last fall, we planted grass – well, truth be told, we laid sod.  i was very skeptical about it’s survival, considering when we rolled it out, it was  in about 5 inches of water – i’m not kidding.  and i’m happy to report that it has survived the winter.

we also planted a few trees throughout the yard. a beautiful ornamental plum tree chosen for the front and it’s in beautiful bloom right now. we bought the trees and then waited so long to actually put them into the ground – i wasn’t sure any of them would survive.  experienced gardeners, we are not! but, like the grass, they have all survived too. i’m sure the exceptionally mild winter we experienced helped lots and for that i’m thankful.

our yard need TONS of work still!  landscaping a new yard is a huge undertaking. but we’re up for the task. luckily, there’s only a week and a half until costco opens up their garden center – i love shopping at their garden center. amazing deals and great baskets, shrubbery and trees – everything we’ll need to help complete the job. if you have any advice, please leave a comment below and share it! i’d love to hear it!

or, better yet,  if you’d like to come by and help, just send me an email and i’ll send you the details! 

(starting in upper left and going clockwise) 1) my most favorite part of my new kitchen… my double wall oven!! 2) the fireplace in the great room 3) kitchen looking into my office… check out all that natural lighting! 4) the great room 5) another angle of the great room with door to back deck 6) front entry way 7) my pantry door.

the colour on the walls is a warm golden yellow, called chablias. i love it! it makes the whole house seem so warm and cozy.

so, once i find a new home for everything, i will share more pictures. cause i’m sure you don’t want to look at pictures that look like this.

yeah, ummm, that’s my new studio space and as you can see, it needs a LOT of work!!

this is emily’s room at the new house. this room actually glows! i can’t wait until we can move in there and decorate! she’s got some very cool new bed linens for her birthday and they are going to go so well with the wall colour that she’s picked out.

secretly, i almost wish that this was my room. it’s going to be so cool!

all the finishing touches are now to happen inside and out. inside, the walls are painted, light fixtures are being installed, doors are being hung, trim is getting installed (have i mentioned yet that i LOVE the interior trim detail!!) and flooring will begin going in this week too. outside, the siding and trim is complete, painting has begun and rock for the front has been picked out.

yes, we’ve been busy! but it’s SO worth it!

cheers,

things are shaping up nicely at the new house. these are the cedar shingles that i worked so hard staining all weekend long! i had some help from my good friends AJ and michelle! thanks girls! i love you both for helping me out! it would have taken me SO much longer on my own. (i should mention that derek helped too…. for a little…. until i started laughing at how messy he was doing it!) i love you too honey!

happy tuesday!

it’s really coming along well! inside, all the rough-in for plumbing, electrical, heating and central vacuum are finished. i believe insulation and drywalling begin this coming week! derek and i picked out all our appliances last week as well as the hardwood for the flooring.

we’re so pleased with the progress! i just LOVE all the windows!

i was asked today what colour are we going to paint the inside. i have no idea. do you have any suggestions? i’d love to hear them. what are the “hot” decor colours of today?

possession day

week one

week three

week four

week five

week ten

week eleven (today)

have a great long weekend!

the kids and i were supposed to fly there to visit her this summer but when we decided to build our new house, our plans changed and mom came to visit us instead. i love it when she comes to visit! she willingly takes over the laundry task as soon as she arrives. yes, that means i haven’t had to fold one single stitch of clothing in almost 5 weeks people! it’s been GREAT! and, in preparation of getting this house ready to put on the market for sale, she totally cleaned it from top to bottom and from side to side! seriously! it looks awesome here. just a few more walls to paint and LOTS and LOTS of stuff to get rid of (we’re doing a MAJOR purge before we move!) and we’ll hopefully have it for sale in the next couple of weeks.

we went to visit the “lot” one last time before she left last night to see the progress on the new house. framing began this week! woot! woot! you can see a bit of it happening there in the background. {don’t you just love the distortion here! i love my wide angle!!}

see you at christmas nanny! thanks for all that you’ve done for us and we love you!

{and besides, i just love to quote a kenny song when ever i can! }

cheers,

that’s where my studio room in our new house will be located!

we started clearing the lot this week and things are starting to roll now. i’m getting excited!

have a great weekend!