Mission Living Room Furniture: Completed

I'd like to be able to say the entire living room is done, but that would be a lie. I still have to find window treatments for the living room/dining room and I've also got to find wall decor for... well.... the entire house. In the meantime, so far, so good. The living room furniture is complete. Matt has almost all of the wiring done and all of the entertainment stuff set up. If you remember, when we first looked at the house, it looked like this:
When we moved in, we spent some time getting rid of the mirrors and whatnot and ended up with this.
The [close-to] final product looks like a big improvement to me. We were scared that without the mirrors, the living room would look much smaller, but I actually think it looks pretty big still...

Day by day, the rooms are coming along quite nicely. I really can't wait until we can spend one night relaxing around here!

Six Days and Counting..

Well, we are officially six days a way. Next Tuesday we pass papers. I'm psyched and nervous. There is so much to do before then! We've got to get the final bedroom paint colors picked out and mixed... we've got to get the paint supplies and the cleaning supplies, and the last minute stuff.
Lately, we've been looking at furniture. We are going to need an entertainment center or television stand of some kind for both upstairs and downstairs, end tables to match our coffee table, and eventually, a kitchen set. None of this is needed before we move in the house but we've been looking none-the-less. The end tables that match our coffee table are only available, it seems, at Bernie and Phyl's and they're $160 each. Considering we only paid $200 for the coffee table, delivered, from Bob's, $320 for end tables is a little ridiculous. I've received a few coupons for the Mill Stores so I decided to spend my Good Friday checking out their stock. I found some end tables that I can definitely stain to match our coffee table. I also found a TV stand that I loved. I brought Matt back Monday night and we bought the television stand, picked out a second one for the basement, checked out end tables, and even found a kitchen set that I really loved. I like that the items are from the Mill Stores for a few reasons. For one thing, I can stain it to match whatever I want, which is really nice. The other thing is quality. The stuff at the Mill Stores is solid wood. You can feel the quality. It's not flimsy. It's not cheaply made. And - it's nothing spectacular. It's simple but I love it.
So... we have one TV stand bought and another one picked out. We have 20% off coupons which have dropped the prices nicely and really, they're cheaper than buying the finished stuff at the store in the styles that we like. I'm so excited to be able to get in there and start working on the house. Yay!
In the meantime, Matt and I are trying like hell to find time to help Zosia and Eric get their new house ready. I still have paint on me from helping them on Saturday. I figure, it will finally disappear around Sunday or Monday and I'll be sure to add a different color on Tuesday and Wednesday! I forgot how much I missed working on houses. As happy as I am as a teacher and living up here, I often miss South Carolina and working for Habitat. I've got to get myself settled and find a way to get back into some construction and Habitat up here. It's so rewarding!