Ten things we love about our house

As I mentioned in this post, we just celebrated one year in our Montgomery, Ohio, home...and there's so much that we love about it.  Here are a few of our favorite things (in no particular order):

1.  Our first (ever!) hallway. (And we've had fun hanging photos and pictures in it, as you can tell! What better way to show off family and travels? The oriental rug was in my parents' home for years, by the way...it's perfect!) In our 1-bedroom apartment in Baltimore; in our 3-bedroom townhouse in Baltimore...do townhouses ever have hallways??; and in our 3-bedroom home in Durham, we did not have a single hallway. In our Durham home's defense, we did have a great landing...but no hallway.
(Side note: we technically had a hallway in our apartment in Japan, but it was all doors and and a small genkan.)

2.  The fact that our home faces due west (perfect feng shui for Tony's and my kua numbers...go figure!!) and the back, therefore, faces due east.  We get the most gorgeous sunrises over the trees in our backyard (see below last fall)...and the softest glow in our living room in the mid-to-late afternoons.

3.  A vent under the cabinets below the kitchen sink...keeps your toesies warm in the winter and cool in the summer...while you're doing dishes. Brilliant, Mr. 1964 home architect!

4.  Our own bathroom! I admit that I felt a little pang of sadness the very first night we were in our home...when I put my toothbrush in the holder next to only ONE other toothbrush (Tony's, of course); it was the first time we didn't share a bathroom with the kiddos! Obviously, I got over that pretty quickly; nowadays, I wouldn't trade having our own sinks and shower! You can see how we've added a few personal touches.

How much do I love our mirrors from Home Goods that the previous owners left for us??

My mom made this pretty roman blind for us with a remnant from Joann's Fabrics!

One of our favorite quotes--it was in our "first dance" song at our wedding.

Aboriginal art that I picked up in Australia last year!

5.  Our laundry chute! Need I say more??!! This should be #1!!

6.  Our new built-ins!  That's why they got their very own blog post!!

7.  Our exposed brick in the basement.

The plan is to hang more pictures here, but we haven't been brave enough to hammer into the brick!

 Did I mention that the brick goes great with our new runner??

8.  Our marble window sills on every window...

 and the marble around our fireplace. So pretty!

9.  Our stunning hardwood floors that were hidden beneath old rug! They deserved their own blog post, too.

10.  Our guest space, complete with artwork from one of our resident artists: Gabriella De Falco!  That's a big hint, everyone:  Come visit us in the Queen City...it's lots of fun and there's tons to do! And we're happy to give you a tour of our home!