Goodbye Montclair

The first house we bought together has been sold. It's bittersweet (don't they always say that?) but we are glad to be moving on because we are now in 'THE' house. The house to have babies in, raise our kids in, and grow old in.

Of course we chose the exact WRONG time to move- with a house needing a few fixes and a 3 month old high needs and colicky baby. It's been a couple of months now but I wouldn't go back to that for anything. One of the last steps was our realtor had some stagers come in which was helpful because we got to pack up even more stuff than we already had but I realized I wanted pictures of all of the rooms as we lived in them so we wouldn't forget.

Montclair was also 90% completed. The only thing left was the master bathroom and we didn't want to sink money into it when it wasn't terrible and we knew we didn't plan to live there for enough years to get a good return on the investment. By 90% I mean: we even painted all of the trim and doors in the house and changed doorknobs so they weren't ugly brass. We even changed outdoor light fixtures. We even had the exterior windows cleaned. I mean- who does those things? Who? Except a detail oriented person and a guy who loves to do projects.

So here it is, Montclair in the last days.

 I had to take a picture of the dining room first because they wanted the bright blue painted neutral. This room has it's own post coming because it was the most painted room (aka 3 walls) in the entire house. I miss the nursery a lot. We put a lot of details into it.

 The components are all there at the new house except the bookcase doesn't fit very well. So we have a little more color in the new version. I like it just as much and that gets it's own post too. I also REALLY miss the guest room because it was the only other room that was finally done. We have the components, except we need to remove the popcorn ceilings and paint at this new place. And that's not happening for awhile.

 Anybody else notice the orb? I want to know who that is!

And the guest bath that was the nicest room in the whole house. I miss that one too. We bought an ugly mirror for $15 at Home Depot at the stagers request. We would have never picked it out ourselves!

 I don't think I've ever posted pictures of the office/library loft area all completed. The stripes took forever but I loved how unique it was. I do have to say I enjoy working in my new office more except the room itself is kinda boring. I like the loft idea, but I'm glad we don't have one here.

 We definitely started to outgrow this living room with all of the baby stuff, and barely enough seating for us (let alone guests).

 And of course the kitchen that we did most of the work in. And stupidly decided to do it in the summer. I miss that dishwasher! It was the cheapest model but it works better than the incorrectly installed one at our new house.

 The bar was a fun find at World Market, and that popcorn art is the largest piece we have in the whole house. The bar is now a TV stand in the new place.

 This bathroom was a labor of love. I can't imagine spending that much time doing 5-7 coats on all walls and ceilings these days. But now looking at it, the floors really don't go with the walls- the colors are all wrong. Oh well!

 And our old master. I miss the way the windows look but I don't miss how much light they let in all the time! I was happy with this room overall and it was one of the first ones we painted and never changed it. I have a ton of memories sitting on that bed talking to Liz for hours while Bean watched TV in the next room.

 So many nights spent sleeping in that recliner or sitting up all night nursing. I'm glad to put those days behind me for the time being.

 The master bath with it's lovely gold fixtures and tiny closet. I do miss having a full length mirror. Since we didn't do this room, at the new place we are already planning a master bath and bedroom update before we do anything else. We feel we deserve to have a nice space since we will live here the longest of anyone (kids included).

I almost had all wedding pictures put up! I just needed one of Jess and Emil's wedding and I would have been all set. Now I'm thinking of moving to family/baby pictures with a few wedding ones thrown in. And they are not hanging on the walls anymore.

It felt like a relief to spend the night in the new place. I had none of the first night jitters. More than anything I was glad to be in a new place where I didn't have to go over that moment where Bean told me the worst news of my life. It was right where I sat nursing Abigail every day. The new place has no bad memories, and so far lots of good ones!