Dressing Our Nest

I preface this post by saying I am grateful to have a roof over our heads and a place to come home to when we’ve had a long day. But our rental house has its imperfections, to say the least.

Chris had to find us a suitable place to rent before I moved out to CA; he had been staying with a friend, and we needed a place that allowed pets; this one in particular:

With this being such a dog-friendly town, we didn’t imagine it to be such a large feat. Everyone has dogs here; they are welcome in the local coffee shop, I see them tied up outside the library, or being let off leash to run on the Dept. of Water and Power land. Yet no one wants to rent to you if you have a dog.

So we were very limited in our housing prospects, because there wasn’t any way we were going to leave Virginia behind. Chris found and immediately signed a 12-month lease for a 2100 square foot house within walking distance of both our jobs. Which if you only take location into account, was perfect.

The first time I saw the house and peeked through windows I was excited. The second time when we actually went inside and had a tour, I cried. Now granted, I was emotional and homesick. But we had lived in some not so nice places before, and this 1940’s home sat at the bottom of the spectrum. Here’s a summary of why:

1.) The extra large living space (how exactly do you make one living room out of space for two?) boasted a 10 ft long built in aquarium. With fake fish hanging in it. Apparently the owner who had built it hadn’t sealed it correctly, so it wasn’t even functional.
2.) The kitchen, normally my favorite room in any house, has shoddy carpentry with cabinets that won’t close. The wooden molding around the tile countertops doesn’t meet up correctly, with cracks between the wood and the tile, just asking for bits of food and germs to deposit there. The drawers have cracks between the face and the bottom, so when you open them you can see straight through them down to the floor. What DIY class did this guy go to, we ask ourselves on a daily basis. And don’t even get me started on the dishwasher. You couldn’t pay me to open that thing up. (But sometimes we dare unsuspecting dinner guests to!)
3.) I don’t know if it’s a California thing, or a 1960’s thing, but mirrors are utilized throughout the house as a means of décor. When I say there are a lot of mirrors, I mean it. The non-working aquarium, for instance, is surrounded by two walls of gold edged, you guessed it, mirrors. There are also mirrors in the dining area, our bedroom, and the guest room; this guy really liked some mirrors. And considering he had a fit when the carpet installers covered all the gold-patterned linoleum up, imagine what suggesting some of the mirrors come down would do.

Needless to say, it has taken some work to make this place a little more aesthetically pleasing. And since we left all our furniture and decorative items in Alabama, the task has been even more of a challenge. We have a lot of second hand furniture at the moment, most of which doesn’t really match or have a decorative scheme, but hey, how can you compete with a 10 ft aquarium? But yesterday I hit the gold mine, racking up on some used furniture and artwork from my friend’s garage sale inventory. Now we actually have bedroom furniture other than just a bed:

and our fireplace went from this

to this:

Now when I’m in the kitchen I don’t focus on this

or this

I focus on this

and this


I plan to make some curtains for the kitchen and bedroom window along with replacing the cabinet knobs, so I’ll put before and after pictures up of that soon. Meanwhile, here is a recipe for soup that I made a couple of nights ago that was easy and delicious, and of course had the essential ingredient, cheese. It’s adapted from a recipe that I got it from my BFF Anna, who had the same appreciation for cheese as me. One of the many reasons I love her!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
(adapted from a recipe on emealz.com)

2 bags 16oz. frozen broccoli
2 cans low fat/low sodium chicken broth
1 can rotel tomatoes (do not use hot rotel!)
Two cups cut up rotisserie chicken

Dump all this in a large pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and keep at a low boil for 10 minutes.

Cube 10 oz. Velveeta light and add a few pieces at a time to pot until it’s all melted. Sooooo delicious.

However, I still do not know what to do about this:


Any ideas?