As newlyweds, Will and I have the opportunity of making our first home together. With lots of help from our family, we were able to get everything set up before we even got married. This was amazing! We were able to go ahead and start settling in our belongings so that once we returned from our honeymoon we had that much less to worry about.
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| The house before we moved in |
For our first home together we are renting a cute, small country house. It has been perfect for us! We have really enjoyed planning and working together on it.
It definitely needs its own share of work! Aside from the fact that our house is older, it has had some neglect and is attention hungry. The first issue we noticed was the living room floor. In one of the corners of the living room the floor was sinking down a couple inches below the wall. It definitely didn't feel stable. Will's dad was kind enough to come over on his day off and take a look at the floor. After pulling up the carpet we discovered there must have been water damage at some point in the past. The wood was in horrible condition. It had decayed to the extent that the wood would just crumble in your hands. After a few materials and a full day of hard work from Will and his dad, however, our floor is as good as new!
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| The livingroom floor during the repair process |
One of the most exciting aspects of our home-making was getting to purchase our first couch together. We already had a couch in mind that we both loved...it was just a matter of finding it at an affordable price. And we did! Not only did we find the exact couch that we wanted, but the store just happened to have a "damaged" one in the basement that we were able to purchase at half price. The damage to the couch was just a small inch long scuff in the leather on the back of the couch. It took five people a long time to find that scuff!
One of the most exciting aspects of our home-making was getting to purchase our first couch together. We already had a couch in mind that we both loved...it was just a matter of finding it at an affordable price. And we did! Not only did we find the exact couch that we wanted, but the store just happened to have a "damaged" one in the basement that we were able to purchase at half price. The damage to the couch was just a small inch long scuff in the leather on the back of the couch. It took five people a long time to find that scuff! 
Unfortunately, our living room isn't quite big enough for a sectional couch. It's about six inches too short to be exact. We realized this before making our purchase but decided that since the couch is a long term investment we would deal with using it as separate couches for now. Once we have a more permanent residence, our living room will hopefully be a little larger than this one in our starter home. And the neutral browns and creme colors of the couch will work out with whatever decorating scheme we choose to go with.
We have a lot of projects left to complete on our house. The yard needs a lot of work. The flower beds in front of the porch are completely grown over, there are plenty of weeds mixed in with the lawn, and many bushes and trees to be trimmed. Last but not least, we hope to pressure wash the outside of the house. The roof was damaged pretty bad in the storms we've had around here this summer, but the insurance company came and inspected it and should be sending out a crew any day now to totally replace the roof for us. This face lift will help out the disposition of the house immensely as well.
Overall, I think we have been very blessed with our little starter home. We love it here. The location couldn't be more convenient for us, and it is the perfect size for a newlywed couple. Every day it feels a little more like home to us.
