Refrigerator

During a great day out with my mom and sister, we found a refrigerator that fit all of mine and Landon's requirements: it's stainless steel, it's fairly inexpensive (as far as fridges go) and it will slide perfectly into the space into the kitchen.

We first found it at Costco, but then (after price checking) found it at Lowe's as well. It was about $150 more expensive at Lowe's, but they have a great program where, if you find an exact model somewhere else, they'll match the price AND give you an extra 10% discount on top of the lower price. Plus, Lowe's does free delivery on all large appliances, unlike Costco. Lowe's for the win!

We like this one because we've already got a black stove and dishwasher, but we prefer stainless steel. We'll eventually replace the stove and dishwasher, but until that time, at least the black handles on the fridge will serve as a nice connector between the stainless we want and the other black appliances.

Closing is tomorrow, which means we'll own a house in less than 24 hours!!

Our New House!

We're two days from closing on our house, so it's time to introduce you to our new abode!

From the front:

The badly maintained front walkway

The back porch

The fireplace in the living room

The kitchen (which will be painted IMMEDIATELY)

Another angle of the kitchen (oh, the stripes--how you hurt my eyes!)

the master bedroom, looking a little worse for the wear

the master bathroom

the second bedroom

Obviously, there's some MAJOR painting to be redone, and many other little projects to do to get things all spiffy. It's been vacant since last April and no one's been looking after it since then because it was a foreclosure. But we're up to the challenge! :)

More Aqua Loveliness

Today must be the day for gorgeous aqua finds! Check out this beautiful vintage dresser/ table/ thing:

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The aqua against the grey wall looks so great--and definitely reminds me why I'm thinking about painting the second bedroom this color.

Decorative Shelving

This morning, as I was perusing my Blogger feed, I saw Honey Bear Lane's most recent post about some shelving she'd put up. The white, silver and aqua she uses is EXACTLY what I want to do in our second bedroom (which will also serve as an office and crafts room). Definitely the perfect inspiration as I finish packing our stuff:

For more about what we're thinking for the second bedroom, check out my earlier post here.

T-minus two days until the closing!

Recycled Glass Countertops

A few weeks back, I went with my mom, dad and sister to the Charleston Home and Design showcase at the Gaillard Auditorium: we saw SO many great ideas for my new house. One of my favorites was the Fisher Recycling Company products. They take used glass bottles from the area, break them up and put them onto your kitchen or bathroom countertops. There are a bunch of color options so the matching options are endless.

Ooh, pretty!

I don't know if we'll use this in our kitchen or bathroom remodels, but it's definitely an option.

See Fischer Recycling's website for more information and other product pictures!

Living Room Chair

I've had my eye on this chair for a few months now. The colors are amazing, and they pop against my dark red couch. Right now, I only have the couch for our living room furniture, so extra seating is essential for our new house.

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Cindy Crawford Home

Carnival Accent Chair

Design Gurus

I love a project, and this house has afforded me with plenty of them (see the to-do list tab!). In order to work on all of our projects--and do so in the most cost-effective manner possible--I decided to create floor plans of the house using Floorplanner.com (SUCH an awesome tool!):

We printed these out and pasted them onto our idea board. Then around the floor plans, we've been adding paint samples, tile samples, pictures of furniture we want to get, and pictures of other rooms that inspire us. This will be Domicile Vereen-Davis Headquarters! That way, we know exactly what the colors, furniture and art will look like in each room before we purchase the first thing (and avoiding unnecessary trips to return things). 

It's also really important for our entire house to flow--we want all of the rooms to look like they belong together, rather than just a bunch of rooms that are haphazardly thrown together. We'll unify them through a similar color palette (we've been leaning towards khakis, creams, blues and greens) and through a general style (clean and modern with punches of color). 

We just want all of the unfun stuff (financing, home inspection, etc.) to finish so we can go to closing and get into the house. Just a few more weeks!

Living Room Bookshelves

We are absolutely in love with these, which we plan to put along the left-hand wall of the living room. We found this version at Lowe's, but I've seen a similar version at Crate and Barrel within the last year.

