Shades of gray and more!

We have officially decided to put our house on the market...yay! It is a little stressful but at the same time we are very excited about what the future holds. We were very blessed to have friends who were builders and were willing to build us our first home! We have been meeting with realtors in the Chattanooga area to decide who we wanted to go with. We feel very comfortable with our decision. Before it can actually be listed on the MLS, there are a few projects that need to be completed.

Project #1- Painting

{Exhibit A}

We really wanted to stay in the gray family. Who knew how many shades of gray there are.....you have to decide whether you want a gray/brown, gray/blue, etc. To be honest, after looking at so many paint swatches, I am beginning to wonder if there even is such a thing as gray?!?! And the finalist are pictured below. The rooms we are considering painting are the mudroom, guest bathroom, and guest bedroom since they are this teal/aqua color below. Obviously, it didn't look like that on the paint swatch :) So, you live and learn. Now we have bought samples of the paint and painted our own swatches so we can better visualize the color in our lighting.

Project #2- Bathroom Remodel 

The Powder Room downstairs is going to be converted into a full bathroom

{before}



The guys came this weekend and took out the toilet and the vanity. Plumber is coming this week! We picked out tile for the shower this weekend. So, hopefully this little project will be done in a few weeks!

{during}

Project #3- Staging

We are trying to finish hanging curtains and getting the house staged so that a potential buyer can better visualize and hopefully decide they have to make an offer :). We went to our first antique auction last weekend. It was SO entertaining! We came home with this coffee table which was an absolute steal! We had been looking at a very similar table which retailed for more than $1,000. Our winning bid was $90!

{our table}

{the inspiration}

Until next time on Designed to Sell, where hopefully we will have a For Sale sign in the front yard!

Projects!

I feel like we have been on a HGTV Home Improvement show the past few weekends. I'm imagining a cross between Design on a Dime, Curb Appeal, and Designed to Sell.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

  

The landscaping isn't the only thing that has been getting a much needed face lift. There have also been some projects going on inside as well. Here is a sneak peak...I'm not ready for a full reveal just yet

And I owe it all to this cutie, my resident handy man, who doesn't even complain about hanging drapes on football Saturdays :)

Stay tuned for the next episode...

And we're off!

After moving into our house, Ben and I quickly realized that we needed lots of furniture. At least one weekend a month is usually devoted to furniture and antique shopping. Whenever we travel to see family and friends, we always make it a point to do some furniture shopping while we are there. This past weekend we made our biggest purchase thus far....dining room chairs! Who knew how expensive chairs could be?! Ben's sweet grandmother gave us her antique dining room table and china cabinet which we are so grateful for. However, we have been staring at this table since October and have yet to find any chairs that we liked. I'm glad we waited as long as we did, because I love the chairs we found, but it has been very difficult to meet friends when you can't invite anyone over for dinner!

BEFORE

So, where did we end up finding these chairs (after 8 months of searching)...in an antique store in Mobile. So, Mingle Moving Company made a trip to Mobile this past weekend to pick up our dining room chairs. It was a memorable trip to say the least in the "chester the molester" van.  Hopefully, when we make our next furniture purchase it won't be 800 miles away! Poor Ben had to drive the whole trip because anyone who knows my driving record knows it probably would have been a costly trip if I had tried to drive the panel van (drive with your mirrors...whats that all about?).

AFTER

Next items on the wish list are window treatments, artwork, and a more elegant chandelier :)

Last but not least. One other very important thing came back with us.......the top of our wedding cake. Thanks to my parents for storing it in their deep freezer for the past year. We will find out if it is still edible in less than a week!

Hopefully, it will be as yummy as I remember....

In summary...

It is hard to summarize everything that has happened over the past year in just 1 post but I will try to hit the high points. After our honeymoon in St. Thomas, we moved (really I was the only one moving because Ben was already here) to Chattanooga and lived in a 1 bedroom 900 sq ft condo downtown. Needless to say it was cozy but it was an awesome location. Chattanooga has a beautiful downtown! We lived there for 3 months until we bought our first house! Being a homeowner is still surreal to me...I have never signed my name so many times in one sitting. After 4 months of job searching, I was finally able to find a job in my field. In our spare time, we have been busy celebrating with our friends who are getting married or having babies or we are traveling to see family and friends. Sorry for the lack of pictures, see previous post :)

The Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas

Our First House {pictures taken before we moved in}

The wood railings are not there any more {just needed for inspections}

Dining room/Foyer

Formal Living Room

Back Porch with fireplace :)

Master Bedroom

Kitchen