Back to Life?

It's official! We've moved! The house is not necessarily "finished" just yet, but all of our belongings are in one place now and that is just fine by me. In fact, I never actually finished moving into the last house, so the first thing that moved into this one was whatever was left over in my trunk from move #15 or so...

I have even been able to start putting some personal touches on our very neutral blank canvas. The first thing I did was start filling up the built-in bookshelves. I have been looking forward to this for months now! My previous bookshelves post is still my most frequently repinned and viewed post. I had no idea so many other people cared so much about my crap!

Usually what I do is implement the pottery barn-esque "cluster" theory. I try to use somewhat of a theme for each cluster. For our home, it mostly involves around Louisville, honey and (wait for it...) horses.

 

Our old books come from a few different sources. I inherited some of my great grandfather's books a few years ago and most of them are old German language lesson books. My favorite, which isn't on the shelves is a "see and say" book with pictures and how to pronounce the words. Some of the others are from our friend's house. The home was previously occupied by a teacher who obviously built the mass of his collection in the 40s. I was lucky enough that our friend stock piled them instead of throwing them out and I have found some spectacular books in his supply. The rest are from my own ever-expanding collection.

Another thing I was so excited to get finished was my spray painted chandelier. There will be more pictures to come, but here is a glimpse of what it looks like after a blast of Rustoleum! Pay no heed to my wonky lampshades. I have since been able to straighten them out. I was a little nervous at first since the whole thing is a little bulbous and busy, but after walking past it a few times I am starting to like it. Next time I do this I am going to go with a crazy color... when you can get these things at the Habitat Restore for a few bucks - why not?

We are still waiting on our counter tops to come in. Talk about a stressful decision. And having to make such a decision in under 30 minutes before work one day. You know how the saying goes: there's nothing as permanent as a tattoo or granite counter choices. I have been nervous ever since. We'll see how they look on Tuesday! We also are lacking some additional lights, mirrors in all of the bathrooms and some serious unpacking and organizing motivation. However, every time we need an extra push towards the finish line, we like to look at these....