Life in My Mother-in-Law's Garage: Le Grande Tour

It's dawned on me, suddenly, that I'm probably not going to have you over for tea any time soon.  That being said, I thought I'd share a little peak at our new digs which I've been talking about for the past two weeks.  After all, I know the term "my mother-in-law's garage" brings with it certain imagery and I don't want you all to think we're roughing it in anyway.  In fact, we're quite literally turning the term on it's head.

Our Bedroom

It's bigger than our old room, as we can now fit our king size bed AND the nightstands side by side, and still have space between the stand and the wall.  We used to have the nightstands at the foot of the bed because it was the only place they'd fit.  You can also see we've got enough space for the new baby's bassinet and the rocking chair in the room.  Looking at it now, it's kind of hard to believe a couple months ago there was a car parked in here and engine parts scattered around the room.

One of the last things on the "to do" list is to get curtains up on all the windows. ... but I'm kind of hesitant of losing this view.

On the landing there's room enough for my desk, and we even get our own fridge!  Ok, not really.  This is just the "garage fridge" with all the drinks and frozen goods that don't fit in the kitchen fridge.  This is also a reason for concern with at least one of my sister-in-laws who has come up with the horrifying scenario that she might come down in the middle of the night for a bottle of water and walk in on us in. ... um. ... a compromising situation.  Just her saying that out loud has pretty much killed what ever labido I brought with me from our old home. ... which hadn't already been killed by the new baby.  I call this area the doorway between worlds.

Bathroom

Ok, our old bathroom was beautiful - hand tiled walls, granite counter top, jacuzzi bath, ect.  But let's face it, the thing was tiny (we canafford nice things, just reeeeeeaaaally tiny nice things).  This bathroom is actually what was left of the original master bath before they rebuilt and moved upstairs, so it's nice and big and Gina and I have yet to jockey for mirror position, climbing on each others back for a glance at some pesky nose hair or pimple.

Living Room

I'm going to officially admit to being spoiled.  When the idea was proposed a few months ago of moving in, this is the room I thought we'd be sleeping in.  I had no idea they'd  move out the cars and give us all the space - and to be honest I was content with that.  But now we actually have room for our own little living room, complete with TV, sofa and even one of my guitars (all 5 of them turned out to be 4 too many).  Behing the slatted doors is our closet.  Not as much closet space as we had, but GoodWill benefitted from our necessary downsizing.

We even got the girls their own little chairs so they can watch Sesame Street with out having to trek upstairs and take over the main TV.  Since so many people ask, the chairs are from BigLots! and cost $59.99.  Of course to find two in the same pattern we had to call, like, four different stores and have them hold, but most people won't have that problem.

Girls Room

And the best part is the girls got keep their own room in all of this.  My mother-in-law moved her office to the part of the garage that's still a garage (yes, it started out as a very big garage), and they even painted the walls pink, just for them.

We ditched the cribs in the move and they went right in to their new big girl beds. ... although they seem to prefer both being in the same big girl bed.  If I'd have known, we would have just bought one!

this is the all to often vacant bed. ... it's so lonley.

The only thing I really miss from the condo though, is the girls room.  I don't have pictures but if you're a long time follower I'm sure you've seen what it looked like.  I put a lot of time and energy in to designing that room - two tone pink with a white border between and a 6 foot cherry tree that had blossom's blowing all around the room.  It really was a killer baby room.  But hey, I can't complain.  In fact, for all that we've been given I am eternally grateful.  This transition period could have been brutal; it could have been cramped and uncomfortable; it could have been expensive.  Instead, it's been quite pampered.  I've been spoiled in life by the great fortune of finding a wonderful woman to marry me.  And I've been further spoiled by the wonderful family she brought along with her.  So for those readers out there who "feel bad" about our situation; stop.  We're fine.  In fact, we're more than fine.  We're living in my mother-in-laws garage.  And it's pretty freakin' sweet.