Home Sweet Home

We are here!  D and I are officially living in Southern Florida!

I have been anxious to get this post up because I want to share our new home with everyone!  We are so very excited to have a new place of our own down here in Pembroke Pines, Florida.  The homes here are quite a bit different than in Tennessee, primarily because everything is designed to withstand hurricanes (yikes!).  D and I were concerned for awhile that we might not find a place that really reflected what we considered to be "home".  No matter where you look, you tend to find only stucco homes with spanish tile roofing.  The inside is typically WHITE.  White tile floors, white walls, white cabinets.  WHITE.  The layout and inner structure is, what I like to call, thick.  Big chunky walls jutting out into the middle of the room close off space that could make the home more open and inviting.

Having seen house after house that looked pretty much the same on earlier visits, I believed it would take 20+ homes to find the one that I could say was "right".  Wrong.  Day one of the search, home #3, done.  We walked in and found a place that was just right for us, for what we need right now.  I would like to take you on a tour of the empty space.  As we recreate each room, I will post a before and after, so you can get a better idea.  For now, however, I just want you to be able to get a glimpse of our new residence!

So this is us.  We are in a townhouse, so there are shared walls, but we don't mind.  The neighborhood is gated, which means you have to show an ID to enter as a guest, and if you aren't on our "list", they call us to make sure you can come in!  

Come on in!  You have entered through the front door!  To the right is the living room/dining room.  You can't really tell how big it is from this picture, but it is a great space!  P.S.  We didn't have a dining room in our little cottage, so we actually got to buy a dining table!  (Pictures when we finish the space!)

Kitchen and pantry.  The kitchen was fully upgraded with new appliances, cabinets, and granite countertops!  The space is still small, but it's roomy enough for both of us to stand in at the same time!  (Improvement!)  And the pantry is huge!  Our old pantry was spacious, but deep.  So, we could never see what all we had.  Now we have plenty of room to store and SEE our food!

 

Our guest room and full bath.  (One of THREE full baths!)  All of the bathrooms were also updated with granite countertops and new tile like the rest of the house.

This is one of my favorite parts of the whole house.  When I was a kid living in Texas, the house we lived in had a balcony above the staircase, and I have always loved that look.  This house had a bonus. Not only does it have three bedrooms, it also has a loft.  The loft opened up the opportunity for Dwayne and I to each have our own office spaces plus a guest room and our master.

This is D's favorite part of the house... the loft/his office.  This has been his #1 priority in the house, so it will probably be the first space that I will be able to show fully designed.  Currently the wall is painted, and he has his desk... He just wants some chairs... but he is being VERY specific.  

 

This is MY space.

It's hard to really tell what is what, but all you need to know for now is that it is perfect and it is mine.  Boom.  More to come.

Second full bath.  Currently, Caroline's precious Lolly cat is residing in this room until they move into their own house this week!!!

Master bedroom with walk-in closet.  For those of you who saw our last house... you will understand why I am so excited to be able to access my clothes from my own room!!!  Aaaaand those of you who know me will understand how I'm still tryin to figure out where all my clothes are actually gonna fit.  Errr.... *shopaholic*

Master Bath!  So exciting to have a bathroom of our own!  Our old house had only one bathroom for everybody... and it was not attached to our room...  So this is extra wonderful.  And hello dual sinks!  No more looking at nasty little facial hairs all over when I'm tryin tuh brush mah teefs!!!  WIN.

Tah-dah!  Welcome to our house!  God is faithful to provide!

(NOT PICTURED: Patio space that leads to the two car garage.  Kinda forgot about that. Don't you worry, you'll see it in the future.  Promise.)