Around the House: Dining Room

We love entertaining, but our dining room doesn’t quite do our hosting appetite justice. Our dining room table is a four-seater that we can stretch to six if necessary. Until we can expand to our dream table (maybe similar to this one), we aim to recover the chairs. If you can believe it, we also have a matching tablecloth….

Our dining room corner is also home to our drinking habit liquor and accessories. Taking a cue from a picture I saw online, we hung two wine cases on the wall to house our beverages and some glassware. Mr. GI built our wine rack.

Grandpa

Garden stone here

When we first cut down our massive holly bushes, we discovered a little prize hiding underneath. Although we've trashed it in the meantime, it was a heart-shaped stone that read something like, "Grandpa, even though you're no longer with us, you're always in our hearts." A little creepy to find, especially since we don't know much about any of the families who used to live in our house, and it seems like someone just left it there instead of taking it with them. Every once in a while, Chewy will pipe up and bark at something in the back yard. Or during a play date, dogs will dig at one spot in the yard. Or our washing machine will mysteriously turn on. Just little things that make us wonder if Grandpa is still around... watching us.

Around the House: Indoors

When we moved in, our house had been empty for about six months. We were lucky to buy it in turn-key condition-- ready to move in, with new floors and a new roof. There were a few things that drew us in the first time we saw the house-- the beautiful brick, red doors with black shutters (Go Dawgs!), the vaulted ceiling in the main room, the nice wall and trim colors throughout the house, and, most importantly, the amount of shade provided by the front yard trees. Our informal house searching list included an established neighborhood with plenty of tree cover. There were a few benefits to that-- first, power savings, and second, the quality of construction. We looked at so many newer homes with no foliage to speak of and cookie-cutter construction that looked like the house might just blow over in the first strong wind. Give me a house with some personality already!

Floor plan created on floorplanner.com

Self-Watering Plant Pot

I totally need this little guy to tell me when to water my plants, especially the rosemary that I continually murder.

DiggersList Blog

Around the House: Outdoors

First stop on the house tour is the outside of the house. I can't tell you how exciting it was to move from a string of apartments to a house... with a mailbox... and a driveway. No more climbing up three flights of stairs with an armful of groceries. Potty training our brand new puppy was infinitely easier when we could just let him out in the backyard. And, since our home is only one story, no toting a washer and dryer up/downstairs! Hooray!

Our house was built in 1982 and owned by the same family for quite a few years, then rented out by a realtor (from whom we bought the house), so the property already had some landscaping but it hadn't been maintained. There are a few pre-established beds throughout the yard, which we're hoping to take full advantage of. Plus, we've got some wonderful resources in green-thumb friends and family horticulturists. Despite my black-thumb reputation (especially with rosemary-- I've killed at least four plants in the last two years), I've got high hopes for our landscaping!

The Little Ranch

The day we closed on the house

Mr. Great Indoors and I moved into our home in July 2009 after living in an el cheap-o apartment for six months. It was such a huge step up to be settling into a house, and, thanks to the first-time home buyer's credit, we *have* to live in it for three years. Oh, darn. Our friends and family helped us tote all of our stuff the 2.5 miles from the apartment to the new-to-us house.

One of our first acts as official homeowners

We immediately started in on projects throughout the house, and that's the first part of what I want to share on the blog. I'll cover each space within the house, talking about what we started with, where we are now, and what our dreams are for the future. This isn't our forever home, but we've already poured in blood, sweat, and tears to make it our own.

Welcome to The Great Indoors!

I've been considering starting a blog for over a year now, and I've finally done it! My goal is for this blog to be a journal of our adventures as home owners. Let's go!

Check your pulse it's proof that you're not listening to

The call your life's been issuing you

The rhythm of a line of idle days.

Scared of a world outside you should go explore

Pull all the shades and wander the great indoors

The great indoors.

-John Mayer's "The Great Indoors"