Now that my camera battery is back to life (a whole 'nother story), I can finally show off our new house. I've also been a little bit obsessed with garage sales, thrift stores, and craigslist lately; so I'd like to prove that you can get good stuff that no one would ever guess is repurposed for next to nothing prices. Come take the tour:
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| House Front |
A: That tiny black line beside our garage door is the mailbox. Strange place, I know. It took me two days to find where our mail comes, and I still don't know how you can send mail out. Any ideas?
B: As Owen would say: "Oh wow!" We have a garage! Jason even hung a tennis ball from the ceiling for me.
C: I was the crazy lady at the gardening section in the greater than 100 degree heat buying half dead flowers on clearance for my flower bed. I'll have you know that they are still alive.
D: The perfect tree to decorate with lights for Christmas.
E: Unfortunately, we are next to a slightly busy street. It's a small price to pay.
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| Backyard |
A: Privacy fenced yard was on my wish list. It's perfect.
B: We are on an alley which provides the perfect place to hide yucky garbage cans behind the shed.
C: Love. Love. Love the trees and all the shade.
D: The deck off the kitchen is the perfect place to relax and watch the best 20-month old basketball player ever on the patio below.
E: By far, without a doubt, no bones about it, the basketball hoop is Owen's favorite garage sale find. Five dollars?! You're kidding me. You have no idea how hard it was to play it cool walking around that garage sale. I probably could have run ridiculously fast straight to it, jumped up and down, and then kissed it's faded blue base because it was just that perfect. Oh how I love a good deal.
F: Another fancy feature is the UGS. That's realtor speak for underground sprinklers.
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| Living Room |
A: Jason's chair was one of our first craigslist purchases.
B: Even though we did get our coffee table at a clearance sale, I was actually trying to show off the rug underneath. This is another craigslist pick up, and the lady selling it was a hoot.
C: The infamous time out chair in a perfect location with the exception that sad and angry screams echo in the cubby of an entryway.
D: Man, I wish I had a better photo of the coat rack on the wall our landlord left behind. Complete with a whiskey logo and horse shoes it fits right into our decor. Needless to say, Jason hasn't found the right screwdriver to get it down yet, and it's starting to grow on me.
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| Dining Room |
B: That is a pretty little door with blinds enclosed between the glass - something that I've learned is a must-have for our dream house. The only problem is that the door goes to nowhere. Literally, if you stepped out of it you would be standing on our air-conditioner. Hmmm. Very interesting.
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| Kitchen |
A: This not so lovely kitchen is full of bargains (and gifts). Microwave. $15. Garage sale.
B: Stove. Borrowed. Thank You!
C: Portable dishwasher. Straight out of Grandma's house. Thank You, again! One of these days we might even use it and see if it still works.
D: Kitchen cabinets can easily be filled with thrifty buys. My personal favorite was a bundt pan from the thrift store, and, go figure, that was actually what I went there looking for. If you're like me, that never happens. It must have been my lucky day; on second thought, I should have gone shopping for jeans, too.
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| Griffin's Nursery |
A: A "G" for my G set me back fifty cents.
B: It's a good thing Owen likes to read because I can't say no to a good deal on kids' books. We read The Little Mermaid for nap yesterday. (His dad doesn't know I snuck that one in. Shhh.)
C: Both of my boys, and me more than a few times too, have been rocked to sleep in my $20-plus-a-can-of-black-spray-paint glider rocker.
D: Instead of shelling out for a whole new crib and nursery set, we reused Owen's and splurged on a new sheet set so Griffin wasn't completely the hand-me-down little brother. It all makes for a pretty handsome nursery, if you ask me.
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| Owen's Big Boy Bedroom |
A: I was down-right impressed with Jason's shopping when he came home from a sale at the old Rosenblatt stadium with an "O" seating section sign for Owen's bedroom.
B: Generally, I'm not a fan of decorating with brands or logos, but the free Royals pillowcase snuck in.
C: My most recent favorite garage sale find is Owen's new dresser. Repainting it and buying knobs that I hand painted myself to look like baseballs easily cost more than the actual dresser. Pride poured out of me after if was finished and his room when he ran up to it, pointed at the drawers, smiled, and yelled "Ba!"
D: There are so many deals on kids clothes on top of the bags full of hand-me-downs. I won't spend more than $2.50 for everyday clothes, and trust me, his closet is plenty full.
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| Master Bedroom |
A: There isn't too much exciting in here, but the bedspread/comforter/duvet/I-don't-really-know-the-difference-between-any-of-those was a Black Friday bargain. The display in the store was actually out of them by the time we got there, but I found this one stashed away under a clothes rack. I bet whoever hid it there was disappointed I found their secret spot.
B: Mom is also a good bargain hunter. She found an old window on the side of the road and turned it into a special piece just for us.
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| Bathroom |
For the sake of the house tour, here's the bathroom. Trust me, nothing gets reused in here. I may be a savings sleuth, but there does come a limit.
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| Office Space (kinda like the movie) |
A: Behind those doors is storage, storage, and more storage. I didn't think we'd ever be able to fill all of the closets in this basement, but of course we found a way.
B & C: Thanks to some more family for gifting us a desk and printer I have a perfect study space.
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| Jason's man cave in the making / reliving the college dorm room days |
A: Another recent craigslist purchase was this futon. We've had the mattress since high school, but never got around to getting another frame. Now that we finally have one, I'm thinking that it must have been a lot more comfortable back then - or my butt is a lot more "sensitive" now.
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| Guest Bedroom |
A: I can still remember having that table in our first 400+ square foot apartment. It, too, was a great find from my mom. We've eaten countless meals and made great memories around what is now Owen's coloring desk.
B: Another free item.
C: Anyone in need of a desk that may be a little too tall for our basement and may also have some slight damage from the move? (As much as I love getting a good deal, I also love giving one if it means getting it out of my house.)
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| Basement Bathroom |
Not only do we have a basement and a garage for the first time, we also have two bathrooms. How luxurious!
As this home tour is concluding, I must be honest that my house is not always this clean and organized. And because you've stuck with me and read this far, I'll let you know that I kicked laundry and toys from one room to the next to take the pictures. However, I am proud to say that we are all unpacked, and the only place left for me to organize is the storage room in the basement. I guess I'll need to have another baby just for the 6-week maternity leave to tackle that one. Ha ha!
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| Basement Storage |
Well, now that you've had the grand tour, don't be strangers.
about the mailslot. Perhaps using a clothespin to hold your outgoing mail to the slot to alert the carrier? That's what we do and it works for us :)
ReplyDeleteLove the baby comment for cleaning up the storage room hehe!