Little House on Duncan Street

Hi, there. Let me re-introduce myself since it's been awhile. I'm Niki, the storyteller of Storybook Homes. Thanks for joining me here at Two-Story Sister...... Although, now that I think about it... I guess I need to look at changing the name of this blog since Sister has been officially adopted by another family and I currently am writing to you from the shared office/living room space of our rental home. As you can imagine, leaving a beloved home that was personified into my third child over the last 9 years, was VERY difficult. As we made our final walk thru our empty home each room flooded me with random memories: 

Wrestling Matches with Rory and the boys in our bedroom.

Back to School Pictures in front of the ever-changing mantel:

Boys anxiously waiting at the top of the stairs each Christmas morning for permission to come downstairs to see what Santa had brought.

Meals prepared in my dream kitchen:

All the birthday parties and sleepovers.

The Adventures of Super Fido.

And the birthplace of Thompson Bro Films and Colby's Creations.

(Did you watch that video? I do realize that I watch it thru my mommy lense but every year my boys get older that video gets both more precious and hilarious to me.)

Not to mention all the memories of the renovations and weekend projects we conquered over the years- truly no room was left without our family's mark. 

(Dear New Homeowner, Underneath the carpet in the playroom you will find this blue and white checkerboard that my boys never fully appreciated.)

Yep, Sister was very good to us and we will miss her dearly.

But for now, we are happily settled into our small rental. Ironically, Rory purchased our current home with the intention of letting Storybook Homes flip her but the story I had planned for this home did not fit within a workable budget so I stepped aside and let Rory and Cole take full control of its renovation with the goal of adding it to Rory's rental portfolio. It wasn't until they were days away from putting a "for rent" sign in the yard that I had the idea that WE should move into the home while we renovate Carl Stuart. 

Not going to lie, downsizing to 1/3rd the size of our previous living quarters has not been without its challenges BUT I think this phase of life will be soooo good for us.  For one, it is showing us what is necessary and what we can live without...... and what we thought we could live without but now desperately wish we could dig out of one of the buried boxes in the storage building. 

In the weeks leading up to the move, I thought about how I would set up our transition home.

One of my favorite blogs is "The Nesting Place" where the Nester lives by her tag line "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". I have always admired the Nester's mantra and remember being particularly inspired by how she applied this philosophy during the period of life she and her family lived in a rental home. She did not let the fact that she did not own her home stop her from creating an inviting space that she happily opened up to friends and family. I always told myself that if I ever moved into a rental I too would make sure to make the most of our space and take the time to decorate no matter how long we might live there. 

Well, guess what? Turns out I am not the Nester. Since moving in I have not hung a single picture on the wall and because I sold all of our beds and bedding in our "Sister Estate Sale" our mattresses are sitting on the floor with what looks like prison-issued blankets and pillows.

But don't worry! Although these pictures seem to imply I have taken a break from our storybook home and that I am "just getting by" during our transitional time in the rental, this could not be further from the truth. My home is still telling a story.... it's just a different type of story than your used to on this blog spot.

You see, from the moment we moved in, my motivation shifted from "The Nesting Place" to "Little House on the Prairie." If you grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books or watched the TV series you know that the infamous "little house" was not known for its' decor but rather for the love that filled the home.  Despite the modest home, there was something enviable about the cozy little house Caroline Ingalls created and the simplistic life they led. I'd call Ma's style "Utilitarian" or even "Tidy." And that is what I am going for here on Duncan Street.

Now if I was being completely honest, this style was chosen out of necessity due to the small space restraints of our rental. However, by simply giving our living arrangement a story it has given purpose to our set-up and has allowed us to fully embrace and enjoy- TRULY enjoy, this phase of living. 

My end goal for setting up house here on Duncan Street was to be neat and functional. I made sure each item we brought in served a purpose, or even two. The only fluff that made the Duncan house cut were the items of decor I was nervous might get damaged in storage. 

Instead of running out and buying cute throw pillows and curtains for our new digs I shopped for plastic storage containers and command hooks to keep us organized. 