Second Bedroom

Our second bedroom is somewhat of a design challenge--Landon and I need it to serve many different functions, while at the same time, remaining with the same flow and style of the rest of the house.


I love blues, greens and khakis--and most of the house will use these colors--but for some reason, I've been draw to a bolder palette for the second room. I'm hoping the end result will use a palette similar to this one:

I love the beige, light blue and silver with punches of vibrant orange. I hope to include even more silver in our space to really make everything seem contemporary and full of light.


I'm currently in love with the Closetmaid storage at Target. Think this, but painted in a silver:

And with these bins:

I might even get adventurous enough to paint the walls a light grey (yikes! Definitely a new one for me!).


Hopefully, the blue and beige will serve as anchors to the rest of the house, so this room doesn't seem like an anomaly from the rest of our rooms.


We'll use a convertible couch/bed as a way to offer sleeping space for our guests when they need it, but still have the flexibility to use the room's entirety when people aren't over (which, let's face it, will be 50 weeks out of the year).

Living Room Curtain Options

A while back, I did a layout board on what I would like our future living room to look like. I've still been scouting for options--I'm always on the lookout for a bargain!


Today, I found another option for the living room curtains. They are still light green, like the ones on the layout board, but instead of the $169 ones from Pottery Barn in the original post, these are from Overstock.com and come it at a handy $50.99. Definitely more budget-friendly.

Pottery Barn Peyton Drapes in Mineral Green

vs.

Overstock.com Jasper Circles in Sage

Dining Area Pendant Lamp

Even if you don't have a formal dining space, it's important to differentiate where your eating space is; a chandelier or other hanging lamp is a great way to do this. I love the idea of a small pendant lamp in the eat-in breakfast area of our new townhouse--it will provide some much needed light while also updating the kitchen. 


Since our dining table only has seating for four, I don't want to overwhelm this fairly small space. The bar height dark cherry table and chairs, while small, are contemporary with very clean lines; the pendant we eventually will hang above it should complement the furniture rather than compete with it. 


A few options:

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Living Room Rug?

I have suddenly fallen in love with rugs. They are so soft and comfy, yet they also work to bring an entire room together. I've never had a house with hardwood floor before, so I haven't had an opportunity to look at rugs...but that's about to change when we move into our new house. These rugs would look gorgeous against the dark wood floor of the living room and against my bright red couch: 

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I also love this one, but I'd have to find another room in which to put it because it would majorly clash against the red couch:

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Necessities

Well, Landon and I were the higher of the two bidders...so you know what that means? We're one step closer to becoming homeowners! We've only gotten this far in the process once (out of four previous times), and we're feeling positive that this townhouse is the one.


If the inspection, financing and all that stuff works out, and we are able to move into this house, we'll need a few things immediately. And while I would love to dive into the place with a paintbrush in one hand and fabric swatches in the other, I have to remind myself that there are other, more practical things we need before we can start personalizing the place.


The top five things we absolutely have to have when we move in:


1 & 2) A washer and dryer. The townhouse has W/D hook-ups, but no washer or dryer. Definitely a must, as I don't want to wash all of our clothes in our sink. That would get really old, really fast. We don't need anything fancy--just a basic set of machines to get the job done.


3) A refrigerator. The townhouse came with a stove and a dishwasher and nothing else. This purchase might be even more important than the washer and dryer because we could wash our clothes at my mom and dad's for a bit if we absolutely had to, but we're not going to eat only dried or non-perishable food. So a fridge is a must. Now, the dilemma: I want stainless steel appliances, but the stove and dishwasher are black. Should we match the new fridge to the old appliances, or buy the fridge I really want even though the kitchen will not match until we replace the other two appliances? Decisions, decisions.


4) Blinds. There are exactly two sets of blinds in the entire house. And as much as I'm sure I will like our neighbors, I don't want them to know THAT much about me. Plus, I'm scared of the dark, and I love closing all the blinds and curtains when the sun goes down and turning on all the lights. If you didn't know me, you'd think there was a vampire or something after me...


5) The only really frivolous thing on this list: a couple strings of these lights

from World Market

I've wanted to put these on our porch since we started looking for houses. Nothing says, "Welcome to our house!" like party lights! :)