Our Dream Home!

::"Home, the spot of earth supremely blessed, dearer, sweeter than all the rest.":: ~Robert Montgomery

I've been getting earfulls about my lack of blogging consistency lately. I know, I know I seem like a slacker! But really I'm an overachiever who has about 86 thousand things to take care of right now. BIG things! Our lives have been action-packed since we moved back, and I've had to carve out time to study several hours a day. The time until I need to take boards is dwindling fast! But we can cross one thing, possibly the most important thing, off our lists...
We have a house!

I've always had big dreams about everything I wanted my forever home to be. And we were ready to have our forever home now rather than having to move AGAIN, for the FIFTH time in 6 years. I am so over moving! I stalked real estate websites for months while I was still in Conway and was so disappointed that there was nothing on the market that met my wish list...

...A southern style house, preferably white, with a big front porch, columns and dormers, on a large lot with trees in a neighborhood suited for running, with hardwood floors, a formal dining room for holidays, a nice sized laundry room, big pantry, a fireplace for wintertime and rooms appropriate for an art studio and a movie room and size that would give us room to grow. Tall order?

This is a picture I had saved in a folder on my laptop titled "Home". It's exactly what I dreamed of my house being, but I didn't know when or if I would ever have it:

Then I saw this 'Notebook'-esque beauty and knew it was the one...

Unbelievable! I just hoped that everything would work out in trying to get it.


"I want a white house, with blue shutters. And a room overlooking the river so I can paint. I want a big ole porch wrapped around the whole thing. We can drink tea and watch the sun go down..."
~Allie, The Notebook

We couldn't wait to go see it, but we wanted to get preapproved first. We contacted our lender who began working up the numbers, then found out she left for a week-long vacation before she finished. We then contacted our realtor to get a head start on viewing houses, and she too was going on vacation the same week! A week is a long time when the house of your dreams is sitting on the market!

We un-patiently waited to go see it and knew it was perfect as soon as we walked in. We had only found one 'negative' about it before arriving; The yard was unfenced and that would be a nice chunk of change we'd have to fork over pretty quickly after moving in so our dogs could go outside on their own. Then, when we walked into the backyard, we saw a large fenced area in the corner of the lot under a grouping of shade trees. It was perfect.

I'm debating on what color rocking chairs to have on the breathtaking front porch...

And would love a porch swing.

You see the staircase as you walk in the front door and the formal dining room is on the right.

I love the touches of character that just can't be found in today's new houses.

Just past the dining room is the kitchen, with an island and eat-in kitchen large enough for another full-size dining table. Since there is already a formal dining room, I plan to do a small table here and use the rest of the space as a seating area with a rug, love seat, and maybe a small tv. We had a seating area in our kitchen growing up and I was able to play in the floor or watch cartoons there so my parents could keep an eye on me while they cooked or washed dishes. I have so many memories there.

I love the countertops and island. I'm not a granite kind of girl, I guess.


The living room is next. In this picture you can see the kitchen to the left and the dining room in the doorway on the right. If you look upstairs, there's a wall along the hall on each side of the staircase. I'd like to do a gallery wall of my current artwork, with the recessed lighting spotlighting each piece, like this:

I love how it could be seen from the downstairs living room in our house.

A fireplace was a must for us. It will not be just for looks in our house!


This is the other view of the living room with french doors to the back patio.


We love the covered back porch!


A long-term future project would be to build a pergola over the extended concrete slab.
Maybe like this one...


There's a bedroom upstairs that is the same size as a master that we may designate as the movie room we've been wanting. Our popcorn machine is waiting!

Justin used to work at Muvico and had a gigantic stash of movie posters he had raided over the years. Just before we moved out, the three of us went through them and Sean and I picked out a bunch of good ones to frame on the walls of the theater room. Sean unrolled one and said, "Ooooh KK..." And I knew. It was The Notebook movie poster! I can't wait to have them hung. We also got the giant banner from The Notebook we could hang to be seen when the screen is up.


I got my nice sized laundry room! That cabinet door to the right houses a fold down ironing board. It's so cute!

And there's a double-door pantry like we had at my house growing up. I always wanted one so I could be prepared and organized for meals.


My mind is spinning with ideas and the laptop files are full of images for inspiration. We have to wait til the end of September to move in so we will both have paychecks (neither of us can start working until August!) and so the current owner can move out. Be sure to check back as the house projects ensue and undoubtedly make up the majority of the content on this blog!

XOXO,
Katie

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