A 'Before' House Tour

Now that we have settled in to our new home and done the truly important things (like get Internet access), I wanted to post a "before" house tour as promised. These are the images of our home taken from the listing and the inspection, so they still have the previous owner's flair.

House Stats:

• Built in 1920's but majorly renovated in 2007
• 2-Story, with painted brick on the original home and siding on the second floor addition.
• 4 Bed, 2.5 Bath, ~2300 square feet
• Unfinished, walkout basement
• Backyard with a deck, and with a detached 2-car garage
• Established neighborhood lined with large, old trees
• One block from a great elementary school & playground, 5 minutes to daycare and about 12 minutes to work :-)

Exterior/Street View:

Looking at entry from Living Room:

Living Room:
Dining Room:

Living/Dining/Stairs/Main Hallway:

Looking at Stairs and Living Room from Dining Room:

Family Room and Door to Back Deck:

Kitchen:

Eat in Nook and Kitchen Pantry:

Half Bath/Powder Room on Main Level:

Master Bath (the purple walls and ceiling were the first thing to go, before we even moved in):

Master Bedroom (same with the silver paint, bye-bye):

Now Claire's Bedroom:

Soon-to-be-Office and Sewing/Craft Room:

2nd Floor Laundry:



There she is! We can't wait to start some small projects so we'll have some 'afters' to compare vey soon.

Home Sweet Soon-to-Be Home

With moving day fast approaching (without any roadblocks in sight), I have decided to share a photo of the house that will soon be ours in St. Louis. I actually drove by it today after dropping off Claire at daycare and a moving truck was in front, so I feel fairly comfortable that the owner is in fact moving out and that we are well on our way to closing... a step in the right direction!

Here she is, all 4 Bed / 2.5 Bath & 2,300 square feet of her...

Once we move in I will post a "before" house tour, as in photos with the previous owners belongings and decor. And of course, as we add our personal touches and venture into some DIY projects, I'll be sure to post those as well.

Vintage Milk Bottle Carrier

I got a special delivery today! It's the muse for my next DIY project for our new home.  A vintage milk bottle carrier!

I can't wait until this project comes to light ;-)

Wallpaper Remnants?

I'm really loving this accent wall idea that I found on Pinterest.

Source: bhg.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

I found it while searching for photos of Orla Kiely Flower Blossom Wallpaper, which unfortunately is out of stock right now on her site: 

But if I could get my hands on even a few scrap pieces of it, or something with a similar feel, I'd love to make a wall like this in our new home. 

Any ideas where I could find wallpaper remnants? Do they even exist?

A look back at our loft

While we actively search for our new home in Saint Louis, living back under the roofs of our gracious parents, I find myself reminiscing about the last place of our own that we left behind in Chicago.

Even when we lived there, I'm not sure that I ever posted photos of our entire loft, rather than just snippets here and there. So here is a little belated tour of our former Chicago home.

The Exterior:



Our Entry:


Living Area:





Kitchen:



Eat-in/Dining Area:



Master Bedroom:



Master Bath:


Claire's Nursery:



Claire's/Guest Bath:


Hallway 1/2 Bath:


Deck:



Shared Rooftop Deck:


With a view of the city that will always have a special place in our hearts:

Kitschicagoan has Relocated

It's official, kitschicagoan no longer resides in Chicago.



After almost a decade, I am once again a St. Louisan.

It was hard to say goodbye to our wonderful life and beautiful loft, but we are excited for our new adventure in St. Louis, MO. Here we are in close proximity to Claire's grandparents (very close proximity, as in under the same roof, until we find our perfect home!) and are excited to reconnect with our Missouri roots.

I hope to get reacquainted with blogging very soon and can't wait to document the process of making a whole house our very own. New name suggestions for the blog are welcome!

37/37

Today Claire is 37 weeks old, and I was 37 weeks along when we welcomed her into the world. 

I can hardly believe that our little bear has been with us on the outside now as long as I carried her on the inside. She is so grown up now and such a little blessing :-)