Things to do when you move to a new house

The first thing we did while the house was still empty (except for a couple of boxes in the living room) was to thoroughly clean up. We cleaned every detail; appliances, walls, closets, those corners everyone forgets about...everything.

I know Ramon looks like he's operating but he's not, he's just cleaning the kitchen cabinets with a surgical mask. He's very allergic to dust.

Then came the arranging furniture part. We had to purchase some things that worked better in this house, not many, just some details like this cute rug for the dining table.

Oh! We also had to get rid of our sectional because it didn't fit in the living room so we purchased a new sofa. Do you remember the sofa battle? Well here is the result.

Tada!!! We both decided to buy this sofa because it work better for the room. We didn't find recliners with nice colors or shapes. This sofa was comfortable enough for Ramon, plus, he bought an ottoman to put his feet up.  

We also have to help Ella adapt to this house, although  for her, settling into the new house has been fast. The first days she was missing the apartment, but she is also excited with her new room and happy that now she has an outdoor space to play.

The strawberry ice cream room

Lately we haven't shared enough of the new house with you guys, but is just that we have been very busy with all this moving and fixing and cleaning and this and that.

After a crazy cleaning rampage, some paint job and moving in our old furniture, the house is finally livable. Of course, there's still much to do and fix. Thank you to our family's help (including my mom, who came from Santo Domingo) we did everything faster than a speeding bullet! 

Of every room there are still things to be done, but the room that we already finished today, when grandpa Ramon put the finishing touch by hanging the curtains, which grandma Amelia made, is Ella's room.



The pink on the walls looks darker now.



It was a challenge to fit all her things in the room but we did it!

We had to use very wisely the closet space to make everything she had in her old room fit in this one.

Make a list for everything

I love to make list for just about everything. To do lists, to buy lists, grocery list, extremely urgent stuff to do lists, all kinds of lists. I sometimes use a note pad (and always take it with me everywhere). I also use the bamboo butler I had at the entryway of the apartment (still have to find a new place for it in the new house), and a magnetic board that's in the kitchen, a great spot, so I can see it all the time.

I make lists in pieces of papers, everywhere. Is kind of obsessive, but it really helps you keep track of what you have to do or remember, (and I have a terrible memory). It's also very satisfying when I strike through something that finally has been done.

Choosing color for a girl's room

Is so hard to choose a paint color, especially with so many color options in the market. Well, our little girl made it easy for us, she said what she wanted and, even though is not our favorite color, we knew that we had to please her, after all, her bedroom is her special place in the house where she imagines and daydreams.

At the age of four a girl's bedroom color scheme is kind of predictable, so I guess you already know she wanted PINK, which (for now) is her favorite color. So, we went to the store and looked for a very light shade of pink and this is the one we chose:

TIP: Is preferred to paint a bedroom with a light color since this is the place where you sleep.

I know it might look too white but once you put it on the wall it looks darker. I will show you soon more of what we have done with Ella's room.

My little camera

We own two digital cameras, the nikon D40 and nikon D90. We also have a Canon AE-1, this analog camera was a gift. We love them all but the apple of my eye is my Diana Mini! I LOVE the nostalgic look of the pictures. 





Here she is all pretty and tiny.

   The Diana Mini is great for Lomography which is a kind of artistic photography where the rules of traditional photography don't really matter. So your photos could be overexposed, red or yellow, you can cut a persons head, anything you want. The point is to transmit a feeling, or what the artist wants to express through the photograph.

Here I posted a collage of 19 photographs taken with Diana.

 

 

TIP: Experiment with photography, even if you feel that the photograph you've taken is not "correct" it always has certain beauty. You can also play with photo editing programs like photoshop. There are also websites where you can upload your photos and retouch them for free, like picnik.com.

These are my favorites.