A Couch You've Probably Seen Before

Over Labor Day weekend, Chris and I made a trip to the mecca known as IKEA to pick up our new couch!

I'm pretty sure most of you have seen this couch before, and may even have it in your own home.  I first saw it on YHL and thought that it would be a very economical way to get the sectional we wanted.

Chris put the frame together while I was busy putting all of the cushions into their cases.  About an hour later and we finally had a couch to sit on and enjoy in our living room!

I couldn't wait to break out the pillowcases that I sewed last year.  Love how they pop against the darker fabric of the sofa!

We still have some work to do in this room like
- mount the tv above the fireplace
- buy a chair and side table
- figure out what to do in the corner next to the fireplace
- add some more lighting
- change out the curtain panels (red ones were left over from the sellers)
- hang art/frames
- a new rug?

Are you a fan of colorful accent pillows?

It's Nice To Have A Place To Sit

And something other than an air mattress to sleep on!

Our furniture and boxes from the storage shed arrived and we attempted to set up and unpack as much as we could before we left for our annual birthday celebration - this time in San Francisco!

Recap coming soon!

We still have a ways to go, but at least at this point we're able to live here and work as we go.  We set up one of the guest rooms since it may be a little while until our master bed frame and new king mattress are purchased.

This room still needs:

- hang frames and art work

- a bench for the end of the bed

- build some shelves into the closet to act as a linen closet (I didn't even notice until our 2nd or 3rd visit to the house that there was no linen closet upstairs)

Chris' gameroom now houses all of the furniture that used to reside in our apartment living room.

Projects for this room include:

- building some shelves to hold DVDs and games

- spray painting that lamp base

- switching out lamp shade

- framing and hanging posters

- finding some smaller end tables to put near the couch

- decide what to do with extra end table that doesn't go at the end of the chaise lounge 

And finally, it's so nice to be able to eat meals in our breakfast nook.  

I'm a little bothered by the fact that the table is not centered under the light, but if it was it would be in the way of the back patio door.  We removed the leaf from our former dining room table and placed the smaller table in the breakfast nook. There is so much we want to do to the kitchen (new countertops, appliances, back splash, etc) but those changes will come much further down the road.

So there is some of the progress we have made in the last couple of weeks.  Now it's time for me to get back into the work routine after enjoying 2 weeks and the holiday off!

30 Before 30: Extension

So, um, yeah.  That time flew by way too fast and the deadline for my 30 before 30 has passed (or is passing today as I turn 30).

Since many of the remaining goals dealt with us getting a house (or doing something at that house, or completing a project with items that are in storage which would not be unloaded until we moved into that house) I decided to give myself an extension until the end of the year.

4 more months to try and tackle the rest of these goals.  Here's hoping I get as close as I can! 

Hobbies
1. Learn more about our DSLR camera (October 2011 & 2012 Photo Challenges)
2. Paint a piece of art Completed December 2011
3. Grow a flower or vegetable
4. Learn a new computer skill from Chris Completed May 2012
5. Read 20 new books (13/20)

DIY
6. Sew something Completed August 2012 (and pillow cases, more pillow cases, a class and quilt)
7. Complete a home renovation project Completed September 2012
8. Make scrapbook with postcards and photo strips from wedding
9. Make something out of polymer clay Completed December 2011

Travel

10. Travel outside of the country Completed April 2012 (Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman)

11. Plan a fun birthday trip Completed August 2013 - San Fran and Napa recap coming soon!

12. Take a road trip Completed March 2012

13. Stay at a B&B Completed August 2012

14. Experience an exciting staycation Completed June 2012

Food & Fitness

15. Get Chris to try a new veggie Completed March 2012

16. Make a new Thanksgiving dish Completed November 2011

17. Make homemade ice cream

18. Try 30 new recipes (25/30)

19. Work out 3-4 days a week for at least 2 months straight Still walking, but hit 2 months in August 2012

Personal
20. Buy a house Completed August 2013
21. Prep for a baby
22. Get a new truck for Chris Completed October 2011
23. Weed out & donate old clothes Completed December 2011

Fun Times
24. Go to a concert Completed August 2012
25. Venture back to College Station Completed July 2012
26. Go to a college football game Completed October 2012
27. Be in print Completed November 2011
28. Throw a house warming party
29. Go to Medieval Times  Completed February 2012
30. Eat something from a food truck Completed February 2012

I doubt I'll be growing a flower or veggie in the fall/winter, so here's hoping all but 1 can be crossed off by the end of the year!

The Good With The Bad

Although I love being a homeowner, this first month has not been all fun, paint and games.

First up was the toilets, they worked but we noticed they were very slow to flush and it would require more than one flush to get rid of toilet paper. Out with the old and in with 3 new high efficiency replacements.

The other was the dozy - the A/C.  When we had our inspection done our inspector told us that the return differential wasn't as much as it should have been, the downstairs unit was 8 degrees and the upstairs was 6 degrees (both should have been in the 14-22 degree range).  It was listed as a major concern and should be serviced so the HVAC systems would function properly.  We had the sellers service the systems and provide a receipt prior to closing put they said they would not repair (which was a big warning to us, but we still really loved the house so we pressed on hoping that it would hold out for a while). The A/C worked during our first night and for the next couple of weeks but it wasn't getting as cold in the house as it should.  One night I went over to meet with a window replacement guy and headed upstairs to find that it was 94 degrees...ridiculous!

The original systems from '98-'99

Trying to make a long story short, we called upon our service warranty company who did send out a local technician.  That tech saw that the outside units were frozen, unplugged them from the wall and said that someone would come out the next day once the units thawed out.  The tech the next day looked around in the attic and outside for about 45 mins before getting our service company on the phone because he needed permission to continue on.  We sent over our inspection and service receipt from sellers but in the end the warranty company said they could not cover fixing it due to there being no proof that the sellers fixed the issue, just did a tune up.

