Boy it’s been awhile since I updated, hasn’t it? Then again I think it’s easy to understand why, what with moving two provinces over and all. I can’t possibly catch you up on everything that’s happened since we loaded up our moving truck but I can at least show you around our home, at least as far as we’ve set it up.
We actually had the living room more or less done the day after we unloaded the truck, the dining room was set up immediately afterwards, and the kitchen was the first room that I fully unpacked. The bedrooms came along next, then George started setting up his music room. The rec room is only partially done right now because we have a lot of boxes down there to go through, including some that are full of things that seemed important to pack but now don’t seem to fit in with our new home. In fact, we brought our big wall unit from the apartment specifically because I really loved it and right now it’s being stored in our shed because it just isn’t being needed after all. We did, however, at least set up a futon and a second television for the kids to use down there and I’ll start unpacking some of their toys and organizing those over the course of this week.
Ready for a tour? Here we go! The living room from a variety of angles. It’s a huge room and I LOVE it. Just a quick move of the coffee table and I’ve got plenty of space for yoga.
There are quite a lot of pictures, let’s keep going.
From the living room we enter the dining room. George picked out the table without me and was really excited about it, convinced that I would love it. He and his cousin set the whole thing up and when I came to the house to see it, he was absolutely right. I love marble so much, it’s such a great table.
We celebrated our new table (and the fact that we HAD a table again, considering we sold our old set months before we moved, leaving us to eat in the living room for way too long) with our first BBQ in the new place.
Our kitchen is a galley style like it was back in the apartment but it’s longer and thus has more counter space which is really awesome. It also has nicer cupboards and an actual pantry; in the old place I had to sacrifice two cupboards in order to have a pantry.
Looking from one end you can see out to the back deck, and the other way shows the front door.
I had originally had high hopes to find a house with a window over the sink but this place didn’t have one. It’s not a big deal but then my sister and brother-in-law showed up with a framed photo of the beach so I can pretend. What a view that would be!
The apartment had a balcony on it but it wasn’t much fun to sit out there for very long, and eating was especially unappealing. It looked out over one of the busiest streets in our area (three lanes on each side) so it was loud and dusty and not very private at all. Our deck here is practically an oasis in comparison.
I can tell you one thing, I love having a coffee out there on a sunny morning!
The kids finally each have their very own rooms and what a relief that is to everyone. Hayley’s room is a bit smaller than Breanna’s but that works out well since it means less space for her to mess up. As a bonus, she has the only cupboard with mirrored doors which suits her performer nature.
When we saw the pictures before moving here, Breanna picked her room just because she liked the light fixture and I agreed because it meant Hayley’s room would be closer to the stairs, which would prevent her from waking Breanna up if she came downstairs after bedtime (something she’s prone to doing). It was only upon arriving that we realized it’s bigger, but Breanna is very neat and tidy by nature so she’s been keeping it pretty much spotless. It works out well.
As for the master bedroom, I love it. Somehow our old room became the dumping ground for all kinds of stuff. A lack of storage space in the apartment also meant that we had all the off-season storage tubs crammed in there. Now that we have more space the bedroom actually looks the way a bedroom should. I love that it’s got such a nice flow.
As for the basement, we’re still working on that area. The rec room is where we have a futon and we set up a smaller television down there for the kids to watch (as soon as the cable company sends someone over to see why it was never hooked up properly down there). We’ll also hook up the Wii for them and I have to start going through all those boxes to unpack the kids’ toys and organize them (and some of their books) on the shelves.
Finally there’s George’s music room which is drastically larger than his old one was. It’s also still a work in progress but it’s fully functional now at least.
We also have a fairly decent sized laundry room down there, which is where the cat lives. I heaved a huge sigh of relief that she survived the trip down. She’s so terrified of life in general that I half believed she would die of a heart attack after being in a travel case in a car for 16 hours. She was really pissed off at me and refused to come out from behind the furnace to see me for two straight days (the only reason I knew she was okay was because she was eating, using the litter box, and hissing when I called her). She’s fine now though and is quite happy in her little space.
We’re really getting settled now. For the first few days I kept looking around and wondering when the people who lived here were going to come back, but now it’s really feeling like home. Moving here was hard because of saying goodbye to so many people but being here feels right.
I’ll update some more soon, hopefully with a much smaller time frame in between entries than the last time!
