Our first home- gets a makeover!!

View from the Front
I will have to dig up more photos- can't find any more right now..

Dan and I bought our first home in May, 2008- just before our big wedding- and right in time for all of our Australian guests to come visit- and have a place to camp.  Literally- it was a campground.. 10 or so of Dan's friends came over from Australia- and plunked on whatever free piece of carpet they could get to- few were lucky enough for a blow up mattress or a room.  It was great- we wouldn't have changed a thing (although the guests may have.. haha)!

View from the patio- looking out at Lake Washington

Living room

Guest Bedroom

Nursery... those pink and white stripes (hard to see) took dad and I FOREVER.. only to move out the day after Dyllan came home.. sigh..

We lived in our Mercerwood home until the day after Dyllan came home from the hospital (February 15, 2010)- and did minimal remodeling and home improvement projects in that time.  Its not that we didn't want to do anything- it was more that things like that cost way more than we could afford at the time.  So we did what we could.. on a budget.  We were like most new home owners - our age-,anxious to get in there and attack everything- and completely clueless as to how, how much, and how long these things take.  It all started - as soon as we moved in- I went away for my bachelorette party- leaving Dan and Mylo and a can of "Bamboozle" to paint the kitchen.  Bamboozle was the color our color consultant recommended for the kitchen - as it would bring out the natural brick.  We loved it- but would never have come up with the color on our own. Anyway- Dan and Mylo spent the weekend painting.. and about half way through the weekend mom came by to see how it was going.  When she arrived- there was Dan- shirtless- with Bamboozle war paint  on his face, and chest.. and Mylo with a Bamboozled tail... that managed to paint the tan carpet.  HAHA.. it didn't stop there... Dan decided our natural wood beams needed a hint of Bamboozle  and painted just one side  of the beam so that when you look at the kitchen from the front door- its all Bamboozle- including that side of the wood beam.  THEN... he thought that the front and back door needed a hint of color- and painted what I called "clown buttons" - the etched square boxes on the doors too.  I came home- and actually my first reaction was I loved the color- then had to laugh cause it was really good effort.. but probably the last time Dan has.. or ever will paint again.  Painting is more work than it seems... and much harder than it seems- especially when you are trying to do several rooms in a short amount of time.

We did a few other things to the house- like knock some cabinets down in the kitchen to open it up more- painted just about every room- most we ended up repainting at least once!  We gave landscaping a good shot- and spent hours and hours chopping down junipers (peskiest bushes EVER!) and digging up blackberry bushes (what a nightmare!)- we cut down a tree- we planted black bamboo in the front- which I still enjoy checking up on.... but all in all... we really didn't do that much to improve the place... haha.

Our house has been rented out for the past few years- and now that the Casa has finally sold (I don't wanna jinx it- but i'm almost positive its sold now!! ) Dad and Tatyana have started fixing it up- and getting it ready to move into.  And the best part?  Tatyana has started a blog - to document the remodel process- so we can keep up to date with how its going!  Check it out! http://mercerwoodhome.wordpress.com/