It is nice having a yard.

Flowers that matched sprung up the other day!

The house I bought was generally in good shape with most stuff upgraded or replaced within the last five years.

I got a great deal and didn't have to fix up hardly anything at all. Rumor has it that the guy living here was a landscaper, which explains all the fantastic flowerbeds and the little patio out back.

I had no idea what, if anything would or wouldn't grow so I was really pleased to see flowers in my preferred color scheme pop up at the side of the house. I had no idea this house could get any cuter until flowers happened.

Out back is a different story. My lumpy driveway grows weeds, my yard has holes that look like Bugs Bunny was out there looking for Amsterdam. I don't know jack about things that grow so I hired some people to do it for me, but I've had a lot of trouble for some reason with folks being consistent about coming over and taking care of these things for me.

My yard is tiny and there's not a lot to do, so hiring a service is pretty affordable. I've got it on the schedule for them to do a few things back there to make it look flat and grassy one day. So far its a lumpy weed patch, but it entertains the cat.

I was letting The Flash outside to roam around on his own when I first moved here but he scales the fence, jumps on top of the shed and antagonizes the yard full of dogs across the way.

I shudder to think what might happen if he made it out of the yard, which it seems like he could do at will at any moment. So we taught him to walk on a leash. He pretty much hates the harness but he wants to go outside badly enough that he tolerates it.

He needs to be watched at every moment, so I go out with him. Sometimes I leave him on a tie-out like you with a dog. Only you're not supposed to do that with cats because they can back right out of pretty much any harness. I only do it cause hes boring to walk around with, because he doesn't walk around.

If I could walk him around the neighborhood, I would. He just wants to sit around and eat grass. So I take him out, tie him up on a 25 foot leash, have a seat, enjoy the sunshine and watch his every move in case he gets tangled up or starts to try to escape.

We go inside when he starts getting too adventurous and trying to go places I can't grab him quickly. He spends all his time indoors looking out the window.

I would like to get a patio umbrella now that we're spending so much more time out in the sunshine, but they're all crazy expensive and never in colors I like.

For some reason, on Craig's List it's always tables with holes in them for sale and the umbrellas are always gone. Then you also have to buy the stands separately and they cost as much as the umbrella in some cases. Of all the patio umbrellas I've ever sat under in my life, I never once considered that they are all outrageously priced.

People keep suggesting that I get a grill, because that's what you do in a backyard, I guess. But my house is tiny and my yard is tiny and the kitchen's only right there if you're hungry. As much as I'd like to invite all my friends over for a party, I don't want to have a cookout and get stuck with leftovers and have to clean the grill. There's a kickass BBQ joint at the top of my street that I'm sure will feed you much better.

I think I'd rather have a hot tub, but it seems like those are pricey things that people get and then end up not using.

Not sure what else you do in a backyard exactly. The neighbors asked me if I'm gonna get a dog.

"No, I'm just gonna walk the cat on a leash."

Nine Months in My Cute Little House

Current state of the Living Room

I stopped updating My Cute Little House's blog because I didn't like my living room and I struggled to figure out how to make it work.

Who wants to read a blog about me moving things a few inches this way or that way and complaining that I should have known better than to buy a beige sofa?

I basically went to IKEA and replaced all the mismatched and black furniture with lovely white simple modern peices.

The whole thing cost more than I'd originally intended, but relatively speaking, IKEA is cheap. Since I didn't end up paying any other costs I hadn't considered before buying the little house, I'm calling it close enough.

I plucked off the table top, got a piece of wood cut to the appropriate size and tiled it with colors I like. Then painted some picture frames to match.

Originally, I wanted a disco ball in my living room but settled for these Chinese paper lanterns once I realized they were a lot cheaper, come in colors that match my new tabletop and they are a heck of a lot easier to hang.

I'm heavily considering getting crafty and making a pink slipcover for my sofa, but there's life to live and other things that require my time and money that are more urgent now that I generally like the living room.

As for the rest of the house, Everything is good and now that I've lived here awhile and put things where they are functional, it seems like this house is exactly the right size and I keep getting rid of more things that it turns out I don't really feel like I need at all.

IKEA Torsby Sideboard

The big issue for me was these floor vents taking up precious space that I don't have to spare. I solved the problem by getting a sideboard that's up on legs, which looks great, gives the cat a window seat, and serves a charging station as well.

I think I would have arranged everything in the living room completely differently if not for these vents.

I have the sofa, which is also up on legs, over one that blows hot air. I looked into getting a vent extender but all the reviews pretty much said that it was a waste of money because it is nothing more than a cheap peice of plastic and that you could fashion something yourself out of paint tray liners. So I fashioned something myself out of paint tray liners and clipped it to the carpet. Now the hot air blows out into the room from under the sofa. The cat likes to sit right in front of it on cold days.

