Our Sleep Easy

Embarrassingly, Hubby and I didn't immediately move into the lakehouse after our grueling move.  We unloaded the stuff (with help, thankfully), returned the U-Haul truck, and then bee-lined it to my parents' place, where we camped out for a bit.  Their home has the lure of clean towels, hot dinners, and fast internet.  Moving really took the wind out of our sails and trivial things like getting groceries (and turning them into meals!) seemed like Herculean tasks.  We drove to the lakehouse everyday though, and steadily got it to a more livable order.  We were totally busted by Hubby's family, who came over (with dinner) for a tour.  They immediately spotted our mattress propped up against the walls, barricaded by boxes.  They need to come by again.  Look: a bed with sheets and everything (I even found the bedskirt, but not the iron to smooth out those wrinkles). 

 
The headboard and side tables my Grandpa welded weathered the move!  The paint is a bit scuffed so come spring time a new paint job is imminent.  Should I keep it matte black?  Try glossy white?  A bright colour?

We hung the vintage Hungarian posters across from the bed, and I think they are perfect for the bedroom.  Magically, the minty chair and table pair well with the posters.  I'm so happy that, so far, I've been able to rearrange pieces from the townhouse with relative ease.  

The dresser is a stand-in, borrowed from my Mom.  We didn't have a dresser in the townhouse, so I naively thought everything would fit in our closet (what is it with me?).  When we downsized from three bedrooms to two, our closet contents were smushed together.  I still have surplus clothes, so I'm itching for more storage.  They are so pricey, but I'd love these two Room and Board dressers. 

Even though I've squashed the bed as far as it will fit on the wall opposite the closet - and I've even turned the nightstands sideways to take up less room - I'm dubious about my prospects of having enough room for bi-fold closet doors to open, which I should have explained when I chatted about the closet earlier this week.  I'll take some measurements and start shopping options.  I appreciate everyone's suggestions!   



High on the bedroom to-do list: refresh the headboard and tables, buy (make?) closet doors, sew curtains, get my hands on better storage, accessorize, add more colour, and maybe try something nutty.  I've been slowly building my collection of Fab trays, picking them up for $1-3 a piece.  I think the collection (grown much larger) would look fun in the same room as the fashion-focused posters because the trays are little time capsules of 1960s and 1970s fabrics.  I am putting my little red armoire into storage, so I think the blank wall behind the door might be a fun place to hang them - floor to ceiling, salon style.

Still lots to do, but for now we can get a good night's sleep in our own home!  As a reminder, after painting the walls, doors, ceilings, and trim white, removing the window coverings, replacing the boob light (not pictured), and filling the room with our art and furniture, we've turned the room from this . . .





into this . . .

Customized Topographic Moving Announcements with Coordinates

I just wanted to say a heartfelt "thank you" to the readers who nominated this blog for Apartment Therapy's Homies.  I am truly touched, especially in light of the fact that I really left you hanging with the lakehouse during the fall, and things have only just picked up again. 

To carve out more time, I offloaded the task of notifying our friends and family of our move to my pal Erica, of Wicked Bride.  She tweaked the design of her own moving announcement (adding orange text for Hubby, plus our cell phone numbers) and sent me customized moving announcements, complete with our actual coordinates!  It took two seconds to slip them each into an envelope, scrawl on an address, and mail them away to the folks left totally in the dark about our whereabouts.  It could not have been easier. 

It would have been even easier had Szuka not found my roll of stick-on stamps and eaten $10 worth before gumming another $15.  My Mom's consoling words as I tried to salvage some of the drier ones: "be thankful they aren't the kind you have to lick".
  

This is obviously not our contact information, but you get the idea. 

If you'd like your own announcements, you can order these printable topographic moving announcements in Erica's Wicked Bride Etsy shop (she also has printing options). 

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Go Big or Go Home

We have moved.  Officially.  Actually.  Completely!!  Since buying the lakehouse in June, our lives have been in limbo.  What we thought would be a quick sale of the townhouse turned into a drawn out, deeply disappointing experience that, for a long time, had no end in sight.  We tried to stay positive, but sometimes we just felt so glum.  Some of our family members were insatiably curious, repeatedly asking when we'd be moving.  We didn't know how to explain to them that each time they asked, it stressed us out.  Even when we eventually did sell the townhouse, we were unconvinced we'd actually move.  We were so sure we'd hit some kind of snag.  On Wednesday, with the closing date days away, we headed down the driveway to fetch our rented U-Haul truck.  I mugged out so badly on the ice that I sliced open my hands.  When we started loading the truck an hour later, my bleeding cuts slowed my packing contribution but I refused to let anything get in our way.  We were so close.  The kitty who looked like he was manning the front desk at the U-Haul pick-up did much to lift my spirits.  I laughed a little too heartily about Counter Kitty all day. 

We hired a young guy from the local classifieds to help but, even with an extra set of hands, loading all of our possessions took more than 16 hours.  The loading bled into our travel day which, coupled with inclement weather, turned a two day drive to our new home into a three day marathon.  Hubby deftly navigated the giant the U-Haul truck and towed a car carrier with Charlie.  Szuka and I inched behind in our Versa.

We filled (to the roof) the 26 foot U-Haul truck you see above.  It was so full, we had to push everything back and pull the loading door down quickly to close it.  I don't think anything really shifted during the journey because it was wedged in so tightly.  Where did all this stuff come from?!? 



Happily, on Sunday we finally reached the lakehouse and unpacking happened so smoothly!  The house was just as we left it, except for two important changes:  my parents had spent three days clearing a winter's worth of snow from the driveway and had trudged deep into the yard to string white lights on one of our trees.  Such a sweet sight.  With their help, plus the help of a friend, we shoved a lot of our stuff in the garage so we can start getting organized without feeling walled in by boxes.  When the last box made its way out of the U-Haul, we felt like a giant weight had been lifted from our shoulders.  We had finally moved on, and were finally home.  I'm looking forward to unpacking, getting settled (getting organized!) and tackling the lakehouse.  Life is good.     

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How to Keep a Light Sofa Clean During a Move

Monday I blogged about giving the old sofa the heave-ho.  Yesterday you met the new-to-us sofa.  One last post before I move on from the sofa topic:  how we managed to get a cream-coloured sofa home from the seller's house. 

We searched for a mover on kijiji.ca (seemed fitting) and prices ranged from $50-85 for a sofa transport 15 km, with hubby providing one-half of the required muscle.  After some chatting, one mover agreed to $40 but his van, although clean, wasn't cream-sofa clean (nor were his hands, I'm betting).  And, although leather is easy to clean, I cringed at the thought of mucking the sofa up before we even got it home.  But between the two of us, Hubby and I (mostly Hubby) have moved about seven times in ten years, so we've picked up some tips & tricks.

What's our tip in this case?  Furniture-sized plastic wrap!  Office supplies stores and Costco both carry this delightfully clingy wrap and we've use it to wrap furniture, artwork, things that won't fit into boxes - even to keep drawers from sliding out of dressers during a move.

That's the secret to how the cream-coloured sofa stayed smudge-free on the journey over.  Maybe we should have left the plastic wrap on so we can keep it that way?

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