Home Sweet Home

Yay for the Bungalow! We have officially lived here a year (as of yesterday, Jan 29). We've come a long way from that first dinner on that first night. Mike had the bbq sandwich and I had the hotdog with cheese and ketchup from Sheetz. We giddily stood in the kitchen and ate our inaugural meal and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. It's so much fun to read through the blog posts from the past year and see how far we've come. I try not to dwell too much on how much more we want to do around here.

We love a good holiday here on Short Street. Valentine's Day won't slip past the bungalow without a few accoutremonts. Last year's Valentine's Day was the first holiday we spent in our home and we didn't even put so much as one heart up (much to my dismay). We did spend a romantic day together painting; which was actually romantic and fun.

Moving on to Valentine's Day 2010. Check out the sweet wreath picked up at TJ Maxx for a mere $12. I tied a white ribbon around it so it could hang on our front door.


See that pillow? It was $4.99 at IKEA the day after Christmas. Sister-in-Law Devon and I both had to have one.

These coordinating tins also came from IKEA at $7.99 for all three.

Little pops of red and pink give the Bungalow a slight romantic vibe. Hopefully there will be some red velvet cupcakes in the kitchen in the near future and some tulips of any color (hint hint) hanging out on the dining table in the fiesta pitcher. I did have some lovely pink tulips there that were given to me for my birthday by my lovely husband. They have worn out their welcome and might need replaced for the holiday :)

Wall Art

We still haven't tackled what to put over our buffet in the living room, but there are a few additions to the walls in there.

Through some online research we were able to get a digital file of the catalog page depicting The Plymouth. We're 99% sure this is our house, so we had the neat idea to display the page in our home. Here it is, right beside the front door.

The other piece of art is on this wall on the other side of the window (to the left when lookng at the photo above). It was a find at the Mountaineer Week Craft Fair at the WVU Mountainlair in November. I was first drawn to it for its colors and the general tranquility of the piece. But after I met the artist I knew I had to buy a print. Her name is Annie Morris Simco. She is probably my age. But that wasn't the cool part. My grandma on my dad's side was named Annie Morris. And the name of the piece is "Almost Heaven." It belonged in our living room.

Still taking ideas for above the buffet. We still like the look of a vintage world map.

Resolutions to keep

Happy new year!

Mike and I sat down last night and made a list of everything we want to do to the Bungalow. We each took a piece of paper to separate rooms and individually brainstormed. It is possible the only thing we accomplished with our individual lists was freak each other out. The good news is my list was incredibly long and every item on Mike's list was on mine. Except for painting the exterior of the house. That hadn't crossed my mind. Come to think of it, I really hope Mike didn't mean painting the Bungalow a different color. I love our yellow!

We are currently in the midst of a basement overhaul that could last for years. On top of that we are still working out decor all through the house. That seems like it will be an ongoing thing. Amidst all the crazy ideas and wants (not necessarily needs), we do have a few things that should be included in our New Year's resolutions.

1. Finish the basement overhaul (man cave, storage, laundry area, work bench area, hallway, shelving, etc. etc. etc.)

2. Paint the paneling in the stairwell.

3. Build a deck! I like this idea for starters, don't you?

We don't want to get too crazy with our deck and build something that dwarfs our house. And we do want to incorporate the lay of our land and have a patio and nice landscaping. And we do want to make sure we stay within some sort of budget. Oh, and we have to figure out the city building codes and permits. This whole task seems quite daunting and I think it is safe to say we both will want/need our daddies. But nothing to do right now but brainstorm. There is too much snow flying around out there to allow for much else.

I won't go into the other numerous items on our to-do list. But installing new ceilings in the entire downstairs is on it!