Looking up the costs of 2 new units left my jaw on the floor.  It's like buying a new car!!  I like to think that after the initial shock at the price, I handled it pretty well.  I called a couple of BBB accredited companies to discuss prices of replacements before deciding on one company to come out and check out our situation. Since our systems were so old, the standard today is much different then back in 98/99 when our systems were put in.  There was corrosion in the coils which resulted in two major leaks in our attic and at least one other leak was found in the outside unit as well.  With the old systems, its harder to find replacement parts as companies are no longer making 10 SEER systems.  Couple that with the fact that freon is no longer allowed to be used in newer systems as of 2010 (making freon replacement expensive as well), we made the decision to replace both units.

So many pieces to the puzzle

The new 16 SEER HVAC systems were costly, (I think it's one of the 3 biggest possible expenses with a house along with a new roof and foundation issues) but it needed to be done and we are very thankful to be able to be in our house without sweat running down our faces.

Our new systems that actually cool the house

  

Did you have any repairs or replacements in your first couple of months of owning a home?

The Painting Difference

We have been busy busy painting up a storm over at the new house.

We wanted to capitalize on a mainly empty house by knocking out as many rooms as we could before the movers delivered all of our boxes and furniture.  Besides the dining room, the laundry room and the gameroom we also painted my previously neon green office (in Oslo Blue)...

And two of the three guest rooms.

We did this room in Juniper Berries, which I really loved and wanted to do in my office but I thought it might be too dark for the smaller space.

This was supposed to be a color match to Sherwin Williams Rain, but I don't see as much of the greenish tint like I did in the sample pot.

While we were painting those rooms, we left the main area and the ceiling in the dining room to the pros who finished it all in three days!

Amazing how much they can get done in a short period of time

Along with painting the main area SW Jubilee and the dining room ceiling to match the Behr Ultra Pure White that we painted on the bottom half, the painters also painted all of the doors that faced into the main areas, the trim and the staircase spindles.

The new white color for the doors on the left, the old off white on the right

I love how the Jubilee turned out in the main area, especially with the new white trim!

It has been go, go, go these past two weeks, and I'm so ready for it to slow down a little since the majority of the painting has been completed.  Now our focus is on unpacking boxes, fun fun.

Have you painted many rooms in your house?

Getting Our Yard Work On

One thing that we loved about our house, but at the same time were a little cautious about was all of the yard work.  Our house has one of the largest lots in the neighborhood and the original owners (not the couple that sold it to us) put in a ton of work in both the front and the back that sadly was not kept up by the sellers while the house sat on the market.  Because of this, there was a lot of overgrowth as well as weeds and dead bushes that just needed to go.

The front yard during our first showing

As you can see in the shot above, those 4 bushes in front are a little unruly and even block our house number.  With so many deliveries and companies coming over to give estimates on work I'm sure it's annoying for them to have to circle back because they missed the house the first time.

We also had a lot of low hanging tree branches that blocked our path to the shed and would get in the way whenever we walked on the back patio.

Throw into the mix all of the weeds, dead rose bushes with thorns sticking out everywhere and the craziness that is the back garden and we decided to enlist the help of my parents' landscaper who has been doing work for them for years.  Martin's crew came one Saturday and knocked out an enormous amount of clean up that made so much of a difference.  They left the branches in bundles on the front part of our house which we would have left except that trash pick up would not occur until Thursday and I'm sure a neighbor or the HOA would have something to say about it.  Because of this, Chris and I found ourselves lifting those large bundles into the garage.  I meant to take a shot of the bundles lining the street but I was too busy sweating like no other trying to get the work done.

I don't think this shot really showcases the amount of branches we have, but it'll have to do.  After we raked, swepted and bagged all of the little remaining pieces we were able to actually walk around the yard and be amazed at the work Martin's crew completed.

Hello house number (well at least the blurred area where the house number is)

This was taken for our "we've moved" cards before Chris' graduation.  We didn't know that Martin's team was going to be there that day, so you can see behind us where they've already removed the front bushes.

We're going to pick some other lower bushes to replace in the front, and Chris and I are thinking of some DIY work to add a little something something to the corner of our front yard that is looking a little bare.

I know now we'll need to invest in some good rakes for the fall because there will be a ton of leaves!

Do you enjoy doing yard work?

A Bold Choice

While Chris and I pick out and agree on the colors in the majority of the rooms, we did decide that we each would get complete control over one room in the house.  For me it's my office and for Chris it is his gameroom.

The other night, we headed over and knocked out another night of painting this time in his gameroom. 

Gameroom during our first showing

As I'm sure you know by now, Chris and I really love the colors blue and green.  We are trying to branch out with different colors as well - our main area will be Sherwin Williams Jubilee which is a silver gray color and you've already seen the white and juniper ash in the laundry room.  But with the gameroom as his area of full control, I kinda knew it would be a nice bold blue (Behr Bermudan Blue).  I really like the shade he picked out and with the sunlight that flows through those two windows it's actually a little lighter in person than it appears in these pictures.

You may have also noticed in the picture above a couple of ceiling fans.  Most designers may cringe at ceiling fans, but living in Texas we kinda depend on them to help battle the heat.  Chris the handyman went around upstairs, removed the boob lights and installed the fans in each of the guest rooms.

I love the additional light in each of these rooms and the fans help push the cold air from the vents.

As we move items over from my parents' house and clear out our storage shed, we'll continue to piece together Chris' gameroom which will include updating the single light with a remote ceiling fan.

Do you have any bold colors in your home?