movin' on up

"This is the biggest room I've ever seen!"Sam said as he explored the 5 bedroom house we will call home in only 6 short weeks.

It will be more than a home though. We are going to be caretakers of a 200+ acre park in exchange for most of our housing expenses. The financial benefits are incredible, but it's the amenities that sold us on the place. The job requires that we be on the property most of the time in case we are called upon by a park visitor so it's really nice to have so many things to do our our front door. It all seems surreal right now and very overwhelming. I have two garage sales to prepare for, a move to coordinate, a second car to purchase, a van to repair, a house to pack up, another to unpack, and some painting and floor refinishing to tackle. I love a challenge!!!

As promised, here are some photos of the house:
You'll want to click on the collages to get a closer look.

Top left: Main door is to the left of the dishwasher
Top right: set of steps are to the left of the refrigerator
Bottom left: The stove top in the island makes me a tad nervous. Has anyone ever seen a cover for those things?
Bottom right: to the right of the frig is the laundry room. Julia is attempting to open the door to the breeze-way.

1st photo: Already I'm rethinking the room assignments. You'd think with 5 bedrooms it wouldn't be so difficult, but I'm trying to keep in mind noise levels, proximity to bathroom, amount of room needed to position furniture between radiators, closets, and windows.
2nd photo: I think we're going to need to start using the baby gates again with two sets of steps. 3rd photo: The kids had a blast running around from room to room. They checked out every nook and cranny. The hundreds of carpet nails along the edge of the upstairs rooms and hallway made it difficult to focus on getting good pictures.




TL: This window let in lots of light on the beautiful stairwell. (I think I posted a picture of it last week.)
TR: For an old house, the closets are huge. This is the smallest one.
BL: I don't even know which room this is. sorry.
BR: This will probably be the playroom instead of Sam's room as I originally planned. I liked the idea of putting the kids on opposite ends of the house, but the more I think about the things that could go in the playroom, the more I think the 2nd biggest room should be the playroom.

TL: Not only do I have main floor laundry, but I have plenty of storage for cleaning products and things we stock up on at Sam's Club.
TR: This is one of the four entrances into the house. On the left is a huge set of cabinets that we'll store camping things and our large collection of games. The picture doesn't show it, but this breeze-way is big enough to hold our small chest freezer too. No more running down to the basement!
BL: what can I say except that I love that there is tons of storage in this kitchen.
BR: See that little space off to the left between the living room and yet another "front" door?
That space is just the right size for my changing table to stay hidden out of the way. There are shelves tucked in the back too. Each room in the house has a door except into the laundry room. I can even shut the door to the upstairs from the kitchen if I want too. Won't that be nice for muffling sound? There are beautiful pocket doors and an antique mirror on the back of one of the regular doors.

TL: This is the view out the upstairs bathroom window. That road leads to the beach, tennis courts, baseball field, and one of the playgrounds. A cool safety feature that I really appreciate is that the windows can be opened from the top - meaning I don't have to worry about the kids pushing the screens out or stifling heat in the summer.
TR: Not the double sink we are used to at our current house, but still ample storage and counter space for us.
BL: Speaking of storage, this linen closet is right outside the bathroom. Love it!