This is how we do it

Our new home... for now!

We have been getting many requests for pictures of our new house. I have resisted a little for a few reasons- one, we are temporary, we wanted to rent until we got a good feel for the area and were sure on the location before we buy. Two- since we are renting, I have not decorated the house yet because we can't paint and I don't want to go get new decorations for this house when we will be moving in a year or two anyway. So, we have a big empty house. Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful big empty house, and we are filling it up quite nicely but the walls are bare and that bugs! I am working on a collage of black and whites for our family room wall and I have a great idea for the dining room once we get a table there. I just don't know what to do with those huge walls in the vaulted entry way and living room. I don't really want to go out and buy some huge paintings or wall hangings and then not be able to use them later and I hate hanging really small pictures on really huge walls. So for now, they are bare! And reason number three, I just didn't think anyone would be interested in a bunch of pictures of a house. But you asked, so you got it!

Anyway, it snowed yesterday and the kids and I were out playing today so I FINALLY got the camera outside to take some pictures. The result- a cute little snowman and a tour of the new pad! Enjoy! (sorry, some of them are dark, strangely enough, the ones that are dark are the rooms that get the most light. Oh well, I will figure this new camera out some day!)

View of the snowy street

The front entryway looking to the front door. Office is to the left (my/our left) of the front door and the living room is where Madison is standing. Here you can get a good view of one of the big vaulted walls that I have no idea what do do with.

Looking into the office

I am standing in the entryway looking into the living room, the dining room is to the left where you see the paneling behind the couch

View from the front door looking down the hall on the living/dining room and a peek into the great room area. Picture a nice big square dining room table with a dark finish, eight chairs, and a distressed, planked look instead of that pink pop-up castle! We are looking high and low for that table and havne't found the one yet. But someday, this playroom will be a real dining room!

Madison is showing the half bath, I am standing in front of the dining room looking into the garage entry (to the left), coat closet (to the right), and half bath (straight ahead) area.

View of the great room, I am standing behind the couch in the corner, back yard to the left, where the light is coming through my great big windows that I LOVE! You will probably see a lot of pictures of my kids on this couch I am standing behind, it gets THE BEST natural light! The living room/dining room/front entry area is to the right behind where you see the stair case railing.

Kitchen portion of great room

Family room portion of great room, looking to the back yard through those pretty windows! (Man this picture just doesn't do it justice.) I took other pictures of the fireplace (across from windows) in my Dec. 13th 2007 post. OK, let's go upstairs, shall we?

On the landing, loft, whatever you call that space at the top of the stairs. I am standing in the hall, the master bedroom is through the doors on the right, Beckham and Madison's rooms are to the left, a bathroom, 2 closets, laundry room, and 4th bedroom are behind me and the front entryway is right in front of me over that rail that Beckham just LOVES to throw things over. WARNING: If you ever come to visit, watch for falling objects. Oh, and in case your wondering, that table is really far away from that railing, it looks a lot closer than it really is. Trust me, I NEVER have anything out here that I think could be pushed or climbed on, that totally freaks me out!

Beckham's room

Madison's room (and the only room that is decorated =)

Master Bedroom looking out toward the front of the house. (really, this room gets so much light, even though it looks dark, the flash wasn't going off in here because there was so much light coming through the windows- sorry) There is a small balcony through the windows on the right and a small view of the mountains through the windows of the seating area on the left. Master bathroom is behind me.

Here is that small view through the houses across the street. They have an amazing view!

And here is the master bathroom. Seriously, just this room alone is probably bigger than our entire apartment in SF! Walk in closet is through the door on the right, toilet to my left!

Well, there you have it, your very own tour of our home. Now why do I feel somewhat violated?

Things we love:

• the kitchen
• the 2.5 car garage
• the space
• the master bedroom and bathroom!
• the kids get their own rooms, no more waking each other up.
• the neighborhood!
• the schools
• the location
• the light- lots of skylights and big windows

Things we are not so fond of:

• What to do with all the space (walls, closets etc...)
• the light color of everything (floors, walls, wood...)
• the small lot size
• the utility bills!

We really can't complain much, we are loving it here, especially Issaquah in general. The schools are amazing, it is really clean, things are so convenient to us but we feel like we are still surrounded by trees not buildings, and our street is amazing! We have tons of great families that get together all the time for parties, lunch, play dates etc... Madison already knows 3 or 4 little girls her age and Bex even has a little guy that is his age down the street. We wish we could take the street with us wherever we go, we may even buy a house in the same development cause we like it so much. We will see!