Home Honeymoon Stage

There truly is no place like home. I’m not sure why my surroundings affect me so much, but I love our home. A clean and comfortable environment filled with beauty makes all the difference in my mood and productivity. My favorite relaxing moment of the day is after the kids have gone to bed, I’ve cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed the parts that get the most traffic, and then I can sit wherever I’d like and take in the fruits of my labors. It’s a fleeting moment because it’s usually late and I’m finishing up work before heading to bed, but it’s a moment of gratitude.

Our First Month

How has our first month been? We’re still settling in with plenty of boxes still needing to be unpacked, but it’s been a wonderful hub of activity. We’ve met neighbors, nearly bought solar panels from all the salesmen that have approached us, had family stay over, had visits with friends, and threw our first Halloween party! We’re enjoying the stability of having space. The kids have freedom now to jump, play inside and outside, and be as loud as their hearts desire—this alone has increased our quality of life dramatically!

Settling In

It’s also been comforting establishing routines for home, like continuing our tradition of early morning walks before Jeremy goes to work, sending F on the school bus each morning, working out to my DVD program with the kids on good days, bringing in groceries, remote learning with L, and taking work calls while W watches Octonauts downstairs. We’ve continued our special time with L reading Harry Potter, and finally finished with the latest illustrated edition of The Goblet of Fire around Halloween. Naturally, we had to buy the entire DVD collection and have been enjoying family movie nights! We’ve had dinner at home together every night and love our new gathering place table!

Little Things

We grew up in lovely homes, but have only lived in apartments, condos, and town homes together. I have loved caring for a home again—we notice all the little details! The ice-maker in our fridge is a new thing! We used to have to fill ice cube trays haha. That bin for recyclables! Taking the trash out without surprises like someone’s dumped furniture, ripped up garbage bags, or people getting high. Having a lawn of grass totally feels like a status symbol to me. This is our first time having any kind of lawn maintenance, and we love it! It’s probably the novelty of owning a push lawn mower, but it’s super fun cutting our grass using a human-powered machine. Brand new appliances are amazing!! After having done detailed research in choosing our hardest-working and energy efficient appliances (refrigerator, washer, and dryer) I love all the features we invested in, and am so grateful every time I use them. Having a gas range stove and a brand new oven has made cooking faster!

Design in a New Space

There are some new touches that are added with a change in space, and Jeremy has helped me add those finishing touches. We replaced the perfectly fine dining chandelier with the one I took the time to pack and save in that storage unit for months. He installed some custom blinds and shades so we’d have privacy and light control with all the building going on outside. Our bamboo blinds in the biggest window we own have added some gorgeous texture and filtered light to the area we use the most. Jeremy also helped me install a French-industrial style curtain rod almost to the ceiling in the kitchen above our sliding door, and we hung our longest and most expensive linen drapes there that pool at the floor. For me, those curtains transformed the dining! Instead of focusing on seeing my mountain view taken away by the new construction, I’m pleased at the beauty of these drapes. They are visually stunning, lengthening that wall and bringing so much elegance and textural warmth to the dining space—especially paired with our capiz shell chandelier hanging at the center of it! I feel like a total geek right now gushing about it…

If anything, this move has helped me to be confident in my design choices. Jeremy wasn’t sure about some of these choices especially during the ordering process before he saw it all together or sat on it himself. He’s learned to trust my taste now, saying stuff like:
“I really wanted to hate this, but it’s really comfortable.”
“I didn’t get it before, but this is really cool.”
“I didn’t understand why you made me install this, but I see now that it makes a difference.”
I pretty much live for those reactions from him! He has great taste, and this stuff affects him as much as it affects me, so his support and approval can make or break these decisions. With this house, I’ve come to edit with a heavy hand. I haven’t put up a single decorative thing on the walls because I haven’t felt the need to, and it’s so nice that it can just stay in the basement out of sight and not bothering me!