Friends, we are FINALLY moved into our forever farmhouse and it has taken us a solid week to get mostly situated. Justin and I are sleeping on an air mattress because we haven’t purchased a bedroom suite yet. Originally, we had zero cell phone service and zero internet in the new house. We bought this cell phone booster and bumped our cell phone signal from zero bars to four-and-five bars.  Our garage is still packed full of stuff that needs to be sorted and put away. But for the most part, we are in!  Hallelujah!

Today, I want to share one of my favorite spaces with you–our farmhouse kitchen and pantry.

Farmhouse Kitchen:

Those yellow stools look so gorgeous in photos, but in reality, they come off more mustard/gold in color.  I’m considering painting them a bright turquoise color.  That goes on the bottom of our to-do list though, so who knows when it will actually happen.  =)

The door to the right of the fridge leads to our mudroom.  It usually stays open, and so far, the majority of our guests come in that way.

I am really loving my double-ovens.  I didn’t know how often I would use them, but I have cooked something in both of them for almost every meal so far.

When I first began dreaming of my farmhouse kitchen, I knew I wanted a big apron-front, white fireclay sink.  I searched everywhere.  When I found this one at Quality Bath, I knew I wanted it in my farmhouse kitchen.

It’s 36 inches wide and a single bowl.  I don’t wash many dishes by hand, but on the rare occasion that I do, the single bowl works fine.  It’s width allows me to wash on one side and rinse on the other.

I am extremely pleased with the quality and service from Quality Bath.  My sink was delivered within two weeks of ordering.  It is extremely heavy and very durable.  The fireclay feels like it would chip easily, but so far, it is holding up really well (even with three kids tossing in dishes every day!).

Farmhouse Pantry:

In addition to the usual suspects (you know, food) our pantry hosts the microwave, toaster, and my Keurig coffee maker.  I love that these small appliances can stay out and easily accessible, but still hidden from view.

I think I’ll put some decorative plates on those little shelves on the sides of the microwave.  Maybe some of my painted pottery pieces or something.  Right now, there is nothing in the cabinets below or above the microwave, but I’m sure I’ll find something to go there eventually!

Justin and my dad built these shelves and I adore the way they turned out.  Those OXO containers (the three on the left) are my favorite.  They are a bit pricey, though, so I’m slowly adding to my collection.

We are relishing being in our new home and this space is definitely one of the most-used.  Having the tools and space needed to cook actually makes me enjoy cooking!

Disclaimer:  This post is in partnership with Quality Bath.  As always, all opinions are my own.

You guys, I apologize for the lack of posts. We are in a mad rush to get this house completed and it is taking up every free second that I have.  Next Wednesday or Thursday, we will have our final inspection. Then, on May 23 we are closing on this bad boy!! Praise JESUS, am I right? =)

Installing the garage doors was quite an event. If you’ll remember, we are currently living in what will be the future garage. On Tuesday, we cut out the holes where our garage doors would go. It went from this:

To this:

And finally, on Thursday, to this:

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights with a sheet of plastic separating us from the great outdoors. It was great! =)

Our cabinet guy built and installed the closet units for our master closets.  We have his and hers closets, which was one of my “must-haves”  WAY back at the beginning of this whole process.  I opted for shelving and drawers, so my closet looks like this:

Justin just wanted shelves, with no drawers.  His closet looks like this:

Today, Justin is working on leveling up the front yard and spreading out hay.  Since we are out in the county, we don’t have to do any “real” landscaping right away.  I hope to have our local nursery come out and give me suggestions as to what I should plant, and where.

This weekend we are hitting the ground running–finished up the last remaining tasks and hopefully, getting most everything cleaned up and ready to move in.  The concrete people are coming next week to pour our sidewalks and a slab for us to park on.  I am super excited about molding the kids’ handprints into the concrete–how funny is that?

