The Villa In Village Park.

I officially own a home!

First thing I did after I picked up the keys this afternoon?  Burn some sage...

Yes.

I walked all throughout that place and smudged sage all throughout that place. Every nook and cranny.

The second thing I did? Walk through the place with my contractor, going over every single thing I want done to the place.

And it's a lot. 

But we're getting started right away.  And I'm really excited.

I am having a professional photographer come over and shoot the place for me on Friday, so that I can have proper "Before and After" shots of the place. But I was able to capture a few shots of my own today, which give you some sense of the space.

Here is the back patio space...

I have a nice hill right behind me, which is great for privacy. All of the vegetation in the beds you see are coming out. We're putting new tile down, probably blue slate. The beds will be squared off, and likely made of wood rather than stones. We're planting rosemary, a few kinds of lavender. We also decided that it would be cool to tuck a raised wooden platform that's about 8 feet by 10 feet in one of the corners, and surround it with some bamboo... Which will make a nice yoga platform. I'll also be putting a sectional couch out here.

The interior of the house is quite spacious. The place will need walls and ceilings refinished. And the carpet is getting ripped up.

This is the guest room...

It's quite big. And that open part of the closet you see there... It's becoming part of a bathroom.

Yep!

We're taking half of a large closet in the guest room and my office...

As well as a closet in the hallway... And turning the into a three piece bathroom.

Which means this bannister and hallway leading to the upstairs bathroom here...

...Will be gone. The wall will be moved to wear the bannister is... And the current upstairs bathroom will become a master bath... And will be enlarged. As will the walk-in closet in my room.

Speaking of my room...

A large piece it already is! The ceiling fans are all coming out (again, I detest those when you already have central AC).  And I am having a black out shade that operates via bedside button installed over my master suite window. That way I can sleep in pitch black, and then press a button and have it rise when I wake up in the mornings.

It just makes for a better sleeping environment when you can block everything out.

And of things to block out...

The kitchen.

Very much like a Monet painting... Pretty from far away... A big ol' mess up close. This is all changing.

I'm having custom cabinets and bookshelves built in throughout the entire place. And I want the courtyard space just outside the kitchen doors there (which lead to the detached garage) to be an outdoor dining room.

So, lots to do! It took almost two hours walking through the place with my fearless contractor to get everything down. I have marching orders to start exploring materials this weekend and next. Tiles... Woods... Faucets... Paint colors... You can imagine.

And I received a lovely bottle of Veuve from my agent...

I'm going to be supplied with plenty of wine and champagne for a few years. (As I don't drink much or often.)