Feathers in Our Nest

A Peek at Our New House

March 18, 2010 by Aliesha

Well…. we’re not moving this weekend. Closing got pushed to next week, so we’ll be moving after that! We’re thankful we at least have a definite date and time now!

Thought you might like to see a few pictures of our house. I’m not happy with how any of the inside shots turned out (too dark, crooked, awkward, etc.), so you’ll have to settle for these right now.

We’re going over to the house to clean today, and I might get a few more pictures then.

The house is in a nice neighborhood in a small town. We love the charm that this 90-year-old “bungalow” has, and look forward to updating it while still maintaining the character and history of this beautiful house. The housing market in our area is VERY good for buyers right now, and there is no way we could have afforded a house like this back in our hometowns in VA. It’s just a great market down here (come live here too!). We love the big front porch and look forward to entertaining (and relaxing in big white rocking chairs) on it this spring and summer.
There is a nice yard in the back that is mostly fenced-in. We would like to eventually fence it in completely so our kiddos can play back there safely.
We’re seeing signs of spring all around the house. Camellias, forsythias, and flowering quince are blooming, and we were happy to see a full hedge of azaleas that should bloom later this spring.

The house has 11 rooms in all. While many of them could be used for several purposes, here is what we are planning on doing with them all (at this point).
– living room
– dining room
– breakfast nook
– kitchen
– family room
– master bathroom
– master bedroom
– office
– guest bathroom
– guest bedroom
– (upstairs) nursery
– (upstairs) library
– (upstairs) spare oom*

The house needs LOTS of love and care, as it is very old. We’re looking forward to fixing it up and turning it into a HOME! We like to joke and say that this is probably the biggest house we will ever live in with the fewest amount of children!

We are thankful to God for providing this house for us and for granting us peace during the looooong process of buying our first house (we’ve been in the process since August 2009).

Once we’ve settled in a bit (and found a couch…haha), we’d love for our friends and family to come visit us and stay in our guest room (or spare oom)!
This room is our “Spare Oom.” (This furniture is coming with the house.)

* “Spare Oom” is a reference to the Chronicles of Narnia, but we may instead go with calling it our “Spare Room,” a reference to Anne of Green Gables. What do you think?

Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe, how would it be if you came and had tea with me? (Mr. Tumnus)

I suppose you are used to sleeping in spare rooms. But just imagine what you would feel like if you were a little orphan girl who had never had such an honor. (Anne Shirley)
When you come to town you’re to visit me and I’ll put you in my very sparest spare-room bed to sleep. (Aunt Josephine)

Five Rules of Contentment

March 17, 2010 by Aliesha

Five Rules of Contentment (written by a Puritan)

1. Allow yourself to complain of nothing – not even the weather.

2. Never picture yourself to yourself – under any circumstances in which you are not.

3. Never compare your own lot with that of another.

4. Never allow yourself to dwell on the wish that this or that had been, or were, otherwise that is was, or is. God Almighty loves you better and more wisely than you do yourself.

5. Never dwell on the morrow. Remember that it is God’s, not yours. The heaviest part of sorrow is often to look forward to it. The Lord will provide.

I needed to be reminded of this today! Thought you might enjoy it as well.

Shopping for Inspiration

March 16, 2010 by Aliesha

Last Saturday Tad and I were able to spend some time in Raleigh. I LOVE Raleigh, mainly, and I know this sounds shallow, for the shopping. They have absolutely everything! Saturday we were shopping for some wedding gifts for friends’ weddings we’re attending this summer, but mainly we were shopping for inspiration. By this I mean, we were looking around some of our favorite stores and snagging ideas that we can use for our home (and save $$ in the process!).

Our first stop was Williams-Sonoma. If you’ve never been there, WS is a kitchen store that is filled with the most wonderful kitchen gadgets you’ll ever see. They have great ideas for packaging (homemade) mixes (bread, cake, scones, etc.) to make nice gifts for friends. Their website has lots of recipes you can try at home. We loved these little birds nests (warning: nests were everywhere [I’m so ahead of my time], so be prepared to see more pictures in this post!).Next up was Crate and Barrel. I seriously could spend 45 minutes staring at their wall of kitchen gadgets. They have everything from spatulas, honey dippers, bottle stoppers, thermometers, and more. (They also carry some things we like to make fun of, such as cake testers [we use a toothpick!], tea bag squeezers [what?!], and avocado slicers [how many times a year could you possibly use this?].) We love looking at their selection of espresso cups, glassware, coffee mugs, and seasonal offerings. We thought these little egg cups were too cute (not that we’d have much of a use for them… but adorable they are)!
We also loved these little square dishes, even though they don’t really match our decor/serving style. But wouldn’t they be cute for a party?Our trip to Pottery Barn definitely gave us the most inspiration for home decor. Between what we saw in the store, the pages we tabbed in their catalog, and what we found on their website, we have lots of pretty pictures to share!!

First up: using antique keys as wall decor. A couple of years ago, I purchased a small lot of vintage keys on ebay, with the idea that I would use them somehow one day. I thought about framing them in individual frames, but I like the idea of hanging them on nails and grouping them all together as well. We loved the hanging mason jars they were selling to add ambiance to outdoor festivities. But at $8 a pop, we realized we could make our own for much less! Mason jars can easily be found at Goodwill and other thrift shops, and you may just have a few lying around your house as well! Twist some heavy gauge wire to form a handle, fill with some sand or rocks and candle, and you’re done! We might make some to hang from our big front porch since we plan on doing a lot of entertaining there this summer.If you know me well, you know I also have a (not-so) hidden love for apothecary jars. We used several to decorate our wedding reception, and I have been looking forward to using them to decorate our home as well! We loved seeing them used at Pottery Barn to hold everything from bath salts, cotton balls, and soap to rubber bands, paper clips and rulers. They also look great when filled with fruit or fresh flowers! These can be purchased at a lot of different locations (and I even snagged some small ones at Goodwill!), so buy a few and experiment with using them in every room.

Does this pillow look like it was made just for me? Yes, I think so!! Any ideas on how to re-create one? (I can sew a pillow… I just don’t know how to get the writing on it like that.) It would be SO perfect for our living room!
We loved these little nest placecard holders! Thought they wouldn’t be to hard to make myself with some wire.
I really think that Pottery Barn can make displaying toilet paper look elegant! Case in point: here is a collection of towels, q-tips, sponges, and more all corralled under the sink in beautiful baskets and jars. So elegant! It’s all about presentation… even in the bathroom!
Last but not least, I would like to say how much I loved these drapes. I love how clean and simple they look (they don’t take over the spotlight in the room), while still adding something so refined to the overall look of the room. We would love to find lots of inexpensive panels that look like these to use in our home!
Oh, one more thing we should mention. We also stopped at Trader Joe’s for the first time on the way home. I’m a little bit envious of those of you who live near one… their produce prices are GREAT! I also love that they give little sample cups of coffee for you to enjoy while you shop.