July 2013 Photos-Our Neighborhood Walk

 Just a few photos after our walk the other day.  I try to take Matthew out for a walk on the nicer days however it's been pretty hot lately. We are just starting to get to know our new neighborhood. The best part about the walk is coming home and sitting on our porch. It has great shade and it the perfect spot to relax. Matt likes the porch too but even better when his Dad (Scott) is around since he can lift him from his wheelchair into the rocker. Matthew can now sit in the rocker on the porch without any pillows for support and rock himself. Previously, he could not sit up well enough without a bunch of pillows to support him.

I have a hard time sitting him up straight in his wheelchair however. I have to use the hoyer lift to lift him into the chair but he's too heavy for me to pick him up and straighten him up into the wheelchair. Looks like I am sleeping on the job here, lol. I also noticed I don't have any jewelry on except earrings. I don't wear a watch or rings around the house when I move him around since it's harder to move him when I am wearing them. Looks a little bare for photos though.

First Look at the Foyer

I celebrated my birthday today.  My sister took me out to lunch and also brought me some pink hydrangeas from her garden.  I put them on my three drawer chest in the foyer.  I still have to install my crystal sconces on either side of the mirror yet, but overall, I love the look of these pink hydrangeas on the chest of drawers. We had a great time visiting over lunch and it's something we don't do often enough. Overall, a really nice day.  I went to visit my Mom at the nursing home prior to going to lunch so it was great to see her as well.

 I haven't done much of anything in here. I suspect I'll paint the walls within the next few months, once I decide on a color. I selected a pale pink paint color for my kitchen and if I like it, I'll use it in here as well. Martha Stewart did one of her guest houses in a pale pink color many years ago and I have always loved it. But for now, for summer, my focus is on the yard.

 

One of the things I like about my new house is that I have an open concept living room/foyer with a vaulted ceiling. The ceilings are nice and tall which allow me to display my beautiful Louis XV mirror. I think these pink hydrangeas look just perfect here.

 One final look....so pretty. I am thankful to have such beautiful things.

First Look :Master Bedroom & Craigslist Headboard

 Whew, I know it's been a while but it's taken a little time to get settled.  Matthew is no longer in school so I don't have a whole lot of time to do projects around the house. I've been in the new house for two months now and things are finally settling down.  As I mentioned previously, the house was a flip so the advantage was that everything was new (except for the air conditioner) however that also meant that it didn't have any window treatments, towel bars, closet shelving, shower curtain rods, etc. Needless to say, I've been very busy.  Scott (ex-husband) has been helping out quite a bit and installing  lot of closet shelving for me. I put in new shelving in the kitchen, coat closet, linen closet and Matt's closet.  There are new towel bars, towel rings, shower curtain rods in the bathroom (post coming soon). The bathroom looks stunning.

In the meantime, I learned that the air conditioner didn't work so I had to have a new air conditioner put in; I sweated it out for a few weeks while I saved the money for it. My brand new dishwasher went out after two weeks and it was out of warranty so I just got that fixed today.  I also purchased all new blinds for the house.  While my washer and dryer were new, the dryer didn't work initially. It turned out the dryer vent was clogged. When I had the home inspection, the washer/dryer had not been installed so there wasn't any way to know. I had that fixed right away.

On the outside, there was a lot of work to do-I removed a ton of vines growing up on the house, had a few trees cut down and Scott and I trimmed a few other trees. Scott told me the neighbors were going to call me, "Mr. T" (he's the actor who cut down a bunch of trees when he moved to Lake Forest, IL and the neighbors were in an uproar over that). The house had been vacant a while so many of the trees were touching the roof so I had to get those removed.  I planted six flats of pink impatients and I put in new mulch.  I still have some more yard work to do and I need to put in some sod on the side yard.  Landscaping will have to wait until the spring however for now, it's mostly clean and neat. I had to laugh because many of the neighbors commented on how great the yard looked and all I did was to clean it up and put some mulch down. They will really be impressed when I actually plant something! I painted my front door (will post pictures once I get the address numbers on it) and in general still have some work to do outside. All of this while cooking from scratch and taking care of Matthew. On to the fun stuff!

 One of the first things I did before I moved was to purchase this headboard. I happened to look out on Craigslist and saw this beauty. I had always loved Claudio Rayes iron headboards,  with all of the scroll work, so when I saw this black/gold headboard, I wanted it. And the price could not be beat.  $40. Yes, only $40.  Sold!  The headboard was so heavy it took 2 men to carry it down and then Scott stored it for me until I closed on the house.  Here is a picture of the headboard without the pillows on it.

 Here is the headboard in my room. One of my favorite things about the new house is that I have a fairly large bedroom. I have a king size bed and I have two three drawer chests, one on each side of the bed and there is still room to spare.

 Each chest of drawers is a little over three feet wide. I painted these black when I had my former apartment and the apartment was so small that I could only fit one of the three drawer chests on the side of the bed. I love symmetry so I am happy that both of them work.

 I have two large closets and then a little room in between to hang my nail polish rack. I swear I get more comments on the nail polish rack when people see my room. I love having them in a rack on the wall so I can pick my polish with the sun shining on the colors. I love that everything is new in my house-all new closet doors, moldings, flooring, etc. 

 This is the view into my hallway. The linen closet is the closet you see in the hall.

 I like having a full length mirror in my room again. In my former apartment, I had this mirror over Matt's bed; I knew I wanted to keep it but there wasn't a lot of space.

 Another view.

 This is the west side of the room. It's pretty hard to take photos in this room with the sun shining in so I closed the blinds. I can't wait until I can afford some drapes to add some softness to the room.

 One of the things I like about my new house is all of the attention to detail. Even the register is pretty in my room. The carpet is ultra padded and feels quite luxurious. This is the only room with carpet; the living areas and Matthew's room are hardwood and the bathroom and laundry have travertine tile. They also put in beautiful pull chains for the light fixtures in the closet.  I don't think I could have selected prettier options! I really feel that this is the perfect house for us.

 

 

 On the opposite side of the room it's empty! I suspect when I am ready to redo the room, I'll add a chest of drawers or some built ins for more storage. For now, I am just enjoying the extra space. It's so calming in my room.  I have so many other projects so this one will have to wait.

 At some point, I'd like to paint the room and get new bedding. I like this soft green bedding by Barbara Barry. I think I'd like a soft green on the walls to make the headboard and three drawer chests pop against the wall.

 I am not really fond of this gold bedding in this room. It looks great in person but totally loses something when I take photos. The wall color is a pale cream almost yellow and at my former apartment, they had a strong taupe/tan on the walls that complimented the bedding much better. I found the color too contemporary for my taste and now that I am in my permanent home, I plan on using a much softer palette. As for the photos, I took these using my phone however I think my camera photos are a bit better. That's all for now. I'll try to post my bathroom pics soon. I have a few more to take.