Our 1st Blog-aversary: Top 5 Home Updates So Far and This Year's Project List
Its our first blog-aversary! Thanks for following along with us as we've been settling into our house and working on making it our forever. To celebrate our first year as "bloggers" (and I use that term loosely), we thought it'd be fun to look back on our top five favorite home projects so far and give you the short list of what's on our to-do list this year. Since we can only work on the house in short bursts of free time, I feel like of the time we devote to home projects, 80% is thinking's about it forever and 20% is actually doing something about it. But one of the best outcomes of starting this blog is that it has helped me keep momentum. Our home project list was very long - filled with little changes and big dreams - and we hope you are enjoying tracking along with us.
Top Five Home Updates So Far
ONE: The Entryway
The outcome of of many smaller projects over the course of a year, our entryway went from heavy on the variety of wood tones and orange walls from the first time we walked in, to a more light and modern "traditional" look. We painted all trim and woodwork, replaced the sconces, painted the railings and the walls. We've got a little more trim to go, but we're about there on the first floor.
SWIPE for the before and after:
And check out the blog posts from this past year that made this before and after happen, including how-tos, colors and materials we used.
TWO: The Store Room Workshop
While I thought it was a little early after our move to focus on building out the store room and not any other room in the house, it really has been very useful not just for Zach's man cave needs, but also for having our tools easily accessible. The extra lighting my dad helped install has been game changer for usability in here and the rolling table my uncle made us out of the countertop scraps is used weekly.
SWIPE for the before and after:
Read all about how we built this, including how-tos, colors and materials we used on the original blog post.
THREE: The Dining Room
I never thought I'd enjoy having a formal dining room as much as I have. I honestly looked right past it while touring the house. But hosting family and friends has always been one of my favorite things to do. And having the extra space to get everyone sitting down on a real dining surface has been great when we have the whole family over. We painted trim and walls, added a more modern chandelier, added window treatments. We were able to use all existing furniture in here but created new wall decor - including probably the best idea I've ever had - making prints out of handwritten family recipes.
SWIPE for the before and afters:
Read the blog posts from each project that made this before and after happen, including how-tos, colors and materials we used.
Replacing the Chandelier and Adding Window Treatments (includes Rug)
FOUR: The Front Entry Porch
What I've learned the most in this past year is the power of a can of paint and a new light fixture. It really doesn't take a lot to make a big impact. So while it didn't take a ton of time or effort to update the front of the house, I really think the impact is huge and it makes me happy. We painted the door a crisp black, replaced the handle and updated the weathered outdoor light fixtures on the front of the house. We also touched up the house numbers which were pretty weathered.
SWIPE for the before and afters:
Read the blog posts from each project that made this before and after happen, including how-tos, colors and materials we used.
FIVE: The Front Landscaping
Picking five projects is tough. Even though I love what we've done in Abbey's Pretty Pink Bedroom, Hank's Sporty Blue Bedroom, their Brother/Sister Jack-and-Jill Bathroom and even our Family Workout Room, I couldn't finish a Top 5 without at least one mention of all the work Zach did to get our landscaping restarted. From removing overgrown bushes and dead trees, to clearing out a lot of landscaping rock he worked hard to get us a blank slate to plant our perennial landscaping beds and build a beautiful natural rock drainage.
SWIPE for the before and afters:
And check out the blog posts from each project that got us here, including how-tos, colors and materials we used.
This Year's Starting Project List
Well guys, that's our top 5 from the past year! Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane for our first blog-aversary. So what's on the list for this year? Here are the big five things I'd like to tackle.
Finish Painting the Floor and Window Trim in the Four Season Room - we're hoping to do this within the next month or so
Paint the Primary Bedroom - haven't decided on a color quite yet but getting closer to finishing off
Paint the Interior Doors on the First Floor - this will be a new challenge for me since I've never painted interior doors. May need to wait for warmer weather for some of this.
Start the Backyard Pool Building Process - we've decided to start making some steps forward here and are working out our larger scope and budget needs. Not sure if the whole project will get done this year or if it will take into next, but this is the BIG one on the list.
Replace a Couple More Ceiling Fans - the piano room, four season room, kids bedrooms... pretty much any ceiling fan we haven't changed out yet
BONUS: Ok, this is #6 but I'd like to possibly paint the kitchen cabinets... maybe. We'll see how far we get into the year and if not the kitchen, what other cabinet jobs I may tackle first.
Thanks again for your readership this past year and reading along with us. We're grateful for you all!