It’s lovely to see you guys settling in comfortably. The house looks great and I hope you’ll be happy there! *hugs*
YAY! I’m so glad you all love your new home! I can’t wait to hear how the girls do in school in the fall!!
WOW! It looks great & look at all your room!!! We actually drove by (sorta) the area where you used to live because we went out via the 40 and up the other side of the river to Quebec. I was thinking yeah it was way out there from downtown. :-/
It looks wonderful! The dining room table is really nice. We are enjoying our first summer with a deck right now, too, and I swear it’s changed my life.
Great place. I’m missing reading lights on either side of the pillowed end of the master bed. No more bedtime reading ?
Those cardboard boxes under George’s speakers do look odd, but then those might provide better sound isolation than something more solid so it may be better that way.
I also can’t find the airco unit in the master bedroom. You reckon you won’t be needing any now that you live that close to the ocean ?
Wim – We don’t have any night tables at the moment but if you look you can see a lamp on my dresser for now. I gave Breanna the second one to use in her room. When I’m reading at night I’m almost always on my Kindle so I just use the book lamp that came with it which means I don’t need a lamp anyway.
The boxes are just temporary. 🙂
And yeah, we left the air conditioners behind. The Maritimes don’t get the same kind of oppressive humidity all summer long. We get a nice cross breeze since we have windows on three sides and we have a few fans.
Sherry, it looks great! I can’t believe how much you’ve already done since you moved. It must be nice to be able to stretch out and have a lovely deck to enjoy! So happy for you all!!!
Love the new place. It is making me long to move myself. Only another year to go before our lease is up!
Sherry, thanks for sharing all these wonderful pictures with us. I love your home, it is beautiful. Love the hardwood floors. Having coffee outside in the quiet of an early morning is the best. Good luck to you and your family. Glad you are all so happy.
Your house looks comfortable! I’m int he process of buying new furniture for my house as well, so i know that it takes a lot of work to make everything match comfortably. I spend every week-end going to ikea, and still i don’t have enough boxes and baskets, and kitchen tools – i like the colorful ones 🙂
Delightful 🙂 Congratulations – new home set up at jet-speed! I hope it’ll be the host of many happy memories in the years to come.
Ps. Got to say that your decision to uproot and move to this lovely place further inspired in doing something I’ve long been wanting to do myself 🙂 It’s odd how someone one’s never met can inspire by simply sharing bits of their lives. Thanks
Enjoy every second of it!
All the best…
Wow! looks like you guys have a ton of space!! Looks nice and homey already 🙂 Glad the move went well!
Looks great! What is your new job?
It looks great!!! Happy for you guys. 🙂
Sherry,
Thanks for the tour.. your place is so nice. And all the new furniture is awesome. I dont have a website of my own, but I have been following your Sister for years. The both of you seem so happy and I am happy for you both.
Penny
I meant to say you and your sister.. 😉
I love your new home. It has a wonderful uncluttered and serene look that I have never been able to accomplish. I know you miss friends, but this seems a good move for you and your children. When we moved from Fort Lauderdale to the mountains of Tennessee upon retirement it was the same. Missed the friends but not the unbearable heat and traffic congestion. Here’s wishing you many years of peace and happiness in your new home!
I LOVE your home! It looks so cozy and tidy…it inspires me to get off my keister and get some housework done, haha! Congrats and best wishes for many happy days in your new home!
Big congrats Sherry,
Sorry if this is being nosey but I have such a curiousity of those living in another country. What does your husband do for work? I’m assuming music is a big part of it? Also I was thinking you work as well is it blogs you do for a living or is there more between the zillion other things you keep up on? Is property expensive to purchase up there? I get the feeling it must be. Here in the good ole middle of the US property is fairly reasonable so the deck with a decent view is something I’m ashamed to say I’ve learned to take for granted. We have about 10 acres with front and rear decks and lots of room to roam. It’s really nothing fancy and it’s not a huge mansion like so many go in debt for. With the economy so tough I’m glad we’ve never lived outside of our means. We’ve both been laid off at the same time and managed to keep our house because we pay for everything as we go and live modestly…Not extravagant but very comfortable. Plus we don’t have any children so I try to give generously to those in need that do have them:)..I’ll have to email you some pics some time and if you and your family ever want to get away from it all you are all welcome as our house guests and you could teach me some of your yoga moves;) All my best…
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