Our latest addition to the house

After weeks of searching for the best deal, we finally got ourselves a new dining table. We do own a dining table that we bought used off craigslist a couple years ago. We were in a rental place and didn’t want to spend money buying new furniture, so we settled for a used dining table that served its purpose. After we moved, the dining table sits in the formal dining area, never used. Wait… maybe once when his parents came over for dinner. We rarely eat on the dining table. Where do we eat? On the coffee table in front of the TV. Yes, I know. Bad habit. The formal dining area is separated from the family room. We can’t watch the TV if we sit there. We know we will never use that area unless we have guests over. Since there’s room for another table between the kitchen and the family room, we decided to get a new dining table. That way, we can watch the TV while we eat. No more eating on the coffee table.

We are still not sure if we got a good deal but we are tired of shopping around. We bought it from a furniture shop nearby. Last night the pieces came. Shane & Dustin came for a visit, we put them right to work. Such good friends we are. ;)

With 3 hunks working on it, all 6 chairs were assembled in no time. The table unfortunately was damaged upon receipt. So we exchanged it the next day. So for the night, we only have 6 chairs and an invisible table.

tsk tsk tsk…. chipped end. John had to make another trip back there to exchange for another one. Tonight, we finally got all 7 pcs together. The table comes with a leaf, which we would probably not use, unless we have guests over and needed a bigger table. I don’t really care for the lazy susan, so that may end up in the closet unless we need to use it someday.

 

Pictures above show all pieces together with the leaf and lazy susan. We have the option to get 8 chairs but we think 6 chairs are sufficient. The dining set already comes in handy. I am already blogging from the table tonight. Hmmmm… why do I have a feeling that this table is going to be our computer desk rather than our dining table? :P I already told John that we should try to leave this table clutter free. We’ll see how long we can keep it that way.

Let the air circulate!

We missed having a ceiling fan in the room. Our last rental place wasn’t wired for a ceiling fan so we can’t put one up. So our ceiling fan was all boxed up sitting in the garage for one year not doing his duties. We have been using this in the room for a year, which has dutifully served his purpose for one year.

our dutiful standing fan

We wanted some sort of fan in the room so the air is moving around constantly and we are not breathing into stale air. Not to mention the electricity that we would save during the summer! Now we finally have our own place and are able to do what we want, so what do we do? We put up our ceiling fan!

  

After a visit to the hardware store we got all the materials we need, John quickly got to work. We didn’t get a ceiling fan since we already had one. Notice what’s on the ceiling? He put a post-it on the ceiling on where he wants the ceiling fan to be after measuring the room.

Left: A closer look at his post-it. Right: Can you spot him at the attic? :) He went up and then down and then up and then down. I can’t keep track.

And then a big hole got cut out!!

Slowly, and slowly….Several hours later, we finally got ourselves a ceiling fan!

We can control the fan, dim the lights (yes, dimmer!!!), or turn it off without getting out of bed now. No more fighting whose closest to the light switch to turn it off every night (although John always loses no matter what ;P ). We may change out the ceiling fan one day, but for now we are loving and enjoying the convenience of our fan. Who knows, we may substitute it with a chandelier. That would give the room a more elegant and soft look.Then we would probably have to use the standing fan again! Or maybe we can find something nicer than the standing fan that would do the work just the same. :’)

Our laundry nook

We were lucky in a way because our realtor bought us the washer & dryer from the previous owner. They didn’t want to take it with them, and we needed one. So our kind realtor bought from them as a gift to us. They were used but still in working condition. But hey, they were free, so we don’t mind. One less thing to buy. Beggars cannot be choosers. ;)

So before the laundry area didn’t really have any storage area. I didn’t know where to put the laundry baskets and detergent. So as a temporary solution we decided to get those white wire shelves, which works like a charm. We saw it at Lowes and they were on sale! Perfect! After some labor work from John (measuring, cutting and drilling), I can now put my laundry baskets, detergent and softener on the wire shelf.

