Thursday, January 6, 2022

The den...

We've been settling in - busy with unpacking, then Christmas with our boys home and sister-in-law visiting (celebrated on Christmas Eve), and then a lovely meal at just about the only restaurant in Indianapolis open on Christmas Day (with brother-in-law and sister-in-law).  And then with the holiday behind us, more unpacking.  

It's all been complicated (and slowed down a bit) by a sore knee (that started the weekend after we were totally moved in) and a sore thumb joint that's plagued me off and on for a few years, but it got much worse with all the packing and unpacking.  They both get to feeling better with ibuprofen and ice and braces, so I keep hoping they'll heal up on their own, and then I do something to strain them again and I feel like I'm back to square one.  If they don't start to get to noticeably better soon, I suppose I should have them looked at.  Sigh.  I really didn't want to start a new year with new reasons to see doctors. 

Anyway...  now that some of the rooms here are looking presentable, I feel better about sharing some pictures of our new place.  At least spaces here that inspire me, delight me, or maybe even need some help.    

To bring anyone who might be in dark up to speed, here's the background...  Hubs and I had been talking for several years about looking for a one-story home that would be easier to grow old in than our tri-level of 23 years would be.  A fire was lit this summer when I was visiting a friend and she told me there were two houses behind her that were for sale.  They were lovely homes, in a quiet neighborhood, and we did go to see them, but as much fun as it might have been to have a built-in friend as a backdoor neighbor, we just weren't ready to jump at that point.  

But the fire was lit.  We got our heads into the game, figured out the financial part, started talking about what we wanted in our next home, and the search began.  Last summer I didn't write much at all about the search, but we often joked that meeting our realtors (they were a couple team) at new houses every weekend, was some of the best socialization we had during those four months.  

We really liked our realtors - both professionally, and as people.  Never pushy, they knew we wouldn't jump to make an offer unless we were both confident in buying a house, and that house needed to check some important boxes we both had.  They seemed perfectly content with that arrangement.

Near the end of October, we bought (closed on) a 30 year-old house in a small country neighborhood just a couple miles outside the town we've lived in for the past 23 years.  Thirty year-old houses come with issues (some we knew from the outset), but overall, it's a very pleasant house and property.  

My decorating style is pretty simple, and it could be many months before we start hanging anything on walls, but today let me invite you into our favorite room at the moment - our den:  

Pictures were taken on different mornings - just to see if I could get better pictures in different light:


It's challenging to get both the window and it's view, and the inside of the room to show well together, so your first glimpse of this room, unfortunately, makes it look very dark in here.   But it's actually the lightest/brightest room of the house when the shades are open on those three large east-facing windows.  

The reason this is our favorite room is, any time of the day, but especially in the morning, we enjoy sitting in the recliner (we take turns) sipping a cup of coffee (hubs) or tea (me) and watching the birds flitter around eating up birdseed like it's their last meal.  


Even on a drizzly cold day, the birds need to eat!

The previous owners left behind this large bird feeder hanger thing, and some of the bird feeders.  It is proving to be great entertainment - as long as we can afford to buy bird seed.  You can't tell from these pictures, but normally each feeder has multiple birds on it, and the birds go through the buffet of seeds like crazy.

While there are at least two downy woodpeckers who like to regularly visit the suet feeder, I think we may have either a red-bellied woodpecker or a yellow-bellied sap sucker, too.  It's more elusive, and I haven't had long to look at it when it's shown up, but it has a distinctly different red cap than the downy woodpeckers.  Honestly, when looking in a bird book, I thought it looked like a ladder-back woodpecker, but Indiana doesn't appear to be in their range.  So I have to just wait patiently and get a few more good looks at him to be more certain.   I only know it's a couple inches larger than the downy, has a beautiful red cap, and black and white wings.  And has shown up exactly twice for me.  

I look forward to removing the window screens this upcoming weekend when it warms up a tad, so hopefully, there will be some clearer bird pictures in the future.  We also have some beautiful blue jays, cardinals, nuthatches and finches of various colors - along with a mob of sparrows.  Who knows what spring and summer will bring.

The past owners called this room a sunroom - which the room probably was originally, but once upon a time someone enclosed the back patio/porch, and with two walls of windows we're calling that the sunroom.  Perhaps a nice picture of that room will come closer to spring time.  At the moment, what we're calling the sunroom is serving as overflow space as we still try to figure out where everything goes.  

