Scavenger Hunt Housewarming Party

Last June, we moved into our new home. It's crazy to think it's already been over a year that we have lived here now. Little by little we are working on projects to make it more personalized and exactly how we want it.

After we moved in and got settled, I wanted to have a Housewarming Party so our friends could see our new place. As I was still new to the area, our circle of friend was pretty small and didn't know each other well. I didn't want just an awkward gathering of people all standing in one room staring at each other. So I turned to Pinterest for some fun ideas for a housewarming gathering.

Sadly, I found only a handful of ideas and none of them really interested me. So I came up with my own idea! We decided rather than lead each group of people through the house and show them every room, we would let them explore for themselves while on a fun mission. My husband and I created a scavenger hunt and it turned out really fun! It also cost us just a few dollars to put together.

Here's what you will need:

• paint chips, a different color for each couple/person x 2 (one for guest, one for gift)
• random, cheap White Elephant-type gifts that you already have around the house or go to the Dollar Store. We had a mug, candle, picture frame, SPAM, magic towel, photo coasters, mini package of coffee, and a few others I can't remember.
• wrapping paper

We had two of each color of paint chip. One of each pair was used as the postcard to invite our friends. In a sad moment of blogger failure, I forgot to take any pictures. It was a basic invitation written on the 3 tones of paint colors saying When, Where, and to bring their invitation with them as the bottom color on their paint chip was their clue for a game.

We wrapped each random item, cut the bottom hues of each second paint chip and taped it on the gifts as a tag. Then my husband had a lot of fun hiding the gifts throughout the entire house. They were all visible without having to open any cupboards, drawers, etc. When our guests arrived, we explained the game. They would give themselves a tour of our home while searching for a wrapped present with a paint chip tag matching the bottom paint chip of their invitation. They were all so excited and immediately started exploring.

Once all the gifts were found (we had to help with a few of them), the fun continued with a White Elephant gift exchange. All the wrapped gifts were placed on the table. Going around the room, each person got to choose to open a new gift or steal someone's gift. We went around the circle two times and allowed multiple steals. Everyone enjoyed it and I think it was a really fun way for friends to see our new home without the awkward "and here is the other bedroom" tour.

And of course, what is a party without some good food? Well just plain boring that's what! I made Butterfinger Cookies, Pink Lemonade Cupcakes and Berry Ka-bobs.

I found these adorable striped straws and couldn't resist adding them to the cupcakes to look like little cups of lemonade!

Fresh berries are always a hit in the summertime.

This party was the first time I got to use my water canister. I love it and definitely need to have more parties so it can come out of the closet more often!

The whole spread, complete with a chalkboard menu.

Have you ever thrown a housewarming party? What fun things did you do?
Or have you ever been to a fun housewarming party and what did they do?

Chalkboard Pantry Door

My last post was about my making chalkboard labels for organizing your pantry jars. After that, I figured it was an obvious transition to show you my pantry door makeover! You may remember from my Home Photo Tour that I have a corner pantry with a cute skinny door next to my fridge. And if you didn't...well here's a refresher:

I've known ever since moving in that I wanted to paint that door and do something fun. As I mentioned last time, I am loving the chalkboard trend and so the idea came to me (most likely via Pinterest, because let's be honest I am a total copy-cat and not an inventor of awesome ideas) that I would paint the door and the top middle panel would be a chalkboard. The only question was, what color to paint it? My dishes and kitchen is full of colors. I didn't know should I try to match something I already had or go with something totally new? And if I'm matching, WHAT item/color do I match it too???

 And so, like with most of my projects, that one question with no good answer meant that I pushed it to the back burner for a good procrastination simmer. Well thank goodness for friends who have different personalities than you! My wonderful friend of many years came over for a weekend of projects! Seriously, she came to help me paint and get things done. How awesome is that? Aren't you all jealous that I have a friend like that!? If you're not, you should be! This girl is awesome!

 
We initially set our sights lower with the only task to accomplish being: Paint the Master Bedroom (blog to come about that soon when a couple more items get finished). However, like I said, this girl is awesome, and once she gets going, she is on a roll! We got not just one, but four projects done that weekend! And we had time to boat on the lake for 3+ hours! I'm really thinking she needs to move across the street...help me persuade her!

Once I mentioned my idea for the pantry door, actually I don't think I even finished saying the words, she said "Let's do it right now!" Oh but hold on there girl, what color? See this is where things come to a halt...."the same color as your Kitchen Aid!" 

 
Oooooooooo. I liked it. No, I loved it! We were just about to jump in the car and head to the store to buy paint when I suddenly remembered that I still had more than half a quart of paint from when I did my little entryway table. Hmmmmm...that could work.

  It was almost a perfect match to my Kitchen Aid, which is Pistachio by the way. So without further delay, we started painting! We did two coats and then taped and covered with newspaper so we could spray paint the chalkboard. I did three coats of the chalkboard paint.

