Thursday, February 27, 2014

Slowly but surely, progress is made

progress (taking over my desk!) shelves going up Simpkin Office sign that beloged to Kevin's grandpapa
We have been in this house of ours for 3 months now but we really don't have much to show for it. There is still a garage full of boxes to unpack, empty walls, main rooms without furniture (other than the children's play kitchen, etc.) - it rather looks like no one lives here. Yet our house is bursting at the seams with life! I envy those talented women who make a new house an inviting cozy home right when they first move in, seeing all the potential their new space has. That's just not me, no matter how hard I try. But if you happen to be or know someone like that - could you please come knock on our door?

The movers commented as they moved us in, "You really only have children's furniture, don't you?" Yep, it's true. I have always focused on my little ones' things because it just seemed easier to me. I love all of the beautiful Waldorf kindergarten inspired child sized furniture.We honestly never have had a lot of  "real" furniture except for a few hand-me-downs. I might be too picky for my own good. I have a love for vintage furniture and things with history so I tend to find mine at barn sales, thrift stores and occasionally antique shops (if priced right.)  It's not very often that I find something that catches my eye or that I think is in our price range so I just wait, and wait until something does come along. Hence our living/family room without a couch. We had a somewhat decent couch and loveseat back in Oregon but our cats and dogs destroyed them so we left them behind. Now we have our beds or kitchen benches to sit on.  Not so ideal for daily life. Now that I sit here and contemplate our seat less situation, I might need to make myself get past finding that perfect couch, especially with the prospect of friends traveling to visit us in the near future! Do any of you have any couch recommendations? Ikea?? I have no clue.

Since this house is much smaller than our home back in Oregon (which is a dream for me and I am so very thankful for), we have been donating a lot of our belongings. Things that we don't use, need or have space for. That always feels amazing. Clearing clutter clears my head! I think that in the past I have tried to make up for our lack of furniture with knickknacks and other things that just make our house look cluttered and are a pain to deal with when it comes to cleaning.

But back to that snail's pace progress I mentioned in the title. Kevin has begun hanging the shelves above my desk in our office space. He has been hanging about one a week and at that rate they should be done sometime in March. Once they are all up I can unbox my yarn, fabric and other crafty notions and clear this room up. But hanging these shelves has proven to be quite an endeavor with these drywall walls. Kevin had two (of four) of them up and something didn't seem right with the second one. Then Simpkin jumped up on it for a cat nap and it came crashing down. Thankfully she wasn't harmed at all. That brought about a needed break from the shelf hanging project. I felt badly for Kevin, as he is working so hard on this and really trying to help me out. He knows it's the little things like this that mean so much to me.

We are slowly but surely making progress in this little place of ours. One room, one shelf at a time. Who knows, maybe we'll have it looking like a home before it's time to pick up and move again!


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Those moving stickers! <3 Our last military move was 8 years ago and I just found a sticker on the underside of a piece of furniture the other day. Memories! Have you checked out local thrift stores? The thought of bedbugs scares me but the price of brand new furniture scares me almost as much. Even Ikea's prices for couches are a little more expensive than our local furniture store(that does free delivery AND removal of old furniture). In the mean time, hang a few curtains and a photo or two to make things seem like home. Furniture is overrated. Beauty around you is not. You'll get there. Have faith.
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
Those stickers are everywhere! Ha, ha. We still find ones from previous moves on our things. I swear they multiply of something! I have checked at our thrift stores here but nothing yet.

"Furniture is overrated. Beauty around you is not. You'll get there. Have faith. " Love this!
We never owned a new couch either! soemthing about potty training and art projects that find there way there have made me avoid buying new in this area, Our current couch is the nicest we ever owned. And the cheapest we ever bought! We got it at a habitat for humanity thrift store. IDK if you have those were you are but worth looking for. We got ours for 75 and it was like new, microfiber that cleans up easily, nice and nuetural beige that hides dirt. I always find very reasonably priced treasures there for the home. Everything from washer dryers to furniture to lights to doors and windows. Ive lived in my home over 5 years and we are still trying to decorate and settle.
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
Oh, I think we have one in Boise (we go there once every couple of weeks). Thank you!!
I'm looking at the drywall hangers in the first picture. The metal toggles type mollies that fan open behind the drywall would maybe work better for your shelves. I think they support weight a bit better. But you may have to find studs to support any significant weight. (I'm a big fan of shelf hanging, so just trying to help.)
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
THANK YOU Aimee! I am grateful for your help! I showed your comment to Kevin and he is going to head to the store this week to look for those.
wow, how funny - we are going IKEA shopping this weekend for a new couch "substitute". We are picking up a day bed from them and two arm chairs (which turns out to cost as much as a couch). I like IKEA because, with (soon to be) three children 4 and under, our furniture gets a lot of tough love. Our last (expensive) couch only last 3 years before falling apart and looking like it belonged in an alleyway. I like Ikea's prices and the fact that if it does break in the next 3 yrs I won't feel so bad. We went for the day bed because 1. it has storage, 2. it does double duty as a bed when my mom comes to visit and 3. is cheaper than a sofa. The arm chairs also are inexpensive and offer us all a little place of our own to snuggle or sit.
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
Okay, now I need to look online at Ikea again. I love that idea. We need extra sleeping spaces for when our Oregon friends visit, too!
It's so hard to move a lot (I sympathise - we did three times in 18 months and, although we've been here a year now, it looks like we may be moving again - although hopefully this next move will be the last for quite some time - or ever!) Quite a bit of our furniture comes from Freecycle (or, in the case of a lovely wicker chair in our living room: the tip, just before the owner was about to chuck it in!)

(((hugs))) hopefully it won't be long before you can settle 'properly'.
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
<3 Thank you. My favorite piece of furniture is from freecycle. I actually forgot to check to see if we have one in our little town here.
it i nice to move to reduce materialism.....
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
Oh that looks so simple! I wonder if it would fit in our small space though. I think I need to take some measurements tomorrow :)
I would probably get something like a futon, with your menagerie. It's just too tempting, if you are a cat, to look at those long upholstered sides on a sofa and keep from shredding, just a little. A nice hardwood futon frame, with a washable cover on the mattress, will be much easier to take care of. I would look at the craigslist Boise, especially at the end of the school year, for people getting rid of them inexpensively. A good frame at a low price will make space in the budget for a new futon, maybe even an organic one.
1 reply · active 578 weeks ago
Thank you, Jen! I like that idea a lot. That would give us extra sleeping space for guests, too.

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