Progress & Permanence

Lately we’ve accomplished a few projects that are really making us feel settled. It has been coming slowly because we’ve been doing other boring house things like installing a garage door opener, addings window screens, placing curtain rods, buying appliances (also known as necessary money pits) and having a front door peep hole added. It’s funny, when you buy a new construction home, all the things you have to/want to add to actually function in it. We still have a list of un-fun things like blinds (another money pit), a backyard fence and garbage disposal … someday, someday.
I promise I’m not complaining. Just logging the little things I didn’t think about in the beginning of our home journey :)
Now, the fun projects …
Master closet upgrade! Three cheers for more storage! I’ve been sorting through clothes – slowly but surely parting with my former office wardrobe and coming to grips with my mom size. So much I want things to be simpler and reducing stuff will make that happen.
Inspired by this pin, we made a collage wall. It’s pretty much my favorite thing! I have some photos tagged with photo sizes so I can order updated prints, sorting through iPhoto right after this post is done. This wall is kind of in the entry – right across from the formal dining room.
We be killin’ dead space in the garage! I can’t even tell you how much I love our storage shelves! There is officially space for kid’s clothes bins (since I thrift and garage sale most of their pieces, I buy ahead and have a bin for each size) and holiday stuff -yay! 
These are the plans for more shelves on the other side of the garage. And yes, that is a parking spot for our stroller :)
That’s our Annie Sloan dresser in the breakfast nook. I’m planning to put my cookbooks and such on the shelves and do my best to keep my little orchid house (did you know that’s what those glass houses were called?) plants alive.
Best of all, I’m feeling settled because my life long dream of having an address stamp has come true! We’re going to be here for awhile and nothing says long-term like having your name and address permanently fixed onto a return address stamp. Am I right, or am I right? 
Amy of Yellow Fish Paperie was so kind to send me one of her awesome self-inking stamps. It took Dominic and I awhile to agree on the perfect design for us, but we finally did – the SMITH one on the left was our final pick – and I’m smitten with it! I want to send out tons and tons of mail just so I can stamp our home’s address in the top right of a billion envelopes :)

A little bit about Amy of Yellow Fish Paperie …
I have always loved snail mail and used to write daily letters to my grandparents as a kid. I embellished these as much as possible with stickers, sealing wax, personalized stationary, embossers and of course, stamps! Getting a personal letter in the mail is a great feeling and I love designing and creating products to help give letters and invitations that extra something. This interest led me to create Yellow Fish Paperie. When I’m not making stamps and stationary, I enjoy cooking, gardening, and reading scripture and books of all sorts. I live in Oregon with my wonderful husband and work part time at a non-profit that helps charities to meet their goals.

Isn’t she just a gem? I totally love that she believes in and promotes snail mail. Snail mail rocks. And I’m not talking bills and such, I’m talking about the friendly note that we all love seeing appear in our inbox :)

In case I’m not the only one who has been dreaming of an address stamp of their very own – Yellow Fish Paperie is giving one away! Enter here …

*** THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED ***
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Comments

  1. carey says

    We are in the process of buying our first home (closing date May 31st!), and this would be awesome! :)

  2. Anna H says

    I have definitely been trying to work on cleaning out lately too! Otherwise, our current home project is fixing up the yard now that the weather is nice and planting the garden again. :)

  4. Bianca says

    Lol' well we completed our Project Home in Sept – but while we are renting I came up with a snazzy way to grow strawberries (and not leave them behind when we move!)

  5. Jeanette says

    My husband and I are working on all our landscaping (which has been a 2 year project in total, and really a 7-year project if you consider all the tweaks we've done along the way)… in the next couple of days I'll be staining some wooden benches that my parents were getting rid of– I sanded them today with the orbital-sander, and they cleaned up quite nicely.

  6. says

    Last year it was the fence… which I am still totally in love with. We did it entirely by ourselves and although it took WAY longer than it was projected, it was worth it. This year, (Tuesday actually) we had a play set installed. And we paid the extra charge for someone else to put it in… it's nice to be able to just enjoy it this time instead of try to balance to two curious kiddos AND power tools! :) I'm adding windchimes, bird houses and bird feeders to the front of the house and hoping to get some of the landscaping under control, too.

  7. Tiffany Brand says

    We have a finished basement, but it's not finished well. We'll be replacing the weird knotty pine paneling with drywall as our next project.

  8. says

    We are currently working on redoing our great room. This is our last room on the main level abd I have been delaying!

  9. ThatMamaGretchen says

    Your outside will be an oasis this summer! I totally agree that some projects are left to the "experts" – playset definitely falls into that for me!

  10. ThatMamaGretchen says

    Orbital-sander! Go Jeanette!!! I leave all that stuff to Dominic :)

  11. ThatMamaGretchen says

    Oh dear, the garage is a never ending project around here!

  12. ThatMamaGretchen says

    Congrats! I hope all goes smooth with your closing!