Last month marked 7 years since we bought the maybe house. And no, I can't believe it either. I've had so (!) many requests for a house update but I've been hesitant because aside from one big remodeling project (adding a loft over the living room) that we started in the fall, you can see it hasn't changed a whole lot! Mainly because we haven't forgotten how much work it was, even seven years later, but also because we really are happy with most of the changes we made to the house when we moved in.
We still have the same floors, same paint colors, and a lot of the same furniture (though I would LOVE a new sectional!) as when we moved in. Over the years we've added some trim and character plus a few new things, mainly rugs and accessories. I tried to list most the sources, so click on a photo if you want to know where something is from. But usually it's Target. Target clearance, to be exact. ;-)
I tend to shift back and forth between a colorful and neutral palette, and I would say right now I'm in more of a neutral phase (gray, navy, and white) but with spring on the way I'm starting to crave more color. I have a big colorful quilt hanging on the wall in my office and it makes me so happy! (Why didn't I get a picture of that? Oh yeah, my office is a wreck this week!). But to clarify, when I say color, I don't mean yellow. It took way too much effort to get rid of the yellow over here!
A photo from day 1. Look at those little tiny boys!
A few disclaimers: I am definitely not a professional house photographer and today was darker than I typically like for photos. BUT the house was clean and I had 20 minutes until the first kid got home (and made a mess) so they will have to do! Also, I know remodeling/home dec isn't everyone's cup of tea so I promise I'll be back to quilting in my next post! Home dec is such a fun hobby for me and I have so enjoyed working on this house and gathering things that I love over the years. If you want to see where we started check out the house the day we bought it in this post, then some before and afters and 6 months down the road. We think it's come a long way!
Uggh. Not sure why these pictures aren't formatted right on my phone (and possibly the RSS feed if you are seeing this in your email. They were formatted perfectly on my computer! Anyway, back to it...
Entry:
You might remember that there were two niches that were made of drywall (below) in the entry, but I've been dreaming of turning them into built-ins for years! We removed the shelf in the middle and trimmed them out making bookshelves and adding wainscoting. The walkway above the shelving is new too, and goes to the new loft above the living room (more on that further down).
Before adding trim and a walkway to loft
After- new walkway
I love the built-ins so SO much. It added so much character to our very builder grade 90's southwestern style home. This is the drawing I gave my contractor and he did a wonderful job bringing it to life.
Here's another view of how it connects to the living room.
The trim around the opening is new and I love it too, but the most exciting part is definitely that brand new ceiling in the living room! The living room was two stories tall before (so much wasted space!) and it was always dark since we couldn't have any ceiling lights and were stuck with just a lamp or two to light the space. Four can lights AND a large light in the center make it so much brighter now! The room above that ceiling was just a bonus.
These were my drawings for the trim around the opening. It was kind of a spur of the moment idea when we were halfway through so I drew right over the in progress photos and I'm SO glad we went with it! Didn't Bruce do a great job?
Living Room
I love how much cozier this space is now, especially at night, and I love how much light the new transom windows bring in. (I apologize for saying the word love 800 times in this post.)
My oldest son has played this piano thousands of hours since we got it a few years ago. It has been worth every penny!
Still so in love with this Sweet Escape pillow- I can't wait to show you the matching quilt I'm working on!
Dining Room-
The living room leads into the dining room which is pretty much the same as before (I think) except one thing. I decided to switch things up late one night and switched the gray bookshelf from the upstairs hallway and my aqua hutch. And in the spirit of full disclosure, my husband and I moved both of them to SEVERAL different rooms (upstairs and down) before I decided on this setup. Ha ha... poor Jarom. He's a good sport. At least it was free, right? Moving things from one room to another is my favorite way to redecorate!
Family Room-
I think this one is the same, just different pillows, rug and a few new accessories here and there. I would love to replace that sectional in the next few years, but this one is doing pretty well for being seven years old and used a TON. There was a teenager sleeping on it approximately 4 minutes after I took this photo.
I still love this fireplace and mantel so much. We finally used the fireplace this winter and it has made this room so cozy when we watch movies at night.
Kitchen-
The biggest changes in here were swapping out the white appliances (one at a time as they broke), making the countertop one level, adding the trim to the island and windows, and new countertops and backsplash. I would love new cabinets someday, but for now we are still making the painted cabinets work. The paint is wearing off in a few spots but I just keep touching it up and crossing my fingers!
Downstairs bathroom:
The biggest change in here was that I hand painted every inch of the white grout gray and will never (ever!) use white grout on a floor again. It was such a pain and always looked dirty even when it had just been cleaned. We are still using the measuring tape growth chart and it's one of my favorite things I bought for this house 7 years ago for sure.
Bedroom:
This room got a new upholstered bed, a light (finally!) and some window trim. My quilt ladder has a few of my favorite quilts on it and they get used every night. Especially the double sided lawn quilts in the summer. They are my favorite!
Loft-
This is the room we added above the living room, and you can see the progress of that (very messy) project below.
From the top of the stairs (note the weird decorative beams):
So this is all bonus space, which was quickly snatched up by the teenagers. They love to have friends over to play video games in here. It's not a huge room but again, totally a bonus.
And I love this room because I now have two big closets to store my sample quilts and extra fabric!! They were stored in a corner of our guest room before this so these shelves were such a treat! Now, painting the shelves and the doors? Not as much of a treat. Totally worth it though.
This is the view from the new walkway to the existing hallway. I can't remember what it was like before we added this on. Fun fact, I spent 8 million hours sanding, staining, and painting this banister in December.
And last but not least (my favorite room) the sewing room-
The happiest room in my house, hands down! The biggest changes in here were the mini wall, and many more B&C fabric collections. A post with more pictures and info about this room is on my blog list for later. I love it in here. So much.
That pretty much sums it up! Which changes were your favorite? Would it be weird if the living room ceiling was mine? Yes? That's okay. I love this house and am so proud of how much work we've put into it over the past 7 years. It really has been such a fun project. A fun project I really REALLY hope we never have to do again! ;-)