Oh, okay..  since I imagine you'll appreciate me keepin' it real, here's a peek into the sunroom: 


That view, at the moment, isn't very pretty, so usually the blinds are closed.  One of these days we'll either figure out where the stuff in those boxes go, or maybe decide we don't actually need that stuff.  Sad to think we had to move it here to realize that, but such is life.

Back to the den before we leave:

That couch above, we brought home (in 2020) after hub's mother passed.  It was his parents' formal living room sofa for years - hardly ever sat upon, though we have pictures of us (pre-children) sitting on it nearly 40 years ago - it's that old.  After bringing it home, I said, "that would look great in a sunroom", but it sat in our living room for over a year, looking very old-fashioned and too small, hoping against hope we'd someday live in a house with a sunroom so it could prove me right.  It may make its way out to the sunroom come spring, but for the winter it makes a nice cozy spot to take a nap on.   And that blue crocheted blanket looks like it was made for it!


Ceramic wolf's head painted by middle son when he was a teen.  Gorgeous dry-brushing.




And that, dear reader is our den.  I can't believe I made a whole post about one room.   Little by little, I'll show you around more.  Some rooms still are in process.  I do hope to soon be crafting again.  In fact, I'm thinking about inviting you into my craft room for some organizing and maybe downsizing of supplies.  But as for actual crafting, I need to give my hand a bit of a rest - not sure when crocheting or knitting or stitching will resume.  Crafting is beginning to feel like something I used to do - a long time ago.  'Till I get back in that saddle, I'm enjoying crafts vicariously through other's blogs.

Thank you for visiting! And please come back again for another visit.  Now that life has resumed some normalcy, I'm going to try to find ways to not be so scarce.  😊

Happy New Year to you, and I hope you have a healthy and happy 2022.




31 comments:

  1. I love house tours! Never too much for me. I'm glad you found the right house. But don't overuse that hand, easier said than done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel a bit self-conscious posting pictures of my house, but I love when others do it. I'm glad it is received well. Hopefully, it inspires me to be a more deliberate about decorating, and even creative about blogging. The last few months have been a lot of hard work, and not much "creating" going on, so home pics it is!

      Delete
  2. Gorgeous sofa! Funny photo, noting different slippers' wearers. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is a pretty sofa - if a bit dated. Both slippers are mine (and me wearing them) on different days. ;^)

      Delete
  3. Oh, I just love looking at other people's homes and how they set things up. Your den is quite inviting. That window is awesome and would draw me to it everyday too. I would probably have my craft with me while sitting there..
    A sunroom is always a wonderful space too. It was super nice to see you here again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you, Marsha. :) A friend told me she could just see me in these rooms crocheting. I'd love nothing more than to cozy up with some yarn right now, or break out some cross stitching, but I think it's probably wiser to hold off a while longer

      Delete
  4. What a fantastic den! I'd be living in there all the time!! Looks like a wonderful find. Congratulations. Glad you had a wonderful holiday with family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When one of us disappears, they can usually be found in this room. ;^)

      Delete
  5. Like Leftycrafter (above), I love getting peeks into other people's homes! Does that sound creepy? It's not! I just love "home" so much, I love to see how people live in theirs. So thank you for sharing your den with us! It is a lovely and welcoming room and I can see how you could spend hours watching the birds outside those large windows. I also love a room with lots of natural light. I'll bet you'll enjoy your sunroom when you get that set up. So funny . . . when we moved into our house a few years ago, we put a lot of boxes into our sunroom too. It's good to have a place to put the "messes" out of sight until you can deal with them.

    Blessings of the New Year to you too! I hope that your knee and your thumb are better soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't consider it creepy if one has been invited. ;^) I love pictures that give a glimpse into who people are. Even just the little things, like books read, or crafts made, or what people set their glasses aside for (I'm forever doing this). I suspect the sunroom ends up serving multiple purposes depending on the time of year. In warm weather, I can imagine keeping art supplies out there, but it wouldn't be a good place for those things in the winter. And plants will thrive there in the warmer months, but not so much in the winter. I don't know, though. The owners left a pot of aloe out there. I should go check and see if this present deep freeze did damage to it.

      Delete
  6. Happy New Year! I'm sorry to hear about your sore thumb and knee, probably what they both need is rest, not easy I know. Your Den is beautiful, I love to sit and watch the birds although I don't get as many as I used to have in our previous home, I think it's because of my neighbour I can't compete he has the perfect garden for birds to come visit. I'm really impressed with how much you have got done with your home already but rest that thumb, don't even think of crafting until it's better. Have a great weekend. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel like our process of moving in and getting unpacked has taken way too long - because of taking days-long breaks when something is hurting. Fortunately, the unpacking now is pretty limited to my craft stuff and there's no pressure (other than what is self-imposed) to get that done. Wise words to heed.

