Morning Kitchen Vignette

I had been using a loaner stove this past week as we waited for our range to arrive (there was a mix up initially and our builder's supplier brought the wrong range). This morning, bright and early, our door bell range and there was our shiny new range! We actually received a different refrigerator and dishwasher than we picked out/paid for, but they were upgrades from what we had chosen (our fridge is absolutely amazing, but that's a different post). The range we received today was also a free upgrade from the one I picked out. My new range has 5 burners and a convection oven with 6.0 glorious cubic feet of space and 4 oven racks, just waiting for me to bake a ton of delicious treats! I couldn't be more excited about my new kitchen!

I'm growing to absolutely adore the color scheme of my kitchen. When I was dreaming of my future home, my head was full of pictures of white cabinets, butcher block counters and sweet candy colors. Now that I'm in my neutral-colored space, I'm really starting to love it. I'm planning on working in lots of white ceramic accents (such as the egg crate and creamer in the vignette) and throwing in a few punches of complimenting color. I really like the way the coral pink of the macarons in the print pop with the copper cookie cutter. I think these pinks add just enough color while still complimenting the neutral palette. Eventually I'd like to do a huge wall of photos in my kitchen behind where our table will go. I'm thinking lots of baking-related photos, mostly in muted neutral tones and maybe a few hints of color thrown in for interest. I really look forward to growing into the space and breaking it in with dinner parties and gatherings. I really feel at home here.

Moved In!

{Please ignore our dead grass, we'll be getting new sod once the temperatures calm down a bit.)

Well, last time I wrote I excitedly shared what I thought was our closing date. Unfortunately the day before we were supposed to close, the underwriter came back requesting more documentation and our closing got pushed back several days. It was inconvenient and a lot of stress, but fortunately we finally got to close on our first home this past Friday. We moved in on Saturday and things have been splendid!

In the past few days I have gotten my kitchen unpacked and organized, done about 10 loads of laundry in my brand new washer and dryer, enjoyed the blessings of a having a dishwasher, and felt utterly pampered in my new shower. I absolutely LOVE our new home and am beyond excited about our future here. I look forward to dinner parties and gatherings, cookouts and celebrations. We look forward to sharing our home with friends and family. I really love it here.

I've been busy with work the past few days, trying to get in some last minute preparations for the Woodland Art Fair this weekend. Once things calm down a bit next week, I plan to get more unpacking done and spend a lot of time puttering around in my new kitchen. I haven't really cooked or baked all summer due to the heat, but now that I have a huge kitchen and air conditioning, I'm beyond excited to be back in the kitchen. I hope to share photos of my kitchen and a few other pictures of the house soon!

Finally, There's a Date!

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for the incredibly sweet and supportive comments and wishes on my last post. They really mean the world to me!

We had the first walk through of our home today with the builder to discuss anything and everything that's still left to be done or needs fixing before we close on our first place. We finally found out our actual close date. We're closing this Tuesday! I am so beyond excited right now. This whole process has felt a little surreal to me until today and, honestly, probably will continue to feel a little unreal until we get settled in. We still have so much packing to do to prepare for the move. We'll be spending much of the evening after closing on Tuesday at the house taking care of a few things. Wednesday will be super busy with moving. We're having a home security system installed on Wednesday and our new TV, washer and dryer delivered, so I'm planning to stay at the house all day unpacking as the big, burly men do all the heavy lifting of moving everything. (Boy, did I luck out with that job!)

I'm so excited about our new space. I know it's going to feel incredibly bare for some time as we've decided to leave behind almost all of our broken down furniture. We'll be living without dressers and the like for at least a few months. So, in the mean time, I plan to focus on small, inexpensive DIY projects that will inject a little life into the place. Our kitchen, thanks to stainless steel appliances and pretty cabinets will be pretty spiffy looking to start (though it will be even more gorgeous down the road when I can afford my dream table), but I have a few DIY projects in mind for the room in the mean time.

The project I'm most excited about will actually remain hidden most of the time. Inspired by this kitchen cupboard message center at Apartment Therapy, I plan to turn the inside doors of one section of my cabinets into a chalkboard/cork board center. I love how fun and practical this project is. One side is perfect for quickly jotting down things we need to pick up from the store, and the other side is great for hanging recipes for the week, a calendar, etc. I really love all the creative uses for chalkboard paint in kitchens, and this one is a great way to have fun with the trend without feeling like I'm defacing our brand new kitchen.

And with the extra chalkboard paint, I plan to paint a few pots for a small indoor/outdoor herb garden. Using chalk markers I'll label each pot with the name of the herb growing inside. When the weather is nice, I'll set the herbs on the deck outside our kitchen. Other times I'll bring them inside and sit them on a pretty table next to the windows in our sunny kitchen. I'd love to find an interesting and airy looking plant stand for the purpose, maybe something like this vintage stand.

I'm looking forward to all the cooking and baking I'll be doing in my new kitchen and a little herb garden would be so lovely! Next summer I'd like to try my hand at planting a few more edibles, including some tomatoes and raspberries! I feel so blessed to be embarking on this joyful journey of home ownership.

That's all for now, I'm off to attend to some packing!

Still Alive

So, despite what my lack of posting lately might suggest, I'm still alive. The hubby and I have started the process of packing for our big move. Long story short, our closing date is still not set in stone, but we're hoping for early next week. We're planning to head to our new home the day we close to take care of a few things (hanging blinds, installing shower curtain rods/hanging shower curtains, etc.) and will be moving immediately the following day. My hubby took the photo above a few nights ago on his iPhone. Believe it or not, all these boxes are just a part of his video game/movie/book collection (and I'd say that all but two or three of those boxes are video games). Crazy, huh?

Packing has been a slow and difficult process. Other than packing some clothes and kitchen items, I really haven't packed much. We had trouble getting our hands on some (free) boxes at first. The hubby got tons more recently from Kroger but they were all awkward sizes for things I needed to pack. I have a feeling we'll be packing like crazy the last few days before the move. When we moved in our first and current apartment together we really didn't have much and didn't bother with actually packing--just kind of transported things in drawers, trash bags and the like. Now we have a lot more stuff and we're trying to be more organized with the move. I've been labeling every box with its contents as well as the room in the new house were it should end up. I'm hoping this will help avoid chaos when it comes time to unpack. *Fingers crossed.*

As I'm sure many of you are experiencing, this summer has brought with it an incredible heat wave. Our apartment lacks air conditioning and the walls and attic above us are entirely uninsulated. Today, for example, brought a heat index of 108 degrees in Lexington. We are fortunate to have a window unit in our bedroom which keeps the room relatively cool and comfortable. Right now a thermometer in the bedroom, next to the air conditioner, reads 80 degrees. My studio down the hall (sans air conditioner) is 90 degrees. I sit and I sweat. Needless to say I haven't really been in the mood to cook or bake all summer. Since baking is one of my favorite things to post about, I've been lacking in things to share as of late. I really miss blogging and hope to be back in the swing of things after we move and settle in. I've missed baking and have accumulated a million recipe I want to try, so I'll be posting tons soon. I'm also excited to have home decor and DIY projects to share in the future as well. I have a few kitchen related projects I want to tackle soon after the move and I'll be sure to share them here when I do!