When I walked in Ruby’s new house again last week, I had to laugh. Â We both burst out laughing, as I took in this scene in the dining room. Â I looked at the massive amount of stuff she had stowed in the dining room and immediately was transported back to when I moved in my house over 2 years ago. The stuff, it is amazing how it seems to multiply on a move. Â They moved from a big house to a smaller one and will not be able to use all the things she has accumulated, so the task will be to keep the best pieces and get rid of the rest.
If you missed the last post, right after they moved in, I showed the whole house floor plan, so you can see it without a lot of stuff in place.Â
I thought you all would enjoy seeing a house in progress and how long it takes to get a house looking like a real home. Â Ruby has tons of things she can use in this house, but I’m going to help her pare it down and only keep the best things. Â A yardsale will definitely be in order before this is over. I told her I’d help her sell some things on my Facebook page, so stay tuned for that.
She is looking at a new table and chairs for the dining room of this house, so we will see if she gets the one she was looking at. Â I went with her to a furniture store in Roswell and we looked at dining room and living room furniture, but some of it is yet to be determined. Â She is getting a new sofa and chairs for the great room.
When I saw all the fake plants and flowers she has held onto, the first thing I said was….all the fake plants have to go! She is in agreement with me and is going to let them go. Â I told her she doesn’t want to clutter up this house with too much stuff and real plants are so much better anyway. Â Those worked in the big house, but not so much in this one.
I think all of us who have moved have faced this same situation. Â We all accumulate way too much stuff and it does feel good to pare down and let go of the clutter. Â I’m still dealing with that myself in my own house. Â My last area to declutter is my garage and laundry room. Â This year I hope to get rid of all the excess that is still hanging around.
This leather recliner will end up in the basement when the new furniture gets in.
They got the new flat screen TV installed over the fireplace and it looks fantastic up there.
They had a huge screened porch in the old house and brought the furniture over. Â She’s got plenty for this porch too and it will be fun getting all of this together.
The master bedroom hasn’t changed much. She is going to get an upholstered headboard made for the bed. Â And she discovered her drapes are not long enough for these windows, so trying to find a solution for that dilemma. Â It’s always something when you move in a new house.
Master bedroom paint color: Â Oyster Bay by Sherwin Williams
She had this gold chair and ottoman in another room at her old house and it looks good with her bedding in here, which will all get put together eventually.
The kitchen is slow going too. Â With so many things, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and stall on getting things done. Â I went through that too and it took me a good month to get unpacked and feel like I was finally making progress on my house.
The guest room bed is in place, but not made up yet. Â It’s going to be a pretty space when it’s all finished in blues and creams.
Ruby has a huge collection of blue and white pottery and it’s all in these bins. Â She won’t be able to display it all, but we’ll figure out where to use it strategically and make some of it work. Â Blue and white is classic.
The guest bath will get a few pieces of blue and white, I’m sure. Â She has a couple of mirrors that can go in here, so we will figure that out too.
Downstairs on the newly painted concrete floors, she added the leather furniture that was in their old basement. This will be the man cave. I’m sure we will do plenty of tweaking in this room too.
I will help her work on this space too and figure out the best configuration. Â She has a lot of furniture in here, so some will probably have to go.
Next to this space is an extra unfinished bonus room in the basement. Â They are going to get drywall hung in here eventually and finish this space out as another guest room, I think. There’s a full bath down here and that will work out nicely for guests.
She really has great storage and there is an area behind those rooms in the basement that is just for storage. Â This is all her Christmas bins. Â Ruby loves Christmas and has plenty of collected decorations.
I don’t think I showed you the upstairs bonus room. Â It’s going to stay unfinished for the long run, unless they decide to finish it down the road. They may add drywall up here later and just paint the subfloor to make it a usable space. Â It could make another guest space one day, but look at all the storage room up here. Â This house is not lacking in storage space.
It’s even stubbed for a bathroom too.
In the garage are all the boxes waiting to be unpacked. You can see what a job Ruby has to get this house together. Â I’m going to help her go through things as it gets unpacked and will do my best to guide her as much as she wants my help in getting this house looking good. Â I know she is a little overwhelmed at the moment.
We did look at the furniture store in Roswell, called Tuscany, for some furniture pieces that she had seen there. Â She may end up with a sofa and swivel chairs from there and we looked at these Paula Deen fabrics for chair possibilities. Â I love the paisley and so does she. Â We’ll see what the final outcome is on furniture and fabric selections, but I sure am having fun with Ruby on this project.
I’ll be at her house this week, helping her try to get some semblance of order going and try to beautify a few areas in the house. Â I know how overwhelming that feeling is, unpacking boxes and trying to figure it all out.
