Home Sweet Home

After years of planning and anticipation we finally moved into our new home on Thanksgiving Day. The house that we are now living in which also includes the store, is bigger than the one we moved from, but our actual living quarters in the apartment upstairs required quite a bit of downsizing. It is absolutely perfect. It it small and cozy and yet has an open layout which makes it seem quite roomy and gives us more space than I had in my old kitchen for family to gather around the table. We tucked in an upper room for the grandchildren to play and get away from the adults and the icing on the cake is the gorgeous view we enjoy every day. 

There is still much work to be done around the property, but some will just have to wait until next year. The back of the house outside still needs sided and painted and the deck finished, but as we focused on the apartment, we had to put that on the back burner. I know it is hard to envision exactly how something looks from pictures, but I wanted to put them on my blog so I can reference back to it.

Property when we first bought it in 2015

Same view and how it looks today. Still needs some trim and siding but you get the picture.

Back of house before remodeling

Back of house now. Still needs lots of work but its getting there. Steve redesigned the yard and moved the steps to the deck.

Gutting out the apartment. The steps came up in the middle and we moved them to one end

Same view as before picture

Getting ready to join the dormers and make a small room upstairs

We were glad for the help of a local Amishman to do this project

.

Ready to put back together.

When working on an upstairs apartment it is very handy to have a lift.

We were glad for extra help. L-R Steve, Shawn, Dave Gochnauer, John King

Filling in the gap

Trusses!

Working on the inside. I didn't take many pictures of the inside work.

My niece Kendra did most of the painting for us. We were so thankful for her! 

Kitchen space

My brother Lester installed the kitchen. What a huge blessing!

"Living room"

So much room for my table. It is wonderful how far we can stretch it out when family comes.

Bedroom/bathroom -- we also have a small bathroom for guests to use.

My office - So happy I was able to keep the desk I got from Steve's parents estate. I love this desk!

Steve's office - Yes we each had to bring our own desk :)

Different view. The far door is where you enter the apartment since we moved the stairs out of the middle.

Upper room. I am so pleased with how this room turned out. It is small but the grandkids love it.

Bryce playing

Peek a boo!

Our view. That is the Susquehanna River in the distance and on clear days you can see the windmills at Turkey Hill Dairy.

It is so good to be settled in our new home. There is still plenty of work to do, but it is nice being here and not having to run back and forth. Living right above the store is wonderful and maybe too convenient :) I said to Steve that I don't need a pantry since I have a huge one right below me! I am glad I can now put my focus solely on the store and I am thankful to close one chapter of our life and begin another.