Re: Subject: There's No Place Like Home

Oh my gosh - I love it!!! What a great looking house! Seriously. It's stately, charming, classic - all of the above. Have I seen it before? Oh yes, it was the picture next to "All American" in the dictionary :)

Where to start? It makes me dizzy to even consider! Do NOT get overwhelmed...that would make two of us and that is not helpful at all. Here are some initial things that come to mind:

1. Don't try to do it all at once. And by all at once I mean all in one weekend. We had 72 hours between when we closed on our house and had to be out of our apartment, so we: put down hardwood floors; painted the kitchen, living room, master bedroom and guest room; AND had to move all of our stuff. It was ridiculous. We wanted to have everything painted before we moved in, which was crazy. I'm glad we did the flooring, but everything else could have waited. And I think I would have made better choices and not had to go back and re-paint rooms that I was "eh" about the colors but felt like I had to pick something so we could paint before moving in. Again, crazy.
2. Not to sound repetitive, but on a lot of things I would wait until you move in - from fabrics to paint colors to even some big pieces of furniture. A house is so different once you live in it and you see which rooms you use the most and how you use them and how the rooms interact with each other...all that takes time to figure out, so give yourself that luxury. The reality is it will be a work in progress FOREVER, so taking your time and enjoying the process of picking things is so much more relaxing than feeling like you have to everything done Right Now.
3. Furniture is so expensive. It makes my stomach hurt it's so expensive. You could make a game of it, though, and see how much stuff you can get for cheap and then paint and customize yourself. There are so many steals on Craigslist (especially in the Atlanta area), you could practically furnish an entire house from that site alone. Plus you have the benefit of a Pottery Barn outlet and an Ikea. I would measure every wall and just carry those dimensions around with you wherever you go so anytime you see something you like, you'll know instantly if it's the right size for the space you have.

Um...this is getting kind of long-ish and I'm starting to not like the teacher-y tone I'm taking. Seriously - congrats and I cannot WAIT to start decorating with you. (Can I say 'with' even if I'm 500 miles away and you're just sending me links? Of course I can!)