The next morning we (and by 'we' I mean my husband) put the door back on. I was so excited at how good it looked. I seriously could not stop smiling. I was also smiling because we spent $0 to accomplish this project since I already owned both paints from previous projects.

But then we didn't stop there. I grabbed the prints and frames that I had bought several months ago to go in my kitchen. I used some of my patterned cardstock to mat the pictures, framed them, and then asked hubby if he would hang them.
 

Aren't they so cute? I love the vintage look of them and the pops of color! I ordered these prints from All Posters. They are several more to choose from and it was hard to pick only three of the cute prints, but I have limited wall space in my kitchen so I had to stop at three.

Ta-da! This little corner just makes me so happy! So glad my wonderful friend came and helped me get this done finally! Just think how productive I would be and how much more decorated my house would be if she lived here! She was quite intrigued by the (much) lower housing costs here compared to where she lives...(I'm using every persuasion I've got).

I update the chalkboard every week with the meals we will be eating for the upcoming week. My hubby loves it so he can know what food to look forward to. I really need to practice some fun fonts and handwriting now that I have a big chalkboard.
 

Thanks so much to my friend for all her inspiration and help!

Do you have a friend like mine who is so different from you that its helpful?

What projects have you procrastinated on for SO long and then finally did?

Do you have any fun artwork in your kitchen?

The First Step: Living Room

Leave it to me to wait until 10:35pm on the last day of the month to try and even work towards my blogging goal. Eesh.

At any rate, as of two days ago, we have finally accomplished the first step in furnishing/decorating our living room. Yes, it had furniture and decorations but it is a far cry from My Dream Living Room. If you looked at my Home Tour, you would have seen what our living room looked like three days ago. Well, I am tickled pink to say that after three different shopping days, many measurements and drawings, and eight stores on the final trip, we have purchased and received our new couch!!!

Other than bar stools, this is the first new piece of furniture we have bought.

I love it!

If you need a reminder, here's the before: 

And now:

(don't mind the drawers out of the dresser...hubby was in the middle of a project and I wanted to get the pictures before I left for work since when I came home it would be dark out)

 Before:

Now:

I am SO happy we kept looking until we found this one! There was a couple before it we almost bought. I am also quite glad that we didn't go with a bigger sectional. Our small living room can only handle so much furniture and the big reclining super comfy couch will be for our basement someday.

I had originally wanted grey, but after realizing there are so many brown tones downstairs with the kitchen cabinets, wood floor and carpet, I should probably compliment those tones. I am really happy with the color we chose. Kinda an oatmealish. In some lights it looks light brown/tan but in others it looks kinda grey. So I got what I wanted while still complimenting the browns. Double win!

As if I'm not happy with this couch enough, we discovered it can fit not just the 2 ways we originally measured for, but also a third. Ooooo, the rearranging/decorating flexibility makes me giddy.

So Step 1 is accomplished! Now onto Step 2, which I'm not entirely sure which that should be: curtains or different coffee table. Hmm...advice?

P.S. I did purchase the curtains from My Dream Living Room and they just did not work. Too orange and too small. So I'm back to the drawing board and totally clueless. Any ideas? I'd love to hear/see them!

Our New Home Photo Tour

I have sat down and worked on this post several times over the past 5 months. It has been on every to-do list I have written (which, if you know me, is a lot of to-do lists!) It really just takes a day off of work and no school-related things to even think about to get it done. At any rate, our new home tour is finally done!

Okay, this is a LOT of pictures coming at you! I did my best to show the house as if you were walking through it and to give reference between pictures so you can piece it together. I hope you enjoy!

This picture speaks for itself :)

Entryway as you come in the front door.

This was not part of the original floor plan but rather just a large family room when you walked in. We added 3 walls to make an office and entry way both with closets. I have a vision for this entryway someday and the bench/organizer we are going to build!

Entryway from the other side.

What you see when you look straight as you come int the front door. 

You can see the opening to the office on the right. 

Someday we may put sliding barn doors or French doors in the opening.

First look at the office.

The other side of the office. The added closet could make this a bedroom someday if needed.

Our desks fit perfectly! It was meant to be. :) 

We have plans to build a built-in corner-desk-for-two at some point.

A good sized office. We have said a couple times recently HOW
glad we are that we added this to the floor plan.

Next as you walk down the hall, there is a bathroom and closet to the right.

Plain bathroom, nothing too special...yet :)

I love having this closet for all my glass serve-ware, candles, and cleaning supplies.

Another perfect fit! This wall was meant for my Entryway Table.

This is the first thing you see when you walk in from the garage, 

so we keep our purse/backpack on the bottom shelf.

This is the view as you come in from the garage. Not bad huh?

Standing in the kitchen, looking back towards the front door.

The first part of kitchen you can see is what I call Command Central. 

I envision this being where we keep family binders, phone chargers, mail, etc.

To the left of that is the fridge. We got the kind that has a seal over it...so no fingerprints!

You can also see the door to my pantry.

Inside my pantry! One of my favorite things about this house. 

It's kinda bare now (as far as pantries go) but I have many Pinterest ideas for this one day too.

