19 February, 2010

Welcome to Our Home!

I finally have house pictures so you can see what God has blessed us w/! I would love to invite ya'll over, so please come in. This tour all came about after an AMAZING nights sleep in which my wonderful husband woke up twice to attend Charlotte, who still doesn't sleep through the night most of the week. He never does that & I didn't know about it until after I was done. SO much energy! Sleep + Nesting Instincts + Rested Me= An Unstoppable Force! I've been a bit of a zombie these last 2 weeks. Mike thanked me & I was so pleased; he commented that just the night before he had thought the house was getting to be overwhelmed w/ clutter. I did 2 weeks of Flylady reminders in a day. Then he took us all out for supper w/ the family! Anyway, this is our house & we've been here since the beginning of Nov.

This is what you see as you walk in the front door...



The man & mommy chairs (that's a hen & rooster on either side)...



& their view.



This is the front view from my chair & you're looking at our little school area. All of their crafty/ writing supplies are in the drawers by the front door. We had A LOT of packing paper from the move & we've taken to keeping one side of the table covered w/ paper & painters tape so that they can go nuts. Well Charlotte was born w/ a crayon in her hand, Victor would rather have his teeth pulled than do anything resembling writing, but we're working on that. He does like cutting & is supplying the alphabet caterpillar w/ a new body segment every week.



Moving on we have the children's/ main bathroom.



Across from this is the new baby/ guest/ toy/ storage room. It is presentable, but Mike has been sleeping in it since my snoring has become intolerable & the crib is filled w/ car seat & bags for the hospital. I'll show it when the baby has moved in.

This is their bedroom & the only one w/ curtains as of yet. The sun kept waking Charlotte from her nap time. I made them out of an odd tie dyed sheet that's been hanging out since I left Mo. in high school, it was part of our 60's hallway mural. We'll switch them out when they're older & we know what this baby is going to be. Those boxes still hanging out in the living room are girl bedroom pictures so we've held off on hanging them until we know where the girl(s?) will be. Charlotte sleeps in the trundle bed, she's very diligent about putting her pillow in the underpass so the bed will slide under.



Their little tool bench & desk. There are actually 3 desks in there, one is built into the bed but we've an extra one & I put it in their room to make space for the bassinet in ours.



This is our his n' her office. His side is private, so I'm showing off my little project nook.



And here is the heart & my favorite part of our home! I spend a solid 50% of my day in here. The office area is actually a dining room but the space is so awkward we opted for just the eat in kitchen. I've never had to keep one up before & it is never ending! Mike walked in on me sweeping once & asked incredulously if I was doing it for the second or 3rd time for the day. It was my 3rd & turns out he had swept twice while I was in town earlier, lol. I end up doing a lot of reading & paperwork in here too. I love the colors. The linoleum not so much, but the wallpaper I can live w/, even like.



Our eating area...



& just for the sake of continuity.



Look at the pantry he built me! The exposed food was too tempting, he begged me for curtains to hide it, lol.



This is our back/ cat/ mudroom. I have never had the wash adjacent to the kitchen like this & wonder how designers ever got away from it. I can't believe how convenient it is.



Lastly is the master suite. As you can see, he's moved his pillows out:( but we both do sleep better. We sold our other bedroom set & are back to the ones we got as newly weds. I like it again & I'm glad. We hope to get a bed frame soon so as to have more storage space. The house is big on space, but short on storage, the exact opposite of the house we left.





Lastly, our bathroom. This is the first bathroom we've ever shared & it hasn't been nearly as bad as we had expected. I don't think he realized how little bottle clutter I had since my hair is basic & I don't wear makeup. I keep up the swish n' swipe, he doesn't shave, & since I'm pregnant I don't shed hair. Those wonderful cabinets keep the tub from getting cluttered. We'll see how long the bathroom honeymoon will last.



That's baking soda to brush w/, I thought it was much prettier than a tube of toothpaste. Mike & Victor have started using it too. A few pennies here, a few pennies there..



