Hi friends! I am so excited to be back here and writing a blog post for the first time in forever. There have been a few times in the past that I’ve victoriously claimed to be “back”, and, let’s be real, they didn’t always stick.
If you’re not aware, I’ve been dealing with Covid-19 symptoms for about 15 months, to varying degrees of severity. While I feel incredibly grateful to have my lungs back and have stopped coughing, I still experience a lot of fatigue, and I’m working to structure my life in a way that allows more breaks, rest, meditation, and slow-paced movement, like walking, so I can feel like myself.
All that to say, I took a break. And, while I know better than to declare “I’m back!”, I do want to renew my commitment to this space, which is so important to me. So, we’re starting with a big update of all the projects in progress in our house, top to bottom!
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Guest Room
Let’s start at the top, the upstairs, since I desperately owe you updates up here! As you know, we got new carpet throughout the upstairs and I am SO happy with it.
Not only does it look amazing, but it smells better, which makes me feel totally justified in my decision to prioritize the carpet switch. I’ve worked with a carpet cleaning company in a professional capacity, and they described carpet as “the largest filter in your house”—ew. If that statement doesn’t make you want new carpet, I don’t know what will.
Anyway, we shared a few steps in our Guest Room, the room I was trying to use to push me into wellness, but, of course, we didn’t get it completed. We just have to get picture ledges up, add some chair rail around the rest of the room, and do some final touches, before I will share a reveal.
Home Gym
Another reveal I’m almost ready to show you? Our Home Gym. This space really came together around the carpet replacement—I figured, if we were going to replace the carpets, it was the best time to paint. So, I got everything painted before carpet went in. Then it was just a matter of putting the equipment in, hanging my barre, and getting mirrors up.
Again, reveal coming soon!
Stairway
The new carpet also had a huge impact on our stairs—it just makes me so happy as I walk upstairs to my office everyday. I am waiting on some wallpaper install quotes, but hopefully soon there will be wallpaper on the black wall, which means a little pattern play for this space, and I truly can’t wait!
Living and Dining Rooms
This is the biggest project we’ve been tackling! We decided to add on to our living room, essentially filling in our old small front porch to have a larger living space and a fireplace. It has been a slow process, partially because our contractor is slow, partially because of ordering times, and partially because we’ve been making decisions as we go, and didn’t necessarily have everything planned before they started.
Drywall was wrapped up in our living and dining rooms a few weeks ago, and then began the next (overwhelming, huge, scary) phase: flooring. We’ve decided we really want continuous wood flooring throughout (most of) the main floor. Which, of course, makes for a huge project.
Dustin has already demolished most of the flooring in our house! See more on my Instagram stories.
Kitchen
Have you heard of scope creep? Well, I’m about to share a great example.
We discovered that our existing kitchen cabinets were all sitting on the tile floors, so we had to decide if we want to try to cut around them or to remove our existing cabinets when we demo the floors. For the island, Dustin is going to cut around it, but, for the wall of cabinets, we’re going to remove and redo them.
Redoing the grey cabinets is something we’ve been talking about since we moved in—I’ve never liked the two-tone, they aren’t great quality (they’re Ikea), and the layout isn’t working as well for us as it could. We also hate (HATE) the rolling door on the cabinet that sits on the counter. It’s like a garage door in my kitchen, which, um—no.
Point being, if we were going to do it sometime, redoing the kitchen with the flooring is ideal timing. So, we are. (Again, the island is staying, though.) We’re still assembling ideas and quotes and samples, so I’m not going to share anything yet (I’m in such an influenceable place, and I want to be sure this kitchen is perfect *for us*), but I’ll share plans as soon as everything is finalized.
Primary Bedroom
The plan is to start the wood flooring in here, but, while removing the baseboard, part of a plaster wall crumbled. So, Dustin decided to demolish the rest of that wall and we’re going to replace it with drywall (it’s a strange room that is already mostly drywall). Bummer!
I also need to repaint because the matte paint finish isn’t working for us—it’s showing fingerprints like crazy! I’m going to keep it the same color but aim for more of an eggshell.
Finally, Dustin is going to hang crown molding. Then, once we have the flooring done, we’ll finally roll out our rug, hang artwork, and call this room done. (Imagine that!)
Laundry Room
Say it with me: scope creep. Once again, removing the existing flooring means moving the washer and dryer temporarily, so pressure is on to get the laundry room fully tackled so we don’t ever have to move them again! We haven’t really touched the laundry room except for a couple of practical steps: getting new machines (previous owners took them in the sale), getting a dump sink added by our plumbers, and having some lines shortened by our plumbers so the machines can sit further back. That’s it!
We’re putting together plans for this room, but we’re going to be removing the bead board and doing a little tile around the dump sink. Up for debate is whether we’re doing more tile and/or wallpaper. And debate we are!
Powder Room
We did a Phase 1 refresh of our powder room months and months ago, and I’ve been SO pleased with it. I say “we” but, while I started the painting, my mom ended up stepping in and doing the bulk of it while I napped. We painted it a dark green, 1905 Green from Magnolia paint, and I love it.
We did this Phase 1 update knowing it wouldn’t stay the same forever, but we did think it would last a little longer than it will. This is another space that will get totally updated when we redo the flooring in the main floor. Since the toilet and vanity have to come out to do the flooring, we’re planning to update the walls by removing the beadboard.
It’s on my to-do list to share a total reveal of the Phase 1 in here, as well as plans for this room going forward. One thing I know is I’m not ready to move away from the dark side.
Exterior
The deck is done! I shared a little bit on Instagram during the process, but I’m not even sure if I shared it finished.
As with seemingly everything in the world, the deck material was delayed—we ordered it in May or June, but it was delivered in September. That’s not too bad compared to other materials (don’t even try to order windows right now), but we did have to adjust our timeline.
Dustin built the deck himself, with the support of some kind and patient friends. It really looks amazing, and, because it’s Timbertech, it will last forever. (Hooray!)
Once that was done, I took the opportunity to change our front lights as well. The new front door will arrive in approximately a million months, but for now, our house looks a little more polished, which is great.
The addition also still needs some exterior work done, and the plan is to paint the whole house in the Spring. Then, we will begin the process of reworking our landscaping and gardens!
All The Updates!
Whew! Do you feel caught up yet? If you’re still confused, don’t worry: I am too, a little bit 😉
We look forward to sharing moodboards and plans, as well as progress and, maybe someday, finished spaces. Thank you for being here and continuing to cheer us on in the meantime, it means the world!
Cheers!
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