Inspired by the Islands

When we moved here, some of our stuff came with us and the rest went to storage.  It was a busy hectic time and for some reason, I didn’t pack anything to hang on the walls or decorate the house with. 

I’m not sure what I was thinking.  Maybe I thought that a hurricane would come and all would be lost or maybe I just thought of it as stuff and we were only bringing essentials.  Who knows.

It turns out to be one of the best things I’ve done.

After living with bare walls for a few months I decided that I must get something on them.  I went to a store and bought two canvases and a couple of colors of paint.

  These were the result.

They are fine, but not really all that inspiring.

At the same time I was quickly filling up lots and lots of containers of treasures from my walks on the beaches.  Sea glass, sea biscuits, sea urchins, sea fans, shells, limpets and even driftwood.  If it caught my eye, chances are, it was coming home {much to Allen’s chagrin}.

Where before I might have had something I picked up from TJ Maxx, now I have these lovely reminders of our time in the islands.  It is much more meaningful to have what I consider treasures than something that was bought in a store.

Since college I had not painted consistently, but had really wanted to get back to it.  I just thought I was too busy.  So once I was undeniably NOT busy I had no excuse!

I’m still not at a point where I feel comfortable with my technique, but I am getting the feeling of it more.  I have my next painting planned out, but I am nervous to start.  I am pretty sure it will not turn out like I see it in my mind.

Last week I saw this post by another island blogger and it got me inspired to drag all of my treasures out and do some re-arranging.

My dining room table was a glorious mess for a while.

Stay tuned.  I have to show you the results. 

Just as soon as my house is clean.  And the sun is shining.  And there are no boys to photobomb my shots.  And when I have nothing better to do … Should be any day now, right?

Here You Go

Here you go.  This is our new house.  It will be home when we get our stuff.

 The Kitchen is right as you walk in

This is the view from the dining room looking back towards the front door and kitchen.

Dining Room

Looking down into the Living Room.  (Nice glass tops on the tables...just a matter of time)

I love the nice tall french doors onto the patio.

Notice the TV?  It is a loaner until ours gets here.  We have been watching WAY too much TV lately.

We have wood ceilings.  So interesting!

This is the half bath.  Such a luxury!

Jackson's room, which might be turning into both boys room!

Um, there are sliding glass doors in there.  Makes me a little nervous, but I just got some dowels that fit down in there.  He has his own balcony.  Thinking of putting the pirate sandbox out there.  Could be neat, or it could be a disaster!

Jackson's bathroom.  Such a luxury!

The hall between the boys rooms.  Laundry room is on the left.  Laundry room is a luxury too.  I won't miss doing laundry in the basement!

Miller's room.

His crib doesn't quite fit in there with all the gigantic furniture.

The stairs going to our room.

Our bedroom.  We have a balcony too!  Our room is beyond gigantic.

The ceilings are really neat.

The other side of our massive bedroom.  The dresser looks small -and it is like a 6 foot long dresser.

Looking into the master bath.

Master bath

Both ends have these odd alcoves.  Not sure what they are intended for, but for now....

Water closet.  Luxury!

Walk in closet.  Woot-Woot!

There are so many things about this house that I love.  The porches and balconies, the space, the dock we have in our backyard.  It is new, it is in the Bahamas, we have a whirlpool tub (shhh, don't tell the boys),and we can walk to Jackson's new school.

However, there are a few things that I am going to have to learn to live with.  Numero Uno is that we don't have a dishwasher?  Who builds a new house that doesn't have a dishwasher?  A family that thinks they are going to downsize and have a housekeeper, then rents it instead of living in it. That's who!  Hopefully we will be able to hook up a portable dishwasher.  I need a dishwasher, remember?  It's also going to take some adjusting to live in a house that someone else decorated.  I love redecorating, but it is much better when there are stores to shop in!  Oh, and the fact that we have a dock in our backyard.  Miller thinks he is trying out for Fear Factor so it does make it a challenge to be outside.  Not sure how it will be when we have neighbors on the other side.  We tend to make a lot of noise!  I am sure that it will turn out well in the end.

Do you feel like you have seen enough pictures?  Well, I hope so!

Coming up next....Halloween pictures and some of our daily life so far!

Finally

We are finally here!  It has been quite an oddyssey, but it is slowly coming together.

I'll get together a real post or twelve to let you know what all went down, but for now here is a view of our backyard.  Yes, that's water!  Allen is already trying to figure out how to get a boat!