Deck the Halls: Inside

This Christmas we're keeping it simple, since it will just be the two of us at home with the dogs.  Next year,  I hope to have all our decorations (we are still waiting for one more shipment with the rest of our Christmas decor) and really spruce up the place.

I committed a major northern faux pas this year by not putting up a real Christmas tree. I LOVE real Christmas trees.  I missed them in Okinawa, where we purchased a standard pre-lit tree.  But, since we are having a quiet Christmas by ourselves and we are trying to scrape up some dough for house projects and furniture, we decided that we'd wait one more year for a real tree.  

I decorated the tree in mostly greens, blues, and silver.  I did put up some of our "regular" ornaments, like this custom made ornament of Gunnar (we have one of Sadie too).

Our Santa in the shape of Okinawa.

Or the custom-made glass balls that hold notes from our dating/engagement years:

The mantel was kept simple for the reasons listed above, but also because I don't know what I'll have on the mantel after Christmas.  We are still unpacking boxes and the house is still a work in progress, after all.

Here's a little side table that I recently purchased from a cute, little boutique in Bremerton.  The greens I picked up around our neighborhood.

My Willow Tree Nativity is currently on the buffet.  I only need two more pieces to have the complete set!

Lastly, a little touch above the stove.  

Next up, our simple outdoor decor!

November News

A lot has happened over the past couple of weeks.  We've successfully moved into the new house, although many rooms are still in transition.  Our bedroom, for example, is full of piles of clothes since we are without a dresser.  But, we are making due.  Here's our living room:

As you can see, it's pretty bare.  There are plans in the works, like getting a new rug and couch, painting the TV stand, and reupholstering the large chair and ottoman.  It'll come together soon enough.

Just as we were getting things unpacked and situated, a winter storm came through western Washington and covered us in snow and ice.  At first, I was loving it....  

...but then the snow came down harder and the driving became slow and icy.  It was bad.  It took me an hour to drive home from the grocery store (it should take 20 minutes!).  Driving home, I realized Washington doesn't quite handle snow like New England, or at least they don't have the power to handle it.  We ended up getting only two and a half inches of snow, but a lot of ice.  Then the power went out.  Thankfully we have a gas fireplace and lots of blankets. 

The dogs were not too happy about having to wear their sweatshirts, but they had no choice.  It was cold in the house.  Notice that the actual temp is 55 degrees.  This was after running the fireplace all day.

It was definitely a bummer to not have heat or electricity, but the bright spot for us was a visit from the Apostles!  Mike and Jess came out to see our new house and celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  They were good sports about the whole "house-feels-like-an-igloo" thing.  In fact, we pulled a couple mattresses into the living room and had a slumber party in front of the fireplace.  I borrowed this picture from Jess' photo blog to show our set-up:

Thankfully after two full days, the power came back on.  Our Thanksgiving was not traditional, as we decided to have a tapas-style meal instead of the traditional turkey feast.  Again, a pic from Jess' photo blog (she's so much better at keeping her camera around than me):

Yup, that's pizza in the front.  :)  Our last night together was spent in Seattle.  We stayed at a Hotel Monaco, which I highly recommend (they are located around the country, so check them out if you are staying in a major city in the US).  Then we went out to a great dinner at Purple.

Lastly, we caught a Frames concert at The Showbox.  You may or may not have heard of them: the lead singer of The Frames played one of the main characters on one of my favorite films, Once.  Anyway, the band played a great concert and we had a great time out in our new city.

Thanks again, Jess, for taking (and sharing) your photos!  I love this one!

House Tour

Welcome to our NEW HOME in Poulsbo, Washington.  We are so excited about finding a place to call home and s-l-o-w-l-y make it our own.   

First, the exterior.  The house is considered a "rambler" or basically a one-level home.  We are located in a small neighborhood tucked away in the woods, hence the tall evergreen trees behind the house.

Here is the front door.  I can't wait to decorate the front stoop for Christmas in just a few weeks!  The wreath is left over from the previous owners.

Open the front door and you'll come into a part of the hallway and a huge living room.  Currently, we have no furniture to put in this space (when our shipments arrive), so I've got a blank slate to work with here. 

 I love the high ceilings and custom window treatments.

If you stand by the windows and turn back to the front door, you can see the entryway in it's entirety (sorry the photo is so dark).

Back at the front door, we'll now turn to the right and find another, smaller hallway.  Did you notice the cool wall treatment?  I love it, but I don't care for the wall lights.  Those will eventually get replaced.

At the end of this hallway and to the right are two bedrooms, the main bathroom, and some linen closets.

Straight ahead is bedroom #1, which will someday be a nursery, but will most likely be a storage area and project space for now.

Bedroom #2 was a little challenging to photograph since it's smaller than the other bedroom.  This will be our guest room (hint, hint: you are all invited to visit!!).

The main bathroom will need some minor renovations this year, specifically replacing the floor and countertop and painting the cabinets.  Not pictured is the tub/shower, but you can see the skylight in the ceiling, which is a great feature. We have about four skylights in the house.

The other end of the short hallway leads to the master bedroom.

It's a pretty standard master bedroom.  I'm not loving the ceiling fan, but it will stay for awhile.

  Yes, that's another wreath left by the previous owners. 

The master bathroom is HUGE.  It's also a little outdated and will most likely see some upgrades in the coming year. 

The toilet is separate from the main bathroom, so I call this the "toilet room."

 The closet is next to the toilet room and is surprisingly smaller than expected in such a large bathroom.

Now, let's head back to the front door and turn to the left.  First thing you'll see is the kitchen.  Again, there's the cool wall treatments and not-so-great wall lights.

I LOVE the wood floor. Love, love, love it!  It's one of my favorite things about the house.  The pictures don't really do it justice.  In reality it's a deeper brown color, not cherry at all.  This picture is a little better at showing the color.

The kitchen....it's actually quite similar to the set-up we had in Okinawa, minus the cupboards that had glass in the doors.  All the appliances came with the sale (score!).  Even better, we have a dishwasher now!

Another skylight in the kitchen adds a lot of natural light to this space.

The former owner had decorated the house with a French country flair.  Although very nice and tastefully done, I am not really into decorating my home with the French country look, so there are some obvious changes to make.  One such change is the kitchen cabinets.  Currently, they are painted an off-white color and distressed.  I plan on painting them white and changing out the hardware.

Another change will be the pantry door. Again, I think the frosted wheat pattern is not bad, per se, just not my style.

One more view of the kitchen. 

You might also notice our laundry room, which is the walk-through to the garage.  The high-efficiency washer and dryer also came with the sale (score, again!).  I'm hoping to have this floor tiled in the future.

If you stand in the kitchen and look back towards the front door, you'll see our dining area.  I know I'm biased, but I think it's really cute.

The dining area and kitchen look into our den.  I said that my favorite part of the house was the floors.  My second favorite part of the house is the fireplace and mantel.

There's another wreath in this room!

 These sliding doors lead to the backyard.

We have a small porch to step out on.  To the left is a small shed that will be perfect for a lawnmower and other outdoor tools.

Here's the view to the right.

 And here's the backyard.  We need to fence off the very back of the yard so that the dogs can run freely back here.  I know they will just love having a yard of their own.

That's it for the tour, but I'll be showing all the stages of making this house a home.  For now, I need to get ready...the movers are coming soon!