Au Revoir Murs Rose!

Goodbye Pink walls!! Hello France! The previous owners of our house obviously had a thing going on for the country farmhouse look. I don't mind the old Farmhouse part, but the living room was a little too country, and certainly not enough rock n' roll for Pete! The trim and accent walls were a Muted Pink. I have no idea why they thought this was a good colour. Next to the light glossed wood it was just screaming for wooden apples and a cow theme. Which my mother would have adored! We are going for something a bit more Euro Modern Meets Farmhouse Rustic. I think. When it comes to design my brain goes in fifty directions even though I have my binder o' Design. Then I walk into HomeGoods and have a seizure because I am so over stimulated and want EVERYTHING. Pete is no help either, he almost convinced me to buy a 5 foot flamingo made out of driftwood?! I was so caught in the moment I almost said yes! But a new Designer friend (who has a fabulous blog herself Reckless-Glamour.com) suggested I make design boards to stay on track, which I think is a wonderful idea! It'll help tame my brain! The walls in the living room will stay how they are because they are at least 30 feet high and neither one of our asses are gettin' up on a ladder that high! But the trim and the accent walls will be a deep olive green. We painted our living room in Belmont a very similar colour, but just using it as an accent really makes it pop. If we had used it on the walls it would have shrunk the room! But We used the Valspar paint and primer in one and it was AMAZBALLS at covering up that pink (which is the hardest color to cover BTW) While I was poking around HomeGoods I found the perfect pillows! They have the European letterhead which I love (clearly by my blog background) and a lighter shade of the green in a silk damask on the back! At $30 I knew even though we don't have a couch, I still had to have them! Side note: When buying things off of Craigslist REALLY make sure you know who you are dealing with! On Sunday we left NH early to meet a woman in Medford to buy her gorgeous microfiber eggplant living room set! It would have been PERFECT!! The eggplant would have looked amazing against the olive! So we get there with the van, ring the bell and she opens the door and is all "Oh my God I'm so sorry! I totally sold it!" What the hell woman?!? She gave me her number and address. We set a price and time, she knew I was coming!!! I was so pissed. Now I have my heart set on an eggplant couch, when will another set just fall out of the sky in perfect condition for $450?? When I ask you!!

Anyway I found sweet HUUUUUGE ASS French Antique clock that I thought would be the perfect piece to be displayed above the huge windows in the living room. I mean this clock is BIG. But at $200, I can't really justify it, even though it was PERFECT! As Pete would say "I can't sit and watch the game on a giant clock!"He has said that about allot of pieces I want to buy! We really need some real furniture haha BUUUUUUUUT being the amazing TJX shopper that I am, I scouted around in the back of the artwork at Home Goods and found this!! It's not AS big, but it still makes quite a statement! And it has a gorgeous blueberry milk paint on it! Any guesses how much?? $24.95 bitches! I'll bring it up this weekend to see if the blue works with the green and see if the clock can hold it's own against the massive walls. Even if it doesn't work, that clock will have a place somewhere in our home!!

One thing the previous owners did that I LOVED was using birch sticks to hold up the curtains. They were various sizes and lengths and held together with white twinkle lights! I asked that the "window" treatments be included in the P&S. Not that I couldn't find my own sticks, but these already fit so well! Unfortunately the fabric for the curtains is just God Awful! They obviously took their pink from the fabric. Maybe they lost a bet, or maybe they were made from one of her Great Grandmother's dresses, But they needed to go! Now I have no idea how to sew, but while shopping around Savers (My new hot spot for deals) I found this fabric! 2 big panels for $2.99! And I had a 30% off coupon so these babies were practically free! I Loved the colours in the fabric and the pattern was just ugly enough to be retro! Pete thinks the house looks like our house! So my plan is to take the horrid fabric off the old panels and replace it with this! I knew sooner or Later I would have to learn to sew!

So we have no furniture for the living room, but a French/Olive theme is slowly being born. I think this means the upstairs will have to be of Spanish Influence. Clearly I am in need of a European vacation! Our plan is to put a wood burning stove in one of the corners, that was a MUST for our new home! Gas is great, but we need the smell of wood! Also I need suggestions for this strange space at the foot of the stairs. They had a desk set up there, but our office will be upstairs, I was thinking lining if with shelves like built-ins? I'm not sure, definitely need help here! I'll try to post a better picture of the awkward space! I will leave you with this!

How do you say no to that face??

Buyer's Remorse?

No. No, no, no, no. But really?? Okay so we have owned the house for less than a week! And we spent our first night in the house on a blow up mattress. And now that the keys are in our hands and it's no one's problem but our own... The truth comes out. We have a MASSIVE infestation of HUGE ASS black hornets with long yellow legs!! They have made nests all over the house and are getting in every nook and cranny, and this house has allot believe me! And my big strong husband has one fear in life, can you guess what that is? When we were first dating he threw me down a flight of deck stairs to avoid a bumblebee. This is his worst nightmare, it's as if we bought a giant hive! There are also signs of carpenter ants and sugars ants are marching along without a care in the world in our kitchen and shed (where something may have died in the walls) The part that really pisses me off is New Hampshire is a full disclosure state. The exterminators said it was clear this was a massive problem and has been for some time but was never taken care of. NO MENTION of that in our disclosure. I'm itchin' to sue! Exterminator $385.00 Plus $105 3X a year for upkeep. Cost of roof and hole repair TBD It was pouring rain when we moved (of course) so Pete went to throw his clothes into the dryer and within 30 seconds it sounded like the 4 horses of the Apocalypse and the smell of burning plastic filled the air. New washer & Dryer $1350. Now that all of the furniture and gorgeous antiques have been removed from the property, it's clear that the whole house needs a good paint job. Something I was really hoping we could slide by on. I mean we were definitely going to cover the pink in the living room, because no one should have to live like that. But everything else seemed to be okay. But now the beer goggles are off and it's apparent that painting must happen. Paint & Supplies for the kitchen, dining room and living room SO FAR $365.00 Rest of house TBD. It's okay though. I am a Graycar and We Slovaks thrive on these financial challenges! I had set a budget of about $10,000 for EVERYTHING including the generator, wood stove and ride on more that we will inevitably need. Not much wiggle room left over. And we still need basically EVERYTHING as far as furniture goes! So I will have to start cutting coupons and hunting around in the discount shelves at TJMaxx and Homegoods! Craigslist here I come, Ima rape your furniture section! Right now I'm confident, but a few hours ago I was ready to put the house back on the market.