Ottoman from Walmart

So my sofa is not exactly centered on that wall to accommodate the vent extender, but I put a little ottoman in the space, which also serves as storage for a TV watching blanket and pillow, and a step up to the couch for my elderly cat who can't climb so good anymore and it kinda looks like I meant to do that.

I love living with cats. They spend all their time in here, so I think it's important to make it a nice place for them to live too. The little one has high places to jump up to and hang out. The old one has low places to spend her time and steps to get her up on the couch and the bed.

It is these requirements, the small size limitations, and the floor vents which made decorating this room, and this whole house in a way that makes me happy so difficult. I need things to match and I need things to be functional. I've been in this house about nine months now and I'm only starting to feel like I'm getting it right now.

Garbage Pedestal/Shoe Shelf

The kitchen has floor vent where I least need one too. I like to have two trash cans. One for garbage and one for recycling. I also need a place to feed cats and a place for a litter box. With such limited space in the kitchen, that floor vent was really a problem.

I was at a KMart going out of business sale when I found the solution. It's a closet organizer which now serves as my garbage pedestal. Lets the floor vent have it's space while allowing me to put the trash cans in that spot I want them in. Also a handy place to keep a couple of pairs of shoes for slipping on to go out real quick just for a second. Like when it's time to take the trash out.

Every morning

I've solved most of the issues of furniture placement. Although I've not stopped the cat from jumping on my head in bed to try to get to the windows. But I've mostly become used to that. I had considered getting a headboard which he can jump onto instead, but I've come to enjoy waking up with him beside me on the pillow. 

Living in my cute little house

I expected this blog would be a great place to chronicle my adventures and experiences living in my cute little house, but so far it's all gone pretty smoothly.

There wasn't a lot in the way of mishaps and misadventures once I got moved in. I sold my old furniture and got some that fit this space and now it seems exactly right.

With all the built in cabinets, there is a place for everything and my battle has really been about getting rid of even more furniture. The more stuff I take out, the better it looks.

The other battle I've been having is the color scheme, which I have not gotten quite right just yet. All my previously black furniture needs to be painted white, which is not as simple a task as I'd imagined.

I've tried a few different techniques and not quite got it right to my satisfaction yet. I may have to buy new stuff one day, but I'm still trying to paint what I've already got. I think I'll get another weekend of warm temperatures to try again tomorrow, but soon it will be winter and I'm starting to come to grips with the reality that living with mis-matched furniture is not the worst thing that could happen.

Other than painting furniture white, there isn't a lot that still needs to be done and I've been spending my time living in my cute little house.

My kitchen is probably the most functional place I've ever tried to cook, because it is compact. Everything's right where you need it, and no mess is ever too big to clean up right now. I'm much neater in general living in a smaller space.

Turned out I fit just fine in here and it all feels just the right size.

If the sofa is beige, Then what color is the carpet?

Armed only with a floor plan of my little house before I moved over here, I knew I'd need to buy new furniture that fit in the room. I set about looking at every sofa in every store both in town and on the internet.

And I came up empty.

I was willing to pay for some nice furniture, just wanted it to be something spectacular and comfortable since I'll likely be sitting on it for the next 15 years. And it had to be pink. or white. or something totally crazy maybe. And it has to be cottage. And modern. all at the same time.

I entertained the notion of futons, loveseats, daybeds, foam furniture, used ones, vintage ones, leather ones, new ones, custom ones and even parts of sectionals. Nothing seemed quite like the right fit.

As moving day got closer and closer, I started really stressing out over it. Because the color of the sofa had to work with the color of the carpet I was about to get installed for more money than I could just do-over if it turned out it wasn't quite right.

Of all the sofas I'd seen, and there were a lot, it was really only this off-white one that spoke to me because of its styling. Totally modern but with enough tufting to make it sort of cottagey. I had no idea how I would make that color work and then all of a sudden I found a pink area rug with beige stripes which pulled all the colors together.

"That's how i make it work!" I thought and ordered the sofa and chair right after I ordered the rug. Turned out the sofa looks awesome with the rug, as I'd expected... but the coffee table was another story. Totally wrong size and shape.

I started looking on craigslist for coffee tables and I got lucky. Within a few days, I managed to somehow find one that was the perfect size and shape and also somehow in-between modern and shabby chic and also grey and beige. The two colors I would have sworn don't work together before I saw 'em doing it in my living room.

The coffee table is spectacular. It is also busy enough, and matches enough that I didn't need the area rug at all. In fact it just seemed to be clutter. The rest of the living room is still a work in progress but it seems the more I take away, the better looking the room is.

I've halted plans to paint all or part of the table white. It seems to be the star of the room and everything else should be adjusted to match it.

That sofa and chair are really comfortable. Also scotchguarded and guaranteed for stains as well as structure for 7 years. I imagine it will become important. I have two cats, an off-white sofa and no dining room.

Do you have a basement?

