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One year ago, on June 20th which just so happened to be Father’s Day, we officially moved into our home. It equally feels like, where has the year gone?! And it feels like we have lived here forever! So much has happened in the last year. We have worked really hard to make this home feel like ours and I am really happy with the progress we have made.
We closed on the house last year over Memorial weekend and decided to have our floor redone and also have most of the house painted before we moved in. Doing the floors was 100% needed and something you should do before you move into a home. But looking back, I think we could have held off on painting. It was nice to have it done without us living there, but I think we could have held off if we wanted to.
For the most part, I am really happy with the paint colors I choose (here is a post on our final paint selections). I think my only regret is our kitchen! We used the same color as throughout the house, but for some reason it looks much different in our kitchen. I absolutely love the color, just not too crazy about it in our kitchen. I have this crazy thought to have it re-painted and maybe we will down the line, but for now we are going to live with it for a bit.
The home was in pretty bad shape when we first moved in. It needed a ton of cleaning to start. And the previous homeowners left us a bunch of junk, that we just didn’t want. So slowly, we have been throwing it all out. You should see our house on trash days! Kurt and I hold our breath every week waiting for them to take it all haha. We are always the last ones on the block for some reason to have it removed so we always think they won’t take it that week.
We have also done so much to this home over the past year and I’m excited to look back at how far we have come. When we first bought this home, I was so overwhelmed with the amount of work this house needed. But in the end, I’m glad we took a chance on it. Because now we are slowly getting it to be exactly how we like it. And I love doing it!
It feels like we have had contractors in our home from January- May! The work needed to be done, but it is exhausting even when someone else is doing the heavy lifting. Here are some of the projects we have had completed:
- The hardwood floors upstairs and downstairs were all sanded and stained prior to us moving in. The previous owner had lament flooring put down upstairs over the hardwood floors. So that was removed and the original floors were sanded and stained. This made a HUGE difference! Especially upstairs. They turned out so good!
- Most of the house was painted before we moved in. Everything except our bathrooms and our third floor which we plan to tackle at some point.
- We had our stairs redone and painted and they turned out phenomenal. Every time I walk up them, I admire how beautiful they look. Eventually we plan to add a runner.
- I had all of our trim re-painted which seems tedious, but when they re-did the floors they put down new shoe molding and you could tell it needed paint on top. It drove me nuts that it didn’t look ‘finished’, but now it does.
- Our pantry was re-done and the extra space and shelves has made such a difference!
- I had them build shelves in our fireplace and now it just looks like it always should have.
- The biggest transformation was our back room! We had the walls sanded and wallpapered (read about it here) and I am so in love with how it turned out. Currently we still have no furniture back there, but baby steps haha. Here are my design plans that we will get to someday!
- We had our columns re-done and painted. I am always amazed at what a fresh coat of paint will do!
- Changed out almost all of the light fixtures. I adore all of the ones I’ve chosen too! (this just gave me an idea for a post- all of our light fixtures we have in this home coming soon!)
- And lately, we have been doing so much yard work. Well, mostly Kurt haha. It’s amazing to me what small simple things can add up to make such a big difference.
A home isn’t about all the ‘stuff’ in it. Although, I will be the first to admit, I like all my ‘stuff’ haha. It is about the memories, the family gatherings, the talks at the dinner table. It has been so much fun to watch Sloane grow and develop this past year in this home. I always tell her, I hope you like your home because we love having you in it! We have done so much with our home in the past year and I’m excited for the many memories to come.
PS- I jokingly say this to everyone, but I’m never moving again haha! Somehow this house has turned out to be just perfect for us and I love it more and more every day.
xoxox Amanda
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