The final jewel to the crown is the garden tub. I love/hate the tub. It is so big! Birth was the first thought in my head as soon as I saw it. Mike's too. However, I've yet to take a bath in it. Mike has & it really helps out his back after he shovels the snow off of the drive. I just can't unstain it & it drives me wild. Really, I like a HOT bath, hotter than what is good for a baby to be in, so I'm holding off until after the birth. We've only got a digital thermometer & I don't want to not be able to submerge it. Also, there's not as much insulation under this room, so it doesn't get much above 55. I try not to spend too much time being wet.



And this is our house! I hope everyone will get to come & see us in real time sometime, it gives me a reason to bake & put on the kettle. We hope to start our outside/ spring projects here shortly when the snow melts & I'll try to post pictures of that as we go along too.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a BEAUTIFUL home you have! Congrats on moving there in November. :-)

I was lucky, in that my garden tub seemed to be practically like new, like the previous owners never used it. I disinfected it today, and spent a good hour soaking in it after the kids went to bed. You'll like the soak. I have the same type of garden tub as you, and I can tell you that it is very comfy. The back slants at just the right angle so that you can really lay back and relax, as the sides are great places to put a few books and a nice hot/cold drink.

The tub in our other bathroom, now that had stains. PURPLE ones. I don't know what it was, but I can tell you how I got rid of it (you shouldn't do this until after you've had baby) - Buy some Soft Scrub with bleach in it, and some laytex cleaning gloves, and green Scotch Brite scrubbers.

Use the don the gloves, and use the Scotch Brite and Soft Scrub, and elbow grease. If that doesn't get the stains out, then just learn to love them.

This got all of the purple stains out of the kids' bathtub, so it looks almost new, but I had to scrub at it for a while. ;-)

Again, LOVED the tour! I'm so glad you shared. :-)

tberry29 said...

Hi...congrats on your new home. I gotta suggestion for the stain in the tub. Theres some stuff called THE Works...not much scrubbing to do. I can find it at our dollar store here..its really cheap and works really well. I too suggest that you wait til after you have the baby. Anyway just rub it on there and using a Magic Eraseer sponge it should come right off. I have aquired the same kinda stains on my tub, when we moved our house out here..we have well water now and it seems to like to stain things..Lol..Any way thats what worked for me. Oh I found your home tour from candy's blog..thanks for sharing. love your new home.
trish

The Pinkaholic said...

I, too, found your home tour on Cand's blog and have a suggestion for you tub stains, again, post pregnancy. We have really gross water that leaves stains in our tub that bleach won't take out. But, there's some stuff called "Mean Green" (found at most dollar type stores) that works really well with a scrub brush. That's what I used until recently when I found a product made by Arm and Hammer called "Scrub Free Bathroom Cleaner with Oxy Foaming Action" which requires less scrubbing, though in my tud does still require scrubbing. If those products will clean the water/rust stains out of my tub, they'll clean ANYTHING.

Blessings,
Devon

Anonymous said...

loved the tour (found you thru candy's blog) and i aslo appreciate all the stain removal advice since i have the same problem !

Naturally Blessed Mama said...

Thank you for sharing your home, it's lovely! I would love to share my home, but I'm just starting over in my flylady adventures :o) Something chemical free you could try now, that works, but you may have to do it a few times is spray your bath down really well with a vinegar/water mixture, and then shake out some baking soda, I use an old parmesan cheese can, and let it sit for about 30 minutes, then get you a good scrubby, I've used steel wool on my cast iron tub, but not sure you can do that with that kind, and give it a good scrub, it'll definately lighten the stains.

God bless,

sara

Mrs. V said...

Thanks for all of the suggestions ladies, I appreciate it! Vinegar & soda are my usual cleaners; I've also boraxed, salted & (sigh) bleached the tub, all w/ the scotch brite scrubby pads & even grout brush. I just need to get over it, our foremothers never had anything so nice & I don't think their standards were quite so high. The tub is just an odd material. Kind of soft & cushiony, like it's a bit rubbery. I can't wait to try it out!

