With deepest sorrow

Come to the Dark Side: Card Catalog

I’m tired of talking about moving.  I’m tired of thinking about moving.

So here’s a little project I finished in the pre-moving days.  It always makes me think of this T-shirt quote:

I bought a card catalog last summer (that’s 2011…not 2012).  It only took me a year to do something with it!  Far too often I get involved in projects that don’t ever stay in my home…but this was an exception!  I knew I wanted to keep this one.

When I saw the classified ad, I couldn’t send my sister after it fast enough (I’m good that way).

I love it, but I wasn’t crazy about the bland medium-oak finish.
This spring I discovered a MIRACLE product:  General Finishes Gel Stain.  With it, you can darken an existing wood stain without completely removing the original finish—you just have to scuff it up a little.  (See this post for a more complete description of how to use it.)

I chose to use the stain in Antique Walnut for this project, and this is what I ended up with!

I used three coats of stain, wiped on with a sock, and let each coat dry for about 24 hours in between.

I love the new color, and the fact that there are some variations of light and dark shades.  Some might call that user error, but I prefer to think of it as character!

I love the pull-out trays on this piece!

The card catalog sits in our front-room-home-office, and I see it and smile every day now.  And I think to myself “Come to the dark side…”

But who hid the cookies??

You can see my other office projects here:

• Wooden Folding Chairs
• Plank Wall
• Map Wall
• The Desk

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Stone Gable
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up! Thrifty Décor Chick	{aka} design Coastal Charm

A Day of Thanksgiving

It’s going to be ours.

I can’t wait to see it in this kind of weather…when we saw it, it was VERY gray and rainy!

Our counter-offer to the seller’s counter-offer to our offer has been accepted, and we now have a home to move to next month! 

So “Thanksgiving Day” came a bit early for us this year.

Wanna see a little more of it?

I swiped these pictures off the listing.

The front door is what you see on the right.  As you come in, there is a formal dining area on the right, and a formal living room on the left.

You can kind of see that from this view on the far end of the dining area.  One of these will probably be turned into a home office room, similar to what we did in this house (probably the living room…I’m not that formal).

This is the living/family/great room area off of the kitchen.

The kitchen is lovely, with lots of cupboards.  The sub-zero fridge stays, which is good since our fridge is staying with this house!  Cooking on gas will be a new experience for me, and I do wish they hadn’t stuck the cooktop in the middle of the island.  That seems like very poor use of space to me.

Here’s another view of the kitchen.  The bar stools are very…interesting.  I’m glad they’re not staying!
There is a “butler’s pantry” area between the kitchen and dining room.  There is a “maid’s pantry” (just kidding, it’s just a regular pantry) on the right.

This is one of the upstairs bedrooms; I plan to stick a couple of boys in it.

This is another upstairs bedroom (there are four upstairs, including the master).

This is the upstairs “bonus room.”  I figure it will be the family/TV room.

The main level has a 3/4 bath, which can be accessed either from the hall or the 5th bedroom.  My oldest daughter will probably get that room to herself, with the understanding that she gets kicked out for guests!

Master bathroom.

Upstairs full bath.

This is the back yard.  Behind those trees is a small creek—well, I understand it’s small most of the time, but after four days of steady rain, it was a little swampy back there.  This was the main concern with this property, so I think a fence—or a lot of threats—may be in our future!
We feel very, very fortunate to have found such a lovely home for our family.  It was actually harder to settle on it that I thought it would be!  For the amount of money one has to spend for a home in the Seattle area, I really thought I should be able to have pretty much everything I wanted.  Not so!  There was a lot of mental juggling as we tried to determine the priority things like size of the lot, size of the home, age of the home, three-car garage or workspace, and proximity to work should have in our decision.
In the end we settled on this one which isn’t the closest—or the farthest from work; not the newest—but certainly not the oldest; no three-car garage—but some decent storage space; not a very big lot—but nearby a neighborhood park.  So I certainly can’t say that I immediately knew this was THE ONE when I saw it—it isn’t perfect, after all, but after more time and consideration—and seeing a lot of homes that definitely were NOT “the one”—we became convinced that this house could be our home.

Thank you for all the kind words, prayers, and good wishes on our behalf!  I have enjoyed sharing our journey thus far with all of you, and will continue to do so!

Waiting game…

I have spent the last few days house-hunting in the Seattle area, and we made an offer on this house…

…which is in the north Bothell/Mill Creek area.

The house is lovely, and I think it could really be “home” for our family.  It’s hard to get used to how small the lots are here, though!

Cross your fingers for us!

Guest Posting at Simply Klassic Homes

Today you can find me at Simply Klassic Home, sharing a post for Kristin’s Attitude of Gratitude series.

I hope you’ll pop over and say hello!  Today I am in Seattle to begin the grand house-hunt.  I arrived last night, and my main thought was, “There are too many people here…I want to go home!”

Hoping today is a better day!

I need to re-read my own post on gratitude  ;-)