So, I had fully intended to blog this whole journey and thought I would do daily updates…..well, we are a week in and you all get a recap.  Because, sometimes after working a 16 or 18 hour day all you want to do is go to bed.  That’s how it’s been the last week.

The boxes keep multiplying, it seems, and though we are moving from a much smaller house to a much bigger house, most of the room is not for us, but for guests!  So, we’ve been trying to maneuver our personal things around.  That was our first main goal – to get our living space established.  It’s vital actually.  If you don’t know where your clothes or your toothbrush, or any of your personal things are, it makes it hard to contemplate getting out of bed, really.

The going has been slower than I anticipated.  For one thing, we are really dissecting everything and getting into the nooks and crannies to clean, update and put our personal touch on things.  We want to do things right from the beginning.  There is no use in doing something halfway only to have to come back and do it again later and waste the time and the money that will take.  That is a huge pet peeve of mine, actually.  Do it once, and do it right.  But we do have to temper ourselves as Rome was not built in a day as they say.  We have years to perfect this house…we just need to get ready for guests in 15 days!

Yes, you heard me correctly.  The books are open for June 15, and though there are no reservations yet for that weekend, our goal is to be in tip-top shape by then and I know we will be.

So, to date, we have (well, we hired someone to) repaint the parlor and one of the guest rooms and guest baths.  It looks great. We are going to tackle repainting the dining room ourselves.  That will probably start next week.  We have cleaned the holy heck out of this place from top to bottom.  We have built more furniture pieces than I can count.  Nearly all of the regulatory requirements have been satisfied, and our front yard sign (thanks, Greg Scott!) should be approved by the town, be built and on its way to us soon.

The “to do” list seems to keep getting longer rather than shorter, however, as now all the details need to come into place, and as any of you who know me can attest, I am ALL about the details.

Here are a few photos of the progress so far.  Pardon the quality – they were taken with an iPhone at night.  We’ll get some good quality ones posted soon.   The Hearth and Home Room is almost finished…just need to add the dresser an mirror and the couch will get a groovy, custom made, red slip cover.  Fabric for the drapes is going to the seamstress this weekend.  The Traveler’s Retreat is the room that is ready to go at this point.  We will do some major repainting later to this room, but it is comfortable the way it is now.  Jonathan’s parents are coming to visit tomorrow and see the house for the first time, so they will stay in this room.  The Shore room we have not even touched yet, so that will be next week’s big push.

Going to the Berryville Farmers Market in the morning!  I look forward to reporting back in soon!

-Rachael