REblanking the walls...

Remember how my New Year's resolution was to just go crazy and give my stark, contemporary, house some color and character? Well, I did pretty good job of adding my crazy little touches until spring sprung, and then I felt like I needed to be out in the garden (tilling, weeding, planting, etc). At that point, I was semi-balancing work life and home life and just happily chugging along. Then mid-summer (right about vacation time), my husband had a heart-to-heart with me. Basically, he thought it was time to transition to a more sustainable career in a more affordable part of the country (he is a classically trained chef, but has been managing large corporate food service accounts in urban venues for the last 5 years). Anyway, he wanted to better connect with the customers (and the food), even if that meant taking a step back. We agreed this was the right long-term course to pursue, but suddenly I lost interest in making this house a home.

You see, we've moved just about every year since Lou was born. People ask if we are a military family, but we aren't...just corporate nomads. I've (over)decorated so many homes, only to turn the keys over to another family a few months later. So when I realized I needed to detach from this home, I just focused on work, Louie's upcoming school life, and zoning out in front of fail blogs/reality TV. As the summer wore on, it became more and more apparent that a move was imminent. Then, on Lou's first day of school, things all fell into place and we knew that there was no question...we were moving. Scary thing was - we didn't know exactly where we were going. We wanted to live in a place that was beautiful, affordable, and close to both of our families. We kept gravitating towards the Lancaster County area in PA...gorgeous landscapes, wonderful people, abundant produce, and quilt shops galore! Our prayers were answered, and Del got a great, fulfilling job that he loves in Honey Brook, PA. For now, he is making a 2 hour commute each way, but of course our goal is to sell this house and find a "forever" home up there.

So in a way, it is a good thing I dropped the ball on "personalizing" this home. Most of the decor is still pretty neutral - we just needed to do lots of painting, cleaning and purging. Thank goodness for PODS! We were able to pack up lots of stuff that was in the way (but couldn't quite bear to part with). Here are a few pics of our cleaned up, thinned out abode...



The spotless, shiny kitchen (I have to admit, the very basic Scandinavian cabinets are so functional, and super easy to clean)!



Our totally repainted bedroom and loft/library area (there are sliding doors for privacy, but we've always loved waking up to the view beyond the sunroom windows).




Our dining room...the previous owner left us the gorgeous rug and nice large dining set. I did the decorative painting when we first moved in, and the cool plate rack was made by my dad (I've hung it proudly in all of our dining rooms).




Louie's room - I didn't change much, just took out a few pieces of furniture. He has been great about handing down toys and clothes to his younger cousins, so we have been able to make lots of room in there.




Here is the big transformation...my sewing room! Remember how happy I was to rip out the carpet? With all the other fix-up projects we had going on, we just couldn't even conceive of refinishing hardwood before the house went on the market. So we had some nice, new carpet installed, and it looks great! I will admit, I'm a lot more careful about dropping straight pins now!




Lots of furniture (and the bulk of my fabric stash) went into storage. I still have scads of beautiful Sis Boom fabric on hand, which is a good thing because Jennifer and I have LOTS of new patterns in the works (I promise to blog about the latest this week)!





So there you have it...my biggest distraction as of late. I do hope this beautiful home finds new owners who appreciate its spaciousness, warmth, and gorgeous setting as much as we have these last two years. We've made lots of memories in this home...Del's cooked astounding meals, I've sewed up so many designs in my cozy work space, and Louie made the transition from toddler to big kid here (sniff). I am very exicted to move on to the next chapter, however, and I know that there are so many great times to come in our next residence.