Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Home in a New City & Giveaway Winner

858 miles from our farm in Astatula, Florida, we've made it to Alexandria, Virginia.


This is our new home for the next year.  It's near the Metro so that Captain Project can pretty easily commute to his office.  And it's a five minute walk to all sorts of shopping (grocery, dry cleaners, Home Goods, at least a dozen restaurants, etc.).  Our plan is to scope out a place much closer in town by March of 2014 (long story short:  we needed this bigger place now because my sister and her pooch are living with us for a while).

Want to see the inside?  I've done with it what I can given it's a challenge renting a place when you can't paint.  All the white walls are killing me!

Walking in the front door:


The living room:


Captain Project really wanted his zero gravity chair (good for his back problems) in here:


I'm not a huge fan of this chair but it's the perfect excuse to make some changes.  I've started by adding this new, tin side table (from World Market) and the new, more modern rug (from Joss & Main):



The other side of the living room:


I have plans for more changes ~ stay tuned.

In the meantime, this is the "dining" room.  Pfft!  No room for a table, so it's really just wasted space.  Our huge, antique side board that used to be in the foyer of our farm house sits here now.


The little, tufted, blue chair?  Scooped that up for a song too at World Market (it's one of the shops right around the corner from us so I've been there a couple of times already).  I used some vintage, chenille fabric to make the little pillow.


Beyond the living and "dining" rooms is the kitchen.  It has this wonderful eating area that makes up for the lack of the "dining" room.


We have room for our kitchen side board and Hoosier but down-sized from our farm house table to this new one (yep, World Market again).  I chose this table and chairs because I think they're a good change to a more transitional/less country look.  Underneath is another new Joss & Main rug.

Next is the kitchen.  The good news is that the foot print is a decent size.  And the cabinets are real wood.


When we moved in the refrigerator wasn't working and it took the landlord 12 days!!! to replace it.  Sure wish he would've spent the extra $100 for stainless.  Almond fridge + white microwave + black stove + stainless dishwasher = yuck!  There are about half as many cabinets and drawers as we have at the farm so we ended up donating a ton of kitchen stuff and are learning to make do with less.

Off of the kitchen and at the back of the house is our deck.


Sniff!  We had to sell and donate most of our gorgeous, vintage porch furniture because of space issues, but again, we've done our best with what we kept.


I still need to take pix of the upper and lower floors and will hopefully share those soon.

Though I miss the farm, this is beginning to feel like home.  Sure feels good to have everything unpacked.  Best of all, Twyla seems to like the place too!



Congratulations to Cori Lynn of Poodles & Pin Curls!  You won the $50 gift card to Shabby Apple!  Please email me (Cindy@RetroRevival.Biz) your address so that I can send you the card.

11 comments:

Paula Parrish said...

Looking at all of your photos, it seems like you have been a busy bee making your new place home. Your new home looks cozy and fabulous. Take Care. ;o)

Missy Shay said...

It looks very nice, I especially love that green rug!

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful! And so is twyla! ha. I should say twyla is cozy!
My son/his wife just sold their townhouse in clarksburg, MD, so I got to have a feel for how living in a townhouse must be, visiting a few times. (They are now out in the country with 10 acres and a house to remodel...from new to old.) I think it is smart to scope out the area before you buy. Hmm...yes stainless would've fit in better, maybe he had an extra almond one laying around! ha.

CoriLynn said...

Yay! So exciting! What a treat! ;) I just e-mailed you all my info!
Your new place looks cozy and fabulous! And Twyla looks adorable as ever!
~xoxo, CoriLynn

ImagiMeri said...

Congrats to Cori Lynn! Wherever your loved ones are, that's home, but I know you make a beautiful nest wherever you are pretty lady.

Hugs,
Meri

Kip Whitehead said...

I agree, it’s a bit too much on the white side, but nothing a few hanged portraits and paintings won’t fix. The kitchen does seem bigger, though it is combined with the dining area. Look at the bright side; you don’t have to walk far to set the food on the table now!

It’s a shame about the smaller space on the deck, but the view seems nice enough. I’m sure you’re going to find something that will make it a more comfortable area to hang out on mornings and late night musings.

Kip

Becky said...

I know how you feel about the downsizing. It's hard but you know you can start collecting again soon. That's how I survived our similar move situation.

And not paint? Puhshaw! I always paint. Then again, I rarely get a deposit back because - I paint. :)

vintage grey said...

Beautiful new home, and love your pretty pillow!! Twyla is adorable!! xo Heather

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

I haven't stopped in since you announced your move...man! I've missed so much. :)
I do like what you've done with your new living spaces. Since you have to deal with the white walls...the rugs are a tremendous step up,huh?!
I personally like the green that the splash of color gives.
Love the cupboard with the bread box on top!

I have baskets on top of my cupboard and I use my bread box for BREAD! go figure. But I think this gives an excuse to be on the look out for another bread box!

take care!

:P

Pat

Terry Arnold said...

You may have lost a lot of your deck furniture, but at least now you have space to collect new vintage furnitures to match the space. And from the looks of it, you still have a lot of space to fill in your new deck.

Too bad about the kitchen cabinet space. Maybe you can remedy that with a DIY cabinet construction? Or maybe a store bought one, just to increase shelf space.

Terry

Arthur Bryant said...

It’s a shame that you’re not allowed to do some creative reconstruction in the house. If you really can’t persuade your new landlord to allow you to do so, maybe a few IKEA stand-alones would do for space? At least you can find ones that match the kitchen’s theme.