      Delete
  7. I like to see sunlight entering the rooms and like what the previous owners called the room a sunroom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with all of that. We just needed to come to an agreement on what we would call these rooms. On different listings there were three different names to sort out: sunroom, Florida room, enclosed back porch (which is really more of a patio). Clearly, the Florida room is the same room as the enclosed porch/patio. But to have a sunroom AND a Florida room sounds redundant, if not outright ostentatious - lol. So den it is for the room that's climate controlled, and sunroom for the room that is not. It also gets the most sun. ;^) I'm looking forward to the orientation of the sun changing with warmer weather. More sun will stream into those two spaces in the mornings, but in the heat of the day they'll be spared from the warmest rays.

      Delete
  8. It looks lovely! Congratulations!

    We have had a single story for many years now, both for the potential of later years as well as the cost of heating/cooling dual level homes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. :) We're having quite the cold snap right now, and have been surprised that the house is holding its heat pretty well. The rooms furthest away from the furnace (in the garage) are cooler, but tolerable. A space heater in the master bath helps in the morning. ;^)

      Delete
  9. Thank you for these sweet glimpses into your new home. It looks like a fine place to grow older. One story. ☺️ Those are far and few between here in my corner as, for the climate, they prove to be inefficient for heating. That doesn't prevent me from dreaming. Enjoy the process. Oh, btw, love your mother-in-law's sofa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thank you, Vee. I do suspect that at some point, it may feel too big (it is a rambler and we can't hear one another from one end of the house to the other), but for the moment we're enjoying it. And finding the intercom feature on our landline phone really useful. lol

      Delete
  10. How exciting, thanks for the first glimpse inside your new home. I am sure before long you will have a place for everything and it will feel like you’ve been there for years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is so very hard to imagine. Before our last house, we had moved every 5 years or so. Everyplace and no place felt like home. After being in one house for 23 years and moving to this home that's just 10 minutes from the old house, sometimes I feel like such a stranger that when I drive to the grocery store I have to remind myself that we didn't actually move "away".

      Delete
  11. Oh my goodness thank you for sharing your pictures. That room! Those bird feeders! The light! It all looks wonderful and cozy. I can just picture you napping on that couch under that beautiful blue blanket. You deserve the rest and I hope your knee and thumb settle down. I look forward to more updates as you show us your new house. Happy New Year, dear Becki!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww, you are so sweet, Mary-Anne. Thank you.

      Delete
  12. I love your den and the view and large windows and I can easily imagine you sitting there with your stitchery and crochet when the time is right. It takes ages to unpack, I still have a trunk that has not been looked at and I have been here 12 years, lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. lol. I can see how that happens. I think we had some boxes in the garage or attic of the old house that were never unpacked. I wonder if we moved them here?

      Delete
  13. Hi Becki!! You've worked hard! Geez, we've been here almost 2 years now (can you believe it???) and I still don't have a functioning kitchen! I love your decorating style and those windows make for excellent bird watching! The wolf's head is beautiful!! ♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YOU are a hard worker. That you don't have a fully functioning kitchen and you create such beautiful meals is amazing. Thank you for your kind comments, Rain.

      Delete
  14. I love the birdfeeders! I can't keep them because of squirrels (!) so I am envious. Your room looks great and I hope your knee and thumb are better soon so you can continue to "nest" comfortably.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This setup appears to be nearly squirrel proof. Though sometimes they can be found on the ground looking for sunflower seeds the birds drop.

      Delete
  15. I certainly do have a little bit of green-eyed envy over your pretty den and the bird feeders outside. What a joy to be able to sit and watch the birds at their feast. All we have now is a suet feeder because we don't dare feed the birds because it attracts a ton of squirrels who then seem to think it's their duty to disable as many cars in our parking lot as possible. Who knew that car hoses were such a tasty meal! Maybe you're going to have to invest in another recliner so you both can sit in comfort while you enjoy watching them. I know you're going to enjoy that sunroom once the weather warms up too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since I can't do my hobbies right now, and can't even hold a book long enough to read, I'm glad I can at least sit and birdwatch when I need a break.

      Yikes! On the damage squirrels can do. They are mostly just minor pests around here. Well, minor compared to what you described.

      Delete
  16. You get great light in these rooms. Interesting layouts and how neat to be able to watch the birdies fly in and snack.

    ReplyDelete