Our new mountain retreat

Several weeks ago I shared the news that we bought a condo in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This summer I've had the task of changing an unfurnished unit into a fully-functioning home away from home without completely breaking the bank. It's been a fun challenge, and I'm excited to show you some of my progress.

I should start, though, by saying that our favorite part of this mountain place is not what's inside our four walls. It's the setting, such as this scene on the main drive of our neighborhood:

Or this swimming hole that's at the end of one of our favorite hikes:

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might have seen this photo of me hiking in that creek:

Being in the mountains is fun, y'all. But I promised to show you some photos of our place, so here goes.

The condo's layout is simple but smart. Half of the unit is devoted to three bedrooms and three bathrooms; the other half is the living/dining/kitchen area, all open to one another. In the middle is the entry hall.  Want to look around the living/dining/kitchen area with me?

When you approach the living area from the entry hall, here's the first look:



Then as you turn to the right, you see straight out to the deck:

To the far right is the kitchen:

Looking from the kitchen back toward the living area:

Then back toward the dining area, completing the circle:

Decorating a mountain place could easily go the rustic/cabin look, but that wasn't quite what I was wanting. My hope was to create a space that's casual and relaxed, with some rustic elements, but nothing that would compete with the beautiful spaces outside the windows, like this view from the dining area:

See what I mean?

The furnishings and decor and decor are a mix of things we already owned, new items, and new-to-us items. Since we did purchase some new items, we were able to have those delivered directly to the condo, which meant we didn't have to hire movers. So far, every time we've gone to the mountains, we've just taken a carload of things along with us, and the moving-in process has been pretty easy.

We still have a ways to go, but we're getting there! We've already found a painting for above the fireplace; what you see here is a picture that was once in my kitchen, then moved to my guest room. And we've decided that we need a bigger rug for the living room instead of this old one that was in my attic. The great things is that even while we continue to work on the space, it's already fully functional and ready to welcome guests.

What do you think? Want to visit the Blue Ridge Mountains?

Joining
Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style