It may not have been the best looking shelf, but it works and it is the fastest solution. There were some patches on the wall from before. So we are planning on painting the wall one day. Hopefully some time soon with all these other projects on the list.

Bike Rack

We spent less than $10 to get these bikes out of the way:

So now we have more space in the garage with these guys hanging from the ceiling rather than taking up our precious garage floor space. More room in the garage for other junk! ;)

Window solutions for the family room

It took me a while to finally be able to find the perfect window treatments to our family room.

We have a sliding door next to a window, about a foot and half away. I was wrecking my brain to find the perfect solution. Do we put 2 curtain rods next to one another? The rod ends will be touching one another since both windows are so close to one another. The other option is to put just one long rod across the whole wall, making it look like one big window? After a few trial and errors, we finally decided to get one long rod that goes across the wall. I bought and returned so many curtains before finally finding the perfect curtains. I wanted white curtains in 95” length and it needed to be able to block the lights since it’s the TV room. After searching high and low, I found the curtains that had everything that we needed at a reasonable price from JC Penney. They were on sale and there was a special going on where if you spend over $100, you get an extra $20 off. So the 4 panels ended costing me about $100 with tax. Not bad for the type of curtains we got. John found the rod from Bed, Bath and Beyond, it was on clearance and after 20% coupon off, it cost about $40. We had to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond, because most places doesn’t carry the 144” length curtain rods.  

The house is still in work, so don’t mind the funny stuff that are laying around. :-) I love the new curtains, it instantly makes the house look more homey and the white instantly brightens up the room.

We moved!

So we finally got our house after almost 8 painful months of serious house hunting. We got the keys on Feb 26th and moved on the same day, immediately. :) The escrow process was painful for us. It was the most stressful 45 days we had to go through especially the last 2 weeks. Everything went so wrong during our escrow. Even after signing the final papers, we were still not certain if we got the house. I kept thinking something is going to come up and screw this whole thing up. Not until we actually got the keys in our hand, were we are able to celebrate. It was such a relief when our realtor handed us the keys. I am so glad that it is all over now.

We had a cleaning crew come in to clean the whole house on the day we moved because we didn’t have time to clean the place before we moved in. That was the plan anyway because the house was filthy! It was a short sale, so we expected the house to not be in its tip top condition. So about 5 hours and $210 later, the house was sparkling clean. They cleaned every surface and nook pretty darn good. We wouldn’t have known how to begin. So we thought it was money well spent.

I’ve been in hiatus from my blog for awhile because we have been pretty busy settling down at our new place. I have slowly grown to love this place now! It’s been almost a month, the place is still far from being done. A friend told me, the list will never end. There are always projects that you want done. Coming from a 1 bedroom condo to a 3 bedroom house, the house is screaming for furniture! We bought a bed frame but it is not arriving till 3rd week of April. Bummer! I was so looking forward to it too. The next item, would be a dining table set for the casual dining area. We are on the scout for new furniture. 

To date, we have changed the locks of the house, replaced kitchen faucets, fixed the sprinklers, put up window treatments to our bare family room, and some minor stuff here and there. I will try to upload our in progress house pictures as much as I can.

Totally unrelated, here are some pictures of John preparing dinner. Rare scene! :D His parents came over for dinner and John made dinner. I helped here and there but he did most of the work. I am proud of my mister! 

Of course, we didn’t just have asparagus for dinner. We had garlic roasted chicken and roasted potatoes as well. Everything turned out well. His parents like it!

Ethan’s 1st Birthday Bash

Last month, we joined the fun in celebrating Ethan’s 1st birthday. What a great party with lots of great friends, kids and family! Ethan is one lucky kid! :) 

 

Adult food and drinks ;)

Now these are for the kids… :)

The party was held at the Preach Barn. Awesomeness…

What’s a kid’s party without this:and this…:   

McKenzie couldn’t get enough riding the pony.

 

Here’s the birthday boy! Daddy’s feeding little Ethan with some cake behind mommy’s back. :)))