Happiest Holidays!

We were very excited this year to have a real house and be able to get our first real-sized Christmas tree! We did imagine driving to the county and, amidst Christmas carolers, cinnamon donuts and the smell of hot apple cider, cutting down our own tree with our neighbors. Well, we all lead busy lives and... we bought ours already cut and wrapped at the Home Depot. It turned out to be a great tree nonetheless...

In addition to the tree, we picked up a few strings of white lights.

We didn't have many ornaments to start with, so we made a trip to Crate and Barrel and hit the Christmas jackpot. We bought cranberry garland, a star tree-topper, and a bunch of ornaments. Here are a few of my favorite ornaments...

Also, to help add to our humble collection, Sam and I agreed to make each other a Christmas ornament as part of our gift exchange. 

This is the one I made Sam... for obvious reasons :) 

Sam made me a Ginger Cat Elf. so cute. 

This little angel was a gift from our friends (and Bank Street neighbors!) Chris and Jess...

As for the rest of the house, we didn't purchase any new decorations. We still really like our old thrift store finds from years' past. 

Most of you will remember Santa and the reindeer... considering we had them on display 365 days a year at our old rental :) 

Cards on Display...

Pine Cones, Ceramic Trees and, the very necessary, homemade Cookie Assortment

Our outdoor decorations were pretty simple too. We found these snowflake lights and the red paper star at Ikea. The fresh Wreath was purchased at the same time as our tree and lights, at the Home Depot.

Sam and I really enjoyed having the house decorated.  So much so that we haven't taken one thing down or put anything away yet. There is something so warm and homey about Christmas... even when the tree has lost the majority of its pine needles and has seen way better days. I know that clean-up day will have to come soon but we can at least say that we really enjoyed, and had a very memorable, first Christmas in our home! 

Sam and I even hosted a quick, last-minute holiday party with a few of our friends before the majority of us traveled to see our families...

We hope that everyone had an enjoyable Holiday season! It was a great first one at the Gibbons House!

Productive Weekend

This weekend was a very productive one in the Gibbons house. It is amazing how much housework can be accomplished when (1) We stay in town for an entire weekend and, (2) Ohio State doesn't play a football game on Saturday.

Here's a picture of our two biggest improvements: 

We painted the living room Behr Classic Silver and, more importantly, we finally replaced our cardboard window treatments with real blinds. 

We also found the time Saturday to enter a photo competition...

If you recall, we purchased all of our bamboo flooring from Ambient Flooring. In mid-November, Ambient announced a photo competition asking contestants to take pictures anywhere there is ambient flooring in their homes. Sam and I snapped a few shots on Saturday afternoon, sent them in and won third place! I'm not sure yet if they plan on using the photos for their website, or not.  If so, there is a possibility they will send a professional photographer to take a few more (better) pictures. That would be very exciting but, if not, we still have a promise from Harper to come and take some great pictures for us one day :)

Here are a few of the photos that we submitted:

Finally, we did some Holiday decorating this weekend too.  But, I haven't blogged for weeks so I need to save something else for a rainy, or possibly a snowy, day.

Some Curb (and Roof) Appeal

Time for a little curb appeal...

 The blind in the front window is a definite improvement over the brown paper bags.  We ordered it online from www.selectblinds.com and are really happy with it. The way it was made/mounted we are able to still have privacy but allow light to come inside.

And, finally, a door!

I have blogged about Crestview Doors in the past, when we ordered the kit for the front door. Sam installed them in the flush steel door and they really look great. Huge improvement! It was exactly want I wanted... but couldn't find at a reasonable cost. This custom kit was the perfect option.

Here's what it looks like from the inside:

We still want to paint the door (inside and outside) and get a new door handle.

Up on the roof...

The deck has been finished for a few weeks but I haven't posted any pictures yet. 

 Sam used composite decking for the floor but then built the railings with treated lumbar. We have plans to stain the railings soon.

The Great Outdoors

After months of working inside, we have finally started tackling some outdoor projects.  I will be the first to admit, it never seemed like we'd get to this point!

First, the garage.
This is going to save us a lot of stress! If you are driving home to Fells, glance at the clock and it's after 6:00, your palms get sweaty, your heart rate goes up and you hope that luck is on your side... you need to find a parking spot.

We had to let the concrete dry for 48 hours before we drove on it. We spent that entire time hoping and praying that our car would fit. It does.

Next project: Deck

We had the framework for the deck built. The plan is for Sam and his dad to finish the rest next week. We are going to use tech-wood after seeing how brutal the sun can be to roof top decks in the city.

The final, but biggest, project that we started this past week: Painting.

We used a Home Depot Behr Paint + Primer Ultra Exterior satin. The shade is "Dark Cavern."

It was difficult reaching the 3rd floor so Sam opted to paint from the roof.

The best part about working on the exterior is that the neighborhood really cheers you on. We met a few more of our neighbors and everyone who passed had something really nice and encouraging to say about our progress.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER