this morning i'm working on a big organization project in the garage. yup, it's a messy job that requires a garage location. can't wait to share soon! so i thought today i'd share the final move-in recap post. if you missed the two previous installments, here is the first and the second.
at this point of move-in, i had 1.5 days to unpack as much kid-related stuff as possible before my little people pulled into their new home. anything kid-related had to be unpacked because school didn't begin for another 2.5 weeks. which meant i needed activities and toys to keep them busy around the house for a while. i had all day saturday and part of sunday. knowing this limited amount of time, i buckled down, asked family and friends to give me a break, turned on the coffee pot and blasted my motivation music.
did i mention these were the first 3 boxes i clawed through the house to locate?....
yes. the coffee maker. the wine opener. a bose stereo. all 3 are a must-have for me in order to function daily unpack a home.
and did i ever need the motivation (and caffeine) in the playroom! i spent a good amount of time friday tearing through boxes and sorting items for keep / donate. this is where i started on saturday morning...
the toys you see are those that made the initial cut to stay. the quantity has since changed as more items have been donated. and even more will make their way out of the house after a new wall system arrives in a few weeks. really excited to share a playroom update later this month!
i spent saturday morning sorting through and organizing all of the toys...
while sorting, i ran wash/dry loads of couch slipcovers...
here was the final set-up by the end of saturday morning. the green circus tent shelving contains arts, crafts and games - anything the kids need to ask to play with (think small pieces, play-doh, etc)...
our mesh bins survived the move, but many are now mis-shapen due to packing.
:-(....
no, the playroom didn't look this tidy for long after the kids arrived!
after the playroom was set-up, i tackled all 3 kid rooms. son #1...
those are lego's tucked back on the far right. we are so re-organizing those!...
the room of son #2...
his room has changed quite a bit already. his bunk bed went up last weekend.
and finally the girlie's room...
keep in mind, this was mom's initial set-up. the rooms have changed a bit since and will continue to evolve as the kids each put their own fingerprint on the space. already have some fun ideas in the works!
once the kid's spaces were completed, time to tackle the kitchen...
boxes and boxes! paper and paper! so much paper i had to share a photo on instagram as the night wore on...
that paper pile created at least 15 large, completely full trash bags. all of the packing materials, boxes included, have been picked up once a week from lovely craig's list shoppers. for free! ;-)
watch your head, knees and elbows...
sunday i tore into part of the living room...
set up the patio table in the screened-in porch...
in case you've been reading a while and wondered where the rest of the patio set landed? it's right here on the front porch...
and as i waited for my people to pull in, i tried to create a little order out of the garage chaos...
no, you can't walk back into that far right corner yet. yes, i get itchy and start shaking a
far left side has looked like this off and on since move-in. the packing material is never-ending. the day i don't see a cardboard box or piece packing material in this house is the day i open that $100 bottle of wine i've been hiding away for months....
they made a b-line to the swing set. who couldn't predict that! then they made their way through the house to find their rooms and beloved toys that had been packed away for months and months...
this is all the payment i'll ever need for months and months of debating over paint and carpet colors and working with contractors and crunching numbers to make the messy jobs happen before move-in and dealing with packing and unpacking and movers and dirt and dust and pool renovations. this little thumbs up was payment enough...
are there still a few boxes around the house? yes, but only in the guest room, which is my staging area for wall hangings and random decor...
and a few remaining boxes in the garage. more importantly, the move-in process is pretty much a wrap. i can't be happier to have this phase behind me.
although i've been back home in california for a full month now, i haven't left arkansas behind. there is a lot to miss about living there. that's a post i've been composing for months and one i'll share someday. just when i think that post is complete and ready to be shared, my memory is jogged and i want to add something else. there was simply too much to love about living there. too much!
thank you, always, for reading along on this journey. now i live in the house, get a feel for how life flows inside of these four walls, and dig in to set up those organization systems. i've also started thinking about the kitchen remodel and have a loooooong list of projects to tackle. can't wait to share it all!
have a great day!
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