Walkin' arm in arm...

Jesse has really gotten into this whole interior decorating thing with a ferver I didn't realize he would have for the subject. We got our new couch yesterday, and with that new couch, more space arrived as well. (Our old couch was a bit huge for the living room, which was one of the reasons we decided to go ahead and move on...) I'm interested in getting some "grown-up" bookcases for the living room which will hopefully hold most all of the books and things that we store on 3 different old-school Target put-together-yourself shelves that we have in several rooms of the house right now. One of them is in the bedroom. One of them is in the guest room/office/Jesse's closet room. And the third one is in the living room. I hate them, and always told myself that once I could afford real wood shelves, I'd go ahead and get rid of them.

So we went searching for a few items the other night at Nebraska Furniture Mart, which was fun. It was Jesse's first trip out there, and I had a great time with him as we ogled all the different stove/oven items they have on display, and wandered about talking about what we want to have in our next house for us to use. Of course our favorite model was the $6,000 jobbie that had one small oven next to the main oven, as well as 4 regular burners, a small simmering burner, and a built-in flat-top grill that was covered by a lift-off panel that kept it protected from any and all matter of splattering that might come from the other side of the stove. I was fine with this oven, though. I think it's my favorite...since we can't really justify spending $6,000 on an oven/stove, dammit.

Unfortunately, we didn't find any shelves that have a contemporary enough look for the direction our living room is headed. I'd love to get a set from Crate & Barrel that are actually well-suited to match our new couch, but they only come in a very dark finish that I'm afraid wouldn't match the wood we already have in the space. SO. I was planning on heading to Crate & Barrel this week during a lunch hour, since it's right down the street from the campus here, and seeing if they have the shelves we're interested in at the store so I can judge them in person. It's become a main discussion for us though, this simple interior remodel that we've been working on since we painted the living room back in June (or was it July? I don't remember exactly...), and when I told him my plan last night, he said he wanted to go, too. So now our Friday night date will consist of dinner and a trip to Crate & Barrel to look at the shelves they have in the store.

We also changed out a light in the kitchen that hangs over the sink area. We looked at several options at Home Depot the other night, and settled on a little sort of track-light thingy that has worked out really well. I don't think people realize (a) how easy it is to switch out things like light fixtures or (b) how very affordable a change it can be. The light we grabbed was less than $35. And instead of an old, crappy, institutional-looking flourescent light, we now have an up-to-date brushed nickle fixture with 3 very lovely (and wonderfully bright!) spot lights on it that we can aim all over the kitchen from it's spot near the window on the east wall. Jesse installed it yesterday, which I thought was fair since I had to change out the fixture in the bathroom when I moved into the house as a single girl some 3 years ago. We have three more lights we'd like to change...the bare bulb in the garage, the current hallway sconce, and then we'll be adding one over the stove, since all I have there now is a desk lamp that sets somewhat precariously on a shadow box shelf. It serves it's purpose, but Jesse doesn't like it, so he'd like to install a better light that runs on a switch installed in the wall. We'll be calling in the electrician for that project, I think. We just need to find the light, and I can move forward accordingly.

Anyway, we're all over making improvements and updating and getting the house in proper order for our plans to sell it in the year following the wedding. Jesse asked me why we don't just fix everything and then stay in the house for another 3 years or so, and I explained that I didn't plan on living in this house for longer than 5 years when I bought it, and I got a loan that fell in line with that plan. If we stay, I'll need to refinance, and if I'm going to just be getting a whole new loan, then I might as well get one for a whole new house.

Plus, we need another bathroom.

It's all good, though. Jesse needs a spot in the garage for his car, and I want a washer/dryer hookup that's inside the house instead of in the garage. He also thinks he'd prefer an oven that's in the wall instead of down low where we have to bend over (not as big a deal for me as it is for him, of course...), so there's that. And a basement...one we can convert into an entertainment room, if we can't find a house with one that's already been converted.

Lofty plans? Eh...if you take 'em all one step at a time, they aren't so bad. The next big project will be replacing the windows on the front of the house (I did the back of the house about a year and a half ago), so we can get the outside of the house painted. Thank goodness we have metal siding, so we don't have to paint the whole house...but the eaves and the trim and the windows all need to be scraped and re-painted before they rot clean away. That would suck.

Being a home-owner isn't much fun sometimes. But when it comes to updating and making things look pretty (again), PLUS having someone to help with it all that's as excited as I am about it, it certainly makes it more fun than it normally is.

I'll post some pictures this weekend of the living room, now that we have the new couch and the new lamp that I bought to go with it. It looks so awesome, it makes me tear up...