Kyndall and I made a spontaneous stop by Southern Style Furniture earlier this week and found the perfect living room set, so that’s another item marked off my list!  I have fingers crossed that as soon as we close on the 23rd, we can start moving in and getting settled.  YAY!

Our running to-do list:

• Clear land. completed August 25, 2016
• Pour footer. completed August 30, 2016
• First plumbing and electrical rough-in. completed September 7, 2016
• Pour slab. completed September 10, 2016
• Framing. started October 3 and completed October 20, 2016
• Roofing. completed October 30, 2016
• Second plumbing rough-in. completed November 11, 2016
• HVAC rough-in. completed November 17, 2016
• Brick skirt and steps. completed November 18, 2016
• Vinyl siding. completed March 9, 2017
• Garage doors. completed March 11, 2017
• Electrical. completed December 5, 2016
• Hang insulation. completed December 15, 2016
• Final plumbing (connect toilets, sinks, dishwasher, etc.)  completed April 25, 2017
• Install and finish sheetrock.  completed January 13, 2017
• Install crown molding and window trim. completed April 5, 2017
• Tile shower. completed March 2, 2017
• Paint.  completed February 7, 2017
• Install lights. partially completed–most of the lights are in, just not all.
• Floors. completed March 25, 2017
• Install flooring trim. mostly completed.
• Install stair and balcony railing.  mostly completed
• Cabinets.  completed April 12, 2017
• Hang bathroom mirrors. partially completed
• Install closet hardware. partially completed.  Our closets are finished, just not the kids’ closets.
• Touch-up paint.
• Clean.
• Move in.
• Host all-the-things. =)

I decided last week that a “Forever Home Friday Update” was the best way to keep you up to date on the little happenings at the house.  You know, until I have more big news to share, like brick or vinyl siding or CABINETS!

Before the weekly update, let me give you a little recap:

1. Our footer was poured and finished.
2. The framing was completed:  first downstairs and then upstairs.
3. Front and side doors, windows, and shingles were installed.

Studs, walls, and floor boards have been saturated with God’s Word.  My mom and sister invited our family and several friends over to “bless” our house, and we most definitely received a blessing.  For all that goodness, check out my instagram posts.

The exterior still looks very similar to last week, with the exception of that 2×2 board that wraps around the lower part of the house.  This board will separate the brick from the vinyl.  (There is a more technical explanation of this, but I don’t know it!)

“Worker man” Jase was in on all that action, of course.

The plumber came and installed most of the rough-ins, which include our bathtubs.  {Jase was SO excited about his tub shower!! He just had to crawl in and play around for a while!} The plumber has also installed all the pipes that will go in the walls.  We are waiting on a few more faucets to come in and the plumbing rough-in will be complete.

We don’t have anything wired just yet, but Justin strung work-lights throughout the downstairs.  I was so strangely excited about this.  Justin called me a weirdo, but it just makes the house feel even more real or something!

A lot of what was planned to happen this week got pushed back to next week, so I’m hoping to have lots more to share on the next update.  The brick mason will start (hopefully) on the brick and fingers-crossed, we will get all the doors and windows ready so that we can lock up.  {Honestly, I’m anxious to get those doors finished so we can close them up and keep the dogs out. They think the house is their very own personal place right now!}

The gas company is scheduled to come out and run our gas lines and the HVAC guy is scheduled to do his thing.  Justin and my dad are beginning the wiring process this weekend.  We are still trying to decide whether we should install the vinyl siding ourselves or pay someone to do that.  Money versus our time and all that.

And since I’ve included several photos of Jase, I’ll leave you with this one of my girls.  They are growing up so dang fast and it just makes my heart hurt sometimes.

PS:  We have been loving some SnapChat filters lately…. they are so stinking fun!

PPS:  To see all our building posts, you can click on the “Categories” menu to the right.  Select “Building” and you’ll see everything I’ve shared so far.  If you want to make sure you don’t miss anything, find the “Subscribe” option in the right sidebar.  Enter your email address and all my posts will be delivered right to you!