We have been making some slow progress, though, and I'm happy to finally have some "almost" pictures. We're definitely not at the "after" stage yet, but I think we could say "almost". So, here we go...
Here is our entry way furniture (the very first thing we bought especially for our house) all assembled. After years of IKEA construction and feeling pretty confident in our assembly skills, we thought this would be a breeze. Yeah... we ended up putting the hanging portion together backwards (my fault) at first and then it wasn't screwed tight enough (John's fault), and after all that, we were so traumatized, we abandoned it for a few days. Of course, upon returning to it, I think it took us another 15 minutes to finish, but in the end, we finally have a place to hang our coats and Dexter's leash at the front door. I think you'd agree the baskets and cushion are quite plain, though, and we're terribly color-challenged right now (where's David Bromstad when you need him?), so my plan is to re-cover the cushion and figure something out for the baskets.
Our first big ticket purchase for the house are these lovely machines. After the whole sectional vs. basement fiasco, we were terrified they wouldn't make it down into the basement, but they did and here they are. As you can see, our laundry space is lacking, so we opted to spend the extra money for the front-loading model to allow us to (one day) install a counter top above the machines. We'll put some shelves or cabinets up on the wall and I think we'll have a nice little laundry nook. In case you're curious, we went with the Samsung VRT Steam washer and dryer. We wanted something that would be gentle on our clothes and the environment, and so far we have been very happy with them. Plus, the "SteamCare" technology is supposed to be great for reducing allergens (yay for me!) and germs (good for future Baby Bedtelyons... emphasis on future... strong emphasis).
Alright, here we have a nice "Before" and "Almost" comparison of our master bedroom. For the first week or so, our window coverings were MIA even though I paid for the overnight shipping (curse you, Country Curtains), but I must say, we love them. Most bamboo shades have a bad reputation for not blocking light and being see-through. Plus, most look like a bunch of cheap sticks strung together. Ours have a nice lining on the back that isn't visible from the front and does an amazing job blocking out light (just ask John who has fallen victim to their powers and no longer wakes up before 11:00...). Not only that, but the warm wheat color accents our hardwoods wonderfully without being too matchy. We also went ahead and bought a new bed (IKEA's Malm platform bed), as our last one was taller and had a more prominent headboard. Our master is quite small, so our old bed just took up too much visual space (not to mention poor Dexter had a hard time jumping in and out of it) and made the room look even smaller. The new, lower bed allows your eye to move around the room, doesn't block the windows, and now Dexter is free to jump around. PS, making the bed is pointless.... don't judge us.
So, there are a few of the accomplishments we've made. We have actually have done a lot more, but just haven't had the time to get some nice photos to share. Hopefully this weekend we'll finish even more and have the opportunity to take some photos in the daylight. John has also done some great handymanning around the house and yard, but I'll leave that for him to share. It might not look like much yet, but we have big plans for our little house and even though we're being a little sluggish lately, we'll get there.
Now, time for a few adorable pictures of Dexter enjoying his new yard. Disclaimer: we will not be held responsible for any injuries caused by cuteness overload. Dexter's powers are very strong and should not be witnessed by those who are weak of heart.
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