New House. Same Me.

Matty is so lucky to have me. Not only am I incredibly talented at microwaving instant oatmeal, but I also found our now house minutes after it was listed online. We put an offer in before anyone else even had the opportunity to tour it. Though the sellers rejected that offer, they ultimately came to their senses when our 2nd offer included a candid photo of Matty and me.

The previous owners repainted the interior before they listed the house, but I wish they would have consulted me so we* (*my sister and Matty) didn’t have to paint over their ill-advised color choice.

The first thing we bought for the house was a mantel from Facebook Marketplace. The roof of Matty’s car barely survived the mantel’s transportation, which will happen if you put a dyslexic in charge of measurements. Matty installed the marble tile to the wall behind the mantel to create our faux fireplace mantel. Matty had the audacity to ask the purpose of the mantel and was mildly miffed when I responded, “It serves a strictly decorative purpose.”

Matty oversaw our wedding registry and only wanted to register for Lowe’s gift cards. Our friends Andrew and Julia kindly took him up on that request and we used their gift card to buy the marble title. We now fondly say that the faux fireplace mantel was a wedding gift from our friends Andrew and Julia.

Since we hit budgetary constraints immediately, the coffee table and two living room chairs were also Facebook Marketplace finds. I informed Matty that I was “thrifty” and he laughed and asked how much I spent on my purse. I pretended not to hear him.

I loved the chair rail in the dining area and heroically saved it from Matty. I literally caught him crow-barring part of it off before I shrieked that we were keeping it. I did allow him to crowbar the granite lip off the kitchen counters so I could add a peel and stick backsplash while Matty continues to hone his tile cutting skills. 

There was this weird blank wall space above the counter so we added floating shelves to display a cookbook that has never been opened.

The sunroom is my fav- and not just because it houses a piece of artwork I painted pro bono for Matty. It is really easy to tell it is his initials if you close your eyes and use your imagination.

The birds seem to think the front porch is their room. They are nesting in all the hanging planters and they enjoy perching on our pillows. The previous owners had a kiln on the front porch, so I think that set a low bar for the bird’s approval.

A member of my family, who will remain nameless, came to visit and remarked that the downstairs looked like a TV makeover while the upstairs looked like it was waiting for its TV makeover.

Stay tuned for that Dad!