She’s got such a great house to decorate and I can’t wait to see it all come together.
For those of you who want the floor plan of Ruby’s lake house, it’s the Merveille Vivante floor plan.  Click that link to go to the website.  The plan is 1400 s.f. and they enlarged it to 1,800 s.f.
Having am unbiased opinion is so very helpful when downsizing. My sister in law was a life saver when we started on a much smaller kitchen. I was about to cry at that point. So overwhelmed! She took charge and we got it all nicely organized with everything that was necessary. The rest went! Joyce’s advice to try to do some of that sorting and de cluttering before your move saves time on the other end so you can start enjoy your new home and saves money on the move. I donated to my daughters and sister and had a garage sale before moving. And, there was still stuff to dispose of. I now take everything to the thrift store. Can’t be bothered with garage sales or selling online, unless it’s worth good money. I know Ruby’s home will be wonderful when the two of you are finished. It’s so sweet of her to share this process.
WOW I thought I had a load of crap!
I would be overwhelmed, too, but I know it is going to be just beautiful when it’s all said and done! I had to laugh and remember a few of our moves when I saw the Chic-Fil-A fry boxes! We used them, too!!!!! A ton of them, I might add! Can’t wait to see the progress you make this week! 🙂 Blessings!
The pic of all those boxes in the basement really got to me… My husband and I plan to down size in a few years or so and I realized at that moment that I must start getting rid of things now. Especially the things that are in closets and cabinets and haven’t been seen or enjoyed for YEARS. I think I may actually save that photo somewhere as a reminder. Thanks to Ruby for letting you “expose” her deepest darkest secrets with us… I wish her the best of luck in sorting things out- she’s lucky to have you to keep her on track!
Definitely the fake plants need to go. I have a similar recliner in our spare room. I also like the brown wicker furniture with blue cushions, is a nice color combo.
Oh my! I looks like you could have an amazing sale with all of those pretty decorative items! Isn’t moving so fun?!
xo. Leslie
Segreto Finishes
I couldn’t help noticing the Chick-fil-A boxes. Lol I work for Chick-fil-A in Greer, SC. Those are great boxes for moving.
Beautiful house and I’m enjoying the whole process. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, their new house is beautiful! Looking forward to seeing updates.
I saw in the other post all her lighting was from Progressive. Would Ruby mind sharing her island dimensions and the specifics about her lanterns? Thanks!
What a beautiful home! And what a friend you are for helping her with this move. I read where you going to post some items for sale. I am interested in a set of drapes that were folded in the pic with the dining chairs. They are blue linen with brown floral. I looked into this same material, maybe from Ballard, last year. If you are selling those, please let me know!
Wow, You certainly have lots to choose from!! It’s not going to be easy to decide what to get rid of and what to keep when there are sentimental feelings behind the items. Is Ruby your friend that had the gorgeous dark blue bathroom with white trim? Is, so she has great taste and I can wait to see how the two of you get everything styled. I am working on the less is more theory but it is so difficult to do. Does her husband give her free rein with the decorating? That would make it lots easier too…Have lots of fun in the process and keep us posted!! PS, thank Ruby for showing the process and real life photos…
HI, Mary, this is a different friend. Debbie is the one with the blue/white bathroom, but Ruby is doing a blue and white bathroom too at this new house. We are all friends, by the way! And yes, she pretty much has free reign on the decorating and we do have lots of fun!
I love the painting on the buffet in the first pic! Wow! I love her use of the soft blues. I’m so looking forward to seeing the final pieces and what you will be selling on your FB page!!!
Im sure it will be so beautiful when she is all done, and so very nice of you to help her out!!
Wish I was closer for the sale, for I would be interested in the four ladder back chairs!
Paula
IN
My folks downsized a few years back, and mom has really had a hard time pairing things down. And, now that my dad just had back surgery (and hers is not much better) I really need to go and get it done for them. A lot of things could be given to other family members. I know she would feel better about passing them along. My dad would just love to be able to park at least one car in the garage!! It is challenging when working in a new space.
Hi Rhoda! LOVE Ruby’s lake house progress! Can you please share some of the paint details?? Specifically the color of the kitchen cabinets? AND the wall color in the kitchen?? I’m in the middle of a remodel now and desperately need help!!! Can’t wait to see the finished product!
THANKS!!!!!!!!!
HI, Susan, her main wall color in the house is Benjamin Moore White Dove. The cabinets were purchased already painted, so I’m not sure of the brand and all of that. I will be doing an update post soon with more details since she’s been working on getting it decorated.