We just celebrated our first anniversary in the "new" house. I probably can't keep calling it that, it's not so "new" to us anymore. I think we have all finally settled into to thinking of it as our house and not the new house. Over the past year, D and I have said again and again now much this move was really a good choice for us. You just never know 100% if you're making the right decision when you're taking that giant leap and spending lots of hard earned cash on something as big as a house. This past year has really proved to us that we made a good decision for our family.
When I look around the house at the unfinished or work-in-progress projects it's really difficult to see how much we have accomplished. But if I list it out, we have done a lot in a short amount of time without sacrificing fun family events.
A brief recap:
- Boys bedrooms x2: painted walls with decorative stripes, new blinds, added new closet doors, new bedroom doors (one still to paint and complete final installation)
- Loft: painted, patched, added new blinds, made artwork.
- Upstairs Hall: added recessed lighting, painted.
- Laundry Room: compete overhaul... new cabinets, paint, lights, doors.
- Upstairs: fixed squeaks, added flooring screws, new carpet through out including stairs.
- Family Room: complete built-in cabinet wall around fireplace with new stone work, wood mantle. Painted fireplace surround and added new hardware. (Crown molding is finished! Photos soon)
- Front Room: Painted bay window, added blinds on all windows, mounted TV
- Garage: Epoxy floor (unfortunately needs to be removed and re-painted) and painted door.
- Outdoor: complete front yard landscaping overhaul. Removed overgrowth from each side of the house. Painted shutters. Added a vegetable garden. Added a shed, made kayak stands, made a new side-table (see photos below). Many weekends of TLC on the lawn to remove years of dandelion growth in the backyard.
That's a lot in one year when you take into account that we had to unload boxes and get settled in...plus still make time for this....
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| Still making time to enjoy the summer! |
Our vegetable garden has taken off and the plants are two, maybe three, times as large as they were in at our old house. I'm not sure if it's the southern location (although protected from the late afternoon heat) or the sandy soil (vs clay) or if the house can feel the love we are putting into everything. :) But hey, whatever works!
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| It's hard to tell here, but if I stretch the tomato plants up they are taller than me! They quickly out grew our tomato cages and have fallen over the fence, spilling out on the grass. Garden expansion is in the works for next year. |
Check out this great little side table that D made to go just outside the patio door. It's cedar that I stained in "chocolate" semi-transparent stain. It is perfect for holding drinks, resting dishes, and holding trays to free your hands to pull open the sliding door. It will now be the template for our larger outdoor dining table, coming soon. 
The next project in the works is the powder room. You probably never noticed (I know I didn't) that the ceiling was lower in this room versus the rest of the first floor. It bugged D a lot. Probably because he's a lot closer to the ceiling than I am. When he tore down the drywall, he confirmed that the ceiling was lowered to accommodate recessed lighting above the sink. Why?...I'm not sure. It's not a very nice fixture. Cost savings perhaps.
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| Move in day |
The bathroom is tight. It's made worse by the medicine cabinet over the toilet. It was a cheap cabinet and when I removed it, the room felt immediately better. The walls were unable to be salvaged because they had a faux plaster finish that we never would've been able to sand evenly. We chose to remove the trim and wainscoting because it is not in our style.
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| Hard at work |
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| The amount of ceiling we gained |
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| Wainscoting removed |
The majority of the new drywall is up. D added more insulation, especially on the exterior walls. Next we'll be tearing out the floor and replacing it with tile. We are also replacing the toilet for a more efficient dual flush version with a smaller footprint. We also purchased a new pedestal sink with a more narrow bowl which will give us more space in the doorway area. Last, we'll replace the door with a six panel style to match the ones we've replaced in the rest of the house.
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| Drywall progress. We currently have all the drywall up. |
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
