Welcome back!
We have now been in our new house for just over a month! And it’s time to personalize our new home. But as far as unpacking goes, I have to say… it’s still kind of a mess. I have great respect for people who move into a new place, and are completely unpacked and set up in a week. Our house is still a long way from being unpacked or set up. Here is a list of my excuses:
- We combined two households
- I want to put things in the RIGHT place
- I need to order cabinets for the kitchen
- I need to cut shelves for the spice cupboard
- I need to sort through a LOT of stuff to decide what gets donated or tossed.
A few of them are legitimate:) ha ha. I have ordered some cabinets for the kitchen. because we just don’t have enough storage. So, there are some boxes I just won’t bother unpacking, until that storage arrives. Also there will be a super fun IKEA pantry project coming up in the next month or so. Are you as excited as I am??
Garage
Same goes for the garage. Here is what it looked like right after we moved in. Actually it’s not that scary, at least it’s somewhat organized

It definitely looked better when it was all stacked and neat and tidy
And here is what it looks like now 🙁

You have to unpack all of those boxes to find out what’s in them.
OMG it’s getting worse!! It’s okay, the way I clean, it always gets worse before it gets better 🙂 We did sell a few furniture items, and have a few more to sell. Which means I have to dig them out from under the pile and photograph and post them… groan, more work. Also there is a lot of stuff that is going to be donated. So, I need to start working my way through that, as of right now I have 5 boxes of household supplies and 5 garbage bags of clothes, with more to come!
We were super excited to get a two car garage. No garage would have been a deal breaker for me. But our garage is tight and it is very difficult to fit two vehicles in it. And if we do manage to do that, there isn’t really any room for working. And a workbench and tool storage area, are WAY more important to me than 2 car indoor parking. There are so many fabulous systems for garages. I have to be honest. This one is going to take some time, as I will need to think it through. I have a basic idea of what I want, but it’s not there yet. Stay tuned, future post.
Critters
The cat and the dog are acclimating well… okay the dog is.

Mom!!! Angus peed on the love seat!!!
Kitties do not like to move. They seem to feel obligated to re-scent everything. Which means peeing all over our new house 🙁 For the first 5 days that we were in the house, Angus did not pee in his litter box at all… which means he peed all over the new house. I keep finding things that he scented. One thing that helped a ton, was Feliway It is basically a kitty pheromone, that you plug in like a glade plug in. And it calms them down, and makes them content that the house is properly scented, so no need to go around re-scenting everything. I bought mine at the vet’s, but you can buy it through the above link. And thankfully last black Friday I bought myself a BISSELL Portable Carpet Cleaner And I am sad to say that I have been getting a LOT of use out of it 🙁 But it really does work. The one that I bought came with Pet specific cleaning solutions so it is able to deal with pet messes.

Hmmm, it doesn’t smell quite right in here. He does look a bit sinister in this picture, doesn’t he? 🙂
Furniture
When I moved from my last house to my first condo about 12 years ago, I bought all new furniture. And Greg’s furniture is as old or older. So, me thinks it is time to buy FRESH NEW FURNITURE 🙂 🙂 🙂 This is the best and easiest way to personalize your new home, just not the cheapest 🙂
I have a bit of cash tucked aside from my condo sale, and I think I will use some of it to refresh the furniture. Plus we just bought a king sized bed (which by the way is heaven) and although most of the bedroom furniture is in good shape, we now need a new bed frame/headboard. I like the platform style frames that rest directly on the floor. Under the bed is a good place for dirt and junk to accumulate., plus my dog likes to hide under there. Here are some of the styles I am looking at, these ones are from Wayfair:
My chaise sofa was beautiful when I purchased it, but white leather does not stand the test of time well. That said, I may buy another one, I'm very partial to the one here

I LOVE white leather!! This is from my favourite local store SCAN DESIGN.
Unfortunately, cats and leather also do not go well together. And now that we have our TV mounted on the wall above the fireplace, we are thinking about getting a sofa that has some recliners built in. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but it's not comfortable to watch the TV from down low without reclining. There is a version of this same sofa in fabric, with an electric recliner in one end. Then the fight is over who gets the recliner...
Projects
I was a bit concerned about buying such a new house, because I was worried that there wouldn't be any good projects (sad day for me when there are no projects) But that is simply not the case. There are a lot of projects that will personalize my new home. And there will be lots of awsome outdoor projects too, come the spring. I'm so excited to get going on them. First up is the pantry. The delivery truck is coming soon- Stay tuned!
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There’s always a project lol. Can’t wait to see what you do with the different spaces, and especially the garage… that’s been a work (or idea) in progress around here for years. Happy organizing:] .
I’m already working really hard on the garage. It was so full!! I have a huge load of stuff going to charity tomorrow, that will help free some space, and then I can start organizing!!
Oh, you do not worry! There will always be projects in the house. It doesn’t matter if it is new or old, you will find something to do and what to spend the money on 😉 Talking from my own experience 🙂 But isn’t itall exciting?!
I think so too. I was worried to start, but now I have a list of about 6 of them already, and we’ve only been here about a month and a half.