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One Year House-iversary! | Progress Photos

September 23, 2014

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We’re a couple of homebodies, working to uncover the home our home wants to be. And we’re so happy to have you here. 

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Today is our one year house-iversary! This day, one year ago, after our fair share of drama, we closed on this home. It was such an amazing feeling. It has been a year of growth in so many ways and we feel so blessed to be able to live where we live. Even though this house has thrown us a few curveballs, we truly love it. And the parts we don’t love (hey kitchen and 8 ft ceilings), we know we will tweak and love eventually.

We often get asked when we’ll be done renovating this home. If we could guess, we’d say another 3 years?  There’s so much to do and we have so many plans. So many! Our biggest project this year was definitely re-doing the floors, however, one year in, we’ve made some headway in a lot of areas. Let’s take a look!

Exterior before:

exterior before

Exterior progress:

exterior progress

This year, our big exterior project was having a fence installed around our back/side yards. It has been heavenly for Greta and Charly (and us!). We also tore out a bush and planted some new shrubs. Painted the front door. Worked on our grass. And put up a hammock.

Hall half bath before:

half bath before

half bath before 2

Hall half bath progress:

half bath progress

half bath progress 2

This bathroom was the very first room we tackled in this home and it really set the tone. We like to start in a small area to get warmed up. :) You can see more pictures and read  about this room here.

We finished the half bath just barely before our Halloween party and we started the reading room/music room/den right after. It’s such a beautiful little room right in the front of our home, but was also a little boring.

Den before:

reading room before

Den progress:

reading room progress

We love the way this room is turning out. The green paint was never meant to stay. We painted it as a backdrop for our Halloween party photos and then it grew on us. We added a header for our Cedar & Moss lights, the thick shelves, and eventually new flooring, too.

Great Room before:

great room before

great room progress

The great room is constantly evolving; every week it looks a little different. But, we have come a long way in a year thanks in large part to redoing the floors and painting the walls (something we are thinking about doing again!), the patio doors and adding some furniture. We also updated the dining room fixture–which made an instant difference!

Kitchen Before:

kitchen before

Kitchen progress:

kitchen progress

We really hope by our 2 year house-iversary that we have a brand new kitchen pictured here. To tide us over, we did little things like rework some cabinets for a better layout, paint them, and add a temporary island countertop. You can read about those changes here.

Nursery before:

nursery before

Nursery after:

nursery after

When we went under contract for this home, we didn’t know we were expecting. So this room’s transformation has been the biggest surprise and most fun. You can see more pictures of Faye’s room here.

The Guest Room Before:

guest room before

The Guest Room Progress:

guest room progress

One of the quickest projects this year was the guest room. I think we put the whole thing together in less than two weeks for our summer guests and it has been put to use several times since. It’s been so wonderful to have a place for our guests to retreat when the rest of the house seems to be in constant reno mode. You can see all the details of the guest room here.

Entry Before:

entry before

Entry Progress:

entry progress

In the past month or so, we’ve been working on our entryway. While it is a definite improvement, we are reworking a few things and ideas. You can read about what we did right here.

Greta’s Room Before:

greta's room before

Greta’s Room Progress:

greta's room progress

The project in the works right now is Greta’s room. I snapped that photo after we painted it a few weeks ago and man, I wish I could post a picture of what it looks like right now. Wouldn’t want to ruin it before it’s all the way done though. ;)

With all the rooms that we revamped and renovated in the last year, there’s just as many that we haven’t even touched yet. Really! (Our bedroom and bathroom. Greta’s bathroom. The third bedroom downstairs. The laundry/mudroom/walk-in pantry renovation. The large rec room downstairs). We’re just taking things bit by bit and celebrating our victories along the way with posts just like this. Cheers–To a year’s worth of work!

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What do you think?

  1. Laura D says:

    Cannot wait to see Greta’s room!!!

  2. Looking great! You guys have been able to accomplish so much in just a year’s time. I think the bathroom makeover has been my favorite space makeover so far. Like you said, it really set the tone for the rest of the house.

  3. Linda says:

    Great job on everything! We too are taking our projects one at a time as our budget allows. Today for us is a complete plumbing rehaul. All new copper and drains in our 90 year old beauty. Once we have the foundational stuff done (plumbing and electric) then we will tackle the “fun” cosmetic stuff. Next up is plaster repair and painting in our living room. Thanks for the tips on gray paint colors, those were really helpful since we are going with gray in the living room and dining room. Thanks for keeping me inspired and motivated along the way! My old house in PGH was pretty much move in ready but I did end up putting in new kitchen cabinets…this one, not so move in ready haha!

  4. Haley says:

    The house looks great! You have done so much in one year. I didn’t know the den’s green paint was kind of accidental. so fun!

  5. Meagan Briggs says:

    The transformations in every room is unreal. I feel like your family room/living room needs some warmer colors on the walls. The white is SO WHITE especially with all that natural light coming in.

    It is so funny to see the color choices the old home owners made. The color of that bathroom! EEKS.

    • Julia says:

      Yeah. The great room color was perfect for nixing out all that dark paint. Like a reset button. It’s not even a white white–that would be an improvement! It was a very light warm greige, but sometimes it looks dingy white. Chris and I are both wanting to repaint, but have a few things on the ol’ list first.

  6. Kait says:

    All the spaces look amazing, but I think I am most envious of your library-lounge. Beautifully done. Our one year home anniversary is the end of next month and seeing all these transformation photos are exactly what I needed to pick up the pace. Thanks for taking us along on your journey. ;)

  7. Blair says:

    Your home looks great. I love your style, and your color choices in particular. I’m really looking forward to seeing Greta’s room!

  8. Anne Stefl says:

    If you don’t mind me asking…where is your cream colored sofa from? (Pictured in your Great Room “after” photo in this post.) I love it and we’re on the hunt for something just like this. Thanks!

  9. Wow! Isn’t it nice to go back and see all the work you’ve done in only a year? When you’re in the middle of the renovations, it can sometimes seem like everything is taking so long and going so slowly. It must be fun to be able to see such dramatic transformations when you look at these photos! Can’t wait to see what year two brings…

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