Moving right along to where the baking happens. Mmm, I love those colors.

Above and below, the cupboards are filled with items related to baking. 

This little counter area is called my baking station.

I love my gas stove and convection oven!

Lots of cupboard space. The one to the left of the oven 

goes all the way back to the wall on the left.

My stainless steel sink (so much nicer and deeper than the one at our rental!)

We keep the dishes and glasses in the cupboard on the right--very convenient for emptying the dishwasher.

We added the peninsula/raised bar. I canNOT imagine my kitchen without it. Look at all that extra counter space, not to mention 4 drawers and another deep cupboard!

The raised bar. I need to find bar stools soon. Oh and I love my pendant lights!

After the kitchen comes the dining room. We opted out of a house with a separate dining room. 

We are not fancy and formal like that.

And then there's the family room.

 Minimal decorations on my piano "mantel" and also the perfect place for the mini grandfather clock that my brother-in-law made for us. We plan to add some little corner shelves below it to make that wasted space behind the door to the basement less wasted.

 

 Other side of the family room.

Through that door (two pictures up) you can get to the basement. 

We are SO glad we added a basement.

It is unfinished but we look forward to the project of finishing it in the next couple years.

This little utility room is for the water heater and will also serve as our network room eventually. Hubby did all the network and cable wiring in the house himself and it all terminates here in this room (where the black and white cords are spilling out of the whole in the plastic). He has plans to finish that all up and add a server. Being an IT guy and all, he enjoyed having control of that aspect of our house.

The pool table that made it successfully down the stairs thanks to 7 strong guys.

We plan to turn this into our REC/media room someday with a projector, big TV, and nice comfy sectional couch.

Another view

From the other side

There is a big storage room under the stairs as well, which I believe is practically full (we have a lot of stuff :s)

 Coming back up from the basement, this is the view of the main living area from the other side.

Looking out the slider at our patio.

Back yard to the left. Notice our beloved AC unit :) and try to ignore my pitiful dying flowers.

No neighbors behind us yet. Trying to decide if we want to put the fence up ourselves or wait a little and see if someone moves in who wants to put the fence up.

We plan to build a little waterfall and pond in the back corner someday.

I love how this gets shade in the afternoon and evening! 

It's so perfect for grilling, eating, and relaxing in the heat of the day.

As you come up the stairs to the second floor. The Master is the door on the right and the door on the left is Bedroom #1.

This is Bedroom #1. I love the built-in window-seat chest and the bookshelves. This room will eventually be the nursery when that time of life comes for us.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom--we changed the original floor plan from a soaker tub, shower and 1 sink to a tub/shower combo, 2 sinks AND a linen closet! Yes, I'm biased but I think this is a way better layout and the builder should consider changing the floor plan :)

Extra-high counter tops which is SO nice for us tall people.

Lots of natural light comes in.

First (and still the only) thing to be put on any of the bare white walls. A gift from my brother two years ago just waiting for a permanent living place so it could go up. It is my life verse.

Here's the added linen closet I was telling you about. No Pinterest-worthy organization or anything but love the extra space.

Master walk-in closet! LOVE this so much.

Eventually I think I want to re-model it with 2 rods (one above the other) on one wall and some built-in shelves, drawers, shoe rack, etc.

Leaving the master, at the top of the landing looking the other way. The big open space is the loft which goes off to the right as well. Bedroom #2 is that door on the right. The closest door on the left is the laundry room, the 2nd door on the left is a bathroom. Facing door is a closet and the hidden door across from the bathroom is Bedroom #3 which is our guest room.

The loft! The couch is no longer here as my college brother took it for his place. I love this space so much and have great visions for it being an awesome play area etc. for our kids one day.

Bedroom #2 is filled with all my childhood furniture, books, and toys that my parents had been keeping while I was in college. This will all come in very handy if we have a girl.

Bedroom #3, aka the Guest Room. Seeing as we have had 4 different guests already, I should probably really think about getting some curtains on the windows...oops!

Guest room still.

The closet--for now it is storage for games, extra linens, and household items.

I love having the laundry room upstairs SO much.

It's a good-sized room and I also have dreams to Pinterest-ize this one day.

 (yes I just made Pinterest into a verb)

Upstairs bathroom. (P.S. it is not easy to take pictures of bathrooms to A. get it all in one shot because how many pictures of bathrooms do we really want? and B. to not get yourself in the mirror.

?

And for the final "room"--my husband's favorite--the garage.

We have a 2-car main stall and then added a 3rd tandem stall.

The back part of the 3rd stall is hubby's shop. With our 3rd vehicle currently in the front part and bikes in the back, we are realizing we need to get a shed for a lot of the stuff so that there is actually room to work and create fun projects. The door on the back wall goes to the backyard.

He built this shelf with his dad in one day.

From the back, looking towards the front.

And looking back towards the entry into the house. When you walk through that door you are standing right in front of my little green table.

And that's all folks! Thanks for taking the tour. :)