I swear, all I've done over the past five or so years is move! I feel like I've become a real pro! Well, we've done it again! Here's our new address....
1731 King Woods Drive
Augusta, GA 30904
When Greg and I decided to move to Augusta neither one of us knew anything about this place. Greg had been a few times to visit with his family, but never enough to really know his way around. He came up here with his dad before our big move to find us a place to stay and found us a cozy little one bedroom apartment. The apartment complex was nice and it was great that they were so pet friendly...but we had our share of problems while we were there. Not soon after we moved in, it really began raining in Augusta. We came home one evening and found ourselves sloshing through the living room! Rain had come in under the door and from the bottom of the wall!! The apartment people were quick to send out someone to remove the water, but not long after, it happened again! Finally they decided to fix a retaining wall.... but, we already had a sour taste in our mouth for our apartment. Then, we got water in through the roof, then a fire in our building had us without power for a few days, then our toilets backed up, then.... well, you can figure it out! Also, Greg and I were both so ready to move into something that felt more "grown up" and real. We had both been in beige apartments for so long!! We thought about trying to buy something, but with me just starting my own business, we wouldn't qualify for a loan.... and besides that, we just didn't feel financially ready to buy. Why buy something now that you have to settle for when you can save and wait until you are really financially prepared and able to get something that you really love and are more likely to stay in? So, we went -a -lookin' for us a house to rent!
It was like we couldn't find anything that would work out for us... no pets, too much, too scary, oops too late... finally on a last ditch effort, we found this adorable
(well, we think it's adorable even if you guys don't) little cottage on CraigsList!!

The lamp post out front is seriously one of our top 3 favorite things about this place!
Greg and I both love older homes with a lot of character. This place was perfect for us! We keep talking about what we would do with it if we owned it..... we tend to get a little ahead of ourselves!
Even though we are only renting, we really want to make this place feel like our home, especially since we plan to stay here for a while. Our first order of business was to clean out the front yard. Greg's family was again so, so helpful to us!! We could never have done it without his mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law, and nephews. Thanks! We had to cut the grass, trim the sidewalk, pull out tons and tons and tons of overgrowth around the house. But, we did a whole bunch in just a few hours! Moving on to the inside, this is what the living room looked like "before"

Again with the "I forgot"... This is the only "before" shot of the living that I got! But to give you some details, the walls are a sort of beige/peach/tan/pink/purple? color. The paint on the mantle is chipped and spray painted (poorly) on. There is paint splattered on the black part of the fireplace. And overall, the trim of everything just needs to be touched up.
And our living room "after":
Coming through the front door. I love. love. the arched entrance to the dining room there on the right.
Can you see it?
A close-up of the re-painted mantle. Greg did a really great job. The mantle is not completely decorated the way I envision it. The painting is something I did and is probably temporary. Looking at the pictures, I think it needs to be a tad bigger. But, it adds some color to the room.
The view from the dining room looking in to the living room....
The view from the hallway into the living room...love the french doors. Just wait to see where they lead to...

We still have a few finishing touches to do in here. We've got to go back and paint the white trim and touch up some paint, and of course I want to add a few (a lot?) more decorative touches. I have big plans for the "C" on the wall and the mantle, and there's that whole blank wall behind the couch.... but one step at a time, Christy (as per Gregory).
Now, here's my numero uno favorite part of the house...
Open those french doors to this:

Aaaah, what's that? Why that's a screened in front porch! I love. it. And thanks to my super sweet in-laws, we have a perfect little table and chairs set there. It's the perfect spot for coffee in the morning or a glass of wine or hot choclate in the evenings, or sweet tea in the afternoon. It's especially nice lately with this Georgia fall weather. Did I mention that I love it?
I think Bobo loves it too!

Ok, I need some opinions. I'm going to re-paint them and I'm trying to decide on a color. I would love to do something bright to really liven up the space. My top choices are torquoise
(are you surprized at all by that?), green, yellow, or maybe orange. I plan on adding touches to of fabrics, flowers, whatever to really make it blend. Nothing to wild, just something very cheery. What do yall think?