new house tour {our porch and yards}

here is the last post in my little tour of our new house.

{backyard}

pros:
- fenced in
- good shade
- the yard is really big with lots of space to play and explore
- quiet and secluded
- perfect spot for a fire pit (maybe this winter if jobot is old enough?)
- fun little cherry tomato plant that we got on clearance shortly after we moved here. love fell in love with it at the store and we brought it home. it has died and come back to life a few times, but is still producing a small harvest. love enjoys picking the tomatoes and sometimes enjoys eating them.
- plenty of little critters to find (bugs, snails, slugs, frogs, worms...)
- the kids have lots of fun with the sandbox, little swimming pool, hose, and sprinkler.

cons:
- no direct access from house (have to go out the backdoor and around the house to get in the gate)
- mosquitoes!!!
- creepy storage sheds (i tried to make them less creepy by hanging a colorful banner up, but they are still scary!)

we spend a lot of time in this backyard and we really enjoy it. i am really looking forward to later this fall and winter when the weather is more pleasant (not so hot and humid!) and we won't be fighting with mosquitoes whenever we are outside. but, we have already used this backyard a lot and are very thankful to have it.

{front yard}

pros:
- front porch always has shade
- carport is a great place for riding bikes (the kids have been doing that more lately)
- a great place to be to see neighbors
- feels relaxing

cons:
- we have to watch jobot every second to make sure he doesn't go in the street

we've actually been spending more time in the front yard than the back the past few weeks. there are less mosquitoes and we like seeing neighbors, especially on a long day at home. we've been going for walks in the mornings and then playing in the front yard for a bit before it gets too hot. the kids have been enjoying their bikes (trying to ride them). the porch is a great place to sit (although it has been too hot lately). we have enjoyed sitting there together after the kids are in bed and look forward to doing lots more of that when the weather cools down a bit.

see the white wicker rocking chair on the porch? we got it off the curb! it is a bit worn, but still works. a while back we picked up a cushion for it on clearance, and we have already gotten quite a bit of use out of it. i have always wanted a wicker porch chair.

also, i have two basil plants on the front porch. we got them on clearance shortly after we moved here and planted them in wine boxes we found on the curb (those and the wicker chairs are the only things we have found on the curb, but all were good finds!). the plants have been thriving, and we've been using them a lot (caprese salads, pizza...i love basil). some bug has been eating them though, so i've got to figure that out. i love that these plants are decorative, but also edible! that's the way to go.

new house tour {jobot's bedroom / the guest room and full bathroom}

{ jobot's room / guest room }

pros:
- 2 windows with nice view into backyard, lots of natural light
- nice color on the walls
- large room
- seems to be the coolest room in the house

cons:
- very small closet
- random stuff being stored in this room because there is nowhere else to put it
- mirror on dresser is really dirty. i should probably wash that.

jobot's room doubles as the guest room, so when we have company, he sleeps in a portable crib in our room. we did the same thing at our old house, only his bedroom there was tiny, so it is really nice to have a bigger space for a shared bedroom/guestroom. i would love to decorate the walls a bit more in this room. i have a few trains that i would love to put on a shelf on the wall somewhere, and i would also like to put some art on the walls. i have lots of ideas for this room, but no budget to do anything with them...so blank walls they will stay for now. that's okay.

{ full bathroom }

pros:
- this room has a working toilet, bathtub/shower, and sink
- recent installation of ceiling fan
- cute curtain sewed by me (i do not like mini blinds. they are fine in other people's houses, but i just don't like looking at them all the time in my own...i would much prefer a curtain on my windows.)

cons:
- this room is narrow and tiny
- there was clearly a problem with mold before as there are mold stains on the ceiling and walls. we scrubbed it all down after we moved in.
- the caulking around the bathtub looks gross
- toilet flushes very slowly and uses a lot of water
- didn't have a door when we moved in (jeremy found the door in a backyard shed and put it on)

this isn't the greatest bathroom, but it is functional, so we'll call it good.

new house tour {love's bedroom}

originally, this room was going to be love's bedroom and also the play room. all the toys are stored in this room and we don't really have room to store them elsewhere, so it just made sense to use this room as a playroom during the day. that didn't work so well. love needed her own space to keep things away from the hands of her little brother. we have recently added a baby gate to the doorway into the kitchen. that way, love can play alone in her room and also have her door open and feel like she is part of the family. this room has two doors, so she can easily go in and out of the other door if she wants to. 

everyone is happier with this arrangement. i brought one bin of toys into the living room for jobot and i rotate the toys a bit each day. i thought he would put up more of a fuss about not being able to go in her room, but he hasn't seemed to mind at all.

pros: 

- this room is right off of the kitchen (can also be a con).

- has two doors.

cons:

- only one window, room usually feels quite dark.

- the walls have a lot of scratches/marks/holes, etc...

- one of the doors is very difficult to close.

and yes, love still sleeps in a crib. she is fine with the crib right now and so are we. when the time comes, it is going to be a difficult transition for all of us to a "big girl bed". maybe she will just stay in a crib until she moves out? ha.

new house tour {our bedroom & bathroom}

continuing with our house tour...

OUR BEDROOM & HALF BATHROOM

pros:
- lots of natural light (3 windows!)
- wall color is nice and works with our quilt
- it's a large room
- has 1/2 bath
- large closet
- ceiling fan
- we already had curtains that worked in this room. (they might not all be the same color...but we are working with a very limited budget here.)
- toilet used to sound like a fire siren when it flushed. then someone (who shall remain nameless, but it's the only person who attempts to fix toilets in this house...and that's not me) tried to fix it the other day and dropped our screwdriver down while it was flushing. as of wednesday, we have a brand new toilet!

cons:
- this room also houses the furniture that we couldn't fit in the rest of our house (basically, all the furniture that used to be in our dining room minus the table and chairs).

overall thoughts:
- this is my favorite room in our house. even though there is extra furniture and even though the toilet sounded like a fire siren, it is a really nice room that feels relaxing to me. i enjoy keeping this room clean and also toy free.

oh, and by the way, i LOVE having everything on one level in our house! while i wouldn't mind a basement for storage/extra space (no one here has basements), i am totally going to go for ranch style houses from now on. it is so much easier to keep clean this way! it's also easier with little ones to not have to take them up and down stairs all the time. so...that's a win (i kinda knew it would be)!

new house tour {living room and kitchen}

it's about time for some photos of our new house, so here is a little tour of the living room and kitchen.

LIVING ROOM

pros:
- fireplace with mantle (it even already has four hooks for our stockings)
- wall color (it was already here and i like it. we haven't painted and won't paint any of the walls...too much work)
- wood floors
- two new windows in the front of the room
- window on front door very similar to window on front door at our old house

cons:
- two really old and dirty windows
- the place where we have seen the most cockroaches
- no keys to the front door
- fireplace that jobot frequently walks into and bumps his head on

overall thoughts:
i really like this room. it is where we spend most of our time. arranging the furniture was a challenge, but i think we figured out a good set up. the two chairs by the front windows are perfect places for reading (except when it is dark...we need another light on that side of the room!), the couch is perfect for snuggling, and the floor is great for playing (though a rug would be nice).

KITCHEN

pros:
- nice space above stove to store spices and cookbooks
- window above sink with a view of our street
- nice little window sill above sink
- garbage disposal, ice maker, and dishwasher
- plenty of outlets
- cute curtains (recently sewed by me)
- lots of cupboard space

cons:
- awkward and crowded space by table/back door (difficult to navigate with two kids and a bag)
- garbage disposal switch at perfect spot for jobot access (covered by the neon pink tape below the sink. seriously...who thought that putting the switch there was a good idea?)
- no dining room (i really miss having a dining room)
- lack of natural light. room is usually quite dark and the red paint doesn't help.
- a big, blank red wall (we don't have anything to put on it!)
- cupboards/drawers are difficult to open and close
- love's bedroom is right off of this room (narrow door by table is hers)

overall thoughts:
this kitchen is okay. the arrangement of the cupboards/counters/appliances make it very practical to work in. to me it feels crowded and dark. not my favorite, but it could be much worse, and i am thankful to have a functional kitchen.


we are slowly making this house into our home. stay tuned for photos of the other rooms. for the post about how this house came to be ours, click here.