We stack our chairs cafeteria style when not in use to give us access to our makeshift pantry. 

The no dishwasher has afforded our boys the opportunity to learn the lost art of hand washing dishes. Aaaaand the NO Frills refrigerator has introduced them to ice trays and the joys of cracking the trays just right to free every last cube. 

Speaking of chores... Just like the Ingalls sisters, our boys have assigned chores to help keep our home functioning and tidy. Now, the Thompson boys have had chores for YEARS, the difference in Little House chores and past chores is I am actually "letting" them do them. You see, in the past, I rarely made it past week 1 of my boys color-coded laminated chore charts before my OCD tendencies would set in and I would take over their chores so that everything was done just right. I know! I know! This is terrible parenting and one day I will have to answer to my future daughters-in-law. (This is also the reason I have never been able to find a house cleaner.) BUT! I am determined to let this Little House style of living train me to allow others to help out around the house. So, in addition to keeping our individual rooms clean, each member has a list of weekly rotating chores. 

It's been AMAZING! While it used to take ALL DAY every Saturday to give Sister a thorough bath, last weekend we had the entire Little House whipped in 2 hours! What freedom!!!

This loosing up of control has also trickled over to my boy's bedroom decor. Colby is so proud of the cardboard box furniture he created..... and I have just let it goooo.

Seriously, I am going to emerge a whole new laid back person at the end of this transition period!

The biggest challenge to our Little House is that it only has 1 bathroom.

But this problem has been remedied by assigning each family member a set "PNT" (private naked time). The rules of PNT are that you can have the bathroom to yourself during your designated 10-15 min PNT but once that time is up, the family is free to walk on in to take care of business. 

Overall, we are perfectly content in our Little House and hope that this story will teach us to appreciate a more simplistic life and not take for granted some of the conveniences our new home will provide. Now if only I could convince my boys to trade in Fortnite for a quiet game of jacks or marbles.  

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Coming up: 

Carl Stuart Update- my hopes and fears.... mostly fears. 

The Oliver Reveal! (family moves in this week!) 

And Future Projects

Farewell to Sister and HUGE Estate Sale

Well guys, it is almost time for the Thompson's to say goodbye to our two-story sister. We are set to close in less than 2 weeks! I'm not ready to sit down and really process my feelings about leaving our beloved home, all I know is that when I have allowed myself even momentary brain space to think about moving my eyes get a little blurry and a lump starts forming in the back of my throat.... so I just don't think about it.  Luckily, the Oliver and Carl Stuart projects are keeping my mind fairly occupied so I haven't had time to take a sentimental walk down memory lane with Sister. . . yet. 

What I have been forced to come to terms with is the fact that, in addition to Sister, I will also be leaving behind my farmhouse style. Oh, this makes me sad! Farmhouse/Cottage Style is my absolute favorite. It is the style that I naturally gravitate toward and is the style that I think most closely reflects my character/personality. But, as much as I have fought it, Carl Stuart is destined toward a different path. I kept trying to convince myself that our new home had cottage roots buried deep within its history but the longer I spend with C.S. the more evident it has become that it has an entirely different style story to tell.... more on that at a later time. 

So that means I no longer will be using my farmhouse furnishings and decor. 😢 So sad for me, but if you too love the cottage/farmhouse style, this could be an exciting opportunity for you! Next Weekend, Friday and Saturday (July 27-28), 7am - 5pm.  Sister will be hosting a HUGE indoor estate sale. Basically, the plan is to move everything out that I am planning to keep to our rental so that everything left in the house will be available to purchase. (items previously purchased by new homeowners will be marked SOLD). 

I will also be bringing leftover furnishing and decor from past projects from storage to add to the mix so the inventory should be plentiful. 

I have started packing, sorting, and pricing, therefore currently my house looks like this:

So I'll go ahead and sprinkle some old photos on this page to give you an idea of what might be available at the Sale.

  

(keeping clock, family pics, family verse and a few knick knacks)

  (keeping chalkboard and maybe the baskets)

(keeping buffet)

  (keeping a few knick knacks)

See anything you might like? If not, you haven't seen all the stuff I'm pulling out of cabinets and storage.....

