on the consequences of a lick of paint (and a sneak preview)

We've been living here for over one year and a half now.

You'd think that this would be home to me at this point.
Most of all considering that when I first saw this house on the internet my heart skipped a beat.
Because it was perfect.
We wanted a project, and this sure is one. We wanted a place with plenty of space to grow, a safe neighbourhood for the little guy to play outside, a room wich I could make into my own study, a garden. This place offers all of that, plus a few features that we never thought we'd be able to afford: a fireplace, a big kitchen, a greenhouse and a small vegetable plot, a couple of fruit trees, even the original doorbell untouched since the 30's.
We got in touch, we negotiated, we signed on a dotted line, we moved in and went straight to work. Because we knew that this was the perfect house.
In theory, at least.
We moved in the middle of winter, and it was cold and dark. The 70's gloomy interior did not help on that account. Then spring and summer came and went, and then it was autumn and before we knew it, winter was here again. Time passed, but no matter how hard I tried, this did not feel like home. Now, as we approach our third (!) winter here, something has changed.

the blue wall is much darker in real life

I've painted the bedroom.

Out with the beige, the brown and all the shades in between. In with the crisp white and the dark blue.

I thought I was only painting the bedroom. But I was wrong. What I really did, was making this our home. My home. Maybe it's beacuse by dealing with one more room, I've tipped the balance and the number of rooms we've not done anything about yet is rapidly decreasing. Or maybe it's because the bedroom really IS the most important room in the house, a nest within the nest, the last thing you see in the evening before you close your eyes and the first thing you see again when you open them in the morning.

I don't know.
But no matter what the reason, it's coming along pretty nicely. I like it. And I can now finally say that I like this house. This has become home at last.

work in progress...

[to be continued]

watch this space

In a few days, we'll be leaving for a short holiday in Italy. We're looking forward to seeing family and friends, swimming in the sea and eating good food.

But we already have big plans for when we come back home. We'll be spending the last week of our holiday working on the house, while the little guy is at kindergarten.

This is what the master bedroom looked like when we first saw it. Including the floral curtains and the fake flowers. Yep, as fake as they get.

The big guy will work on the attic, you know, big important work with serious power tools. I am planning much more cosmetic/superficial work in our bedroom. When we bought the house, this was one of the rooms in best condition (you'll have to use your imagination for the other ones, these pictures are embarrasing enough). We basically just moved our (mismatched) furniture in, and concentrated on other parts of the house.

Do you notice the desert storm theme going on in here?

Bit by bit, though, things have gotten worse. Moving boxes (both fully and empty) started to appear. Lack of storage and organization became apparent when piles of clothes/books/magazines/toys started taking over the space. But things got really out of control when the time came to empty the attic so that the big guy could start renovating that part of the house. So much so for preserving a haven of peace, etc., etc.
Now, with winter approaching, I feel that the time has come to reclaim this space.

Luckily, that ugly monster of a wardrobe was no longer there when we moved in. Not that the replacement we bought at Emmaus is much more glamorous. But we'll have to make it work.

So, here's a list of things I would like to do:

1. paint 3 walls out of 4 white
2. paint the ceiling white
3. paint the wall behind our bed a very dark blue
4. make and install curtains
5. choose art for the walls
6. look for bedside tables
7. finish reupholstering chair
8. hang lights on both sides of the bed
9. finish headboard
10. (ask the big guy to) hang shelves in the alcove
11. reorganize closet
12. find hooks for on the wall
13. shoe storage?

Will I manage all of this in three days (the little guy goes to kindergarten 3 days out of 5)? Of course not. Still, it's good to have a to-do list, it helps me visualizing what I would like this space to look like.


Bear in mind, most of this is just temporary (for, say, the next 10 years). In the long run, we'd like to replaster all the walls in the room, redo the ceiling, get a custom made closet, etc. For now, we'd just like to get a nice bedroom where we can relax at the end of the day. And whatever else you do in a bedroom. Like, sleep. 

The view from the bedroom. I hope that never changes. 

Stay tuned.