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!
i really hope they come thru for you on your closing date! we closed on our first house at the end of feb....we were supposed to close at the fist of the year! we were so devastated that it kept getting put off and put off. we even had to extend our lease twice because of it. and i think the only reason it was done at the end of feb is because we put our foot down and said it has to be now or we will be homeless! but it was all worth it in the end!
ReplyDeletecongrats!
OH and we had to live out of our boxes for over three weeks! that was the worst part of it!
ReplyDeleteThat's so exciting! Have fun decorating your new house! :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and good luck on the closing! I know how exciting that is for you. My husband and I are in the process of moving from Georgia to the Fayette-Bourbon area, and it's a mess in itself. Geez - moving. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThe ways you've done chalkboard paint in this post are awesome. How did you come up with the idea for the painted pots? I love it! (I hate the little tags; always get lost or broken or the dog eats them.) Whenever I get my wish and we build our dream home, my home office will have a strip of chalkboard paint across the walls. And the kids' playroom will have a chair rail of it. No sense in having it if you can't play with it, right? :)
SO exciting! I bought my first home in Dec 08' and still love "playing house". That is a great project idea, gotta love anthropologie =)Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteKate, I wish you and your husband the best of luck with your move! At least my hubby and I are only moving across town. I'm VERY thankful for that.
ReplyDeleteThe chalkboard pots I actually haven't done yet. That's an inspiration photo I found a few months back when the idea originally popped in my head. I'm not sure where they were originally from now, I think I found them through Google images. I just knew I wanted to have an herb garden in small, individual pots and thought about incorporating chalkboard paint so I could write the names of the herbs on the pots. I did a little Google image search for "chalkboard paint pot" and that was the prettiest photo I saw. I also saw a few where just the top lip of the pot was painted in the chalkboard paint, but I much prefer the look of the entire pot painted.
Fallon, are the pots originally from Anthropologie? I don't think I've ever seen them on their site, but I don't usually check their garden section. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that's where they originated--they're so cute and totally in line with the Anthropologie style!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I absolutely love your style and decorating sense. You really have done a fabulous job with your home!