Before & After....

We know that a lot of you have wanted to see photos of our new place! I didn't want to share photos of rooms that are not completely done... but some of them ARE finished, so I'm compromising and sharing photos of those! It is AMAZING what paint and a few accessories can do.


The hallway before ....


The hallway after! We painted it in Samovar Silver, which is a grey with blue tones.


Here is our master bathroom before....


And after! We also painted this in Samovar Silver, added a wooden bathmat outside our shower, and installed a flat panel TV on the wall. We have enjoyed using the TV during baths or showers and use it more than we thought we would!


Our master vanity before.....


And after.... we added a mirror and painted the walls.


The closet after.... there is no before picture. Basically it was just two shelves along either side. Now we have more storage space than we know what to do with! Obviously I can't take a photo of the whole closet because of the door... but no worries, visitors will get to see the REAL LIVE version. :)

And now.... ::drumroll::... for my pride and joy....


The kitchen before....


And after! We painted it a color called Jubilee, which is a greyish color with light purple tones. It looks amazing with the granite! Note my gorgeous leather counter height chairs, which are a perfect fit! The only new accessories are the Williams-Sonoma soaps which were a housewarming gift from my employers. and a paper towel holder. We keep the countertops clean and empty except for the knife block and those things... partially because we have the cabinent space to do so, but also because we love the way it looks!

SOLD!

Much to my surprise.... I sold ALL of the furniture within 12 hours. The sofabed was easy to sell... I had about 6 emails from people wanting to see it. Ethan was amazed too... and we're glad we made a few hundred dollars instead of just donating the stuff to Goodwill. Tax write-offs are nice...but cold, hard cash is even better! It will, of course, be applied to our new couch.

The newlyweds I mentioned in my last post ended up buying our couch and it was exactly what they were looking for. They were really nice, so I'm glad that someone else will get some use out of it. They're both still students and couldn't afford to buy a full priced couch from IKEA, so ours was priced exactly what they could afford to spend. They move into their new place on Wednesday and are going to pick up the couch then when they have their U-Haul truck. It all works out! An Indian couple bought our bookshelves and is coming back to pick up the other one tonight since they could only fit one into their car. I was astounded that I sold the bookshelves because I really didn't think anyone would want them but just decided to give it a try anyway.

Yesterday we also went to BrandsMart which was definitely a very interesting experience! We picked up a 15" flat screen for our master bathroom since it already had the wiring set up for it. It was amazing how cheap their stuff is there... and we installed it on the wall as soon as we came home. Before you laugh.... we're actually watching TV on it. Ethan watched The Simpsons while he took a shower, and I'm planning to watch TV whenever I use the bathtub. It looks really cool up there on the wall too!

I promise to get back on the subject of Greece eventually.... I just have not had the time to work on editing photos for publishing on here. I make no promises.... you may have to wait until you visit and we actually have our printed photobooks to see and hear about the trip.

Adventures in painting....

Hi! We are now connected to the Internet and I have my wireless connection all set up. We're so happy to have access to the internet again even though we were only without it for 2 weeks. Ethan has to use it frequently for school, and I use it for communications for my job so it's definitely a necessity for us. We're also glad to have our cable up since this fall's TV lineup has proven to be very entertaining!

Our painters came yesterday and painted from 8:30 to 4. They're here again today finishing the last of it. It is truly amazing how fast they work and what a great job they have done.... and it is even MORE amazing to see the finished product! Our home feels like a real home with the paint on the walls, and I think Ethan and I picked really great colors... they reflect our personality but they're also very calming and peaceful. I just think home should be a haven, and it certainly feels like one!

We are having problems with our A/C... we're very thankful that it is October, otherwise it might be pretty miserable in here. So far, we've been able to just leave the windows open and that has been very sufficient. Since we're on the third floor we don't have to worry about people trying to break in. Apparently there are power problems on the roof where our A/C unit is. They told us to call an electrician but we told them that it was their responsibility to fix it because (a) we just moved in on the 26th of September and (b) half of the building is still under construction. So they agreed to fix it. Ethan let them know in no uncertain terms that it had better be a permanent fix, because if it isn't... he'll be sending the general contractor the electrician's bills.

Aside from all that... we are selling some of our old furniture. I posted an ad for it and literally two minutes after it was active online, someone contacted me to look at it. A newly married couple will be coming tonight to look at our sofabed and we'll see if they want it. If they do, it'll be gone by Wednesday (which is when they move into their first place together). We'll see what happens!

We have decided on everything furniture wise except our dining room table... but hopefully we can finalize our decision by the end of the week. We will be ordering those things by the end of the month and will have most of them in place by Thanksgiving. We're not sure if we'll be able to have guests this Thanksgiving... that depends on whether our wallbed arrives in time!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Things are coming together...

Hi! Things are starting to come together at the lofts! Our parking lot and garage were striped and numbered, and the parking deck is almost finished, so we will be able to park there soon. The landscaping is almost finished, and it looks beautiful! We are finally (after many calls from people to the Post Office) getting mail service here, although there are a few mixups occuring with that... hopefully it will be straightened out soon! Last but not least, Comcast is going to connect our cable and Internet on Friday so we are really happy about that!

Most exciting of all is that we are having our loft painted on Saturday! We have chosen all of the colors and are ready to go. My dad helped us out a LOT by calling the painter for us and setting everything up. Our painter's name is Ramundo, and he prefers to communicate in Spanish...so that's where my dad came in. So if you're reading this... thanks dad! Don't know what we'd do without you. :)

After the painting is complete, Ethan and I are hoping to get a couple of other small things done and then proceed to ordering our new furniture. When we're ready for visitors, we will let you know! We love all our family and friends dearly.... but we would rather them see a finished product than a work in progress!

Hope everyone is well.