Our New Home ~ Come On In And Take A Look Around!

Welcome To Our New Home!

 

I am so excited to share with you all some pictures of our new home!  If you missed my last post on “Our Big Move”, you can read it here: From Snowy Wisconsin to Sunny Florida: Our Move Across Country.

As promised in that post, I am going to share with you some pictures of our new home! Above is a picture of the outside…I know, it isn’t a full on picture (for privacy reasons I have shared just a bit), but I can assure you I will share some fun photos of the inside).

An Empty House

 

I wish I would have taken some more pictures of our empty house, but I did manage to take a few with my iPhone.

I am not sure why people paint a house all one color.  Our house in Wisconsin was painted all one color (ceiling colors matched walls too) before we painted it and this house in Florida also was painted all one color…white.

To me, one color becomes institutionalized.  There is no warm feeling…and we are always looking to add a cozy feeling to our homes.

So here is what our house looked like empty and all white (wait until you see what color does for the space)!

How is that for open space, right?  This house could not have a more open floor plan…it is pretty much all open, which fits our family perfect!

Hiring an Expert

 

For the first time, I was stumped on how to paint this house. There were so many architectural elements, I had no idea how to tackle the space.

My husband suggested we hire someone to help us with the colors.  I could not or would not spend $1,000+ to pick out colors, soooo…I called a painter referred by Angie’s List, and asked them who they would recommend.

They gave me a number of someone and I phoned her and to my surprise, a color consultation only cost $300! So I phoned and hired her on the spot!

Playing Up The Architectural Elements of The House

 

Our consultant came out to my home and worked with me for over 4 hours.  We both agreed that the house offered a lot of neat architectural elements and we needed to play up that part of the house!

So after reviewing everything, we picked the colors and drew it out on paper. Here was a sketch of our workup (P1, P2 and P8 are different paint colors)!

Now do you understand why I needed help?  I had NO IDEA how to tackle this painting project, AND this was just one room!

And The Paint Goes Up

 

So once we narrowed down our colors (which of course were warm tones), the painting begun! We had an amazing group of people help us out!

Warm and Fuzzy Feeling,  Are You Feeling It?

 

Are you feeling the warmth yet?  It amazes me, every time, how much color can change a room!

Here are a few completed pictures.  I have yet to decorate, but at least you can see the colors, right?

So this is our family room, great room, living room and whatever else you want to call it.  This is where the P.A.R.T.Y is! Keep in mind, we have done no decorating yet and we are doing a renovation on the space upfront and making it into an entertainment wall so that the TV fits in the wall and not such an eyesore!!

Second Hand Stores

 

I love second hand stores! See that cool console table behind the couch in the picture above?  I got that here in Florida at a second hand store (gently used).  I am crazy in ❤ with it!

The mantel will be changed out to a rustic piece of “used” wood and we will eventually change out the fire place too!  My girlfriend mentioned she has an old wood rail in her garage, might have to snag a peek at that! All in good time though, right?

My coffee table and end table are both made of reclaimed and recycled wood.  It is rustic and full of dings, just the way I like it!

Here is another angle of our family room.  You can see our kitchen back there!

A New Loveseat from the Home Decorators Collection

 

Take a look below at this new sofa that I absolutely LOVE!  It is a loveseat (70″ long) and the loveseat, coffee table and bowl on coffee table were all purchased at Home Decorators Collection, a very reasonably priced place with quality pieces!

I bought this sofa sight unseen.  I have never done that before because I like to feel the comfort and the fabrics of the sofa and inspect the quality. But we have had such great luck with this company that we went for it and once again, we loved the product!

(Psst…I am not being paid to endorse Home Decorators Collection, I just truly enjoy their products).

A Few of My Treasured Antiques

 

See that oak mirror by the front door?  It is my absolute favorite piece in my house!  My mom purchased it when I was a kid (in the 70’s) at an antique shop and it was all beat up and about to go into the trash.

My mom refinished it with a toothbrush and some stain and a lot of elbow grease!  She didn’t pay a lot for it at all (if I recall it was only $39), but with a little love she made it into a family treasure! Take a closer look in the picture below this, isn’t it beautiful?

Also take a look at that hutch below the mirror.  It is actually called a secretaries desk and my great grandfather built it with his own two hands!  My mom and I refinished that piece too!

Oh heck, why not…since we are talking antiques, see that rocking chair?  That was my very first antique I purchased when I was 17 years old (I just turned 42).  I think I paid $55 for it (they were asking $85 but of course you always ask them to give you a discount)!

Pops of Color

 

When I finally do decorate this house, I can’t WAIT to bring in a bunch of wildly colorful pieces!

See that space behind the couch? That is the family computer area.  Always a great idea to have computers for kids out in the open, right?

The picture on the wall back there I purchased many years ago from an antique shop.  I love all the vibrant colors! (Let me be honest here!  I threw this picture in because of my absolutely adorable dog)! 🙂

Retro Chairs & Mixing Up Styles

 

I never like to match one style with another.  I like to mix antiques with retro pieces and modern with old and use every shade of wood imaginable!

Take a look at these totally retro and fun chairs for my girls to eat at in the breakfast nook. And you know what…we bought the floor models (nothing wrong with them)…$95 a piece (original price), we got them for $35 (floor models)!  Now how is that for a deal?

Oh and by the way, that is our galley kitchen! It looks a little on the small side, but it is actually quite large!  Galley kitchens are so hard to photograph!

Finding Furniture At Estate Sales

 

Rarely do I purchase pieces of furniture new (with the exception of couches).  Check out this INCREDIBLE find!

I got this all wood table (not the pressed, poorly made tables that so many places sell today) and 10 wood chairs with leather seats at an estate sale.

What did I pay?  $150 for the entire set!  Guys that is 10 chairs and a table!  One chair new would cost that.  It looks used yes, but I love that look!

Ourdoor Space, Bedrooms & Bonus Room

 

I have yet to decorate the bedrooms and man cave/billiard room!  I will save that for another post.

I would love to finish this post with a few shots of our outdoor space.  The outdoor space is one of the major reasons we bought this home! 🙂

We probably won’t get to add furniture to this space until next year, but here it is, as is!

We recently switched out our pool to a salt water system.  I plan on writing a post soon on why salt water pools are so much healthier than chlorinated pools!

Check out that wonderful lagoon out back!  Oh the wild life!!  We have large mouth bass, tilapia, huge turtles, bald eagles, loons and yes….alligators!!

Thank You For Taking This Tour With Me!

 

So there you have it!  Now you know why I have been so busy, huh?  We have been living in this home for a little over a month and a half.  Yay, we are all about business when it comes to getting things done!

I am ready to settle down (and so is my budget) for a little bit and am so ready to start settling in!

Thanks for taking this tour with me.  I will do another post down the road (or whenever I get to the next project).  I know this is “stepping out of the box” from my traditional posts, but I hope you enjoyed it! 🙂