not deep. I bought an armoire for my craftroom that is right thru the master vanity area & bathroom doorway. Bought from Purposely Imperfect in Brandon here.& wasn’t real expensive but cute. I store towels & washcloths in this , curling irons, jewelry……we chicken wired the insides of the cutouts on the inside of doors for hanging earrings, Sensational nail stuff are in there in a box with pretty bow on top & put pegboard on two of the walls and hung hairbrushes , & necklaces. Freed up space under the vanity top and best of all you don’t have to go back to the hall to get a towel if you are in the tub in the master bathroom. This one even has a rod in it for hanging clothes that I just left in. I also put my fancy French armoire in the breakfast nook for kitchen storage here. Good luck !
Rhoda says
Thanks, Bonnie, all good ideas on storing things in an armoire. I’m not sure I even have room for another armoire anywhere, but I’m sure we will get this thing figured out. Love your storage idea on that.
Janette @ The 2 Seasons says
Will your back porch table work in your kitchen? When we down-sized six years ago, we got rid of a lot of stuff. It was do liberating. Enjoy this journey. You will definitely create a beautiful, cozy home for the two of you.
Rhoda says
Thanks, Janette, that back porch table would work, so it might be what we do for now.
Zenda says
Congratulations on your wedding and this beautiful new home! We went through a move last Fall so this post brought back memories and emotions. Excitement, exhaustion, disorganization, frustration, satisfaction and pride… we are so happy in our new “retirement” home. Once you have everything settled, you will be be able to relax. Enjoy the process together!!
Rhoda says
Thank you so much, Zenda, we are looking forward to the relaxing part. Right now, we are still in work mode, but at least can pace ourselves since we live here now.
Gloria Mcentyre says
Maybe consider using your antique cupboard for a coffee station?..With some open shelving above for cups, baskets for supplies and decorative pieces. Seems like a perfect spot and would free up more counter space.
Love the house!!
Rhoda says
HI, Gloria, thanks for the idea, but the buffett is tall and I’d be reaching up to pour coffee, so it wouldn’t be comfortable to set up a coffee station there. The top of the buffet is chest high on me.
mdn says
Wow! What progress you’ve made…such a huge and mentally/emotionally challenging job to work out new arrangements and deal with furniture you love that doesn’t fit, let alone, marrying two sets of furniture and design inclinations! Looking forward to traveling along with you on your new house journey!
Two suggestions:
1-Do you know that there are adjustable wooden floor vents? I got some when I installed my hardwood floors and it made such a + difference. Not all that expensive – $22 or so a vent if I recall. The installers hadn’t heard of them, so with a little searching I found a source here in Louisville. No doubt, the Atlanta area will have a source somewhere, too. Likely, they’ll need to be stained to match your floor; but, what a difference…really “finishes” the flooring.
2-Know you feel limited space-wise for your kitchenette table; however, what you are using just seems way too small to me. Have you considered a 30-36″ square table or round table with fold down (or fold under) edges? (9-12″ edges, not huge ones). Then, you can open 2 or four edges when you’ve company. Or, if you wish to place the table in a corner, you can open two tangential edges if you wish to enlarge the table somewhat. I’ve a small condo with a combined dining area/living room. Got a small square table years ago and with the 9″ edges up, it becomes a round table fit for entertaining. The small table set-up would be perfect for Mark and you. Can’t suggest a source, as mine came from the now defunct line “Southern Living by Lexington”. Besides working so well for a small space, there are no leaves to store/get dinged. Other brands of tables like this can be found on the internet. I’d overlooked this type of option for years and then, a light went off and my table problem was solved. May be an option for your consideration? PS know that tall bistro tables are in, but as we age, getting up on a higher level chair can be challenging/potentially dangerous. A small antique (or copy) regular table height tavern table (in size noted above) might work, too.
Can’t wait to see what you guys do with your beautiful new place!
Rhoda says
Thank you, mdn, on those floor vents, yes we hate them and that’s on the list to change. We are looking at some more decorative metal ones right now, so we will definitely be changing them out. I like the wood ones too, so we’ll mull those ideas over. So many things on the list to do!
I like your idea for the table too. Not sure how much that table will be used, but need something there and yes, my little table is way too small. But my glass table from my porch might work in there too. Your solution sounds like a good one with a drop leaf.
mdn says
You go, girl! Forgot to mention that the wooden vents install flush with the floor; thus, much easier to keep clean than metal grates ( dirty around the edges). The fancy grates are nice, but add focus to floor grate as decor vs. the wood which makes a lovely backgrpimd “canvas” over which to build the remainder of your décor which is what you/guests would better focus upon. Anxious to see your progress! Hadn’t recalled that table from the porch; but, it’d be great. Advantage of the glass top will be that it’ll keep your space “open” and roomier feeling. Think you guys will end up having a lot more morning coffees (toast/croissants, etc.) there than you now anticipate.. Lovely space, great views, convenient to kitchen/clean-up! Hey, how ’bout some bird feeders out back? So calming & mesmerizing to watch. Is it too hot for hummingbirds down there?
Rhoda says
HI, again! definitely still mulling over that space, but for now I think I’ll use a chair I already have, with a small side table and lamp. Trying to prioritize what we spend on right now and there are other areas that need it more. Definitely want to add bird feeders and hummingbird feeders out back. On those grates, I noticed that our cut out holes in the hardwoods aren’t totally smooth and square, so we will have to look at how they install, I think some wood would have to be cut out. I know they look great, just not sure we need another project to do.