I'm just going to be real honest with ya, life is CRAZY right now trying to move while finishing up 1 project and desperately trying to get another project off the ground, I am meeting myself coming and going; so, if you leave me a message about a certain item or price there is a real good chance I won't see it or have time to respond.  If you don't mind, please refrain from knocking on my door prior to the sale date for an early look around- it will totally stress me out to let you into the chaos that is our current state of home. I'd rather you wait until everything is priced and organized for your sanity and mine.  I hope you understand. I am not planning on early sales but I am not guaranteeing it won't happen, either. In other words, please don't get mad at me. (people pleaser problem).

Hope to see you there! Please spread the word.

Two-Story Sister Estate Sale

Friday & Saturday- July 27th & 28th

7 am- 5 pm

1540 Haley Lane

Conway Arkansas

Quick Carl Stuart Update

Happy Summer! We officially kicked off construction at Oliver mid-May and things have been rolling ever since. We ended this week with insulation so that means next week we will be ready for drywall!

Meanwhile...... back at Carl Stuart, crickets are chirping and tumbleweed just blew across the scene. Yep, that construction site looks like a ghost town. We started off strong with demolition and had the place pretty much gutted before school let out, but then the project came to a screeching halt. Just when I thought I was catching on to this construction business I go and ask a silly question at the permit office that ends up getting my permits yanked.

Now that sounds a little more dramatic than it was. It wasn't like I was in trouble, it's just that my question triggered the city to ask for more drawings before they were comfortable signing off on the project. Unfortunately, my hand-drafted drawings did not cut it so that meant more time with Bob the draftsman. Between Bob's camping expeditions and our trip to DC to support Colby at the National History Day competition, it took 3 weeks to revise the plans and get them resubmitted to the city- But I'm happy to report that as of 2pm Friday we have our permits back in hand and will be hopefully moving forward with the renovation by the end of next week.  

Here is what the house has looked like for the past month: (I've included the pre-demolition pictures as a reference point)

View from the front door: (Was soooo excited to find hardwood under that carpet, unfortunately, it stopped past the carpet.)

Dining Room: 

Kitchen with wall torn down that separated kitchen from master bath:

This view shows the wall down in the living room so you can see into the master bedroom and vice versa:

Behind the dining room and living room wall you can see into the 2 bedrooms:

And here is what she looks like if you drive by:

We took the bricks off the section of the home that is going 2 stories but tried to save as many bricks as we could so we could reuse them during the renovation. You see that pile of bricks? 

That pile represents pure misery. When we first started I had a goal of rescuing 100 bricks a day. By rescuing I mean finding whole bricks amongst the rubble piles of broken bricks and chiseling off the mortar from around the brick and inside the brick holes. Can I just tell ya? I now have a better understanding of what it felt like to be an Israelite trapped under Egyptian rule with a seemingly impossible brick quota to meet during the pre-plague years. On more than one occasion I caught myself singing:

Pharaoh, Pharaoh

Oh baby! Let my people go! HUH!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

After about a week chiseling away at the bricks in the hot sun by myself, I recruited the rest of the family to help. With the family by my side, we looked and felt like members of a chain gang.  I used the opportunity to encourage the boys to flee a life of crime and to stay in school. I also tried to convince the boys they would have such a sense of pride every time they walked up to our home and saw the bricks they had worked so hard to salvage..... I don't think they bought it. 

As of right now we have saved about 800 bricks. By my calculations, we need close to 1500 to patch repositioned doors and windows.... not going to lie, that deficit makes me want to cry.  

In other news, Sister has been under contract for a few weeks and is set to close on Aug 3rd. Obviously, the new crib will not be ready by then so we will be moving into a rental during the interim.  Had REALLY hoped to be move-in ready by the end of September but now I'm just hoping the house will be done by Christmas.

Hope to have a more positive Carl Stuart report for you next time. In the meantime, stay cool and enjoy your summer!