5 Favorites in Our New Home

I just realized we’ve been in our home almost a month now and I really haven’t given you any sneak peeks behind the scenes. Yeah, you’ve seen the video tour and some shots from the day we closed, but there’s a couple little things we added to this home that makes my heart skip a beat. 

1. PANTRY CABINET
You guys know I’m in love with my white cabinets and dark island, but did you know there’s a hidden little gem in this space? Back in the left corner there… that really tall cabinet…

It’s actually a pantry cabinet. I think adding it instead of the normal pantry door that opens to white wire shelving makes the kitchen look bigger. Plus I love the slide out shelving! 

2. UPGRADED FLOORING.
While we easily could have done this down the road, I’m very relieved to have this upgrade out of the way. We opted for hardwood flooring on the entire first floor and frieze carpeting for the bedrooms and staircase.

While I love how the hardwood matches my dark kitchen center island, it’s a pain to keep clean. Our vinyl in the last home hid dirt and crumbs so well… man, do I miss it. Although it’s better to have my house a bit cleaner? Who  knows. All I know is that I’m now vacuuming every single day, sometimes twice a day. Which brings me to the next favorite…

3. CENTRAL VACUUM SYSTEM
Yep, this baby is awesome if you have hardwood floors. I really didn’t think I would be so in love with a vacuum, but this really was worth the upgrade. And I’m totally going to admit that I leave the central vac plugged in most of the time with the hose loosely tangled in a big pile on the floor. For someone that has hard hardwood floors and freaks out when they see little white specks all over the floor, this vacuum is a life saver. 

You probably saw the big dust receptacle in yesterday’s post about the garage. Oh, and an extra bonus with this system were kick plates in the kitchen and master bathroom. If you have girls, you know what a problem hair can be in the bathrooms. The kick plate is nice because you just sweep up the mess and tap the kick plate to suck up all the mess. Seriously LOVE this feature.

4. LAUNDRY ROOM SINK
I know I mentioned this before in my post from our closing day… this was my #1 upgrade wish in the new house. Crazy? Yeah, maybe. But I seriously use it at least once a day and don’t know how I ever lived without a utility sink. 

I could have done without the cabinets, but right now I’m using them to store our fine china (if you can even call it that, more like non-white-somewhat-fancy dishes). Eventually I would love to use this space to organize all of my paints, brushes, waxes, etc. But until I get working on the dining room, this is my “china cabinet”.

5. THE VIEW
I’m sorry, but I’m a sucker for a nice view. And if we were going to leave a beautiful 1/2 acre lot from our old house, I at least wanted a nice wooded view in the new place. And yep, I got it. We still have to work on grass and a patio, but I foresee this as being one of my favorite “rooms” in the new house.

Alright guys… let me hear it. 
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE UPGRADE IN YOUR HOUSE?