I was out eating dinner the other night with the guy who's real estate guy I hijacked to buy my cute little house. He seemed interested in the details, probably because he just bought a house himself in the same neighborhood, and had once been outbid on a house on my street.

He wondered if I had a basement.

Do I have a basement?

I have a whole 2nd bathroom in my basement! I laughed the first time I saw it because there's a toilet on a pedestal and it's open to the whole room. Not sure why someone thought that's what they needed, but then it all makes sense when you see the cable outlet on the opposite wall. Clearly they were sitting on "the throne" watching cable TV.

I'm guessing, because its the only explanation for a one bedroom house with two bathrooms, that a couple lived here. And that one would have a place to 'go' when the other was having a bath in the upstairs bathroom. Probably one or both of them liked to take a shower and it was probably best for them just to make a whole 'nother bathroom downstairs than it would be to totally remodel the pretty one with only a tub upstairs.

That's my best guess.

I took a shower just now for the first time. It was surprisingly good. There's a shower massage showerhead down there. My only complaint is that the people who showered there must have been shorter than me.because it seems a little tight on head space.

Just found out the hard way that I need a bath mat down there if I'm going to use the shower. I see it as a place to dye my hair that if I get hair dye all over it's okay.

I've got laundry down there too and some room for setting up my sewing machine once I get around to it.

But yes, I have a basement and as unfinished basements go it's a rather nice but small one. Just like everything else about the house.

Gotta start thinking like a homeowner!

My windows, which are all odd sizes, were all already outfitted with lovely new replacement windows and custom blinds before I got here. Which was a selling point. But now that I live here, these blinds are terrible.

I mean they're nice if you like blinds but I like sunlight coming in in the morning. Oh and the cat messes with the blinds all night trying to get in the window so he can see out. Makes all kinds of noise and in a house this small I can hear him no matter which window he's trying to get in

I got a tension rod and put up some curtains but some of these windows just aren't the right size and shape for that. I was bummed out for a minute till I remembered that I am a homeowner. Not a renter. Which means I can drill any holes into any part of this house I want to anytime.

I bought a drill with the intention of hanging curtains this weekend when I have more time to mess with that kind of stuff. I'm sure, as a homeowner, it will end up being handy for other reasons as well.

"What a cute little house!"

I was leaving yesterday and a nice couple out walking their dog remarked what a cute little house I have. I wanted to tell them it has a blog at mycutelittlehouse.com. I obviously picked exactly the right domain name.

Meanwhile, I've been selling my old furniture on Craig's List and buying other people's old furniture that would be more functional and appropriate for the space I have now.

It's been a fun adventure. I've met lots of interesting people and heard their stories. I love that. And I've gotten some really fantastic pieces in exchange for what I think is my junk. And I've got everything delivered and assembled for free by folks who were happy to get rid of their things for the cash.

Strangely enough I seem to be breaking even. But I feel like I'm winning.

First up were the dressers. Now I've been looking everywhere for white dressers for my small bedroom that would be roomy enough for my massive clothes collection. I was willing to buy new as well and I just looked and looked and didn't find anything.

Even on Craig's List, I was searching "white dresser" daily and not finding even a poor substitute for what I was imagining. And then one day, in-between carpet and moving in, there they were.

Two huge white Scandinavian dressers, exactly the right size, for a reasonable price including delivery and assembly from a lovely couple who lives in my neighborhood.

I thought I was lucky to find exactly what I needed exactly when I needed them, but it seems like there's a lot of that going on Craig's List. Everyone I've dealt with so far seems to be finding exactly what they needed exactly when they needed it.

Patio sets are on an end-of-season sale in a lot of the stores right now, but I've found that when I get there, whatever I wanted is gone. I got really tired of chasing down sales only to come home empty-handed.

There's an abundance of patio sets on Craig's List, so I was taking my time.. since its just turned cold the last few days and I won't really use it probably until next spring anyway. The more I looked, the more I got into the idea of Adirondack Chairs.

When I saw this set of two, including a table and 2 ottomans that take up space roughly in the size and shape of my patio, I was interested. As soon as I had enough cash in my hand from selling my stuff, I sent the guy an email telling him I wanted them if they were still available.

Within an hour he called me up, told me he was on his way to my area in his truck anyway in a few hours and he'd bring them right over.

When he got here he told me he was so happy that this order came at exactly the right time. Not just because he was headed this way, but because he's got some friends with an anniversary coming up and he didn't have any spare cash at that moment to buy them a proper gift.

Told him I was glad I could make that happen for him and also get these chairs at the same time. He was about to leave when he explained to me that he actually makes these chairs. He makes them to order when folks ask for them, but since he needed cash and the timing worked out, he actually brought me his set, that he sits on in his workshop. And that he'll make more for himself later.

I've similarly been getting rid of furniture that is exactly what people need exactly when they need it. We all win. It's kind of awesome.

I'm kind of bummed out that I'm running out of things to buy and sell now.