Lynne says
I love the idea of your former screened porch table, painted to match your cabinets, in the breakfast nook. Or a high Bistro table with chairs. We have a tall table in our breakfast area. We have breakfast there everyday and use the dining room for lunch and dinner.
Also the comment about using the antique cupboard as a coffee station makes sense. Frees up counter space.
Looks great so far!
Erin says
The broom next to the television is both a wonderful and horrible reminder to get back to work! I love how you are approaching the move with furniture selection. You will be rewarded for your slow and thoughtful method!
Rhoda says
Thank you, Erin, I know, everywhere I look I’m reminded that we are not finished yet! Lots more work to do!
Julia says
The house is going to look beautiful! I’m surprised that as small as the kitchen is, that they didn’t extend the cabinets to the left of the fridge where the nook is located. It would give you so much more storage space and make the fridge look less like it’s floating.
Rhoda says
Hey, Julia, I know those cabinets could definitely have been extended over. We may do something like that eventually, we’ll see. Or I may just get used to having less cabinets and make do with what I have. I honestly didn’t use half of what was in my old kitchen cabinets, so it was time to get rid of some stuff.
Judy Yannello says
What a lovely new home! I think that table & two chairs in your kitchen would look charming centered under the bay window…just the perfect spot for coffee or breakfast.
Laura c says
With Mark’s mad woodworking skills, what about window seats in the bay window nook in the kitchen? I tried a high bistro table but they are difficult for some folks to get up into, if you get my drift. A lovely built in bench/seat with pillows and a small round table would look lovely. That all being said, I’m a sofa breakfast eater too!
Rhoda says
Hi, Laura, I thought about a small window seat so that’s a thought. Mark has a lot on his woodwork plate right now, so it wouldn’t happen anytime soon. But I love those built in seats, they look so cozy!
Roxanne says
Hi Rhoda! So exciting to see everything come together. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and frustrating, but hang in there…I think will be beautiful!
I’m going in a different direction with your breakfast nook. If you doubt you’ll eat there, why waste precious space with a table. We turned a similar area in my sister’s new house into a keeping room with 2 comfortable wing back chairs. It’s the favorite spot in the house now. Quiet place with morning coffee, place to sit and browse cookbooks, nice place for someone to sit and visit while you’re in the kitchen. I vote no on those tall bistro tables and chairs.
I’m living vicariously through your projects right now. I tripped an drew fell during the eclipse, breaking my wrist and tibia. Had surgery that night to put a plate in my wrist. Have to be I need a wheelchair for 8 weeks to let the leg bone heel without surgery. It’s been challenging, to say the least!
Rhoda says
Roxanne, I saw on FB that you had something going on with your leg, so sorry about that! Right now, we are leaning towards the keeping room idea, but not sure the current chairs we have will work that well. One big one will fit, but not 2, so might have to find smaller scale chairs for in there if we do that. So much to figure out!
Guerrina says
Phew, lots to do! Two thoughts on breakfast nook. 1. Create a hidden (or not) coffee station in/on the French cabinet, a window seat with lift up top for storage (I believe Sarah at TDC had to deal with the air vent issue), and table with 2 cushy upholstered chairs. Or 2, just a couple of chairs with coffee table for comfy conversation, coffee, reading area.
Progress posts are always appreciated!
Tina Ramer says
What about using the 2 chairs in the den in the breakfast room with the small round table? More of a keeping room. You could use the 2 wood chairs as well. Seating for 4.
Rhoda says
Tina, it’s not big enough for all of that. I’m trying out one of the big chairs in there now to see how I like it. One will fit, but 2 would be really tight because of the door that goes out to the deck, that has to have a path to get out.
Sylvia says
I enjoyed reading about your progress and plans. But, I am worn out! It will all come together and be beautiful; after all you have Angel Soft and M & M’s what more do you need?
Eleanor says
Ohmygosh, Sylvia, you are funny!!
Rhoda says
Ha, I know I definitely kept it real in these pics & didn’t move anything out of the way.
Lou Ann C. says
Rhoda, I know it will all come together beautifully in the end! I am in the same predicament in our “new” house (been here a year & a half and still trying to figure it all out without breaking the bank–even more than we already are on our new kitchen and laundry room.–heh!) On that kitchen nook, I, too, can see a built-in banquette. Not sure whether a round table or rectangular would work best, but either way, that would really maximize the space and provide a cozy place to gather. Can’t wait to see what you do!!
Carolekozak says
Oh my you have mad a lot of progress. I get you on the ikea kitchen. We just put in the gray one in our home with some pretty fantasy brown granit on them. Very pretty and yes I too love my drawers. You get to choose everything for a well organized kitchen. I chose mostly drawers. I would miss my ikea kitchen also. But you will get use to a smaller one. I have had to get use to a smaller space in our apartment in DC. And it was tiny. So I had to get creative with space. I grew to love it though. I too love the above idea of a window seat with round table in there that is a very pretty look. I know whatever you and mark decide on doing it will be well done. He is good with wood work and it appears you both are on the same page with good ideas for this new home. I look forward to seeing what y’all decide on in the meanwhile try to enjoy the endeavor of working it all and making sweet memories ?