Anonymous said...

Where did you get that bed in the kids room? The one that looks like a low bunk with a trundle??? I have been looking high and low for a bed just like that for our boys room!!!!

Heart of Wisdom Academy said...

Your new home is perfect! The kitchen is very big, it's a good thing you like cooking. I love your pregnant pic. you look like you're ready for number three. This baby looks to be bigger than your last baby, although it's hard to tell by pics. Thanks for posting your tour, talk to ya soon.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful home! Thanks for sharing your pictures. Is it a Clayton home like Candy's, or do you not know what kind it is?

A Joyful Chaos said...

Enjoyed the tour of your home.

Anonymous said...

Your home looks to be a doublewide 1998 Clayton, but I don't know the model. Am I right? Mine is a 1997 Santa Fe. I'm a Clayton head through and through. If you're interested, I can email you the Clayton picture book I made. But be forewarned - I'm obsessed with Claytons. They are energy efficent, not too expensive, well built, luxurious but not flaunting.

Have you checked out Clayton's "i-homes?" I was looking at some on the internet - not really my cup of tea. I'll stick with their regular manufactured and modulars.

Well, leave me a private comment with your email address, if you'd like me to email that picture book to you. :-)

Mrs. V said...

Well, I checked the tag, & we live in a 97' Elkton! I clearly have no knowledge of manufactured homes, but I plan to google around & check out the perks. I'm curious now.

Jenni said...

You have a gorgeous home.

Anonymous said...

Hey, we're both in '97's! I think that mid to late 90s put out the best floor plans, BTW. I used to live in a '98 Texan - that was by Clayton, but I couldn't find the Texan model onlne, becuase it was discontinued.

I think Elkton's are by Clayton as well, but discontinued, but I'm not positive. Does the tag say Clayton Elton on it, or is it just Elkton, with nothing else written? I could guess Fleetwood, but your home really looks Clayon-esk to me. :-)

My '97 Clayton Santa Fe had a special, discontinued floor plan, but the model of Santa Fe is still available - just not in the floor plan of mine.

My faves are the older Santa Fes and the Lorados.

I'm thinking that if Clayton did the Elktons, then that may have given away to their current Elkmont models, of which some of the Elkmont floor plans may be similar to your Elkton.

BTW, love your blog. I hope you'll be able to blog more soon. :-)

Anonymous said...

Okay, IF your Elkton is a discontinued Clayton model, then below is a link to it's 2010 Elkmont cousin:

http://www.claytonhomes.com/home_details.cfm?modelno=27ELC32603AH#exterior

:-)

PS - The late 90's homes are better than the 2000 ones, in my opinion.

Mrs. V said...

The top of the tag says CMH Elkton, so I s'pose that would be referencing Clayton. Those homes are beautiful! The Elkmont looks like mine but nicer on the outside & the floorplan is different. I really like our floor plan, the dining area just doesn't make sense to us. If there were a table in here you'd have to give it a wide berth to get to the kitchen. But it's a fun hobby/ project space.

Anonymous said...

Yippers - CMH - Clayton Manufactured Home. Welcome to the "Clayton Club."

I would like to link to you on a Clayton post I'm doing soon, as your home is absolutey gorgeous. I hope you don't mind. The post will probably go up on my blog on Wednesday, linked along with several other lady's Claytons.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your home tour! Just wanted to give you an easy idea for the tub. Before you go to bed, fill the tub with hot water, then pour a bottle of bleach in it. Let it sit overnight. The next morning, drain the water and rinse. Your tub should be sparkling clean and stains all gone.

Mrs. V said...

Thanks for the tip! I HATE bleach & would hate to smell it all night, though Mike would be supremely happy. I might try it as we're ready to do a bleach stock-up. I've just been following Fly-Lady's approach & scrubbing it w/ my washcloth after I'm finished up w/ the shower. If I really want a bath, I just break out the candles & the dimmer light works better than anything else I've tried so far.